This works encapsulates my daily, personal, cherished experience of living by the sea in Newcastle East. My days are enriches by this coastal landscape. Swimming in the Newcastle Ocean Baths has become a year-round ritual for me.
As I walk towards the ocean baths I pass the Canoe pool and see the tide is low, the sand is high. I reflect on the history of that place and consider how the ebb and flow of tide builds an archive of memories, ocean cycles, human intervention and nature’s power.
In 1937 the Mariners' Pool, also known as the Geographical or Map Pool, was designed by Newcastle City Engineer, L.J. Price. The pool featured on its base a pigmented cement map of the world. The countries of the Commonwealth were dyed red and other countries green. This pool quickly became overcrowded and in 1939 the larger Canoe pool was built to relieve the pressure. With every high tide sand flows in its natural path into the pools. The cost of pumping the water and keeping the sand out of the pool eventually became prohibitive. In the late 1960s the pool fell into disrepair and in the early 1970’s the concrete slab shapes of countries were removed from the pool.
During large swells, it’s still possible to see the colourful remnants of the Young Mariners’ Pool on the eastern edge of the pool.
Today the canoe pool is a spacious summer wading pool, and for me a freezing winter Wednesday morning swim when the Newcastle Ocean Baths are being cleaned.
The sand continues to move in her rhythms of winds and tides, often in the opposite direction to human intentions.
Catherine Hickson has been painting and exhibiting since 2005. Her practice incorporates Still Life, Landscape and Abstraction. Catherine moved to Newcastle in 2022. She works asa a Psychotherapist and is a Studio artist in Newcastle Art Space.