Fire and Water

Lundy is located off North Devon, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Bristol Channel. Its a rugged and remote Island. Having being fascinated by a documentary that featured Julie Brook’s Fire Stack, I was keen to see if I could create something similar on Lundy. I was intrigued to see how the elements of water and fire would interact with each other.

It was post Christmas, December 2022, when i enlisted a couple of friends to help me build the the stack. We chose the Landing beach, for the location and built what was a modest fire stack. (It took about an hour, rather than the several days it took Brook to build hers). We had to guestimate where exactly on the beach to build it, how long it would take to build and when to light it. I needed the tide to be at a specific point on the beach at a certain time. I wanted to get to the position, where the fire was just at the water line. but it was nature that would decide if it would happen. 

We were in anticipation as each wave came in, wondering what effect the sea would have as it moved in and around the stack. The tidal height was only 1-2m but the waves were rolling in set of varying sizes. As each wave came in, we held our breath, the fire and the stack defending itself from the sea. Until the moment when a larger wave came in, this one was too big and covered the stack completely; consuming it. Each stone tumbled back into the sea and the stack disappeared in a flume of smoke.  Defeated against the oncoming tide the stack succumbed to the sea.

Reference BBC4 Documentary FOREST, FIELD AND SKY and seeing Julia Brocks Fire Stack it was always something