Last week I mentioned my visit to Morcambe and the Midland Hotel. Well, the other surprising – and delightful – aspect of this seaside town is it is absolutely covered in letterforms. ‘Flock of Words’ is a path of bird poems, traditional sayings, jokes and song lyrics, which begins with the Book of Genesis and stretches from William Shakespeare to Spike Milligan. Extracts from work by local war poet Laurence Binyon and contributions from members of the public provide a local angle. The ‘Flock of Words’ is 300 metres long and 2.5 metres wide and is constructed in a variety of natural stones and polished concrete, with lettering carved, inlaid and cast in a variety of metals. Seats displaying the collective nouns of various birds and trees line the path on both sides. The path leads towards the afore mentioned Midland Hotel where in the 1930’s designer and artist Eric Gill contributed some marvelous art and ‘The Flock of Words’ celebrates this with verse cut in Gill’s founts.
About caroline Archer
Caroline has worked in the typographic industry since 1988. She has a holistic approach to the subject being not only a practicing typographer but also a teacher of its theory, a researcher of its history, and a writer and journalist championing the typographic cause.