About the Service
Points of Interest
Users of the Park and Ride Service will notice a unique cultural addition in the form of creative text printed both on the back of bus tickets and also permanently included on glass at the Belmont and Howlands sites and stonework at the Sniperley site.Poetry and Art
"We are pleased to welcome an artist to take an interesting and innovative view of the project." said John McGargill, the County Council's Park and Ride Project Manager. "The involvement of an artist at an early stage of the project has been a new approach which ensures a cultural input is not overlooked when aiming to deliver a high quality public facility."
The writing has been created by Subhadassi who was commissioned by Durham County Council for the project. With guidance from Neil Hillier, the County Council's Arts Projects Manager, the commission was aimed at focussing on journeys and transport.
"The work aims to begin conversation with people about their journeys. The texts do this by encouraging readers to reflect on and broaden their notion of their own journeys by bringing historical and symbolic resonance to them." said Subhadassi.
About Subhadassi
Subhadassi was born in Huddersfield in 1967. After completing a degree in Chemistry at Nottingham University, he studied Humanities at Leeds University. He was ordained into the Western Buddhist order in Spain in 1992 and in 1993 moved to the north-east of England where he lectured in Chemistry and established the Newcastle Buddhist Centre. His chapbook Sublunary Voodoo was published by MUDFOG in 1998, and since then he has worked primarily as a freelance writer, undertaking various commissions, residencies and creative writing teaching work. He moved to Cumbria to establish a rural Buddhist centre and to continue exploring the relationship between art, Buddhism and western culture. He is currently writing an introduction to Buddhism.Belmont Site
At the Belmont Site look out for the following text:
Firewood and snipe,
Oak, sliproad and balsam.
Hill and river, sea and sky.
Gospel and wheat,
Whin, hazel and mustard
Hill and river, sea and sky
Elvet and bridge,
Ash, castle and tourist.
Hill and river, sea and sky.
Badger and track,
Gate, hawthorn and engine.
Hill and river, sea and sky.
Station and owl,
Moor, suburb and turnpike.
Hill and river, sea and sky.
Sniperley Site
The Sniperley site presents the text in a slightly different setting. The poem is inspired by the ancient Anglo Saxon tradition of charm. This is a journey charm:
May no fog hinder you.
May no march bog you down.
May each new season stir you
And all the folk you meet
Guide you safely on your way.
May your journey be a good one.
Howlands Park Site
The Howlands Park site presents text based on the traditional Japanese poetic form the Haiku. Durham’s Oriental museum is located close to the site and the Botanic Gardens oriental section which also influenced the form of writing.
From High fells
She plunges into the city.
Day after day
Earth silent
Under tarmac.
Old Roads -
Always ready
To ferry him home.
Bus Tickets
Bus tickets will carry translated versions of the Machado poem. They are referencing the notion of the 'journey through life'. Why not aim to collect the full set of three?
Traveller, each foot you place
Makes up the road. Unless
You tread the way, it's dead.
Forsaken. Waterlogged.
Traveller, the steps you tread
make up the road.
You need to know -
without your stride there is no path
If you turn back to glimpse the way
You've driven fast or slowly loped,
know that track's already lost.
