Youthful Landscapes project in Shropshire:

Youthful Landscapes is an innovative 17 month project which will engage and assist young people from Shropshire and Telford to explore and connect with the unique landscape heritage of the local area, over many historical time periods.

Young people in Years 9-11 (ages 13-16 years) in four local schools in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin will receive a bespoke programme of workshops, visits and experiences. Each of the groups will be encouraged to explore the idea of 'Thinking Paths' to develop their projects.

Charles Darwin believed that he could think things through more effectively and solve problems when walking. He created walks in his gardens at Down House so that he could enjoy the garden and work on problems as he strolled. He called this his ‘Thinking path’. He described thinking whilst walking in the countryside as promoting ‘Green Thought’.

Utilising the Thinking Paths the young people will work with music and media innovators, local experts (geologists, archaeologists, historians) and volunteers to create pieces of music and media (animation, film, music production) based around the heritage themes.

Building upon local landscape heritage, the programme will engage young people into expressing themes relating to local heritage archives through a variety of themes, including:

• Remains of the Shropshire mammoth - discovered in Condover and housed at Ludlow Museum Resource Centre.
• Rocks and Fossils: Shropshire is one of the most important places to study geology in the world! The geological discoveries of Rodney Impey Murchison.
• Field names: Every field in Shropshire has a name. They were collected by Mr George Foxall and made into hand-drawn field name maps.
• Finding Shropshire heroes: Shropshire Museum wants to find 100 local Shropshire heroes who have made a contribution to their community locally or to the wider world. There are a number of obvious ones such as William Penny Brookes and Charles Darwin. We want to know who the young people of Shropshire think should be celebrated who otherwise may be over looked?

The vision is for young people to find a way of connecting with their local landscape through practical and creative activities. The aim is to nurture enjoyment, understanding and respect for Shropshire - past and present. With a dynamic and varied programme we aim for the young people to excite others to learn about the landscape heritage of Shropshire through the images, film and music that they produce, thus passing on their learning to other young people and the wider community.

Combining landscape facts (including the archaeological find of mammoth bones discovered in the Shropshire countryside and finding out the local field names collected into maps by a local historian) with cutting edge new music and media techniques, young people will be given the opportunity to learn and develop valuable skills, and be inspired to use the landscape to express their creativity in new and interesting ways.

Youthful Landscapes is a project that will encourage young people to explore their environment, to learn about their local heritage and embrace the topics that inspire their passion and creativity. Young people will have the opportunity to interpret the different themes in innovative and exciting media.

The partnership that is being developed is particularly between the Hive, local schools and a range of heritage organisations and landscape specialists; Shropshire Museums Service, Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, The National Trust and Shropshire Wildlife Trust.

Funding for the project was awarded through the Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots programme, which is designed to encourage young people aged between 13-25 to develop, manage and take the lead in heritage projects that are of interest to them. The project is part financed by the Shropshire Hills LEADER programme, part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2007-2013: Europe investing in rural areas.

Young volunteers wanted for Youthful Landscapes:

VOLUNTEERS! Love music, film-making, animation or art & crafts? Love the countryside? Love history and heritage?

The Hive is looking for young volunteers (aged 18-24) for Youthful Landscapes; an innovative and exciting project taking place in four local secondary schools between June 2012 and March 2013.

This project offers young people from Shropshire and Telford an opportunity to explore and connect with the unique landscape of the Shropshire Hills, discovering more about our local heritage over many historical time periods. Project partners are: The National Trust, Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Shropshire Museums Service.

Volunteers will receive expenses towards travel/subsistence and will be subject to an enhanced CRB check. Volunteer places are very limited and the deadline for interest is Friday 1st June 2012.

For more information, please email:

Young people exploring Shropshire's heritage:

The funders and project partners: