e K
Issue 3
MIND’S EYE nt Rust
Peace in
Ciara Barley
n o z a m A Grac
Blan
e
ka K uzni row
ska
We’re
Human only
This
old
HOUSE Tilly Robins on Leona Eissen & s
Anna Vart
Beyond
the
PA L E
Hermio
ne Esp eni
lla
Iron
HARVEST Luke Bowley & Isabel Calder
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
1
Front cover: Dungeness Inside cover: St Thomas a Beckett Church, Fairfield, Romney Marsh 2 Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
Welcome
to Mind’s Eye Kent, a magazine for school pupils in East Kent who wish to write about places and people in their world, past and present. In this third edition, some writers pay tribute, through the ghostly remnants of war, to the role of Kent in defending our freedom from foreign tyranny, and others lament the way we destroy ourselves, and the beautiful world around us, by pursuing wealth, empowerment and perfection. Sad though the following pages may be, there is much joy too: the youth of Kent states its love of beauty and justice, and does so with precocious and poetic eloquence.
Anthony Lyons Editor ajwl@kings-school.co.uk w w w. m i n d s e y e m a g a z i n e . c o m D e s i g n : w w w. c o b w e b c r e a t i v e . o rg
Contents 4 | The Iron Harvest
22 | Losing the Plot
Luke Bowley & Isabel Calder Herne Bay High
James Malaty & Eleanor James Herne Bay High
6 | Amazon Grace
18 | Last Defence
Blanka Kuznirowska St Anselm’s
Freya Howell Herne Bay High
10 | Beyond the Pale
20 | We’re Only Human
Hermione Espenilla St Anselm’s
Anna Vart St Anselm’s
16 | Rust in Peace
24 | This Old House
Ciara Barley Herne Bay High
Tilly Robinson & Leona Eissens Herne Bay High
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
3
The
n Irrvo est
Ha
4
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
After 100 years of official remembrance, the First World War may be fading from memory, but LUKE BOWLEY and ISABEL CALDER discover battlefields that still throw up poignant reminders of ‘the war to end all wars’.
I
n this landscape of pain and death, over The leather from soldiers’ boots survives time many scars have been unveiled. remarkably well, although the boots are Local people live with knowledge of the often torn apart. Dull, grey marbles of ‘iron harvest’, tonnes of shells, shrapnel hide among the bombs and bullets uncovered dirt. After rain they shine. Their stories are now every year by farmers and told by what they have Bursting from shells in the construction workers. But it left behind, reminding sky and scattering wildly in is the smaller items that are all directions, this deadly us perhaps of a most haunting. hail would claim the lives of freezing and terrified scores of men in an average, young man who held a pocket watch with Pocket watches are not uneventful day on the numb fingers. unusual. After 100 years in Western Front. Even fragile the earth the metal glimmers medicine bottles can be in the mud, a trickle of chain still attached. found, their tinted dark glass cracked from Mint-green verdigris fogs up the cracked head to toe. The bent remains of rifles are glass like a shield from further trauma. Their pulled to the surface by ploughing. Often, fragile hands are stopped in time. their damp and rotten wood is still intact. They look like fallen branches. It is hard not to wonder about the secrets they hold. Were they parting gifts from wives On the battlefields of Northern France and and girlfriends, mothers and fathers? Were Flanders, agriculture is still a dominant way they passed down through the generations? of life. Ploughing and the building of new Did their owners make it home? roads, homes and supermarkets will bring them once more into the daylight. Looking at the empty farming fields today, it’s hard to understand the blood, sweat and In these places brave men risked all. Some tears they’ve witnessed. Birds scatter from were rewarded with their lives, while others the trees when mud squelches under tractor weren’t so lucky. The sad truth is that not one tyres. Otherwise there is stillness and quiet man who fought here is still alive today. And in these foggy acres. Yet the earth guards a so their stories are now told by what they story. Shells smeared with blood-red rust have left behind, reminding us perhaps of a slowly rot away; many are still deadly a freezing and terrified young man who held century on. Smothered in clay, battered and a pocket watch with numb fingers while he heavily punctured steel helmets decay. served his country and thought of home.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
5
With Climate Change top of the agenda, BLANKA KUZNIROWSKA knows one thing: by felling the forest we doom ourselves.
