THE LAST WALK HOME

The Last Walk Home is a series of six drawings and accompanying sound works produced as part of Unfolding Origins, a two-year long residency project based in Ryedale with Chrysalis Arts and North Yorkshire Archive. The series is based on World War I Appeals papers held within the Archive.

During Autumn 2020 and Spring 2021, I performed six walks of different lengths through Ryedale, marking the anniversaries of the deaths of six men from the area who fought and died during World War I. Each of these men had appealed against conscription, due to being initially exempt on the basis they made their living from the land, but each was subsequently sent to war and did not return.

The walks took the routes that would have led each man home from the nearest train station to their last place of residence. The drawings depict every flower in bloom recorded during each walk, while the sound works, that mimic both breathing and footfall in their rhythm, describe the noises experienced along the way.

The work was initially displayed at Pickering Library in Ryedale during 2021, and later toured to North Yorkshire Country Records Office and Selby Abbey.