At the Chalk Pit. 14 August 2009

I arrived half an hour before I was due to be on site and already had one person waiting for me. It was no surprise that this was the gentleman that left a message on my phone earlier in the week. Over the course of the next 3 days I gained a real insight into the Chalk Pit from his perspective (he is a retired 5 times a day dog walker). He had a particular interest in the ecology and history of the site and had a lot to say about the destructive and negative impact of the youth at the Chalk pit. Many that I met over the next 3 days shared his passion for the place.

I set up my Gazebo, tables and large-scale map/drawing that I had produced in the studio and before I had finished getting set up I was already getting interest. I had a constant flow of people coming over and talking to me, telling me how they used the chalk pit, aspirations and concerns about it, the history, ecology and stories ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Two thirds of the people that I spoke to during the day were under 14 (the rest were predominantly over 50) and it gave me a real insight into how the chalk pit was currently being used and the kind of things they like doing, and what made the place special for them.

The most memorable aspects of the first day were being shown the newts and the bike jump, talking to a family of nine, including two parents with 5 children under 12, nan and uncle, for over an hour, listening to the tales of Billy Butcher, from WWII to UFO’s (and lots more), talking to the community wardens and chatting to groups of up to 8 children at a time about caves, football, playing man hunt, riding bikes, peregrine falcons and lots more. I commented to one young boy that “is it just boys that come here”, he rode off on his bike and came back a few minutes later with sisters and their friends.