What we've shared
We have a new guest blog post from Film and…
Merry Christmas from everyone at GPLD! We hope you have…
Still not feeling Christmassy yet? @skiptontownhall’s events calendar is jam-packed…
Places are still open for @theartery.ie’s next cohort of creative…
Featured in our latest newsletter are two articles written by…
Tomorrow we have our next Creative Craven Network catch-up! Come…
@freshperspective’s latest mural is complete and wow, what a piece!…
There’s only three days left to get your applications in…
Autumn 2023 newsletter
Invitation to The Artery Peer Support Group
The Artery’s vision is to bring more creativity more business more culture. The Artery supports: Creatives to improve business skills through creative Peer2Peer programmes Businesses to be more creative through creative commissions and offers Cultural organisations to work with both as equals Thanks to funding from York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub, we are delighted…
Create Your Future
GPLD’s online creative careers resource ‘Create Your Future’ , developed by Innovate Educate, profiles young creatives in the Lakes and Dales and showcases opportunities and toolkits for other creatives to start and support their creative career in a rural place. We regularly add new content and recently commissioned local filmmakers Film On The Brain to…
Creative Networks
The new Creative Craven Network (CCN) which launched at the beginning of this year continues to provide relaxed spaces and interactive sessions for creative practitioners and other cultural organisations from across the district with recent meetings including a bob up session at Glusburn Institute and our first digital session via Zoom last month. It’s been…
My Internship Journey: Exploring the world of creative consultancy
I am a Masters’ student at the University of York majoring in International Business and Strategic Management. Originally from India, I started looking for an internship even before I came to the UK this September. That’s when I came across an opening with the Artery. What attracted me to the project was how different and…
Forge Festival 2023 and a look to 2024/25
The Knotted Project’s Forge Festival 22 & 23 clearly demonstrated the talent, dedication & creative ambition that exists within Cumbria whilst raising the volume on young voices in our community. Both years culminated in an extremely successful & unique young person-led festival at the acclaimed Windermere Jetty Museum. Over 2 years, performance companies from across…
Skipton Now Festival Wrap Up
Skipton Now 2023, which took place throughout the whole of August, brought together an eclectic programme of diverse activities and events. This month was a celebration of all the hard work Skipton’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) and its cultural programme have achieved over the past four years. The team behind Skipton’s HSHAZ, with…
Filmmakers’ Showcase Event
A group of award-winning local young filmmakers and artists came together for a Hinterlands Fringe event at the Plaza Cinema in Skipton on the 31st of August. Funded by Skipton HSHAZ and managed by GPLD, this free event was the culmination of a month-long festival of culture and heritage activity in the town. Featured on…
Fresh Perspective update
If you’ve been out and about in Skipton over the past couple of years you may have noticed more and more colourful murals popping up in unexpected places such as down Hallam’s Yard, Hardcastle’s Yard and at Stanforth’s Butchers, as well as the unmissable artwork at Albion Place around the back of the Town Hall…
Clementine Bogg-Hargroves and Skipton Watch This Space
As part of Skipton Now Festival’s film night on 31st August, film and media student Beatrice Benn has been reviewing filmmakers highlighted on the night and writing profiles for each. Below is her profile on actor, writer and creative filmmaker Clementine Bogg-Hargroves. ‘A multi-talented creative force, Clementine Bogg-Hargroves’ work spans acting, writing, and directing, within…
Nature Matters at the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive
Nature Matters is a Heritage Lottery Funded project, which is looking at the film archive from an environmental lens. The project involves digitisation, engagement and events and contemporary collecting where they are looking for digital film content from the last twenty years with eco themes. They have just created a new 17 minute short film…
Mollie’s new book re young person’s experience of cancer
Hi there, my name is Mollie and I have just turned 25. Up until February this year I was living in the Galapagos islands teaching English. I moved out there after finishing my PGCE in teaching languages. I had an itch I couldn’t scratch so spent the last penny to my name on the flight!…
Skipton musician’s national tour and new single
Local singer, cellist and environmental activist Sarah Smout performed at Skipton Town Hall on the 9th November. This show was part of her debut solo tour (also playing at Bury, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Shoreham and Ambleside) after a decade-long stint as a session cellist in the folk and roots scene. Armed with just her cello…
The Artery Creative Catalyst
