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14
Oct
Simon Armitage poem at Brimham Rocks in bid for survival
In June 2023, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage unveiled a poem carved into stones at Brimham Rocks.
However, planning permission to install the artwork in the Site of Special Scientific Interest was only granted for three years.
Now the National Trust, which owns the site, has applied to make the poetry permanent.
The words were inscribed on two stones close to a footpath on the edge of the moorland at Brimham Rocks.
The trust's letter requesting the retention of the artwork highlights that there has been no negative impact on the landscape as a result of the installation.
Mr Armitage, who has been Poet Laureate since 2019, composed Balancing Act based on the popular Nidderdale attraction. The work was commissioned by the trust.
The Yorkshire-born poet uses the poem to illustrate why the rocks are such a significant spot for both visitors and nature.
Two large stones – which double-up as an art installation – each showcase a verse of the poem. They have been positioned at Brimham on the north moor, next to the rocks to offer a place of reflection and serenity.
At the time of the unveiling, Mr Armitage said:
Coming back to the area as an adult and a poet they were no less fascinating and mysterious but carried new messages connected to the environment, the precarious state of nature and the importance of wild spaces to our well-being.
I also discovered that Brimham Rocks is more than just the stones, and the poem is a celebration of the wider ecosystem, from some of its more glamorous and obvious manifestations to micro-organisms, open moorland, and seemingly empty skies.
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