What do wild places mean to you?

David North, Head of People and Wildlife

 

Over the last few weeks I have been working with Richard Fair from the Forum Trust in Norwich to help create a screen-show about NWT’s Cley Marshes nature reserve.  You can catch this show in the Fusion Gallery at the Forum Norwich daily from 10am to 5pm from Monday 16 September. It’s free to enter and we hope it brings a touch of North Norfolk coast magic to the heart of Norwich.

What I have learnt from both helping put this screen show together, and my involvement with the NWT Cley Marshes Land Purchase Appeal, is that people really care about Cley Marshes. This is a very special place that has huge personal meaning to huge numbers of people who have come to know and love this area over many decades of its history.

Avocet with young, photo by David Tipling

The screen show of course features stunning wildlife as you might expect. Awe inspiring images of marsh harriers grappling talons over the marshes, intimate moments as downy young avocets seek warmth and safety under their parents ‘tummies’ and great skeins of geese and flocks of waders seeking a refuge on Cley’s wetlands.  

 However what has affected me most deeply, inspired me the most, is not these wildlife images or the equally amazing filmed sequences of Cley’s stunning land and skyscapes – storms moving along the shingle ridge and the great panoramas of marsh, reeds and sea are beautifully captured by the many local photographers who have generously given of their time and skill to create this show. What has inspired me is the voices of artists, local people and visitors to Cley whose love of this place shines through every word of their interviews. This has been echoed to in our Cley Marshes Appeal with so many people donating not only funds but their stories and experiences of why this place has special meaning to them. So many stories: of rare birds seen for the first time, of friends made, of inspiration for amazing artwork or simple of space found to make sense of troubled lives or gain new perspectives.  Cley is truly an inspiration.

I hope you are able to catch Cley Marshes: A Wild Vision at Fusion over the next couple of weeks. We gave award-winning local photographer David Tipling the challenge of catching a falling star in his photography of the Marshes. Sure enough, during the recent Perseid meteor showers, he didn’t disappoint, achieving some remarkable and awe inspiring night-time film sequences which open the show.

I hope Cley Marshes is an inspiration to you too!

Please note the screenshow runs from Sept 16 to Sept 28 from 10am to 5pm but is closed on the morning or Thursday 19 September and all day Sunday 22 September.