We are thrilled to announce that Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, sees the potential in The Artery that we see. Our application to Innovate UK Creative Catalyst fund has been successful. Innovate Educate Ltd’s The Artery supports the business, creative and cultural sectors to work alongside each other, to learn from and with each…
News
Since launching in 2018 we’ve been working to change perceptions of the area to tackle the fact that the number…
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Freelance Poet, Melissa Davies kicked off Watch This Space 2021 by creating a poem live from Kendal restaurant, Comida, as…
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A brand new website, Run the Dales, is shining a light on one of the most accessible and traditional sports…
read moreSpring & Summer 2023 newsletter
Future is Northern Conference
The Artery (Karen Merrifield), GPLD and Virpi Kettu of Kettu Studios were delighted to be invited to present at the Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN) conference, the Future is Northern: Skills and Training Conference on 27th March 2023. Held at The Studio, in Leeds, to help enable creative industry professionals, policymakers and educators to explore…
The Artery Update
SIGN Funding has allowed The Artery to run two very different business support programmes for young creatives in Craven and Scarborough, using screen storytelling and AR and Animation as the vehicle to deliver business skills. Young people they targeted were those who tend to get overlooked, from less affluent backgrounds, from rural backgrounds, or those…
Skipton Now Cultural Festival
Skipton HAZ, in partnership with Skipton BID, GPLD, Skipton Town Council and Skipton Town Hall are thrilled to announce the launch of their first heritage and culture event ‘Skipton Now Festival’ happening across Skipton throughout the whole of August. This exciting new festival will feature multiple cultural projects HAZ have recently funded culminating in a…
HAZ Micro-commissions
Back in September 2022, GPLD, in partnership with Skipton Town Hall, were asked by Skipton HAZ to run a series of small commissions in conjunction with their Skipton Now Festival taking place in August 2023. The first ‘design commission’ was all about the festival brand and design, where applicants submitted existing design portfolios profiling their…
Craven Creative Network
GPLD, in partnership with the Cultural Services Team based at Skipton Town Hall is facilitating a brand new creative network. We had a fantastic launch and first meet-up for the new Creative Craven Network (CCN) in January at Skipton Town Hall. It was great to meet or reconnect with creative practitioners and other cultural organisations…
Hinterlands International Rural Film Festival 2023
Hinterlands kicked off the festivals for 2023 in March with a plethora of exciting and engaging activities with themes of travel and adventure highlighted throughout. The programme included an eclectic mix of films, talks, family activities and events including den building at Skipton Town Hall, an intimate viewing of Sightseers in a small caravan, a…
Forge Festival 2023
The Knotted Project’s Forge Festival 2023 took place on the 29th and 30th April 2023 at Windermere Jetty Museum. This year’s festival was hugely ambitious and unique with pop-up performances from performance companies, early career artists and professional companies taking place every half hour across the weekend in outdoor and unusual spaces across the museum.…
Marketing To Younger People Focus Groups Feedback
Back in September 2022 we ran two focus groups with young people aged 18-35 in Salford and Headingley as part of our Marketing to Younger People project to get a better sense of how the Lakes and Dales are portrayed outside the area to and to help us understand how we can develop inclusive marketing…
Watch This Space Skipton Update
Throughout 2022/2023 we have run the third iteration of our Watch This Space project with funding support from Skipton Heritage Action Zone. Although the main premise of the project remained, with creatives being placed in unusual spaces for 48 hours, other smaller projects were formed including Humans of Skipton. This collection of photographs, inspired by…
Re-opening of Abbot Hall
Lakeland Arts have some exciting news – after a long-awaited redevelopment, Abbot Hall has re-opened! Abbot Hall is one of Britain’s preeminent small art galleries, set in a beautifully restored Grade I-listed Georgian building on the banks of the River Kent in Kendal, Cumbria. The gallery holds an outstanding collection of 18th-21st century fine art and…
EK at the Mill and other Co-working Spaces
Elsworth Kitchen are delighted to announce their brand-new venture called EK at the Mill. They have taken over the top floor of the beautiful heritage site of High Corn Mill in Skipton to make it into a top Skipton venue for weddings, personalised events, photoshoots, away days, corporate meetings and creative workshops! They are also…
Festivals and Events of 2023
Hinterlands kicked off the 2023 festival season back in March, with a strong programme covering a range of activities, events and screenings in unusual places including a showing of the film ‘Sightseers’ in an old caravan and a dog-friendly screening of Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle of Dogs’. Following in Hinterland’s footsteps was the second year of…
Craven Music Match
