Local Landscape Heroes sought in the Clyde and Avon Valley
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From farmers to millers and poets to painters, a new volunteering project, Local Landscape Heroes, will celebrate the people that have shaped the Clyde and Avon Valley.
Volunteers are being sought to identify local landscape heroes from Hamilton to Strathaven, New Lanark and all places in between, no matter how famous, infamous or obscure, living or dead. This will be done by a variety of means, including uncovering secrets from old diaries, digging out photos unseen for decades and re-photographing scenes today and identify pieces of art created by those inspired by the Clyde and Avon Valley.
Drop-in sessions will take place in Hamilton Town House Archives every Thursday, 11am – 7pm, starting Thursday 1 December. Volunteers are encouraged come along and pursue their own interests and ideas about Local Landscape Heroes, from family connections to historic weavers from Stonehouse, farmers, Estate owners and ordinary working men and women. All research will feed into a final trail highlighting sites of interest around the Clyde and Avon Valley and an artworks gazetteer.
Local Landscape Heroes will be led by CAVLP Heritage and is delivered by Northlight Heritage with support from Heritage Lottery Fund supported Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP) and Historic Environment Scotland.
“The Local Landscape Heroes project will help widen and enhance intellectual and physical access to the Clyde and Avon Valley by helping communities explore and interpret its historic environment and cultural heritage,” says CAVLP Heritage Project Officer Dr Paul Murtagh.
He continues: “The project will focus on supporting a wider audience, such as volunteers, school students or those with barriers to work, to participate in research to help identify and understand Local Landscape Heroes: the people who historically changed and maintained the character of the historic environment and landscape, those who changed the ways in which landscape was represented and understood, and those who have made a significant difference in conserving and enhancing the historic environment and landscape as it is today.”
Donna Marshall, Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership Manager adds, “Such a huge number of people have contributed in so many different ways to the cultural and physical landscape of the Clyde Valley. The people and the plants they have grown, the animals they have cared for, the structures and designed landscapes they have built and the artists and the way they have responded have all helped shape the Clyde Valley as we know it. This project will allow us to discover and celebrate the people who have helped form this beautiful landscape enjoyed by so many today.”
Drop-in sessions take place in the Hamilton Town House Archives every Thursday, 11am – 7pm between December and March 2017. Please get in touch with CAVLP Heritage on the details below to book your place, or discuss how you can volunteer for the project if you’re unable to attend the sessions.
The CAVLP Heritage team encourages anyone who is interested in the project to contact them at cavlp.heritage@gmail.com / 01555 663 430, follow them on Facebook at CAVLP Heritage or on Twitter @CAVLPHeritage. Keep up to date with project announcements at
www.clydeandavonvalley.org.
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For further media information, please contact:
Paul Murtagh, Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership Project Officer, Northlight Heritage, pmurtagh@yorkat.co.uk Office 01555 661 555
Images:
Unknown artist, Duchess Anne’s Alms House, Hamilton, date unknown, South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Trust Museum Service. Duchess Anne’s Alms House was located on the corner of New Wynd and Castle Street. It was first built as a hospital by Duchess Anne in the mid 17th century before becoming an alms house in the early 18th century.
Millie Frood (1900- 1988), Turning Hay, date unknown, Culture NL, Museums and Heritage. The influence of the expressionist movement can be seen in the abstract landscapes of Motherwell-born artist Amelia ‘Millie’ Frood. Frood, who taught in Lanarkshire, attended Glasgow School of Art and was a founder member of the New Scottish Group. CultureNL holds another Frood painting in the museum collections, titled On the Farm.
John Lochhead (1866-1921), Country Life, date unknown, South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Trust Museum Service.
Robert Weir Allan RSA RWS RSW (1852-1942), Winter Sunshine, date unknown, Culture NL, Museums and Heritage. Glasgow-born Weir Allan studied art in Glasgow and then Paris. He travelled widely on his return to Glasgow and specialising in landscapes. This artwork is on display at Colzium House.
Notes to Editors
About Local Landscape Heroes
· The Local Landscape Heroes project will work with schools, service providers and community groups in the local area offering training in historical, archaeological and heritage skills.
· Local Landscape Heroes project workshops will be taking place in various communities throughout the Clyde and Avon Valleys.
· An exhibition of the findings of the project will take place in the spring time, celebrating the work of the people that have contributed to the project over the winter.
· The products of the project will be fed into the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership Virtual Museum.
About CAVLP Heritage
· Northlight Heritage will be working in partnership with the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP) to deliver 7 key projects over the next 3 years
· CAVLP Heritage is delivered by Northlight Heritage as a partner of Heritage Lottery Fund supported Clyde and Avon Valley Landsacape Partnership, and supported by Historic Environment Scotland and Renewable Energy Fund managed by South Lanarkshire Council
· The 7 projects are: Mapping the Past, Capturing the Past, Local Landscape Heroes, Flow of Time, Investigating the Past, Education Materials and the CAVLP Exhibition
· Mapping the Past
· Capturing Our Past
· Local Landscape Heroes
· Flow of Time
· Castle Qua (Investigating the Past)
· CAVLP Exhibition
· Education Materials for Schools
About Northlight Heritage
· Northlight Heritage are part of York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Limited.
· Our aim is to help people appreciate and engage with their pasts and our practice is rooted in a belief that heritage can change lives for the better.
· For further information about Northlight Heritage, please visit www.nortlight-heritage.co.uk, follow us on Twitter @northlighter or like us on Facebook NorthlightHeritage
About Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP)
· The Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership is a Heritage Lottery Fund supported project
· The aims of the organisation are to conserve, enhance and celebrate the unique landscape and cultural heritage of the Clyde and Avon Valley
· The Partnership consists of ten key partners: South Lanarkshire Council, North Lanarkshire Council, Central Scotland Green Network Trust, Clydesdale Community Initiatives, New Lanark Trust, Northlight Heritage, RSPB Scotland Baron’s Haugh, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Wildlife Trust, and The Rural Development Trust
For further information about the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership, please visit www.clydeandavonvalley.org, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
Posted under News
This post was written by Janette on November 29, 2016
