How the Corbenic Poetry path came to be
Created by the community of Corbenic and the artists who joined them, the Poetry Path has grown from a simple idea into something much larger — a meeting of art, landscape, and human care.
The making of the Path
In the beginning there was no grand plan. There was no aim, nor objective. Not initially anyway. There was a request – more paths, better access. And there was a community who value creativity. And there was a poet. And a stone-carver. And from this the Corbenic Poetry Path began to evolve into being.
The setting is Corbenic Camphill Community, a registered care home and support service providing residential care and day service activities for adults with learning disabilities. This community is comprised of more than fifty adults with a range of learning disabilities and additional support needs, including six who attend for day activities. There is a staff team of more than one hundred people (including poet Jon Plunkett, and stone carver Martin Reilly). There are also 30 international volunteers living on site.
The path was built with help from many members of the Corbenic Community, as well as external volunteering groups. More than twenty published and well-known poets based in Scotland were approached and kindly donated their words to the path.
A link with the School of Art in Budapest was established through a volunteer, and visits were arranged with groups of sculpture students visiting for a month each summer over four years. The result is that the poems are now accompanied by some spectacular sculptures which respond to the landscape, the poems, or both.
And the development of the path is by no means complete. Over the past year, residents with learning disabilities living in Corbenic have been enjoying a weekly poetry group. Many cannot read or write, but are happy to speak out lines of poetry when inspired to do so. These are audio recorded, then transcribed. The result is a collection of short poems in the unique voices of the individuals who voiced them. Some of these have been selected for display on the path and will be installed later this year.
The Path Today
Corbenic Poetry Path is a meandering 3.5km path around the grounds of Corbenic Camphill Community. The path was built with the help of many of the residents with learning disabilities and volunteers for whom Corbenic is home. Some of Scotland’s finest contemporary poets have given their words for to the path and many of these have been complimented by sculptures, some of which have been created by students from Budapest School of Fine Art who come and spend their summers in Corbenic.
The path is open to visitors all day every day and is free. We do however ask that visitors stick very much to the poetry path and do not enter the Corbenic Community grounds – home to a number of vulnerable adults.
In addition to poetry and sculptures the path is now also home to a number of young specimen trees. Over the past ten years we have been busily planting Giant Sequoias, Silver Firs, Bristlecone Pines and many other exciting species. Many of these are accompanied by the words of the great John Muir who described the individual character and beauty of many trees in his writings. These trees that will hopefully be long-lived giants compliment the existing young oak woods, mature oak and birch woods and wide areas of beautiful hazel coppice.
Regardless of levels of interest in poetry, the path itself is worth a visit, meandering as it does through a diverse range of landscapes from riverbanks and woods to open moorland. A number of comments from visitors have confirmed what we who live here have known for a long time – that our little pocket of this planet is a hidden gem, and one that most people will want to return to time and time again.
When you visit
The Corbenic Poetry Path is open to everyone, in every season.
It’s free to walk, and it asks only your time and attention in return.
Take an hour, or take longer.
Follow the turns, read the words, and let the land tell its story.
Visitors are warmly welcome, but it’s essential to stay on the Poetry Path at all times and not enter the residential areas of the community.
Due to the rough terrain, the path is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
Visitors are warmly welcome, but it’s essential to stay on the Poetry Path at all times and not enter the residential areas of the community.
Visitors are warmly welcome, but it’s essential to stay on the Poetry Path at all times and not enter the residential areas of the community.
Treat the place with the same care and quiet respect that built it.