Craven Music Match has a new project manager for its final year! Previous project manager Sarah Smout has just launched her inspiring UK tour at the Hay Festival with various other dates and venues planned for the autumn including London and Birmingham. Stepping into her shoes is the very capable Billy White who has a background…
Creative Champions
We’re extremely lucky to live in an area filled with such talent, inspiration and creativity, which is especially prevalent through our Creative Champions. Emerging multi-disciplinary artist and founder of Folded Zine Marisa Crane currently has two exciting exhibitions happening, ‘Soft by Shine’ at Farfield Mill which ran until 28th May and ‘Lost’ at Theatre by…
The Arctic Diaries
GPLD Creative Champion Melissa Davies has just launched her first published book, The Arctic Dairies. Melissa is an insightful poet who writes about both the Norwegian and Lakeland landscapes – asking who gets to speak for them, and why? As well as her own creative practice, Melissa works with local communities to create collage poems…
Summer 2022 newsletter
The Artery – a business support programme with a difference
The Artery is a peer2peer support programme designed specifically for creative businesses in the Craven District. It launched in 2021 by Innovate Educate Ltd (GPLD business relations consultants), in collaboration with us. Read more here. The Artery works in the spaces and overlaps between business, creatives and culture sectors. It is based on our belief…
PlayWorkInspire – Free Business Event
We are hosting a free business spa day for local businesses and freelancers this summer as part of our ACE funded Nurturing Creativity project. With lots of practical business development and profiling skills to take away, the day will be fun, full of creative activity, and feature workshops and live sessions. There will be lots…
Freelance career support
The Artery is also delighted to have been successful in attracting funding from the Screen Industries Growth Network. This will allow them to deliver two slightly different programmes for young people interested in freelance careers in the Screen Industries. They are offering two programmes in Craven and Scarborough in October with a focus on animation…
Create Your Future Workshop at John Ruskin School
Our Nurturing Creativity careers strand has focused on supporting businesses post-pandemic and raising awareness of the importance of creativity and creative careers with local schools and colleges. The pandemic has impacted everyone in different ways. But for young people it has been especially difficult. They have missed out on two years of connecting with the…
New Create Your Future Films
We’ve just updated Create Your Future, our online resource for young people interested in a creative career. Four new videos have been created and showcase the work of Matthew Annable – Musician Virpi Kettu – Animator Juliet Klottrup – Photographer Billy Walden – Carpenter They share their stories of running a creative business through…
Micro-commissions come to a close with Brewery Arts Takeover
We collaborated with Folded Zine, The Knotted Project and Brewery Arts to help a group of young artists take over Brewery Arts this summer. GPLD’s ACE funded ‘Nurturing Creativity’ project has awarded funding to eight artists from the area who could demonstrate how it would help them boost their creative careers. Find out more about…
Giving Skipton A Fresh Perspective
If you live in Skipton or visit frequently you may have noticed there’s a bit of extra colour brightening up the walls of Swadford Street and Broughton Road. Fresh Perspective have been working with Heritage Action Zone and GPLD to produce heritage and community-inspired murals which encourage younger audiences to engage with the history of…
Welcome to Skipton
Last month the new Welcome to Skipton website was launched as part of a new brand development programme for the town. This has been initiated by the local Skipton placemaking steering group chaired by GPLD. Funded by Skipton High Street Heritage Action Zone with support from Skipton BID, Skipton Town Council, Craven District Council and…
Marketing to Younger People programme receives funding
Since we launched four years ago, we’ve been working with key partners, including arts organisations, national parks and local councils, to develop a collaborative approach to marketing the area to younger people. We’re delighted that the programme has received additional funding to run focus groups in Leeds and Manchester this autumn with our target age…
This Year’s Festival Round-Up
We’re very excited to see the full return of festivals this year and to experience all the incredible talent the Lakes and Dales has on offer. Kicking us off was Hinterlands which took place on 13th – 15th May followed by Kendal Poetry Festival on 23rd – 26thJune, Grassington Festival and Skipton Sheep Day on Sunday 26th June. July is a busy month for…
Forge Festival 2022 review
Forge Festival is The Knotted Project’s first arts festival, created with and for young people across Cumbria, culminating in two young person led arts festivals at Windermere Jetty. The first took place in May 2022 and the next will be in April 2023. This partnership project aims to champion young people’s wellbeing and talent development.…
