On 11 November, tens of thousands of people took part in Pages of the Sea – a commission by filmmaker Danny Boyle inviting people to gather on thirty-two beaches around the UK for a nationwide gesture of remembrance for the men and women who left their home shores during the First World War. The work marks the culmination of 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary.

Pages of the Sea is the largest simultaneous coastal arts project to take place in the UK.

Taking place on Armistice Day, the project saw tens of thousands of people join in a series of community-led events on thirty-two beaches around the country.

Freshwater West was one of four beaches in Wales that formed part of this significant event, the others being Swansea beach, Colwyn Bay, and Ynyslas in Ceredigion

A new, inclusive and collaborative way to pay tribute to those who gave their lives to the First World War.

Members of the public joined in a series of community-led events commemorating the men and women who left their home shores during the First World War.

Large-scale portraits of Dorothy Watson, Major Charles Alan Smith Morris, Hedd Wyn and Richard Davies, designed by sand artists Sand In Your Eye, were drawn into the sand on the four beaches in Wales and washed away as the tide came in – representing a small selection of the millions who gave their lives to the war. The portraits featured across the thirty-two were chosen by Danny Boyle to represent a range of stories – ordinary people who gave their lives to the War effort, from doctors to munition workers, Privates to Lieutenants and Majors. A number of the portraits, including that of Hedd Wyn in Colwyn Bay, were of notable war poets, who translated the experience of war for those at home. Many were from the regions or communities they were depicted in, with others from towns, cities and international communities not featured to show the scale of loss.

The choice of portrait for Freshwater West (in partnership with National Trust) wasBridgend-born Major Charles Alan Smith Morris, who was originally gazetted to the Bedfordshire Regiment. In 1917 he was wounded in action on the Western Front at La Courcelette and was posted as missing, believed killed. Several months later, his Uncle Charlie received a packet from the Red Cross with news that Charles had been found and taken to a German field hospital where, sadly, he later died.

The public were asked to join in by creating silhouettes of people in the sand, remembering the millions of lives lost or changed forever by the conflict.

Poet Carol Anne Duffy was also invited by Danny Boyle to write a poem to mark the centenary of Armistice Day. The poem, The Wound in Time, was read by individuals, families and communities as they gathered on each beach on 11 November. Cards were distributed on beaches featuring over 14,000 different images of casualties from the First World War drawn from records held on the Pages of the Sea website, which includes records uploaded by the public. The images were also drawn from the Imperial War Museum’s ‘Lives of the First World War’ website, which aims to tell eight million stories of those who served from Britain and the Commonwealth. Visitors to the website have been adding their own portraits of members of their family or community who contributed to the First World War: www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org

Danny Boyle said: “Beaches are truly public spaces, where nobody rules other than the tide. They were the perfect place to gather and say a final goodbye and thank you to those whose lives were taken or forever changed by the First World War. I invited communities to come together and watch as the faces of the fallen were drawn in the sand and to remember the sacrifices they made.”

Pages of the Sea was commissioned and produced by 14-18 NOW and is the culmination of the five-year programme of arts commissions marking the First World War centenary. It was delivered with partner organisations across the UK and supported by The National Lottery and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with additional support from Backstage Trust, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) and National Rail.

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