MA1 VE: Form, Frame, Fracture – Site Visit to Scotts Dike

‘Frame’ – A site visit to Scotts Dike

Sat 5^th Nov I did a field trip to visit the Scotts Dike, a site on the Scottish / English Border line within an area known as the ‘Debatable’ lands. I had looked at the location on Google maps and had seen it was a wooded area, but apart from this I didn’t know what to expect. I parked up in a layby with a large ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign in front of me. Just a few hundred feet down the road I had passed a reciprocal sign saying ‘Welcome to Cumbria’ with an England flag. Straight away, I had the curious strange feeling of being in a no man’s land and historically this is what the debatable lands was – a lawless no man’s land inhabited by cross border raiders.

Above: The walk up to Scotts Dike

I proceed on foot to start my site visit survey and headed to a hotel called the ‘March Bank’. Looking for an entry point to the Scott’s Dike, I walked up the drive way and a kind lady asked me ‘are you looking for Scotts Dike?’. She gave me an escort to the discreet path that leads up to the Dike. As we walked along, she pointed to a few of the houses stating ‘that one there is in England and that one there is in Scotland’.  It was fascinating to see identity up close like this, how within the space of just a few feet an individual’s identity, their beliefs, alliances, allegiances and spoken accent can change so dramatically.

Above:  The starting point to explore the area

Through the undergrowth and stinging nettles I battled and headed up the hill and onto the Dike itself. I really had no idea what to expect and was greeted by a type of bridge / viewing platform that appeared to stretch across the dike. There was not another soul around, expect for some horse and donkey in the field nearby. It was indeed strange to actually stand on the border. At this point, it made me realise how much we take borders for granted. No one every really sees this one, most of us drive past and though it on the main road without really thinking or paying too much attention. So here I was straddling the border. There is a form here, it is a straight line and I was now going to try and follow it.

Above: The Scotts Dike, the actual border between Scotland and England

It was difficult to walk along the actual dyke. Over the centuries, trees have grown and covered the area making the terrain tough going. There was a path that walkers have carved out over the decades, so I followed this. It ran along parallel with the Dike and I walk along, filming some video as I went. I wanted to capture this experience of mapping and traversing the border line. The wind blew all around and was shaking the ferns and the trees. The bright sun penetrated the thick forest growth, with shafts of light dappling the forest floor. Following the path I traversed over the border a few times, jumping between countries. I reach the point where the path petered out.

Above: The think and dense forest

Before too long, I was wading through the undergrowth and looking for ways to proceed. Wandering off in all directions, trying to find a way forward my mind started to drift. Here I was on my own, exploring in the woods and trying to find a way to follow a border line and also to find my way across it. I came across fences and gated that seemed to bar my way ahead – or at least they did in my mind. The whole scenario began to shift in experience from a benign walk following the form of a very old earth work to a simulated attempt to cross a border illegally. This may sound a bit like a constructed narrative to give some colour to the site visit. When one is alone at the site and the full history of the subject is at the foremost in one’s mind, the subjective can take over. The mind is also fuelled by the senses which are being stimulated by the light, sounds, colours, textures and temperatures of the surrounding environment. As I walked around, trying different ways to get through the thick trees and vegetation I totally lost track of which side of the border I was actually in. I didn’t know if I was in England or Scotland.

Above: Gates and fences give feelings of control over entry and exits

Having been to a lot of countries and crossed borders in cars, this experience was totally different from anything that can be imagined. At one point, I stood and had one foot on either side of a different country. The feelings and impressions that were generated while alone in the ‘zone’ area of the border were that of fuzziness, blurred lines, ideas of escape and secret places. However the opposite was true when I met and spoke with local people. There was a feeling of kindness, friendliness and most of all despite the proximity of a border – togetherness. My line of though headed towards repeatedly asking myself ‘Why do we actually need borders? What do we really use them for?’. The site and place of this border area was a peaceful, tranquil place. It would be quite unimaginable there ever being a wall (or fence) being built here again, in a similar fashion to Hadrian’s wall. However with the current political climate it seems that we can now not be entirely sure of this.

Above:  Standing on the border

My thoughts after the site visit are that I would like to explore the concept of ‘frame’ by using the video footage that I gathered at the site. I would like to frame the key words of fuzziness, blurred lines, escape and secret. The next step in the process will be to look at the source footage and experiment with techniques and methods in editing. I would like to test some ideas to see where they lead in terms of being creative.