“
THE PLANTS FROM RAINFORESTS, NOT JUST THE AMAZON, ARE USED FOR ALL TYPES OF MEDICATION THAT CAN HELP FIGHT DISEASES SUCH AS CANCER.
8
90 square miles of forest are burned every year. That’s eleven football pitches a day. But forests such as the Amazon Rainforest are home to all kinds of species of exotic and rare animals and plants – in fact, the plants from rainforests, not just the Amazon, are used for all types of medication that can help fight diseases such as cancer. But when the demand for palm oil and roads expands, so does the scale of deforestation. At its present rate we will soon no longer have such extraordinary biodiversity. Brazilian model and businesswoman, Gisele Bundchen, says, ‘Deforestation leads to ecosystem losses that damage our livelihoods.’ The human race can no longer disregard what’s happening to our forests. Soon, my children, your children or maybe even your grandchildren will grow up in a world where they can see the mighty Orangutan only in pictures. These animals are suffering greatly because fewer trees means fewer habitats, and food sources are becoming scarce, which leads to numerous species becoming endangered since they have not adapted to conditions outside the forest. Despite everything, opportunities surface through the burdening negatives. Deforestation has allowed most people of Brazil, Colombia and Peru to be offered jobs that provide them with a minimum wage. 6
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
n o z a m A
Grace
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
7
“
FEWER TREES MEANS FEWER HABITATS, AND FOOD SOURCES ARE BECOMING SCARCE, WHICH LEADS TO NUMEROUS SPECIES BECOMING ENDANGERED.
Major industries such as the Formal Timber Sector employ more than 13.2 million people, benefiting not only the workers but also the economy when the material gained from deforestation is sold or used for further agriculture.
These breathtaking ancient forests that were here before our great great grandparents are being wiped out in front of our eyes.
“
WHEN THE TREES ARE CUT DOWN THE CO2 THEY HAVE ABSORBED DURING PHOTOSYNTHESIS IS RELEASED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.
8
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
But such ecological measures are never enough. These breathtaking ancient But do these opportunities outweigh forests that were here before our great the damage done to the forest? When great grandparents are being wiped major industries realize the destruction out in front of our eyes and all most of they’re causing some find sustainable us do is idly stare. When the trees are ways to cut down trees – for example, cut down the CO2 they have absorbed selective logging: only during photosynthesis older or inferior trees is released into are cut down, which the atmosphere. The Amazon forest is much less harmful The Amazon forest consumes as much to the environment. as 2 billion tons of consumes as much CO2, making it a vital Animals transport, as 2 billion tons of ecosystem that assists such as elephants, is CO2, making it a vital us in our battle against used to reduce damage ecosystem that assists global warming. when the logs are us in our battle against brought out. And some global warming. Think companies require new of all the CO2 that is trees to be planted to replace those lingering in the air because of us. We cut down, ensuring there will be trees may not see it, but it’s there, slowly for future generations and for animal destroying the Earth. species to return to the forest. Tropical deforestation now emits more CO2 than the EU. We cannot afford to ignore the Earth’s cry for help. The forests are our lungs, and without them we won’t be able to breathe. Author Anthony Hincks once declared, ‘Burn the forests if you will, but you will only scorch your own lungs.’ By tearing down our forests we are only suffocating ourselves, and it’s time to fight as a community for our Earth, our home, our future.
