Description

The results of an eight-year project, Or Land the Sea is a portrait of the geology of the coast of Britain, with photographs by artist Julie Cuthbert and poems by writer and Geological Society librarian Michael McKimm.

Or Land the Sea invites the reader on a journey around important coastal geosites through Michael’s poems and Julie’s striking photographs.

Primarily influenced by the Society’s 100 Great Geosites initiative, chosen by the public in 2014, Julie travelled the length and breadth of the country, documenting the coastline with her camera and sending the photographs to Michael to inspire his poems. Starting at Hoy’s Old Man in Orkney, the photo-poem circumnavigates the coast, taking in places such as Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, Botany Bay in Kent, Kynance Cove in Cornwall and the submerged forest at Borth in Ceredigion.
With over fifty full-colour photographs, and exploring themes such as deep time, geotourism, coastal erosion, and the links between geology and biodiversity, the resulting photo-poem is a compelling record of the unique and varied geology of the coastline, its flora and fauna, and the people who live alongside it.

Or Land the Sea includes an introductory essay by historian Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps (2012) and Four Points of the Compass (2024).

 Sample page