2022 Project Summary - Living by the Ash Tree Waters

Living by the Ash Tree Waters was one of four big funded projects we ran this year, and consisted of a series of workshops and walks held over the spring and summer. It was funded by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Watercress & Winterbournes Landscape Partnership Scheme and a Councillors Community Grant from Test Valley Borough Council. The National Lottery Community Fund’s Reaching Communities programme provided funding for officers to plan and coordinate delivery of the project.

Note: Living by the Ash Tree Waters and Voices in Harmony involved acclaimed folk musician Paul Sartin, who very sadly died suddenly in September. We feel privileged to have been able to work with Paul, and glad that these projects helped introduce his beloved traditional folk music to a new audience in the local community. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

The core aim of this project was to engage the local community in an exploration of local chalk streams and ash trees, and their cultural heritage. Chalk streams are a rare, precious, and increasingly threatened habitat (find out more here), and the once-ubiquitous ash tree is disappearing due to Ash Dieback disease. Andover links these two, with its name being thought to come from the Anglo-Saxon name ‘Andefera’, meaning “Place by the ash-tree waters”.

Three locations in the Watercress & Winterbournes catchment were chosen for the project activities: Andover, Appleshaw, and Vernham Dean. We commissioned place-based artist James Aldridge to prepare, develop, and lead a range of workshops, supported by ATU:

5 whole-day workshops with children from Portway Junior, Appleshaw, and Vernham Dean schools (140 in total, aged 5-11), providing stream-related learning and engagement activities. The children drew on their existing knowledge of chalk streams and helped kickstart the design of the Nature Curious Explorer backpacks.
5 half-day community walks testing out and evaluating the Nature Curious Explorer backpacks, which were then refined based on feedback.
5 half-day guided walks using the final 15 backpacks. These walks provided an experience that combined nature exploration, poetry, prose, and music.

We also commissioned local folk musician Paul Sartin to research traditional music and songs related to chalk streams, teach them in three evening community choral workshops to residents of Andover, Appleshaw, and Vernham Dean, and lead performances on the final guided walks.

The three evening choral workshops allowed the local community to learn specially-selected traditional folk songs. 10 singers came to all the workshops and formed a pop-up choir which went on to perform in James’ walks. The half-hour performances, given when walk participants sat down to a picnic lunch, consisted of 4 songs sung acapella interspersed with readings. The choir members researched chalk streams and used their findings to write a new song and select readings, while Paul arranged the songs.

The project reached people of all ages:

140 children aged 5-11 in the three schools
105 participants, aged from 14 months to 75 years, across the ten walks
30 participants across the three evening choral workshops

There were a range of benefits and impacts from the project. The walks with Nature Curious Explorer backpacks allowed participants to explore the chalk streams and ash trees in their locality, engaging with the senses and fostering a positive habit of looking, noticing, and sharing, rather than merely passing through. They also had the opportunity to celebrate and enjoy their cultural heritage. The schoolchildren were able to work with a professional environmental artist to learn about chalk streams and how they connect people to place, and learned about end-to-end design processes by helping to create the Nature Curious Explorer backpacks. The cultural heritage of the Andover area was preserved and renewed, and the body of music used was added to with newly-created works, creating a legacy of song connecting local residents to their rivers and streams.

The artists evaluated their work throughout the project, which allowed them to develop and adapt events and activities in line with findings. Both said that the project had helped them develop professionally.

James Aldridge - “I enjoyed being able to take my own river research and use this to enhance people’s awareness of their own local rivers. I loved the way that the final walks and streamside choral events came together. This project has helped me to develop new artwork in the form of portable pieces that become activated through use by members of the local community.”
Paul Sartin - “The projects have enhanced the participants’ aural learning and music skills and have helped them to learn about their local cultural heritage. As well as the skills acquired, the participants benefited from group work, social interaction, and the joy of making music.”

Feedback was gathered from all involved (workshop and walk participants including the schoolchildren, singers, audience members, project leaders and volunteers). They expressed that they had:

Enjoyed the collaborative experience of creating and performing together
Benefited in terms of intergenerational sharing and community connections
Enjoyed positive mental and physical wellbeing by connecting to the natural world through the visual arts and song
Benefited from increased self-esteem and confidence as their contributions were valued and showcased
Discovered new or enhanced existing connections to their local chalk streams and rivers

Thanks to all concerned, Living by the Ash Tree Waters was a success, achieving its aims and having a positive impact on members of the local community. The 15 Nature Curious Explorer backpacks, their contents and specially-designed activities, are available for ongoing use by ATU and can be loaned or hired to local organisations, community groups, and residents. If you would be interested in using these, please email admin@andovertrees.org.uk

Read the full project report here: Project Report 2022 - LATW

A5 flyer on importance of chalk streams created to give to walk participants: LATW flyer