Creative Champion Highlight – Jess Aughton
Continuing with supporting young creatives, one recipient of our micro-commissions, Jess Aughton, has also been appointed as Art Production Intern at Craven Arts. This is an exciting new position from one of our ‘Nurturing Creativity’ project partners. Funded by ourselves, Jess will support the development of the Watch This Space project, a collaboration between GPLD and…
Winter 2022 newsletter
Nurturing Creativity Wrap Up
At the end of October, we wrapped up our ACE funded Nurturing Creativity project and what a jam-packed 12 months it was! In that time, we’ve had 7 micro-commissions resulting in a 6 week-long exhibition at Brewery Arts, 2 bursaries for The Knotted Project Young Company at Forge Festival – a youth-led festival in Kendal,…
Watch This Space Pocket Residencies
November 2022 saw the third iteration of Watch this Space as four artists set up camp in unconventional venues for a period of 3 days in Skipton. Four venues hosted artists between 22 and 26 November 2022. First up, Elsworth Kitchen partnered up with Rob Young, a writer from Harrogate. Initially hesitant as to how…
Hinterlands 2023
Hinterlands is returning to Skipton once again in 2023 with another exciting programme of films and events, however the festival will now take place on 17th-19th March rather than the usual May time. The first wave of the programme has announced adventure films for both adults and children with screenings of French film Faces and…
MTYP Focus Groups
Back in September, we hosted two focus groups with young people aged 16-35 as part of our Marketing to Younger People project, asking their opinions on what attracts them (if anything) to visit the Lakes and Dales, feedback on our existing marketing and what suggestions they have to make the area, the art and culture…
The Artery
The Artery, now in its second year, is offering local creatives an opportunity to meet every two months to explore issues that will help their businesses to thrive, starting in January 2023. They have an active core group and are looking to welcome others, whatever their creative practice may be. The group is support-based and…
Events Wrap Up
Once again it’s been a busy year for events and there has been no shortage of creativity, inspiration and innovation! Starting us off strong was the brand-new ACE funded Forge Festival – led by the Knotted Project – curated and presented by young people on the 1st May followed by the ever-popular Hinterlands Film Festival…
Skipton Photography
This year, in partnership with GPLD and Skipton BID, Skipton Heritage Action Zone launched the new Welcome to Skipton brand, unifying all aspects, colours and businesses of Skipton to create a strong identity for the town. As part of this, we commissioned two photographers to work with young people to capture the vibrancy of Skipton…
Micro-Commissions Profiles
Back in April we commissioned 7 young artists to produce a piece in response to the landscape around them, their thoughts and feelings around rurality and what the area means to them. All the artists produced some incredible work, with pieces ranging from a documentary-style short film following a Settle-based photographer to a comic board…
Craven Arts House Opening
The new Craven Arts House opened to the public on Friday 9th December after it was officially opened to funders and stakeholder including Craven Arts members by Catherine Johnson. With funding from Historic England through Skipton HAZ, Craven Arts House will become an innovative flagship studio and arts facility for Craven’s community and artists who…
Forge The Future 2023
The Knotted Project are currently in the planning stages of Forge Festival Year 2, with project delivery beginning in February 2023. There’s lots to look forward to! In year two they’re introducing a ‘ladder’ system which enables young people to imagine their next steps, from Schools, to Performance Companies, to Early Career Artists, to experienced…
Orla Collier
Orla grew up in the Lake District and began her dance training on the Centre for Advanced Training programme at The Lowry, Salford. At CAT, she worked with choreographers such as Odette Hughes from Company Wayne McGregor and Jean Abreu. She also began training on the Royal Ballet Associate scheme from the ages of 8-16.…
Spring 2022 newsletter
Nurturing Creativity – our work in 2022
We were thrilled to be awarded Arts Council funding last autumn to help continue our work to support young people and creatives in the Lakes and Dales until the end of 2022. Our new project ‘Nurturing Creativity’ will focus on two strands; Youth Voice & Representation and Creative Careers, supporting young people in becoming advocates…
Review of Phase One
While we may be looking forward to our Nurturing Creativity project and beyond, it’s important we look back and critically appraise what we achieved in phase one of the Great Place: Lakes and Dales programme and share our learning. Through initiatives such as the Play Work Stay residential, Innovate Your Offer workshops and A Future…
Nurturing Creatives Micro-Commissions
At the end of January 2022, we announced applications for our new Nurturing Creatives Micro-Commissions. Open to individual creatives or groups looking to develop an artistic piece of work to be exhibited in 2022, they offer a chance for 16- to 34-year-olds to expand on any ideas in response to the pandemic, and/or those that…
