Location: Lincoln, England
expect.liner.origin (what3words)
Sat:53.228498, -0.543068
Brayford Head was at one time the main crossing of the River Witham at this point. Replaced by Wigford Way, a road bridge in the 1960s. This road, the A57, connects Lincoln with Liverpool.
Today : I do a 360° scan, anticlockwise standing adjacent Brayford Wharf North. Beginning 360° at Wigford Way Bridge:
Artwork on bridge – (a light box) asks: “Where Have You Been”.
Other side of bridge asks “Where Are You Going?”.
Tourist information point, map & direction signs. Royal William IV, oldest building in immediate area. Offers 20% off for film goers (Odeon cinema is next door). Wagamama building built on stilts over the water. (Group of women on the bus once insisting: “Chinese back’anders”).
Extractor, I guess from the kitchen has round hole design.
Water surface still but through centre of water rough, light rippling.
I think: “Tristan Gooley, How to Read Water says this means movement under the surface. At least I think that’s what he said.”
Just one swan on the water. In my survey for 5 Diurnes (the Brayford Pool, Lincoln, by day) most people listed swans as one of the things they most like about the Brayford Pool. Now most swans have gone, some think, because of large scale building projects in the area.
Backtracking: People coming and going, walking, eating by the water all clearly happening on Brayford Wharf North today. Willow trees prominent on the south bank of Brayford Pool. Looking south now: Bridges over Witham. Arches so low, has been unnavigable since, I think, the arrival of the railways. I feel alone standing on this spot. People don’t seem to step to the side to view the Brayford Pool from this point.
I feel I’ve become invisible. I’m talking into my voice recorder and not feeling at all self conscious. Next 30° of my 360° scan takes me to watching traffic on Brayford Wharf East. Only side of the Brayford that has a roadway along its bank. (Brayford North is mixed use and is supposed to be access only).
Drawn to red British Heart Foundation van. Sign reads: “Free and Fast collection of your unwanted items” on the side.
Seating area across the Witham, see Tract, Brayford Head South. Two people sitting. Both are looking down. On separate seats. Benches. Neither looking at the view. Neither smoking or looking at phone. Just looking at the ground a short distance in front of them.
Back to 360°/0°. Witham flowing quickly but surface is smooth. No wind today. In exploring the waterways and edgelands of Lincoln for five years, I’ve come to understand that all urban waterways are also edgelands. But, even having concluded this, and that I’m standing on the bank of two waterways, I fnd that simply to step off the main thoroughfare at this point is to enter more deeply into an edgeland. (Familiarity with the location has left me with little to say in terms of seeing new things. Fewer observations.) Edgelands are the transitional, liminal areas at the edges of our cities, though not necessarily the city’s outskirts.
“Every little part
of the city
is the city itself.”
Brayford Belle information board:
“Parties Afloat: Available all year round for your Special Occasions, Birthdays, Hen Nights, Anniversaries, Cruises, or any other social gatherings.”
Stag Nights prominent by omission? Would they be too rowdy or boistrous? Are they included under ‘other social gatherings’ (lower case)? For me, for this location, I’m finding that familiarity is breeding content. I’m surprised that I have more to say; I’d expected less.
Jim Simm, 2017
Envoi:
Distance to Lincoln High Street from here is 221 paces via the glory hole steps. The High Street is the backbone of Lincoln running from south to north of the city. The same road extends north via Steep Hill to Bailgate, Newport, Riseholme Road and, leaving the city, forms the A15. This almost straight road is Ermine Street, a Roman road built on the routes of more ancient roads. Ermine Street begins (or ends) at Broadgate in the City of London and includes Shoreditch High Street, Kingsland High Street and the A10. 221 paces to Ermine Street. (Paces to… alt film title? Paces to Baker Street. But that’s only 23). I skip to memories of the southern end of Ermine Street. Shoreditch High Street. The L.A. in the early 90s. Before Silicone Roundabout (Old Street) and the hipsters. Barren then. Fast moving traffic. Though an important, major route for 2000+ years. Was more route than street back in the early 90s. Mainly passing through.
This is a Little Tract, part of the Little Cities project. Little Cities is an arts based, deep-topographical, exploration of the edgelands of the City of Lincoln in England. Little Cities projects include electronic music (Little Tracks) for battery powered synths by Jamie Crofts, actions in the form of walks (Little Treks) and word works by Jim Simm (Little Tracts).
Tract:
An area of land.
A publication, a brochure.
Little Tracts is a SOUNDkiosk
project. © 2017 Jamie Crofts.
For a hard copy of any Little Tracts, email Jamie Crofts: kiosk4sound AT gmail DOT com
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