My explorations around Anglesey came about as a consequence of winning the Fitzroy Prize For Painting 2020. A competition on the theme of “The Weather Forecast” and in conjunction with the 160th anniversary of The Royal Charter Storm.

 

The images travel through the landscape; from lighthouse to lifeboat station, from slate quarry to copper mine, from shoreline to seabed; while also reflecting on my own personal connections to island life and beyond. 

​

I was born and brought up on the island of Hoy in Orkney.

My family have strong lifeboat links. My Dad was the mechanic and latterly the coxswain of the Longhope Lifeboat, and his brother died in the tragedy of the Longhope Lifeboat disaster of 1969. The relationship of this event to the Royal Charter Storm of 1859 was the nucleus for my explorations around Anglesey.

 

The obvious place for my journey around Anglesey to start was at the Moelfre Lifeboat Centre. Here the connections of life experiences to my home island are very apparent.

This is also the home of the story of The Royal Charter Storm.

On 26 October 1859, The Royal Charter, a steamship en route to Liverpool from Melbourne was wrecked off the east coast of Anglesey in a ferocious storm which ripped through the Irish sea.

A legendary event on Anglesey, not least due to the heroic efforts of locals from Moelfre. In a dreadful twist of fate, the ship was carrying a cargo of gold and many of the people on board had sewn gold into their clothes. Upon entering the sea, they were immediately committed to the seabed. 

One of the lesser known consequences of the Royal Charter Storm was it’s influence on the modern day shipping forecast and the development of the Meteorological Office. Captain Robert Fitzroy, who was in charge of the office at the time, brought in the first gale warning service in 1860 to prevent similar tragedies, and coined the term “The Weather Forecast”.

 

After that I felt free to see where my nose lead me...

I stopped off in the town called Amlwch and went for a wander. I kept seeing signs about copper everywhere and ended up asking someone about it. Before I knew it I was down at the port looking at the amazing old stone structure of a fairly large port. This was where copper was shipped from back when the copper mine was open in the late 18th century. Another chat to a local there lead me to Parys Mountain, the site of the copper mines. I felt like I was the one that had discovered the treasure first when I found this place. It's like a cross between the moon and heaven and hell!

 

That was me hooked.... I was searching for treasure now wherever I went....

I visited the old slate quarries just outside Anglesey in Snowdonia. 

I was drawn to do a bit of lighthouse spotting.

I waded to wee islands where churches had been built, one being Llandwyn Island which is where St Dwynwen, Wales' patron saint of love, set up a convent after suffering a broken heart. Here you'll find Crochan Llanddwyn, meaning Llanddwyn's cauldron, which is a small wishing well that is located in a rabbit warren between the island and Newborough. According to folklore, if the water of the well boils while visitors are present, love and good luck will follow.

 

Treasures - gold copper slate love ....etc etc, the forever searching for riches, the power and lack of power, the work force, the slave labour, the authority, the hope and hopelessness, the bounty of the earth and sea... and the many holes we go down to find it.... a jumble of thoughts lead me back to the initial topic of the painting competition "The Shipping Forecast", . I looked up "cast" in the dictionary and was presented with so many meanings. The ones that jumped out at me were -

1. cause light or shadow to appear on a surface

2. shed in the process of growth

3. cast a spell, cause to take affect

4. shape metal or other substance by pouring into a form while molten.

5. the character of something, or the form or appearance of something

6. to play a character

7. something that protects something that is broken

8. throw something - eg. fishing line, dice... or "cast an idea to the wind"..

​

I have divided the exhibition into three mini series.

Click the images below to travel through the many riches of Anglesey and beyond….