Skipton Watch This Space Overview
After the success of our Watch This Space project back in phase one, we’re supporting HAZ (Heritage Action Zone) to develop it further, specifically targeting Skipton businesses and organisations. By the end of the project, we’re aiming to have developed a network of spaces in Skipton to support creatives and community groups to deliver creative…
How we’re supporting Forge Festival
As part of Nurturing Creativity, we are supporting The Knotted Project with their latest project Forge Festival. This is an ambitious, two year project helping young people in Cumbria to emerge from the pandemic, feeling creative, inspired & capable of shaping their futures. Artists will work with diverse groups of young people aged 14-25 to…
Folded Zine Overview and Issue 5 ‘Reflection’
As many of you may be aware by now, Folded Zine, supported by GPLD and The FOLD, are about to release their fifth issue centred around the theme of reflection. For those who are unfamiliar with Folded Zine, it was created during the height of the pandemic and restrictions of 2020. It was created by…
Billy Walden
For those of you who may not know, back in 2021 Billy became a contestant on Channel 4’s ‘Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker’, gaining recognition for his attention to detail and his already impressive achievements for someone so young. Billy first started having an interest in carpentry at about 8 years old when he used to…
Matilda Walden
Creativeness, talent and giving back to the community must run in the Walden family! Billy’s younger sister and GPLD Creative Champion Matilda Walden recently beat the world record for the fastest time to assemble a Mr Potato Head, completing the challenge in an impressive 5.69 seconds! She managed to raise a large amount of money…
Jess Prince – 42 Degrees
If you’re wondering where the name 42 Degrees came from and what the festival is all about, they perfectly sum up their ethos here: Sunlight strikes raindrops from all angles. But there’s one that’s different, one that produces a rainbow: 42 degrees. From here, the light scatters into the colours we love, and each rainbow…
Autumn 2021 newsletter
GPLD Chapter One
GPLD’s four-year journey has travelled many roads and many miles through some magnificent landscapes and creative communities. Often challenging but always rewarding it has opened lots of new doors (and gates!) and we have met some wonderful people, sharing and exploring together how we connect to the heritage and creativity of this beautiful area. We…
End of my GPLD chapter
I’ve worked as the Programme Officer for Great Place Lakes and Dales for nearly four years and in that time not only have I learnt how to do things I never thought I would do, but the whole programme has learnt so much that can now inform what happens next and help others from across…
Cultural Vision
Research, consultation and listening is what we’re all about. Right from the research The Audience Agency completed back when we were just starting out in 2018, we’ve always aimed to back up all our decisions about what needs doing with evidence. From bob-ups and graffiti walls to conferences and surveys, we’ve used all different types…
New mural unveiled in the Dales
A striking new mural has been unveiled in the heart of Settle, North Yorkshire, painted by Signs by Umberto with co-design led consultation involving young people in the local area. Stretching the full height of the three-story facade, the eye-catching mural is sited at the top of historic Kirkgate, close to the main marketplace in…
Dales Photographer captures honest portraits of young people
A series of portraits titled ‘HOME’ reveals glimpses into the lives of young people living and working in the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria. The portraits have been exhibited at the newly launched and redeveloped Brewery Arts in Kendal in August and was available to view at independent shop and cafe Car and Kitchen in Settle,…
Lakes and Dales Summer 2021 Festival Round-Up
Summer 2021 has seen a glorious return of festivals and events in the Lakes and Dales, some back from a short hiatus and others brand new! The festival season was kicked off in May with Hinterlands International Rural Film Festival, a film festival celebrating rural film in dramatic ways across the landscapes of the Lakes…
Artful Ways
Artful Ways, a new Arts Council funded project has been bringing people together across Cumbria in an exciting celebration of creativity and connection. Showcasing the wealth of creativity and innovation in the area it invited people from across the cultural sector to meet up outside and walk between studios, venues and other cultural landmarks, and…
New Murals for Skipton
Youth-led community group Fresh Perspective have installed the first in a series of new public art murals across the Town Centre at the new Craven Arts House, formally the North Yorkshire County Council Community Centre on Otley Street, marking the start of a high street regeneration project called “Community in Colour” that aims to bring…
Watch This Space in Skipton
We’re proud to be a member of Skipton High Street Heritage Action Zone’s (HAZ) Cultural Consortium which is a group of representatives from creative, cultural and heritage organisations working in the town. Part of our role as a member of the consortium is to deliver an exciting element of the HAZ Cultural Programme. You might…
