Storytelling Walk with James Lawrence (aka Man About Country) 7th december 2024

“Join our first ever creative in residence as he guides you on a walk to connect you to the landscape through stories and nature.
Together we’ll weave our way along the ancient Haltwhistle Burn Gorge, as experienced guide James brings the landscape to life with magic, myth and legend.
Meet James, the Man About Country, your guide to the wonders of Britain’s landscapes. A passionate storyteller and outdoor enthusiast, James has dedicated over five years to leading explorative walks and fostering a connection with nature.
So, whether you’ve walked the Burn a thousand times or never visited before, this is a chance to see it through fresh eyes, deepening your connection with nature and encountering some of Northumberland’s ancient myths and legends.
James will lead us along the path, stopping frequently to recount local folk tales and stories, along with some of his own crafted writings. We’ll also have the chance to connect with nature along the way, with some guided exercises.
Ending at the Field Shelter studio for hot drinks, you’ll have the opportunity to share your own stories from the local area in an informal setting.”

Unfortunately, Storm Darragh foiled our plans for an outdoor walking event, however, we went ahead and held an intimate indoor storytelling session with James at the studio while the wind howled outside.

In December 2024 we welcomed James Lawrence, aka @man_about_country to the Field Shelter.

James stayed with us for a week to research and develop new stories and poems inspired by our local landscape. On Saturday 7th December he presented a storytelling event in the Field Shelter

Already a friend of the project, James is helping us pilot our residency programme; to test out how it will all work and help shape it for future visiting creatives.

A little about James:
James is a storyteller, historian and naturalist.
For over 5 years he has led multi-dimensional walks all over Britain that combine performance with nature connection.
His practice revolves around exploring the natural wonders of the British Outdoors and revealing the magic within it: from the worlds in wild flowers to the haunts of mythical creatures.

In September 2024 we hosted ‘woolly wonka’ alongside the field shelter as part of the hadrian’s wall art trail.

woolly was one of two sheep allocated to haltwhistle, out of over 50 that travelled to venues the length of the wall. asked to design and dress woolly with our choice of theme, we opted for the strong visuals of charlie and the chocolate factory – with homemade props and costume and addition of confectionery themed lighting.

visible from the pub garden, the military road and the wall itself, woolly certainly drew attention from many passers-by. You can find out more about the project here

we hope that another of the sheep will visit us in 2025 – watch this space for our chosen theme…

we hosted the Haltwhistle Zig Zag group at the Field Shelter in july & august 2024, with three sessions exploring Green Carts Quarry as part of dynamic northumbria, a project conceived and run by the Haltwhistle Film Project.

we took a field trip to Green Carts Old Quarry with renowned geologist ian jackson. it’s an old limestone quarry in the middle of an active forestry area, with a ring of trees left growing around it which sheltered us perfectly from the wind.

We talked about geology, what it means to us, how it shapes people’s lives, the landscape, and just how wild some of the timescales are, and how difficult they are to comprehend. we explored creative responses to the quarry and surrounding geology, which were documented by vicky and marc of the haltwhistle film project. these will eventually be included in a film to be screened later this year.

Zig Zag is a group supporting adults who feel isolated due to disability, unemployment, mental health struggles or other issues in their lives, and is coordinated by our local charity, the Haltwhistle Partnership.

dynamic northumbria is made possible by the lottery heritage fund

in april 2024 we held an open studio event to celebrate the completion of renovation work to the field shelter, and the beginning of its new life as a creative workspace.

lydia displayed a range of her work from the last ten years, and invited visitors in to see the space, talk about the work and consider what they would like to see happening here in the future.