A unique new exhibition of local weather diaries is underway in Burnham-On-Sea library this week.
The project is being led by Alice Tatton Brown, a Bristol artist, who has put 20 local diaries on display at the front of the building.
The exhibition, called ‘Private Weather Diaries’, is a collection of weather observations from Burnham-on-Sea and across the Somerset Levels and Moors.
It has been created by 20 local weather diarists over two weeks in April-May 2022.
The project takes inspiration from an archive of Weather Diaries in the National Meteorological Archive in Exeter.
Alice told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Over the last year or so I have been talking to people and organisations and individuals about the weather.”
“It started off talking about extreme weather, but with the inspiration of the weather diaries in the Met Office archives which date back to the 1700s, I started to think about the daily weather and the intimacy of understanding the patterns of weather on a daily basis.”
“We put out a call across the Levels to individuals, weather experts and farmers to see if they wanted to keep weather diaries and this exhibition is the outcome.”
“I’m really delighted that we have got 20 weather diarists – artists, weather experts, farmers, and Brian, a street cleaner.”
“The varied diaries include text, images, paintings, some poems and scientific data entries which help to show how we differently we perceive the weather. It makes really interesting viewing.”
The display is underway until Monday July 4th in the front reading room at Burnham-On-Sea Library in Princess Street.
The project is supported with funding from Arts Council England and the Gane Trust.