Aerial X Hayden Thorpe
Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre Saturday 9th October 2021 Aerial and Brewery Arts presents Aerial X Hayden Thorpe Tickets £15 available from https://www.breweryarts.co.uk/ Aerial, Cumbria’s festival of new work, is proud to be teaming up with Kendal musician and former Wild Beast Hayden Thorpe, for a very special day and night of events at Brewery Arts,…
GPLD says farewell to our two young work placement students
In July and August of this year we said goodbye and good luck to two of our young work placement students as they finished their projects with us and moved onto the next chapter in their lives. Ava Grace, GPLD project intern and musician and Seth Benn, architecture work placement student both began working with…
The Artery
Innovate Educate Ltd worked with GPLD on the business strand of the project since 2018. Our research showed that although there’s a lot of support out there for either business start-ups or scalable businesses in the GPLD area, there’s very little business designed specifically for creative and small businesses. The majority of businesses in the…
Spring/Summer 2021 newsletter
Run the Dales
A brand new website, Run the Dales, is shining a light on one of the most accessible and traditional sports of all – Fell Running – the original sport of the Yorkshire Dales. Sponsored by the Yorkshire Dales National Park and us, Run the Dales and its accompanying photographic exhibition celebrates one of the oldest but most…
42° Festival
42° is an intimate music and arts festival held in the Lake District, with the first festival on 16th-18th July 2021, tickets will be released soon! Organised by 24 volunteers, it will be a weekend of shared experiences through funk & soul, jazz, disco, hip-hop and house live music and DJ-sets, comedy, spoken word, film,…
Hinterlands Festival
The outbreak of Covid-19 meant that our flagship international rural film festival, Hinterlands, had to be cancelled in 2020. However, we’re delighted to join Producers, Wild Rumpus in announcing it is back in 2021! The stunning line-up of inspirational films includes the multi-Oscar nominated movies Nomadland, Minari and Wolfwalker, Skipton-based horror The Banishing, Francis Lee’s…
Is the Future Rural?
Finally, we promised to update you on the future of Great Place: Lakes and Dales. Since launching in 2018 we’ve been working to change perceptions of the area to tackle the fact that the number of 16 – 35 year olds choosing to live and work here is 44% less than the national average. We’ve…
Create Your Future
More and more information is emerging about the impact of the last year on young people and their attitudes towards their future. A survey of 2,000 young people aged between 16 and 24 found that 21% were more confused about their career path than before the outbreak, with 43% choosing to put career or education…
The Fold
Despite the challenges of the past year, The Fold is going from strength to strength. Co-curated by young people in Bentham, Settle and Kendal the project has so far seen artists work with young people to install a mural and flags in Bentham skate park, half-term activity packs with work from professional artists included delivered…
Fresh Perspective creates joy in numbers
A huge ‘congratulations’ to the team of young people who have been working on Fresh Perspective for over two years now. It began as a project to test new ways to represent younger voices in and around Skipton. However, in that time, they’ve run in-person events including meet ups in cafes usually closed in the…
Forge the Future
Funded by Arts Council England and supported by ourselves, The Knotted Project’s Forge the Future allowed young artists, based in the South Lakes (aged 15-22) the opportunity to develop their creative skills, networks and artistic practice. Supported by an experienced team of professional creatives in 2021, the Forge the Future Performance Company produced a piece of film…
Watch this space
The second instalment of our project in which we match people who need a space to try out their inspiring idea with under used venues in the area began again in February adhering to the lockdown restrictions and government guidelines at the time. Two venues, Comida restaurant in Kendal, and Yorkshire Dales Guides’ barn in…
Winter 2020-21 newsletter
Watch This Space
Watch This Space is back for 2021! What would you do with the use of a space for 48 hours and £500? We want to help you experiment and test different spaces and what cultural and creative things you can make happen in them. This time around, we have a rural barn in Stainforth and…
Aerial Festival
Back in September 2020 Aerial Festival, in digital form, launched! The team concentrated their energies on commissioning new work from some amazing artists, all of which are now presented online and for free with more coming soon. Aerial is more than a festival. It is a platform for new work inspired in some way by…
Public Art Now
We’re on a mission to change perceptions of the area as younger generations consider their future. The Lakes and Dales needs to attract diverse, dynamic individuals to move here or stay here. So, what has public art got to do with that? Read our campaign booklet here… lakesanddales.org/public-art
