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On the Belper poetry trail in memory of Beth
Five years ago a group of Belper folk embarked on a project to bring poetry to the people of the town.
The poetry would not be in a book, or recited in the Market Place, or thrust in people's faces. It would be subtle, placed around the town so people could just come across it while they were going about their daily business. And it would be called Beth's Poetry Trail.
The trail, which was created in memory of a woman called Beth Fender, who founded the town's two poetry groups, is one of dozens of walks in this year's Autumn Footprints festival, an 11-day programme of walks showing the best of Amber Valley and Erewash.
Reporter Laura Hammond took the opportunity to go and find out more about it.
On a chilly day in 2005 a group of people gathered at Belper's railway station to witness the unveiling of a poem – the first in Beth's Poetry Trail.
Five years on, it is difficult to walk around the town without coming across one of the trail's 20 poems, which have found their way to locations ranging from the River Gardens, to The Queen's Head pub on Chesterfield Road.
"We hoped people would just come across them." said Beth's daughter Hilary, who is one of five people behind the trail. "It's not about ticking off poems on a list,"
The trail follows some of Beth's favourite parts of the town, from the North Mill, where she was a volunteer, to St Laurence Convent, which was the meeting point for one of the town's poetry group, before it was transformed into apartments.
It was set up by the group not only in memory of Beth and her poetic legacy in the town, but also as a way to bring poetry to people.
The idea came from Beth herself, who had seen poetry trails on a trip to America, after she moved to Belper from London in 1992.
Group member Glen Mulliner said: "She was quite excited about it at the time. It was a new thing."
Group members decided after Beth died aged 78, of cancer, that her trail would be quite different to its predecessors.
Unlike those, which were dedicated to just one famous poet, Beth's would feature several different poets, with each selection being appropriate for the location in terms of the poem and the way it is presented.
The two poems at the railway station are about trains, and the Philip Larkin poem on the town library, New Eyes Each Year, is about books.
Two of Beth's own poems are included in the trail, at the convent on Field Lane, and on Short Row, near to the cottage where she lived.
Patricia Bohn, who was a friend of Beth's, said: "I think it's unique in that each of the poems are different.
"I'm sure Beth would have loved it. She would have wanted to give guided walks of it."
By all accounts, Beth was an extraordinary woman, who had a zest for life and a love of Belper and its beautiful surroundings. It is this which the group has tried to capture in the poems on the trail and the way they are displayed.
When the first poem was unveiled on that day in 2005, friend Jean Sealey read a poem she had written for the occasion. It said: "Because she loved poetry, knew what it could offer in so many parts of life, she wanted to share that love and knowledge with any who would accept her gift. Now we, who loved her, want to pass on that offering to you...Beth's trail is for you."
The trail is still thought to be one of the first in the UK, and has been known to attract people from far and wide.
Hilary said: "I think we should all be very proud of ourselves. It's an achievement."
The trail will be featured in Autumn Footprints, which will run from Saturday, September 11
http://www.visitambervalley.com/footprint3.htm
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Weather for Belper
Thursday 09 February 2012
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