“
THE FORESTS ARE OUR LUNGS, AND WITHOUT THEM WE WON’T BE ABLE TO BREATHE. Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
9
10
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
d n o y Be the Pale While photo-shopped celebrities on social media blind youth to its own beauty, HERMIONE ESPENILLA unveils an Asian craze for whiteness.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
11
T
hese days social media fuel Asia’s obsession with whiter skin dates almost everything we do, and back to the ancient dynastic times in it’s not usually to do with need. China, India and Japan when a fair Social media generate strong desires. complexion indicated nobility, while a Instagram models or ‘influencers’ dark complexion meant a member of provoke many girls to want glowing the lower class working in sweltering bronzed skin, perfect eyebrows and heat. This association of skin tone colossal lips, and in with class has been certain parts of the Many countries in Asia embedded in Asian world they spend a culture for centuries. nurture colourism, fortune on one feature which is like racism but Today, Asia identifies in particular just to gain fairer skin with beauty, different because it a feeling of acceptance. success and superiority occurs among people They are driven to whilst a darker skin of the same race. believe they need this signifies poverty and feature for a good job, a inferiority. A whiter higher income and even the chances of complexion is sought because it’s marriage. viewed as a doorway to opportunities. Having dark skin is seen as an What feature, you might ask. I’m unfortunate curse to be endured. talking about white skin. And it is many countries in Asia that nurture such colourism, which is like racism but different because it occurs among people of the same race. Welcome to A WHITER COMPLEXION IS SOUGHT Asia, where people will risk their health BECAUSE IT’S VIEWED AS A to be whiter.
“
DOORWAY TO OPPORTUNITIES.
12
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
Social media generate strong desires. Instagram models or ‘influencers’ provoke many girls to want glowing bronzed skin, perfect eyebrows and colossal lips.
From a young age, Asian children are imbued with these beauty standards. Children are warned by their parents not to stay in the sun for long. This is not because the UV rays are damaging but because their children’s (and recently men too) smear harsh complexion will get darker. Such a chemicals on their faces for the glory of basic instruction can shape children’s getting whiter. 40% of men and women views negatively and there are many in China, The Philippines, Malaysia stories of darker individuals being and South Korea admit to using skinridiculed for their colour by their peers. whitening products regularly, and 60% In 2017, a healthcare and beauty advert of the skin care market in India consists contained a 15-minute short film in of whitening products. which a merchant is charmed by a woman’s voice. The woman is revealed Such products do work after long as dark-skinned and the merchant is periods of time but produce an repulsed until the unnatural appearance. Asian children are woman removes In 2017, a research the dark makeup imbued with these beauty group called Frontiers standards. Children are exposing her true in Public Health warned by their parents white skin. Despite revealed that more not to stay in the sun for than half of these the controversy the long. advert received for products contain the use of ‘blackface’, steroids that are the intent remains to suggest dark skin damaging to the skin. They also found is undesirable. that these products contained active and potentially hazardous agents, for In Western culture, men and women instance mercury, hydrogen peroxide cook themselves for hours on tanning and other bleaching chemicals. beds, but in Asian culture women There are many accounts of people experiencing harmful side-effects after these whitening products caused permanent damage to their skin. I’ve always thought bleaching chemicals are better suited to toilets than human faces. Haven’t you?
“
A FAIR COMPLEXION INDICATED NOBILITY, WHILE A DARK COMPLEXION MEANT A MEMBER OF THE LOWER CLASS WORKING IN SWELTERING HEAT. Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
13
Rust in
14
Peace
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
From afar they look like Martian mean machines storming the coast, but CIARA BARLEY explores the decaying grandeur of strictly human forts of war.
