One of eight works made in response to the question, If You Could Save One Place . . .

Recently I welcomed a wonderful daughter into the world and not so long ago I bid farewell to a wonderful Dad of my own. Unfortunately, the world’s timeline wouldn’t quite bend to accommodate a meeting between the two.

Amongst all the other mind-boggling realisations and adjustments that come with love and loss and parenting, it’s encouraged me to explore my relationship with my own parents more deeply and look at the unique threads that connect us and the generations to come. One of these invisible threads is a sense of place.

For me, no location offers a trove of sacred stories and memories like the rugged little coves of Lansallos beach in Cornwall. I remember my Dad telling me about being taken there as a kid and now I’ve had the chance to wander down to that same secluded little rocky world with my own child. There’s something very grounding about that. Especially given that the landscape has hardly changed over the decades so it’s even easier for your mind to time-travel back and forth.

When asked ‘If I Could Save One Place…’ it would be here. Not because of the luscious fern-laden walkways or the trees shaped by the wind, not because of the nonchalant horses or the valiant cold-water dips, but because of the story it holds.