Attention to Detail and Map Making

Our Light Walk for April took us to Sywell Country Park and Reservoir a tranquil space which exists on the site of a former drinking water reservoir near the village of Sywell in East Northamptonshire. The reservoir was built at the turn of the 20th century to supply water to the Higham Ferrers and Rushden areas which connect neatly with two of our chosen locations for the Light Walks project. The reservoir operated between 1906 and 1979 and is now a beautiful country park with paths and wooded areas ripe for exploration. The land for the reservoir was purchased from the Stockdale family estate at adjoining Mears Ashby and covers an area of 280,000 square metres. 

It was our intention during this walk to encourage the group to look at nature in detail, to try and identify trees from the Nature Detectives Leaf Hunt sheet and plot all the sights, sounds, landmarks and wildlife that made an impression on them during the walk. There were a few greyish clouds scudding across our path during the walk but we had more sun than cloud which sparkled and bounced across the rippling water. There were pollen heavy trees, seed pods left from the autumn, fresh leaves unfurling and blossom in both trees and hedgerows.

buds about to burst into colour

We disturbed this cheeky squirrel feasting on the bird table!

A robin hunting about in the cool , fresh mud

Occasionally our walk was punctuated by the sound of planes from nearby Sywell Aerodrome out on manouvres

We were able to watch a pair of nesting swans

On one of the trees near the bird hide someone had carved a heart which has grown and stretched over time

Lloyd's Map

Our intervention for this walk was to create a map recording our impressions using drawings and stamps. Jo had prepared a template map showing just the basic outlines and it was up to the walkers to fill in the gaps in their own way.

This is a composite map combining elements from several maps

We could not be sure just which of this pair was the speediest, Charlie, Carole's whippet could only be off the lead in certain places but was more than happy to match the pace set by the group. His friendly human beat us all back to the car park by at least 10 minutes, much to everyone's surprise and delight!

Sunlight sparkled diamonds on the water

We were intrigued by the Valve Tower

Eh?!

and finally back down the steep steps, all smiles!

Wellbeing Walks - Maps and Sand-Beans

Having completed our four points of the compass Wellbeing Walks, we have had some studio time to make the maps. It's always an enjoyable process sharing ideas and working on allotted tasks, it's almost a dance between studios, thoughts and actions. We decided to use the Miles & Dacombe hand stamped logo we developed for our first Undiscovered Networks postcard as a unifying element. It may seem odd that with easy access to dozens of typefaces on the computer that we should choose such a low tech method of printing, but we like the fact that the pressure of our hands creates a different intensity of colour and ink, sometimes parts of letters are barely visible, sometimes the alignment of text is a bit wobbly, but we feel this adds something to the end product.

For each Miles & Dacombe header and footer we print our own surnames and often chuckle at the incidental words SAND and BEAN created at the end of each surname. The border strips of colour are also hand mixed and rolled because we enjoy seeing the uneven line and spread of the inks.

Our studios are in the annexe of a primary school and during term time in the lunch hour the atmosphere changes, there are shouts, laughter and activities in the building and out on the playground, so we generally de-camp to another venue. One of our favourite haunts is the Skylark Cafe in Fermyn Woods Country Park, we've had numerous planning meetings and making sessions in there.

We added the paper cutouts to the first two maps in the cafe whilst a group of people from Paperchase were taking part in a team building exercise. The food is lovely and the staff never seem to mind us turning our table into a mini studio space or portable office. A recent British survey discovered that a brisk 15 minute walk reduced chocolate cravings in response to stress, but is is very hard to resist Ellie's home made cakes when ordering food! Through the windows you can see a host of birds hopping in and around the picnic tables and people of all ages taking advantage of the rambling spaces in the country park.

We chose the paper cutouts because they had tiny luggage labels in a variety of colours which reminded us of the labels we attached to our balloons. Jo drew all the map outlines and placed the paper shapes, Carole added areas of colour and the dotted lines that described the four routes.

Jo also made some lovely, tiny paper windmills to record the area we staged our windmill intervention and we decided to scan the maps rather than photograph them to preserve the textures and give a truer representation of the colours. Whilst Jo was sticking and placing, Carole was scribbling and reading back the memories of places and journeys during the walks, each map has its own 'story' printed on the reverse of the map.

