The Suffolk Coast- the map book ...progress continues and concludes.

                                                     

 I have spent the last week fiddling and in the end TWO  different map books have appeared.It is an aspect of bookmaking that I really enjoy, something that also applies to printmaking, the unpredictability of it all! 


The first is the basic concertina map with two board covers and attached to the back are pages which describe four significant structures along the coast...Triton(Lowestoft) described in an earlier post, the lighthouse at Southwold, The Northern lookout tower at Aldeburgh and the Martello tower at Felixstowe,close to the foot ferry.There were various making issues along the way but I'm quite pleased with the final result.


The second version resulted from the original idea of having slot-in labels that feature illustrations of the four structures along the coast and text on the reverse.It seemed to take forever to organise and if I make another I think it will have to be slightly bigger to allow the labels to slide in easily and to be able to fit the information on the back of each one. I have given some information about the Triton statue at Lowestoft in my first post.The lighthouse, Southwold was begun in 1887 under the supervision of Sir James Douglass engineer in chief of Trinity House. It is 102 feet tall and replaced three former lighthouses on Orfordness.It began it's working life in 1890 and was electrified and hence de-manned in 1938.It is a real symbol of Southwold and has figured prominently in my paintings.There is something very comforting about this building, nestled amongst cottages,I have  walked past it since a small child. The Lookout tower at Aldeburgh was fascinating.It is strange how you can walk past buildings for years and years but never really consider their original purpose.It was built originally as a pilot station in c.1850 in competition with the South tower further down the beach. Lookout towers were used commercially as observation points to assist in locating vessels in trouble or for salvage.Later a lifeboat station was built adjoining the main building.An interesting aside was that Sir Francis Drake's The Golden Hind was actually built in Aldeburgh too...who knew! A more purposeful trip to the Moot Hall Museum is needed when I am allowed out!The Martello tower is located close to the foot ferry between Old Felixstowe and Bawdsey.It is one of several towers built along this stretch of coast as a response to possible invasion by Napoleonic forces. Some are now made into very unusual homes!

So, the map book of The Suffolk coastline is now complete. I have enjoyed making it as introduction to the more in-depth studies that will follow and I think I will continue the practice as further coastlines are covered.
It think my first place to study will be Thorpeness, a place with many stories to tell!