This imaginative project, a partnership between Land, the Friends of Arden Hall and Hyndburn Borough Council, aimed to encourage greater use of Arden Hall Park, by involving local schoolchildren and community groups in devising a large-scale, outdoor event inspired by the history and wildlife of the area.
During the spring and summer of 2005, environmental artist Gordon MacLellan led the activity, working alongside local community artists Gillian Kelly and Sue Gibson. The first stage was a teacher training day, introducing teachers to the techniques to be used in preparing for the event.
The focus then moved to practical workshops, in which the artists worked with community groups and children from four local schools to create new stories about the woodlands, the hills and their inhabitants, working from local folk tales and stories of the people, animals and plants of Lancashire. Together they also designed and created a new world of animals, plants and people.
The culmination of all the activity was a magical summer evening in the Park when the new stories were brought to life in a vivid pageant of theatre, music and dance. The woodland was decorated by spectacular ‘enchantment banners’ made in public workshops and over 500 people attended.
Hyndburn Councillor Graham Jones, Chair of the Friends of Arden Hall, commented, “This was a tremendous event that brought the whole community together to celebrate Arden Hall.”
Image: The Enchanted Woodland