T
he Maunsell Forts rest in the solace being decommissioned in the late 1950s, the of their disuse. Their militant stance forts were temporarily used as pirate radio remains obstinate against the waves that stations but have since fallen, rather roughly, tauntingly lurch towards into disrepair. them. Despite their decrepit The Maunsell Forts were frames, there is a certain There is no clear future for constructed in 1942 as grandeur to them: their the forts, various schemes defensive installations, decaying skeletons are hoping to make them providing warning to somehow ornate, elegant inland areas at risk of air into modernised hotel against the rolling sky. raids and preventing the complexes, a novel plan to laying of mines along the indulge the rich but also Kent coast. Decades of gaping dawns a chance for economic and dusks have passed over development of local that vast stretch of water they look out upon, coastal towns. But regeneration suggests it’s their vigilance long since made redundant. only the forts’ usefulness today that defines Sitting on the horizon in a blur of russet their worth. tones, bright against the greys and teals of the estuary waters, they attract the briefest This neglects the history they so vividly of glances from those on shore. In flickers of express. Their development will bring thought, before interest inevitably dwindles, economic benefits but at a cost to our their reminiscence of otherworldly creatures nation’s heritage. We must ask: is their gently piques curiosity before they once desolate archaism symbolising a past again dissolve into the coastal backdrop. relevant to us today? In short, perhaps these forts should be left to stand as testament to Previously codenamed ‘Uncle 6’, the Maunsell Britain’s rich history. Kept in our thoughts but Forts were constructed in 1942 as defensive left undisturbed, they will dissolve into the installations, providing warning to inland depths, falling gracefully back into the grasp areas at risk of air raids and preventing the of what may be remembered. We hope, as laying of mines along the Kent coast. After the dark past of a brighter future.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
15
Losing
T O PL
the
A ghostly bunker above The White Cliffs of Dover inspired JAMES MALATY and ELEANOR JAMES to show how the toils of war are always with us.
D
Image source: 28 days later
over is best known for its picturesque White Cliffs. Sandwiched between blue skies and clear waters, the cliffs are, for many, a defining image of England.
16
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
Behind a rusted entrance door, a narrow tunnel runs to a claustrophobic room with heavy iron blast doors. Beyond, another room overflows with heaps of dust, earth and debris. It resides silent, eerie and isolated, a secret hidden from the oblivious.
There can be no doubt that Dover is less well known for a blemish that protrudes, But what may be the Built in 1941, the half-hidden, from the most intriguing aspect green rolling hills above Plotting Room was one is what is unknown. of numerous military the sea: the Hougham Experts are still unsure installations used in the what this part of the Battery Plotting Room. Second World War. Built in 1941, the building was originally Plotting Room was one used for since it doesn’t of numerous military appear on any existing installations used in the Second plans of the site. Who really knows World War to defend the scenic – but its true purpose? What does that strategically vital – coastline. Now, mysterious past entail? however, the structure is dilapidated and buried by immense mounds of earth. Aged yellow plaster peels from the walls lining the inky corridors. Once a stoic, unbreachable protector of the THE OUTSIDE WALL BEARS THE WORD nation, it is now a hollow, neglected ‘DANGER’ IN FADED BLACK LETTERS; chamber.
“
NO WONDER THAT THE BUILDING IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED AND AVOIDED BY LOCALS.
Image source: 28 days later
Image source: Xplorer
“
ENTRY IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOSE UNWILLING TO CRAWL THROUGH AN AGED VENTILATION SHAFT.
Officially, such fortresses were used to control the gunfire of eight-inch guns, which had a firing range of twenty-eight kilometers and were used to fend off naval attack from the Channel. However, the only available information comes from similar layouts, and for some this ambiguity has led to speculation that this was no ordinary clifftop bunker and, more recently, rumours of supernatural sightings. The room was buried during construction of the M20 and entry is impossible for those unwilling to crawl through an aged ventilation shaft.
Ambiguity has led to speculation that this was no ordinary clifftop bunker and, more recently, rumours of supernatural sightings.
Image source: Derlictplaces
Image source: 28 days later
The outside wall bears the word ‘DANGER’ in faded black letters; no wonder that the building is often overlooked and avoided by locals. Its secrets may lie forever undiscovered. After all, Dover is best known for its sun-soaked cliffs, and the sunlight never reaches the inside of the sinister Hougham Battery Plotting Room.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
17
Image: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Engraved by D.J.Pound and published in The Gallery Of Portraits With Memoirs encyclopedia, United Kingdom, 1860.
