Summer snapshot of English countryside and coast 2011
'I have discovered that the seven miles between Maidstone and Rochester is one of the most beautiful walks in all England' wrote Charles Dickens to his friend and biographer Forster in a letter dated 27th September 1857
I want to show you how well chosen pictures can help you communicate a really powertful message. They really can save you a thousand words.
My shot of the river Medway, that appears above, shows it flowing through the gap, (now known as the Valley of Visions), that it has cut through the chalk of the Kent Downs, near Medway. See how Dickens’s words add to the power of the image when set alongside as a caption.
The words of the greatest writers can be used for marketing purposes, although you must still take care that the context of their use is entirely appropriate, and be prepared to seek permission from the author’s descendants. Naturally, it’s an advanatege when the text is out of copyright, as in the case of Dickens, because no royalty is payable; but acknowledgement of the source is still a pre-requisite. Great words can help you tell a story that makes a real impression on the mind, or teaches you something that will always be remembered.
I've been amazed by the lack of crowds in August in a region designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Dickens accompanied his father on long walks here in the Medway Valley during his childhood, before returning in later life.
I’m sharing some of the photos I’ve been taking while walking in the local countryside of Kent this summer. See how, when the words of one of our greatest writers about the places pictured are added, the images take on an entirely new life and significance. It all supports my belief that the Dickens connection willl encourage tourism to the countryside of Kent as well as towns and cities in 2012, which will mark the bicentenary of his birth. Read more about Dickens 2012.
Dickens actually grew up in the nearby Medway town of Chatham, and chose to live out his final years at Gad’s Hill Place, overlooking the same part of the Medway valley, above the village of Cuxton, which is shown in the picture below. I’m starting to understand why.
Dickens's last home at Gads Hill Place in Higham, which enjoys fine views over the Medway valley, is located near the crest of the Kent Downs above the village of Cuxton
Dickens knew Kent well, and loved it so deeply that he chose to honeymoon in the county, spent many holidays along its coastline, and featured it in many of his best loved novels, including ‘ Great Expectations’ and ‘David Copperfield’.
Can anything beat a walk on a sunny summer day in our own green and pleasant land? Dickens enjoyed the solitude of walks from Dover while he was writing Bleak House. He particularly appreciated the break from noise, which disturbed his concentration.
What has really amazed me as I’ve shot these images of beautiful countryside, is how empty some parts of the landscape still are. They must be pretty much unchanged since Dickens came this way. He spent many holidays writing in Dover Folkestone and Broadstairs.
Here’s what he wrote about his coastal walks in south east Kent when he was writing for his magazine Household Words in Folkestone in 1851
Our situation is delightful, our air is delicious, and our breezy hills and downs, carpeted with wild thyme, and decorated with millions of wild flowers, are, on the faith of a pedestrian, perfect.
Wild flowers above the white cliffs of Kent, where Dickens enjoyed 'going for a blow'
Britain is actually a pretty crowded island. Southern England has an average population density of around 658 people per square kilometre (which is greater than the average for the Netherlands) and yet it’s still possible, indeed I’d even say easy, to get away from it all, if you know where to go and are prepared to walk – like Dickens did – even on summer weekends, as my pictures illustrate.
This magificent view looking west from the cliffs above South Foreland towards Dover harbour is likely to have been on the route of one of Dickens's 20 mile walks from Dover.
Writers sometimes get stressed out and find themselves in need of a break. Dickens was no exception. Here he is again, writing to fellow author Wilkie Collins about taking a break from working on Little Dorritt in Folkestone in 1855:
‘You know my state of mind as well as I do. How I work, how I walk, how I shut myself up, how I roll down hills and climb up cliffs; how the new story is everywhere, heaving on the sea, flying with the clouds, blowing in the wind; how I settle to nothing’.
Dickens’s writing reaches across the years as only the greatest can. In another letter, written to his actor friend Macready the same year, Dickens wrote that he was constantly tempted ‘to run out on the breezy downs here, tear up the hills, slide down the same and conduct myself in a frenzied manner, for the relief that only exercise gives me.’ I understand the feeling: working hard makes me feel I need to take a trip to the gym myself to unwind.
Follow in Dickens's footsteps on a round trip walk to St Margaret's Bay starting from the National Trust White Cliffs Visitor Centre, just east of Dover Castle.
In a letter to his wife dated May 1856, Dickens told her that he ‘did nothing at Dover (except for Household Words), and have not begun Little Dorrit no. 8 yet (his novels were written and published in instalments). But I took twenty- mile walks in the fresh air and perhaps in the long run did better than if I had been at work’. It could almost have been written yesterday.
Until next time…
Virtual Viv is part of the team at Manifold Associates, working in the UK and travelling the world independently to inform you with incisive commentary in words and pictures about things that matter in marketing. Freelance assignments welcomed. Maybe you’re a business looking to capitalise on the opportunities that London 2012 or Dickens 2012 might bring to you. We’re flexible and versatile. If you’d like to discuss how we might be able to help you, please get in touch.