Soundwork Cremyll Commuters, a homage to the Cremyll Ferry, made with Laura Denning
ActivateCHAT, University of Plymouth 7-10 November 2024
The 8 minute soundwork records the voices of commuters on the 8 minute crossing across the River Tamar between Admirals Hard in Plymouth and Cremyll in Cornwall.
A Homage to the Cremyll Ferry
Crimela
Cremill
Crilby
Crimbel
Crimhill
The Cremyll crossing has been in existence for over 1000 years
Its said to be the oldest ferry crossing in Britain
Shuttlecock, Armadillo, Tamar Belle, Carrier, Northern belle, Edgcumbe Belle,
A foot ferry has taken passengers from Cremyll in Cornwall to Admirals hard in Stonehouse since 1511.
It is still the shortest direct route to cross from Devon into Cornwall or vice versa.
It takes 8 mins
The title of my talk is Postcards from a commute, alluding to the fact that I have been taking photographs of this journey across the Tamar since 2011 when I started working at the Uni of Plymouth. The postcards will be available to take away when we return to St Saviours church.
This is my homage to the way I get to work.
To my ferry friends, the community and social hub of regulars, my fellow commuters,
To the weather and its incredible diversity and changeability
To the hail, gusts, rain, sun, seaweed, sunsets, and tides
high tides, low tides, neap tides, spring tides,
To the 50 mile an hour winds
To the powerful currents where the river meets the sea
To the packages, prams, dogs, bicycles, children, walkers, day-trippers, and park runners
To the queues of families in summertime with their picnics and scooters and dogs and toddlers
To the grammar school kids in their black uniforms
To the gangs of primary school children in their bright coloured bibs holding hands in pairs
To the girl with the overloaded bike panniers that it took three of us to lift onto the deck
To being inappropriately dressed
To being overdressed.
To being the only person on the boat at 9.30 am
To James, Paul, Reece, Josh, Fran, Max, Jean and Alfie
Who run the ferry from 6am in almost all weathers
For 14-hour days
To the crack on the slipway rumoured to be caused by the many trips back and forth with a teapot for the crew
To my ferry coat with its big hood
To the folk lore
To the dog who boarded the ferry on its own
To my friend in London who remarked the trip looked like a scene from the 1981 Meryl Streep movie The French Lieutenants woman, where she waits day after day after day on the quay in the mist.
To my excitement the first time I rode the ferry, hanging off the side of the boat watching it slice, bob, hurl, and lurch through the water.
To watching my son, grow up doing the same thing
To my son thinking this is a common way to travel, may you always appreciate its uniqueness.
To the covid pandemic which changed some people’s relationship to commuting forever …. if they were lucky
That made a mental commute a thing
And made me miss the ferry crossing, and miss seeing the whites of people’s eyes
To the water, as changeable as the sky and eternally fascinating. You can get a fistful of spray in your face if the waves are choppy, other days you glide through sparkling blue and gold as smooth as glass.
To the places that mark our journeys through life:
Less expensive than an hour and a half on a train each way across the Pennines,
Less stressful than driving across Manchester at rush hour
Less packed than the underground or a bus
Less hot than sitting in a car in a traffic jam
Less time than driving into work and dropping my small son at the childminders and taking the car ferry into the city and doing park and ride and everything taking much longer and being dirtier noisier and more stressful.
How do you do your commute?
Inés Rae 2024