Willen Lake - A Place of Balance

          

Willen Lake North and Willen Village, 19 November 2013

 
          Willen Lake is young, just completed in 1974. At its most northerly point the lake nestles up against the ancient village also called Willen. Willen Village is known to be over 800 years old. Lake and village both take their name from the Anglo-Saxon word Willenge. Willenge means Willow tree. You will find Willows everywhere along the banks of the lake and overhanging the village paths.  
 

Willow Trees by Willen Lake

In the fading light of an autumn afternoon the waters of Willen Lake reflect back the sun's rays as if those waters have always been there. 

 Records first noted the village in the 12th century. Pasture and farm land made up the land currently underwater. The current church, still in use, was built in 1680. Construction of the lake began in 1972. Mother Nature brought about the lake’s actual birth a bit prematurely with heavy rains early in 1974.

Rain at Willen

The engineers who conceived it meant the lake to be a place of balance (definition of a balancing lake), and I think they succeeded. Of course, practical dreamers, the engineers' goal was to avoid an increase in flooding. The lake catches rain water that cannot be absorbed by urban concrete and slowly releases it into the River Ouzel. But the lake also balances the needs of nature and the local human population in other ways as well.

Running around Willen Lake

The western bank of Willen Lake, north and south, is full of things humans like to do. The eastern bank is bare of anything but grass and trees and the walking paths that circle the entire lake. The lake's total circumference, for those of you who wish to run, cycle, walk or chase your dog around the entire body of water, is said to be 3.13 miles or 5.04 kilometres.

      Willen Lake South is a place especially designed for human fun. Here you can go peddle-boating, sailing or kayaking. On its shores you can challenge yourself on a ropes course that includes a thousand-foot sheer drop called Goliath. There are tennis courts, a crazy golf, ice cream vans and a more conventional children’s playground. In the northeast corner of the southern lake you will find a large cable-tow facility for water-skiing. 

Water skier at Willen Lake South cable tow facility - photo by Lynette Hill

         Willen Lake North has been left to nature. It is quiet, a place for thinking, bird-watching and fishing. On the west bank you will find the first Zen Buddhist Peace Pagoda built in the western world, a Native American medicine wheel, even an outdoor labyrinth to walk in contemplative meditation. In other words, here is a space for your own thoughts. Here is a place you can use to seek your own balance.

Labyrinth beside Willen Lake North - Photo by Lynette Hill

University of the Air

Imagine this: you are walking down covered pathways on a university campus. It's a cold but sunny autumn day. Random sounds occur at unexpected places. A chime sounds and artificial wind blows out of hidden speakers. Disembodied voices make important-sounding statements.  It’s a bit like being a character in a movie, with your own soundtrack.

Ruth at the O.U.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its conception, the Open University commissioned four artists to develop works celebrating the university’s strongest fields. As my partner Ruth works at the Milton Keynes campus we took advantage of a sunny Sunday afternoon on 10 November 2013 to check out a work titled ‘On Air.’ The newspaper advertisement described it as ‘an immersive sound experience.’

???

At least, that was my initial reaction. I wasn’t sure what an ‘immersive sound experience’ was until we actually walked through it. It is the sort of thing you really need to experience to understand.

The creator of this experience is Caroline Devine, an artist who creates exclusively with sound. Among other things, she experiments with the way different tones resonate against a particular material. Tones in a place enclosed by brick walls will vibrate differently than an area surrounded by wood or metal. Of course the size and shape of the space makes a difference. We experience this every day, but how often do we actually listen to what is happening?

Jane Muir's 'For and Against'

To create the work, Caroline hid speakers along the paths of the campus art walk to play a repeating track of voices and sounds.

When we began the walk we found the artist sitting by herself near the start point of the installation, microphone in hand. Yes, she was recording, she told us. That’s what she does.

She was inspired, Caroline said, by the university’s original name:  the University of the Air.

Tom Harvey tree sculpture

The University of the Air was first proposed in 1963 as a correspondence college to improve educational opportunities throughout Britain. Today, according to the university’s web site, it provides long distance training to more than 240,000 students from the United Kingdom and Europe.

Personally I think they should have kept the original name.

To create the soundtrack itself, ‘I recorded the lecturers and plundered the (university) archives,’ Caroline told us. You can check out this interview with Caroline about the Milton Keynes installation on Youtube here.

The brochure of the event describes the work as ‘a 60 channel sound installation which transforms the air and animates the architectural and acoustic space around it.’

The brochure goes on to say that 'Caroline has explored the theme of OU research in design and technology, integrating an acoustic layer which allows fragments of thoughts, voices, knowledge, research and histories of The Open University to float on the air.’ 

I have to say we enjoyed the work, we enjoyed the walk, and we were definitely more aware of our surroundings as a result of having this experience.

 

Finding Jack in the Woods

photo by Lynette Hill

 Linford Wood is the place I escape to at lunchtime for a walk and a bit of fresh air. My sandwiches always taste better beside the small pond at the base of a lichen-covered old oak, twisted by wind and time. Footprints in the pond’s muddy bank tell me that the local muntjac deer, foxes and other wildlife visit as well.

But I don't come here just to commune with Mother Nature. I have an opportunity to enjoy locally created artwork as well. If I follow that path over there I’ll find myself in the company of tiny men in top hats, great baboon heads, howling trolls and the occasional wooden owl, badger or crocodile. Rupert Bear stands at attention in the side of the tree stump that provides the raw material for his creation. He marks the beginning (or end, depending on how you go) of the art trail.      

Rupert Bear - photo by Lynette Hill

The creatures are sculpted out of stumps and fallen branches by an artist known only as Jack. Those who walk through the wood regularly often see him at work. The Milton Keynes Parks Trust, which owns the wood, gave the sculptor permission to begin his work in 1990. He’s been busy ever since. His creations tend to be off in the bushes, tucked away for the unwary to stumble upon. It helps to have an adventurous child or nosy dog to follow – someone inclined to dart off the main path to find what’s hidden just over there in the underbrush.

New pieces with the light tan of fresh-carved wood do stand out from the greens and browns of the main forest. But that only lasts for a little while. Sun and rain soon return Jack’s creations to the dark brown of any weathered stump. Grass, brambles, moss and fungi grow up again with no respect at all for the artist's efforts.

photo by Lynette Hill

Milton Keynes is one of Britain’s newer towns, founded in 1967 to provide homes for London's burgeoning post-war generation. The Milton Keynes Parks Trust was created to protect and maintain this remnant of 5,000-year-old forest and other natural areas within the town limits. Linford Wood is listed in the Domesday Book and the trust's website notes that the park was first enclosed in 1264 by Baron Von Pippard, owner of the Linford Wood Manor estate. It was known for its wildlife even then. The first complaint of poaching came in 1283.

photo by Lynette Hill

Today, wood-chip covered horse trails cut through the ancient wood. Paved walking paths make it accessible for wheelchairs and buggies. In season, a line of trees along the path off Sunrise Drive provide tart cooking apples which are free to anyone who enjoys foraging. You will find blackberries and plenty of mushrooms here as well.

photo by Lynette Hill

If you choose to drive to Linford Wood, you can use the large communications tower on Saxon Street between Dansteed Way and Monks Way as a handy landmark. You will find free parking next to a British Petroleum garage. Follow the path from that car park into the wood. The picnic area will be up the path to your left and the entrance to the art trail up the path on your right.

Hourly buses stop nearby on Saxon Street, Monks Way, Dansteed Way and Marlborough Street. The park is open all hours.

Click here to find a map of the area.