 Your Landscape Just Got Interesting...Tuesday 23rd of February 2010 06:05 pm Youthful Landscapes is an exciting new project that the Hive is working on, alongside the National Trust, Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, Shropshire Council and Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The first of two taster workshop events for the project took place on a snowy Saturday in January at the National Trust Chalet Pavilion at Carding Mill Valley near Church Stretton. 35 young people from across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin took part in workshops throughout the day and got to sample pole-lathing (wood turning), digital photography, VJing, film-making and bushcraft. The bushcraft groups braved the icy weather to venture up to the Carding Mill reservoir and surrounding woodland. They spent time with outdoor expert Tim Evans to learn about collecting kindling and making a camp-fire, building shelters and skinning a rabbit - not for the faint hearted, but also not as gruesome as it sounds. Apparently the vegetarians can normally stomach this task better than the carnivores among us! The VJing and film-making groups were placed with our resident Hive whizzkid workshop leaders! Chris Vandyke's groups worked indoors to create stunning visual projections using video, still images and music clips, and Habib Malik-Mansell's group went outside onto the hillside next to the National Trust tea rooms to film. Pole-lathing demonstrations were held in the outdoor workshop space behind the tea rooms throughout the day. These fascinating interactive demonstrations were led by Ian Wall; who has been the resident woodland 'bodger' at Acton Scott Historic Working Farm for 12 years. Ian explained the traditional art of 'bodging' to groups of young people and they spent time with him on the giant lathe turning wood into the shape of chair and table-legs. Award-winning photographer Ben Osborne (BBC's Life In The Freezer, Blue Planet and Planet Earth) led groups - armed with their mobile phones and digital cameras - into the snowy wilderness of Carding Mill Valley to capture images of the wintry scenes. These included beautiful shots of golden and white hillsides (half in the sun and half in the shade!), melting icicles, plants, trees, birds, insects, meandering streams and blue skies dotted with little white powder-puff clouds. We couldn't have hoped for a more inspiring day with such unique weather conditions creating remarkable views in all directions. Our talented participants captured hundreds of striking and dramatic shots to take away as a memento of their day of adventuring in Carding Mill Valley. I spent the day co-ordinating activities, workshops, catering etc, darting between workshops to ensure the day was running smoothly and to schedule, taking photographs of everything and everyone, and getting rather stressed every time any of our participants went anywhere near the black ice along the hill paths! The weather and scenery were so amazing, but I have to say I was relieved when the last workshop group of the afternoon made it down the hillside unscathed and full of the joys of a day in the great outdoors! By the end of the day everyone was exhausted and pretty cold, but very happy! We all had so much fun scurrying around Carding Mill Valley and taking part in creative projects which took full advantage of the breathtaking landscape around us. Feedback from the young participants was extremely positive and we hope to offer them more similar experiences in the future. Some quotes from the day: "It's the best thing I've EVER done!" "Super, great, fantastic, brill, cold!" "Perfect" "I really enjoyed today and would love to see more photography etc" "I thought it was really interesting and a fun day" "Rabbit-tastic!" Vicki Archer from BBC Shropshire came along to interview the young people, project co-ordinators and workshop leaders at the event. The pieces on her lunchtime radio show on Sunday 24th and Sunday 31st January encapsulated the day brilliantly! The aim of the Youthful Landscapes partnership (The National Trust, the Hive, Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, Shropshire Council and Shropshire Wildlife Trust) is to expand on the two taster days and to run a three year programme of workshops with young people in 9 schools in South Shropshire and Telford, along with youth and environmental organisations. The workshops will encompass traditional skills such as carpentry, hedge-laying, metalwork etc. and woodland crafts such as willow-weaving, alongside cutting-edge music and media aspects. The project will include performance and festival events throughout the three years. Funding applications are currently being made for this exciting and innovative long-term project. We will keep you posted on progress as it's made. Fingers crossed! The two Youthful Landscapes introductory taster workshop days are funded by the Shropshire Hills AONB Sustainable Development Fund. I hope to see you out in the wilderness of the South Shropshire countryside armed with a digital SLR camera and some woodworking tools very soon! Katie x       | ||
| Katie Jennings |