Last
Defence
18
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
Image source: Derlictplaces Image source: Derlictplaces
FREYA HOWELL salutes the last bastion of Kent’s Napoleonic defences but laments its slow surrender to time.
B The gaping space between the towering partitions now accommodates a sea of dust and unruly vegetation.
Image source: Derlictplaces
lazing neon letters stand out against the bleached and crumbling walls, so you would never have guessed this very spot was once the front line against the French. The gaping space between the towering partitions now accommodates a sea of dust and unruly vegetation that seems intent on overwhelming the monumental structure. Light still floods in, but not like before. Now the land is slowly taking back its own. The creepers worm their way through the gun ports, their historical violence now neutralised by the green of spring. Dover’s Detached Bastion was one of Kent’s most recognisable structures in the early 1800s. The Napoleonic Wars were in full swing at the time that this impressive fortress was built to stand as the defence the South East urgently needed to thwart Napoleon’s aspirations to march on London.
Image source: Derlictplaces
Once a site of immense significance, the Bastion now stands in solitude, nature reclaiming the land. The whole site is still intact, but now surrounded by a lively green forest. Rather than gunfire and falling bombs, its ultimate enemy is now the passage of time.
“
RATHER THAN GUNFIRE AND FALLING BOMBS, ITS ULTIMATE ENEMY IS NOW THE PASSAGE OF TIME.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
19
20
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
We’re only
n a m u H ANNA VART explains why the
able who scorn the disabled, mental or physical, are not just medically confused but morally disabled.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
21
“
THOSE LIVING WITH A DISABILITY SHOULD NOT LABELED ‘INSANE’ OR ‘DELUSIONAL’.
‘T
he disabled suck up resources and contribute little to society. With limited medical personnel, medication and money, why should these parasites be alive? They’re better off dead.’
race has walked the Earth those with disabilities have been viewed as a nuisance, a pain and easy to ‘dispose’ of or remove from society because they are different. Before medical knowledge and human understanding those living with disorders were associated with Such stigma and prejudice are disease and witchcraft and often died everywhere. They always have been, long before they reached maturity. and if we don’t change If the lack of effective Before medical the way our world medicine didn’t kill works they always will knowledge and human them, then they were understanding those be. Stigma is a mark murdered by their own living with disorders of disgrace associated communities. Times were associated with with a circumstance, change and, in a way, so quality or person disease and witchcraft. did our attitude. Laws and prejudice is a were passed to protect preconceived opinion that is not based those living with disabilities. on reason or personal experience. Similar but different, they are equally I was intrigued to find when the first unacceptable and come hand in hand. such laws were created. The 1845 I’m here to tell you about stigma, Lunacy Act was dominant for the early particularly stigma against people with years of the Victorian era, but it made disabilities, people like my mum. no clear distinction between learning disability and mental illness, stating First, I would like to give you some that ‘a lunatic shall mean an insane background about when these person or any person being idiot or misconceived opinions of those who lunatic or of unsound mind.’ I know! appear different began. Let’s start from I’m equally confused about what this the beginning, the very beginning means. of human existence. Ever since this
22
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
In 1847 The Charity for the Asylum of Idiots was established in London, the term ‘idiots’ meaning anyone with a learning or mental disorder, or autism. That would be unacceptable today, but it would have been the norm back in the 1840s. The last law of interest was passed in 1934, when the Brock Report recommended sterilization of the mentally or physically disabled. This prompted my further research. A mental disorder, also called a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Mental disorders are usually defined by a combination of how a person behaves, feels, perceives, or thinks. A mental disability can be anything from depression or anxiety to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A physical disability, on the other hand, is the limitation of a person’s physical functioning, mobility, dexterity or stamina. An example of a physical disability is insomnia or Retinitis pigmentosa. What’s Retinitis pigmentosa? The shortened version is RP and it’s a term for a group of eye diseases. RP causes the thin layer of
tissue in the back of the eye, which is called the retina, to deteriorate. This type of eye disease is genetic – passed down from either one or both parents. My mum was diagnosed with RP at 17 and I talked to her about her experiences.