We have a limited edition of A3 maps and an unlimited edition of A4 maps, the printing of the A3 maps were an In Kind donation from CTB Print & Design, who Carole has had a working relationship with for over 20 years.

Folding the finished maps

A3 maps rolled and ready to go!

Snibston Lines and Connections

My third and final walk to Snibston started at the pink gates of Belvoirdale School near Coalville's town centre, and followed the route of the old railway line that used to transport coal from the mines.

Our walk took us along these lines, noticing the crossings of bridges and paths, and then climbing the hill through the country park.

Our first clue to where we were was the long straight path from the car park at the supermarket which goes towards town and then crosses over, eventually linking to the old rail track that Snibston still use for steam train rides.  The straightness of the path immediately made us wonder if it had been a rail line, when one of the children, Reuben, being sharp eyed, spotted the rail gate that is still at the end of the path, which confirmed our suspicions!

When I look at maps of Coalville, no matter what era the map is from I can always orientate where Snibston is by identifying the shape of the railway.  For me, the gentle curve of the rail line has become the signature of Snibston.

The shape of the walk from Belvoirdale with railway line

The walk took on the theme of lines:  we noticed the rail lines but also a ladder on a roof that seemed to lead nowhere.  We noticed cracks in glass panes or paintwork that suggested maps.  We found paths that connected to other paths, creating networks and straight lines.

Once at Snibston I showed the group how to make prints, and we all drew things that we had found on the walk.  Their drawings and prints were great!

My third map is inspired by this print by Liam, aged 7:

Liam made a print of the ladder we had seen that led nowhere.  He then repeated his print, and made another one for the corner shapes, so the print turned back on itself and joined up again.

Liam's print looks like a ladder.  But it could also be a railway line.  It could also be a map.  I love that it almost echoes the shape of our walk, returning back to the beginning, just as we walked back to where we started.

My final map will be about following lines and connecting back to the routes we discovered.

Myth Maps in Snibston; the story so far

Two fantastic walks have been completed to Snibston with family groups.  Thank you to all the Intrepid Explorers:  the Paines, the Bishops, the Petersons, the Rawsons and the Wheelers, for coming with me and bringing these walks alive!  Thanks also to Maurice and Esale for joining us, and to Snibston for making us so welcome.

Working drawing

My idea for Myth Maps is to look at how maps can tell tales about places and the meaning of places.  I am interested in how places build up layers of meaning over time, and those meanings can become intermingled, stories can be distorted through whispers or tales that are guessed at, overheard and passed on as fact.  Thus myths are created about the places that we inhabit and visit.

For Myth Maps I will map the walks that we took, not just the route we followed but the people who were with me (the Intrepid Explorers!), what they said, the tales we told, the dreams we dreamt, what happened on that particular walk on that particular day with that particular group.  The myths we made.

Walk 1 in February started at St Mary's Lane where Leicester Road meets Standard Hill.  Following footpaths across the fields, we looked for "treasure", listened to the sounds, and responded to the shapes of the land by running, jumping and climbing.

The walk took on a surreal, dreamlike quality, children finding delight in small, strange things they discovered, that seemed out of place and time.

They climbed trees and dug at the sides of fields, making up stories about magical lands and the King of the Forest.

My first map is called A Map of the Real and Surreal.

A Map of the Real and Surreal:  work in progress

Detail

Walk 2 started in Ravenstone at Woodstone School, a new school by new houses and next to a host of young trees still being planted into a new woodland.

Ravenstone to Snibston:  work in progress

Crossing through a newly made park full of mounds and mole hills, we then zigzagged through Ravenstone and into a playing field, down an old green lane and onto Church Lane, lined with 19th century houses.

Back across a field and up the steep hill where suddenly we saw Snibston below us, and the children raced down the hill to get there!

This walk seemed to take on the theme of different times overlapping and connecting, the old, new and the yet to come.  Each space we passed through had its own sound, its own atmosphere.  Some places had a sense that somebody had just been there - fresh animal tracks, the marks of footballers' boot studs.

An archeaological dig?

I have long had a feeling that Snibston as a place is where the past, present and future co-exist.  When I asked Jack, one of the boys on the second walk, where he thought the oldest place on our walk had been, he said "Snibston".  When I asked him where was the newest place, he thought for a while and then said "Snibston" again!  And he's exactly right!

The final walk is on Sunday, starting from Belvoirdale School in Coalville.