Why Bogs?
The ecological and human mingle in bogs. They’ve fascinated us so much we tried to talk to them through votive offerings as if to a strange version of ourselves. Now know we need to listen to their needs. Keeping them healthy is keeping us healthy.
If you want to think differently, think about a bog. They are slow places, forming gradually as layer on layer of sphagnum moss and other plant materials builds in the acidic sog. But they also reveal seasonal and momentary change. Bogs are slow yet busy, holding the come and go in the archive.
Above: Tiny forests of sphagnum moss. (Photograph: Rose Ferraby)
Go to a bog at any time of year and there’s always something to see. It might not be obvious but look closely and you’ll find in the moss a miniature forest, great diversity on a small scale. You might see the pink flowers of bog cranberry, or the crimson, dewy heads of sundew. In June, you’ll hear dragonflies and birds thrum and call. There are human stories too, myths and legends of other worlds, underworlds of bog butter and votive boats. We see the reflection of wider society on these places, the effects of economies and social change. Once you’ve got your eye in, there’s so much to discover.
Creative activity can make a subject special and memorable. It can make people care. Working with poetry on the bog is a great way engaging people with these often hard to understand landscapes.
Bogs are thoughtful places. Creative practice allows us to think with through them about our position in the ecosystem and the values of our culture as part of nature, not apart from it.
There is nothing new in this. Caliban summons diseases from the bog when he curses Prospero in The Tempest. Seamus Heaney see the ‘troubles’ of Northern Ireland through our deep-time relationship to the bog. More recently, poets have considered their material and liminal properties, reflecting on how they conceal and envelop, creating a dark, liquid lens on the world.
Above: The rich life of bog pools. (Photograph: Rose Ferraby)
Bog Talk has been excited to celebrate the rich creative potential of bogs. We’ve commissioned new poems from Fiona Benson, Richard Scott and AK Blakemore, and created new education resources and opportunities with the Poetry Society. We’ve use sound recording and listening to place thoughts beneath the surface or to inhabit the perspective of different species.
Now, more than ever, it is vital that we find different opportunities to connect people with bogs to inspire the next generation of bog carers, keepers and dreamers. Find out about practical educational ways to do this this here.
Left to right: Sundew in a restored blog, restored peatlands on Bodmin Moor, red sphagnum moss and John Wedgwood Clarke at Venford Reservoir. (Photographs: Rose Ferraby)
Bog Talk sets out to:
We collaborated with the South West Peatland Partnership on a project based in South West England on Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. These have varied histories, geomorphology and areas of restoration. This has allowed us to look at sites with different conditions, social settings and histories.
Above: Children from local schools inspect a sample of bog water gathered from a site on Dartmoor. The sample is filled with insect larvae, newts and sphagnum moss. (Photograph: S N Pattenden)
The South West Peatland Partnership has undertaken restoration at a wide range of sites. We focused on a small number of these, including Priddacombe and Arthur’s Hall on Bodmin Moor, and Venford Reservoir and Emsworthy Mire on Dartmoor. Repeat visits allowed us to see seasonal changes and understand their particular complexities.
Our work in South West England, reflects wider issues, ideas and responses relevant to peatlands throughout the UK and North West Europe.
Natural England is the government advisor for the natural environment, helping to protect and restore the natural world. Bog Talk has been funded as part of the Protected Sites Strategy
The Poetry Society is the UK’s leading poetry organisation and an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. They have unparalleled access to audiences for poetry as well as the makers of poetry through their Young Poets Network, Stanza Groups, and through their internationally significant publication Poetry Review and Poetry News. They are specialists in the production of educational materials for schools.
The South West Peatland Partnership is a well-established and highly acclaimed project, with a wealth of experience in its team. Winners of the Global Good Awards in 2024, they are recognised for their holistic and collaborative approach. They were interested in collaborating as part of their ongoing work to use creative methods to engage people in ideas of landscape change and peatland restoration, and to share knowledge and resources for education in schools. They provided the on-the-ground access, knowledge, practical networks and collaboration with schools’ work.
Professor John Wedgwood Clarke is a poet, prose non-fiction writer and editor, and is Professor of Poetry at the University of Exeter. He has run many years of experience of leading interdisciplinary projects working between arts and sciences. John’s poetry collections include Landfill (Valley Press 2017) and Boy Thing (Arc 2023). His poetry is often part of collaborative projects with scientists and other artists, and has been displayed in art galleries, museums and in the landscape. His latest poetry project Red River [redriverpoetry.com] explored the landscape of Cornwall and became one of a series of programmes that he has presented for BBC FOUR.
Dr Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose work often explores our relationships with landscape through time. Her transdisciplinary approach has been employed at archaeological sites, museums, nature recovery and rewilding projects, including the British Museum, National Trust and Knepp, as well as academic research projects. Her creative practice combines visual art and creative writing, and includes collage, printmaking, illustration and book design, sound, film and broadcasting. She writes and presents for BBC Radio 3 and 4.
Dr Lucy Mercer is a poet and writer. Her debut poetry collection Emblem (Prototype, 2022) was a Poetry Book Society Choice. Her nonfiction essay Afterlife, which examines materiality, ecology and creative practice, will be published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. Her creative practice often combines research from the environmental humanities with visual arts. She is Postdoctoral Research Fellow on RENEW, working on engagement projects with BookTrust, the UK’s largest reading charity, the National Trust, and the Literature X Ecology series, which interviews leading contemporary poets writing on ecological themes.
