Hareshaw Linn Interpretive Project : January 2000 – January 2002
Bridge at Hareshaw LinnThe Hareshaw Linn interpretive project aimed to involve the people of Bellingham and outlying communities in the interpretation of Hareshaw Linn.
Northumberland National Park Authority established a steering group of local people, the Hareshaw Linn Community Group, to advise on the direction of the project and to fund raise for its implementation. Initial funding for this project came from Northumbrian Water Environment Trust and the European Rural Development Fund. The interpretation took place in three phases: consultation, initiation and implementation.
Consultation involved meeting with local groups and individuals as well as ongoing gatherings in a local pub where people were kept up to date and had a chance to air their views. Nine projects involving local community groups were initiated, all of which were completed. Groups included:
- a writers group
- schools
- a youth group
- the local drama society
The aim was to give the local people a voice in how the Linn was presented. All of the projects used the arts in the interpretation as a means of interpretation and self-expression. In some cases artists were brought in to work with the groups. In other cases the groups worked on their own or with the project officer.
The first phase of projects culminated in a summer picnic organised in partnership with the Twisty Roads Society. Here the schools performed their dances and stories, the writers read their prose and poetry and local musicians played. There were also competitions and trails as well as food. This event revitalised the Linn picnics held 100 years ago by the Victorians.
The most ambitious project was an inter-generational play put on with the Bellingham Drama Society. This involved employing a playwright to devise a play from the oral history material as well as taking on a director and musician to work with the Society to produce and perform the play. A twelve minute video was also produced from the play.
The final phase of the project was the production of a leaflet, two panels, wooden sculptural seats and a bridge to the waterfall.