Fresh Perspective
Fresh Perspective is a group which was originally formed to put on events for young people in the Skipton and Craven area – organised by young people in the area! The pandemic means much of the team’s work has been taken online. They’ve arranged some truly innovative and exciting digital events including make-up workshops, low-fi…
Folded Zine
Folded Zine is coming! Born from co-design sessions that were part of The Fold 2020 Folded is a space to share, connect and uplift, created by and for young people in Kendal and the South Lakes. Launching at the end of January, you’ll be able to go online each month to experience art work in…
The Knotted Project
The Knotted Project is a physical theatre company based in Cumbria and run by duo Natalie and Simon. They develop original productions, championing collaboration and multi-art form approaches to creating and learning. Formed in 2013, the company works regularly with organisations such as The Brewery Arts Centre, The Dukes, Big Imaginations and The Lowry. They…
Autumn 2020 newsletter
Clementine Bogg-Hargroves
Actor, Director and Writer Clementine Bogg-Hargroves started her independent creative journey with a one-woman theatre show at Hettie’s Café in Skipton back in 2016. Clem grew up in the south of France moving back to Skipton when she was 12. She studied Arabic at the University of Edinburgh, which included a year of study in…
Public Art Now
We’re on a mission to change perceptions of the area as younger generations are choosing to leave in favour of places which are seen as more affordable with better career opportunities. The Lakes and Dales needs to attract diverse, dynamic individuals to move here or stay here. So, what has public art got to do…
Image by Yorkshire Dales photographer selected for Portrait of Britain 2020
An image taken by Juliet Klottrup, a 27 year-old photographer from Clapham, here in the Dales, and featuring a young farmer from the area has been chosen as one of 100 winning images for this year’s Portrait of Britain. 1854 Media and British Journal of Photography announced the 200 shortlisted and 100 winning images for…
Create Your Future – more important than ever
At the end of 2019 we launched our careers and business resource – Create Your Future – for help and advice on pursuing a creative career in a rural area. With young people’s GCSEs and A Levels cancelled this year and challenges surrounding results day, this resource is more important than ever. Please help us…
Live More Do More – Coming Out Stronger
As you may be aware, we pressed pause on the Live More, Do More campaign during the height of the pandemic but as lockdown eases we feel now is the time to get going with it again. This is an opportunity to join together in promoting the area as a diverse, vibrant and exciting place to live and…
Come and Live More Do More with us
Are you on TikTok? Come and see how people in the Lakes and Dales are getting creative, what they are inspired by and what they are open to on our TikTok channel @greatplacelakesdales and look out for opportunities to get involved! TikTok is about having fun and there’s also a big arts following with videos…
Tell us about your life right now
You might already know that back in 2018, near the beginning of the GPLD programme, we commissioned a research project which considered younger peoples’ attitudes towards and perceptions of living and working in the Craven and South Lakeland. See the results of this research. We’ve used these findings to inform our work from then on,…
Northern Writers Awards
Not one but TWO writers have been successful in the 2020 Northern Writers Awards. A huge congratulations to Polly Atkin and Hannah Hodgson on receiving the Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry 2020 judged by Vahni Capiledo. Both are based in the Lakes and Dales and are pictured here at our Seedfunding Social last year. What…
Aerial Festival
With the continued uncertainty surrounding Covid-19, live events programmed as part of Aerial festival in 2020 will no longer be going ahead but they’ve adapted to the unique situation. Aerial will continue to support artists by presenting its programme online, to do what Aerial was created to do – work with artists in order to…
Dales based animation studio creates music video for Katy Perry
Katy Perry’s official video for song “Resilient” from her new album “Smile”, has just been released. The stop motion animation video was directed by USA based Aya Tanimura, commissioned by Hound Content production house, and created by Skipton based animator and Great Place Creative Champion, Virpi Kettu and her Kettu Studios collective of local and…
Spring 2020 newsletter
GPLD Responds to COVID-19
In these unprecedented times, like everyone else, the GPLD team has been working hard to make the best of the new normal. It was with heavy hearts, but a sense of inevitability that we had to press pause on our offline and events activities. Aerial a festival of sounds and words in the South Lakes,…
Life Under Lockdown
As we all find our best ways of coping with life under lockdown, our creative board members and partners have been busy moving activities online where possible and sharing on social media. Here’s some of what’s been going on: The Wordsworth Trust marked the poet’s 250th birthday on April 7 by sharing a tribute from…
