Every stone tells a story

a box of ancient memories

Every stone tells a story

Walking through the Peak District, we step on stories that run through all the long years of human life in Britain. The stories run still further back until the landscapes of 300 million years ago are worn smooth by our feet

The limestone of the White Peak can tell us about ancient seas and fabulous animals from before the days of the dinosaurs. In this project we will explore those rocks: visiting outdoor sites, looking at fossils and formations, building on our understanding of how those prehistoric environments shape the landscapes around us now. We will look at the end of the limestone days, and the climate change that shifted a world from limestone to millstone grit

A series of public events through 2013 will invite participants to

            explore Peak District sites where they can find out more about local geology and the fossils contained within our rocks and the environments where those rocks were first formed

            use different art media to apply that new understanding to creating models of those landscapes: textiles might shape reefs (knitting, felt, crochet and foam sculpture) and model making add trilobites and other creatures

            reflect on the ancient climate change we see in the transition between limestone and millstone grit and compare that to our current circumstances

            attend indoor events in museums, libraries, and visitor centres to look at and work with relevant fossils in more detail

            help create bigger "Ancient Landscape" installations for touring displays in local museums, libraries and other venues

crocheted, knitted, modeled and made,
the beginnings of an ancient landscape

           

Groups can also book sessions and special initiatives will link groups with different experience to share ideas and skills (eg adult knitting and crochet groups with school children, local geology groups with the wider public). We can either come in and do several workshops with a group or for groups with existing skills, we can simply offer an introduction to the project, a chance to handle fossils, talk, think and scheme wildly before letting the group let themselves plunge into those ancient seas and bask on prehistoric beaches (and 300 million years ago the land that would eventually become England was hovering somewhere around the equator)

activities might include inventing our own ancient rockpools

An on-line and other media presence will keep activities accessible to everyone encourage a wider range of people to walk across their local landscapes and to try making their own ancient landscape models 

a nautiloid, trapped forever in stone

The Nautiloid image is from our main project picture by Victoria Brown