In 1847 The Charity for the Asylum of Idiots was established in London, the term ‘idiots’ meaning anyone with a learning or mental disorder, or autism.
Such stigma needs to stop. Those living with a disability should not labeled ‘insane’ or ‘delusional’ just because they suffer with something you don’t. In the same way you shouldn’t label people as ‘freaks’ because they look different from what society deems perfection. We are perfection-obsessed.
While queuing in W H Smith she overheard two people talking. One said, ‘People like that should not be let out of the house.’ Another time a schoolboy at a crossing thought it was funny to keep getting in her way and refusing to let her pass. In the end he Mocking someone because they live went off, laughing with a deformity is with his ‘mates’. And unacceptable and, if On multiple occasions on multiple occasions when she was in obvious you have ever done when she was in distress and needed help, so you must stop. ‘Just obvious distress ask if I need help. I can members of the public and needed help, always say no.’ This is just walked past. members of the public the advice my mum just walked past and gave me to share with tried their hardest to avoid her. Bear in you. If you see a person with a disability mind this has all taken place in the last in distress, without being patronizing 30 years. ask if they need help. Physical disability does not mean mental disability. This is what my mum said, and your mum is never wrong. For future reference listen to her.
“
YOU SHOULDN’T LABEL PEOPLE AS ‘FREAKS’ BECAUSE THEY LOOK DIFFERENT FROM WHAT SOCIETY DEEMS PERFECTION.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
23
TILLY ROBINSON and LEONA EISSENS wonder whether the magnificent makeover of a Kentish faux chateau was really for the best.
I
n a corner of the Kentish countryside, with over 160 years of history to its name, stands the Lillesden School for Girls. Previously known as The Lillesden Estate, it was built during the 1850s by banker Edward Lloyd, co-founder of NatWest bank. Shortly after the First World War, this Grade II Frenchstyle chateau was converted into an all-girls private school. Its sudden closure in 1999 came as a great shock to its high-achieving pupils, who described the school as ‘too perfect to last’. With its terraced lawns, ornate windows and beautiful interior, Lillesden truly was a dreamland for its students. After the prestigious institution closed its doors, nature started to reclaim the Gothic building. The fading redbrick walls occupied by climbing wild roses, whilst ivy obscures the arched entrances to discourage the curious. Despite this, the mysterious atmosphere still appeals to photographers and daring explorers, and has even graced an episode of Doctor Who.
24
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
“
SHORTLY AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR, THIS GRADE II FRENCHSTYLE CHATEAU WAS CONVERTED INTO AN ALL-GIRLS PRIVATE SCHOOL.
s i h T
Old House
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
25
“
AFTER THE PRESTIGIOUS INSTITUTION CLOSED ITS DOORS, NATURE STARTED TO RECLAIM THE GOTHIC BUILDING.
A recent proposal to convert the school into apartments created new hopes the striking architecture will not disappear into the briars. Regrettably, there has also been human damage inside and out. Lead pilfered from the roof, leading to water ingress and causing two stone pillars to crumble away. The peeling cream walls sport graphic graffiti and the neglected furniture is battered and broken. A recent proposal to convert the school into apartments created new hopes the striking architecture will not disappear into the briars. But perhaps it was the neglect and disdain that makes Lillesden so enthralling. If, as one scrawl says, ‘the best view of heaven is from hell’, then this abandoned relic needs to remain just that. 26
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
“
THE PEELING CREAM WALLS SPORT GRAPHIC GRAFFITI AND THE NEGLECTED FURNITURE BATTERED AND BROKEN.
With its terraced lawns, ornate windows and beautiful interior, Lillesden truly was a dreamland for its students.
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
27
28
Mind’s Eye Kent | January 2020
