Greenland

It all started when…

In 2019 I was fortunate enough to be part of a small private three-week expedition to explore a remote corner of Greenland. Our destination, Permdal - a valley about 100miles north of the Constable Point air strip. This air base services Ittoqqortoormit - the most north-easterly habitation in Greenland.

In order to justify the cost (financial and carbon) of going on just such an expedition I decided before we went that I should write about it. I wanted to share the experience with other people. If I can even begin to give a sense of that place to others in a similar way to that which Nan Shepherd gives of her beloved Cairngorms then I shall be eternally happy. Of course she had a whole lifetime wandering the Cairngorms building up an intimate picture of that place in her heart and mind. We only had three weeks in Greenland but in that time I felt a very special bond to that place. I want to bring a corner of Greenland to others to save them from travelling there.

I had begun writing before we went, journalled while we were there and have continued to write ever since. All of this writing is through a lens provided by the opportunity of being in such a starkly beautiful, remote and endangered place. Greenland is at the sharp edge of the havoc being wrought by climate change. It’s ice-cap is melting faster than ever before. The secrets held within that ice are being lost at an alarming rate. Jon Gertner writes beautifully of the exploration and research that has taken place in Greenland, in his book The Ice at The end of the World. He concludes that it is vital that we bring its fate to the attention of others. 

John Gertner’s account is just that. An account of Greenland’s exploration. It is fascinating and connects with people’s minds and logic. Having listened to others who have explored the place, all the accounts I had heard or read thus far are either about physical achievement or scientific research. I believe that it is now necessary to connect Greenland with people’s hearts and souls. It is under real threat but if nobody cares about it we will lose it.

For me Greenland is a magical place. It was a place that I could relax in and let go of the stream of consciousness that runs endlessly on in my head and is relentlessly exhausting. I was given peacefulness, sanctuary and solace. I could breathe easily again. I had hoped that I could hold onto that sense and call on it whenever I needed but sadly that was not the case. I continue to search for equanimity and more often than not find it in Nature, on my daily walk Round The Mountain, here in the Dee Valley in North Wales.

During the strangeness of 2020 and Covid 19 I am endeavouring to bring my writings together in a book. Watch this space…