I had been aware of the myths surrounding Crazywell pool for many years such as it being bottomless. The story goes that villagers from Walkhampton resolved to measure the depth of the pool and used the bell ropes from the church, tied them together and lowered them into the centre of the pool. According to stories the ropes sank to nearly 90 fathoms (165 meters) still not reaching the bottom.
Crazywell pool however, is clearly man-made, a relic of the tin-mining that litters the valley below it, yet its fables persist, for example apparently its depth rises and falls with the tide. The site certainly has an ominous presence, blackly mirroring the sky like a scrying glass, invoking a shiver of dread. Peter Chesbrough and I discovered a shared interest in the site, both of us living in the area and already lured to various elements of the site and its stories. On the 9th of June, as part of the PEPtalks: On the Moors Conference, we activated a performative version of gauging the pool’s depths, using church bell ropes and bells, as well as a mass of participants or parishioners. Our intention was for the approach to the pool to be processional, coming from different starting points. The groups arrived at the pool to be given the ends of ropes to pull upon, a communal effort required in four directions, and raised the sunken ropes lifting the bell clear of the water.
We wanted to evoke an atmosphere of mystery and shared exertion, a communal tale-telling. Our documentary approach was particular to each of us, but our aim was to create films according to our own practice and research aims from a shared cache of footage. Ultimately, we have two films which at points phase into sync with each other, but at others reflect our own interests in immersion, participation, narrative or spectacle.