I'll see you at Walfords Gibbet at 9.00 then?
Who could possible have an office out on the fringes of the the Quantocks, beneath twisted scrub Oak and wheeling honey Buzzards? Well Owen Jones of course, the Park Ranger for Quantocks ANOB and The Forestry Commission. The appointment was to see whether I could add Coleridge inspired poetry to their finger posts along the Coleridge Way. So rather than meet in an office, and look at photographs along maps it just seemed more sensible to go to one of the locations, and talk in situ.
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| Watery Lane, Nether Stowey |
Owen was keen that I show him a finished example, but all I had was this rather rough test (which I had managed to snap in half last week!) So it took me a while talking about what I was doing, why I was doing it, what was the purpose, and that when all was said and done, the final product would be absolutely A1, (not clumsy and hefty like my test piece!) That was really an experiment to see if laser etching could actually work, to see whether I could cut slate efficiently enough to then scan back with a smart phone. The answer was a tentative yes, which was exactly Owen's reservations, especially the tentative bit, I assured him the finished pieces will be thinner, greener, neater, visually cleaner, and just look like they were there from the beginning.
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| Laser cut slate. |
After a while he was convinced enough to approve and put his faith in me that I won't be going crazy and putting QR codes on every post. Which was not what I intended, just a few to start with and see how they are received. So with a little luck these should be installed sometime in May ready for the walking season ahead.
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| Story Box, one of six to be placed along the Coleridge Way this summer |
But whilst I was on a roll and getting approval for the QR codes, I also asked whether we could have a story box along Watery Lane, and again (after a bit of explaining) we are good to go. There are rules which I need to abide by, but Owen was happy that the box would only be there for the summer and hopefully add another string to the reasons people should enjoy the Quantock hills this year.
