Sense of Here - beginning a new project

Posted on January 15, 2019

Oh my goodness - we are more than excited! We have come to the end of more than a year of planning and are very busy putting everything in place now that we have started our new project. So this is a quick update, with a few images.

At the start of January we took the first steps to mark the beginning of 'Sense of Here' with a fleeting addition to the gloriously-lit Lake District landscape : a simple piece of canvas held by one of Rob's photographic backdrop frames. This canvas will be used to reveal a poem a few words at a time, one month at a time, throughout 2019.

The canvas poetry is just one element of what we'll be up to over the next two years as we walk, camp, and meet people across Cumbria, gradually recording a feeling and knowing of place.

We will be launching a website in the next few weeks, sharing news of our fabulous partners and the details of what's ahead as we 'clock' the Lake District.

We'll be taking the Under Helm Sycamore (remember that from The Long View?) as a central point. Month-by-month we will be exploring the land in 30-degree segments (or hours), working our way around a virtual clock face. As we go, we'll be enquiring into 12 issues of place, meeting local residents to find out more about their views about their locality, and interviewing academics who are experts in subjects ranging from cultural heritage to soil, climate, water and forestry.

So, over the next two years, there will be walking, camping, poetry, photography, art in the landscape, a monthly essay and, we hope, plenty of debate. The website will contain a map that people anywhere in the world can add to, revealing 'data of the heart' - feelings about place shared through stories, reflections and insights. Everything is inter-connected, and every voice adds to an understanding of place and decisions about the future. We'd love you to join us on our journey, virtually or on the ground ... more about this, and other elements of the project, to follow soon!

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