The Romantic Landscape

David Davies, Poetry, Landscape and Memory

David Davies is in his mid thirties. He grew up in Clevedon, England, just across from Cardiff where his father was from.
He lived there until he was ten years old. In 1991 his mother brought him back to her home in East Belfast. His father died at a young age, so David grew up without a father to help guide him through the culture shock that followed.
During secondary school he was bullied and frequently told to “go back to England”. He attended Art College in Hull before returning to Castlereagh Art College in Belfast.
In 2016 David published a book of poetry entitled The Romantic Landscape, inspired by what he describes as his favourite place in the world, the Mourne Mountains. David has performed at Mixed Jam and Purely Poetry events at the Sunflower Pub and Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast.
This programme follows David Davies against the backdrop of twenty first century Belfast, poetry evenings, personal reflection, and the landscapes that continue to influence his writing. His voice is measured and his laugh sincere.

The Long Woman’s Grave, Cooley Mountains

The Long Woman’s Grave, Cooley Mountains.

Recording at Dundalk FM

Recording Normerella Blues at Dundalk FM studios.

A Journey Through the Mourne Mountains

Stopping for lunch in Newcastle before climbing Wee Binnian.


The Mourne Wall read by David Davies while sitting at the summit of Wee Binnian, between Newcastle and Annalong, overlooking South County Down.


Here is a draft edit for the programme entitled Fear Defined. As darkness falls and the landscape becomes quiet, Joni Mitchell paints a cloudlet in the evening sky.

The Mourne Wall

I feel the will to crawl
Hiking along the Mourne Wall
To cling and hug
Sheltered from the winds bulk
The wall is under no beck and call
Its permanent fixture holds on
Weighs down its granite anchor
Hammers and chisels: tools for plug and feather
Wraps around over twenty two miles of peaks
Its dry stone is fitted with shape of preference
A hope of a lasting fit
It may have been to keep the sheep from getting lost
It is where the heart is sparsely walked
Inside its boundaries
If the wall’s rocks could write
It would be in between
Where the wind blows through
O hear those songs through the gaps
And perhaps I think what shelter does the heart have?
To starve it from risk;
It is a bleak existence
To be exposed with a threat of hyperthermia
Even the wall’s defence
The exploded battles of life
Pummelled, rolled and battered
Like a castle wall being knocked and fired at by boulders
Its heavy blasts leave a devastation
With collapsed rocks in piles
It is now an opened wall
Where sheep wander into the heart of its kingdom
Roam freely, lost in memory

From The Romantic Landscape
David Davies
Published by AuthorHouse, 2016

Welsh Translation Project

We are sending a request to VCS Radio Cardiff 98.7 FM to see if a volunteer from the community radio station can translate a few lines of the poem for inclusion in the programme.


David Davies and Alan Byrne at Omeath with the Mourne Mountains in the background.

Research and Inspiration

A visit to Belfast Library.

Book Launch and Exhibition

David launches his second poetry collection and displays his paintings at Holywood Arches Library, Belfast.