Places and Traces project is developing quickly now. Last summer we went on walks and did wild workshops in the woods and orchards, and spent the winter meetings in the local studies library exploring maps and documents.
Over the next few months we are working with artist Hannah Moreton to create a large map sharing participants’ emotional and personal histories of Charnwood Forest. Our session on Friday involved looking at the map large scale and working out what we each wanted to focus on.
Some of the details being added to the map include:
- Ancient woodlands, bluebells and wood anemones
- Ancient boundaries
- Streams and bridges where children play
- The best sunset spots
- Lost footpaths
- Old hedgerows and old footpaths
- Nature reserves and their special character
We thought about what kind of symbols, colours or patterns might work for making a Key for the map and started creating collaged and painted papers for elements.
We’ll also be annotating the map with detailed stories about certain places and what they mean to us, including layering different interests, different ways of experiencing the places and different time periods.
The next two sessions are on Friday 28th February and Friday 28th March. Anyone is welcome to join us if you have stories of spending time in Charnwood Forest.
This is part of my Cultures of Care project and is supported by Charnwood Geopark
Previous sessions
Places & Traces of Charnwood Forest
Places & Traces is a creative landscape history project looking at how local people experience and feel about the Charnwood Forest area. Over the next year I’m hosting creative exploratory walks and wild workshops where we will explore what makes this area so special to us personally. I’m collecting community stories and experiences of this…
Mapping our personal histories
Places & Traces project has moved indoors after a summer of walks and wild workshops. We are now looking at maps and documents to plan our own tactile map of emotional histories of Charnwood Forest. The final two meetings of this year are in Loughborough library where we are looking at historical maps and talking…
Memory Maps
What do remember about special places you have visited? What can you remember of your time spent there? What features or experiences stick in your memory? These memory maps of Charnwood Forest were created during my first Places & Traces event at the Outwoods, Loughborough in June. We talked about our different relationships with this…
Marks from the land
A creative nature session using berries, plants and soil to make maps for our emotional histories map Places and Traces is about exploring connections to the landscape we live in. It’s a community project taking place in Charnwood, Leicestershire. It’s part of my Cultures of Care project and is supported by Charnwood Geopark. Last month…
Walking the earth
Reflections from Places & Traces August walk Places and Traces is about exploring connections to the landscape we live in. In early August the project took to the footpaths near Woodhouse Eaves in the heart of Charnwood Forest. I lead a short walk through village edges, fields and farm tracks with the invitation to think…
Places and Traces of the Landscape
My Charnwood local history and landscape project moves indoors this month In October we had the last of the walks and wild workshops outside for Places & Traces. We took a short ramble along the bridleway, the old road, on the very edge of Loughborough. It’s one of my favourite places to walk and it…
Ruth Singer 
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