Poems about the Partnership
These poems were written by Clare Whistler, who works wth fellow artist Charlotte Still on the projecct UnderwaterEdge - a journey around the Pevensey Levels. They were created from words spoken at the Partnership meeting on 22nd April 2015 in Arlington.
Drop Level
To address a weir
A tilting weir
A spring loaded tilted weir
To locate a pipe
an elbow pipe
Plans in archive, lost pipe
To open the weir
in two snapped the weir
underneath the river weir
A tilting weir
A spring loaded tilted weir
To locate a pipe
an elbow pipe
Plans in archive, lost pipe
To open the weir
in two snapped the weir
underneath the river weir
Invasive
Invasive
floating penny wort
seed
germination confirmed
on the level
its outside former parameters
floating penny wort
tolerates all
no limit to growth
adapts, survives
is here to stay
floating penny wort
Invaded
floating penny wort
seed
germination confirmed
on the level
its outside former parameters
floating penny wort
tolerates all
no limit to growth
adapts, survives
is here to stay
floating penny wort
Invaded
local knowledge

I’ve seen the river black with sea lampreys
glide shallow glide
over headwaters
in the river at night and day
once you got a skim of bream
they are all gone
the water is clear, clearer
but lost is that healthy colour
swim backwards depressed fish
over submerged archimedes
over the whole thing clotted with structures
impounded by the riverbed
electric fishing
glide shallow glide
over headwaters
in the river at night and day
once you got a skim of bream
they are all gone
the water is clear, clearer
but lost is that healthy colour
swim backwards depressed fish
over submerged archimedes
over the whole thing clotted with structures
impounded by the riverbed
electric fishing
pevensey risk mapping

find old maps
with knowledge
of rainwater
one needs a fresh pair of eyes
to capture water
and open landscape pathways (we plough the fields and scatter)
where poor husbandry
and soil erosion lead to
scratching the top (not in Sussex clay you can’t)
deteriorating water
traces through soils ,slopes, slugs -
they die underground (metaldahyde)
map the stilling basin
where sediment chokes water
bleach washes over watercourses (milk strips oxygen out
then water is dead)
groundwater and the
drip drip drip of pollution
what happens if something gives way (firewater)
agronomists, farmers, responsibilities!
people out there!
be our eyes on the water
with knowledge
of rainwater
one needs a fresh pair of eyes
to capture water
and open landscape pathways (we plough the fields and scatter)
where poor husbandry
and soil erosion lead to
scratching the top (not in Sussex clay you can’t)
deteriorating water
traces through soils ,slopes, slugs -
they die underground (metaldahyde)
map the stilling basin
where sediment chokes water
bleach washes over watercourses (milk strips oxygen out
then water is dead)
groundwater and the
drip drip drip of pollution
what happens if something gives way (firewater)
agronomists, farmers, responsibilities!
people out there!
be our eyes on the water
water bodies

Waterbodies are described by a plethora of different names in English- rivers, streams,ponds,bays, gulfs, and seas to name a few. Many of these terms’ definitions overlap and thus become confusing when one attempts to pigeon-hole a type of water body. http://geography.about.com/od/
classify prioritise protect
EA WFD DEFRA TRAX WDFCIL SDNPA NFU RPA CSF DWPA SSFR
aline elements
on the levels
regards surface water
white ground water
bathing water
the goalposts have moved (repeat)
any actions in waterbodies?
catchments deteriorating
floating reedbeds
point and diffuse
the goalposts have moved (repeat)
waterbodies
natural, artificial, heavily modified
navigate tidal estuary
town on top of a stream
erosion
drainage catch-
ment
surface waters orange
it could hide a whole bunch of things
these goalposts change
a large sigh
waterbodies
ecology is still adapting to the morphologyy of the channel
dissolved oxygen
‘not a proper river’
highly modified waterbodies
local interpretations of
heavily modified waterbodies
diffuse pollution
waterbodies
a plain english explanation
classify prioritise protect
EA WFD DEFRA TRAX WDFCIL SDNPA NFU RPA CSF DWPA SSFR
aline elements
on the levels
regards surface water
white ground water
bathing water
the goalposts have moved (repeat)
any actions in waterbodies?
catchments deteriorating
floating reedbeds
point and diffuse
the goalposts have moved (repeat)
waterbodies
natural, artificial, heavily modified
navigate tidal estuary
town on top of a stream
erosion
drainage catch-
ment
surface waters orange
it could hide a whole bunch of things
these goalposts change
a large sigh
waterbodies
ecology is still adapting to the morphologyy of the channel
dissolved oxygen
‘not a proper river’
highly modified waterbodies
local interpretations of
heavily modified waterbodies
diffuse pollution
waterbodies
a plain english explanation