Create your Future
Now is the perfect time to research and be inspired for life after lockdown and this is where our Create Your Future resource comes into its own. The dedicated website createyourfuture.me.uk offers advice to young people interested in pursuing careers in the creative industries in the Lakes and Dales. Launched in January, the unique resource…
Seth Benn
Dales sixth former Seth Benn has been inspired by our Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) competition for flexible housing as he works towards his ambition of becoming an architect. Seth is completing an architectural work experience project with us, focusing on the competition, which aimed to select designs to meet the needs of young…
Funding the Future
Our Seedfundees have spent the last 12 to 18 months developing and completing their projects and despite a planned celebration event falling prey to lockdown, we are still able to celebrate successes online. Take a look at the Funding the Future booklet to get an idea of the creativity and innovation out there and be…
Juliet Klottrup
Photographer and film maker Juliet Klottrup grew up ‘down South’ but spent her childhood holidays scampering around the Lakes. She fell in love with the Dales when she moved to the area, aged 18. Juliet’s parents, originally from the north, relocated to the Ingleton area and she immediately felt inspired by the uniqueness of the…
Useful Hashtags for the Lakes and Dales
While the Covid-19 crisis is still so unpredictable and people are urged to stay at home we have hit pause on our use of the hashtag #LiveMoreDoMore but this campaign will be back and better than ever in the future. In the meantime, here’s a handy list of hashtags you or your organisation can join…
Winter 2019-20 newsletter
Live More Do More – the full toolkit is coming
Living and working in the Lakes and Dales is about making the most of every day. It’s about living more and doing more. You’ll be aware from our previous newsletter that earlier in 2019 we launched #LiveMoreDoMore . Thank you if you’ve been using the hashtag when posting on social media – it’s a great…
Aerial coming soon
Don’t miss Aerial, the new music and arts festival in and around Ambleside and Grasmere from March 26-29 2020. We’ve teamed up with some big hitters from the arts world to commission this nationally important event in our area. Luke Bainbridge (head of arts at Festival No.6, previously deputy editor of Observer Music Monthly), and…
Create Your Future – pursuing a creative career in a rural area
Check out our new jobs and business resource – Create Your Future – for help and advice on pursuing a creative career in a rural area. Head over to createyourfuture.me.uk for inspirational videos of eight local young creatives who are making a living in the sector in different ways, plus valuable business tips for being…
Play, work, stay
Young creatives came together for our innovative business skills support and networking residential weekend, Play Work, Stay (PWS). Voted an overwhelming success, the weekend at The Dalesbridge, near Austwick, saw 21 young people take part in workshops, talks and activities to give them the tools needed for a successful career in the arts and cultural…
Come into the fold
Get ready to come into The FOLD – an exciting new cultural programme of three week pop ups for 2020. Locally based steering groups in each of the three host towns – Settle, Bentham and Kendal – including 14 to 21-year-olds working alongside experienced curators, are busy shaping The FOLD ready for touring in the…
Hinterlands is back
Did you see Wild Rumpus on BBC One in December? The company behind The Lanterns at Chester Zoo and Just So Festival are returning to Skipton from 14 – 17 May with the Hinterlands International Rural Film Festival. Get your pass for just £50 giving you access to all screenings and events in the 2020…
Watch this space
Creatives were able to work on projects as diverse as songs for therapy to aerial performance skills thanks to Watch This Space. The project hooked up artists with venues and everyone managed to use the opportunity to test out new ideas or rehearse techniques over their 48 hour pop-up space takeovers. As was widely reported…
Bretten Lord
Actor Bretten Lord has turned to his second love – antiques – so he can combine living in the Dales with his thespian work. The 21-year-old, best known for his lead role in the award-winning ‘Lad – A Yorkshire Story’, has also appeared on CBBC and has worked behind the scenes on video playback on…
Rob and Harriet Fraser
Creatives Rob and Harriet Fraser don’t just live in the Lakes – they immerse themselves in the landscape through their ‘Sense of Here’ project. The couple – Rob is a photographer and Harriet a writer – who work under the name somewhere-nowhere, live in the Eastern Lake District, and together they have developed their creativity,…
Virpi Kettu
Animator-director Virpi Kettu spent seven years working on the Wallace and Gromit films following a two-week work experience placement at the production company Aardman. “The initial connection was a combination of luck, networking and skills. It was a delightful working relationship. I felt instantly that I was in my spiritual home and learned a lot…
Autumn 2019 newsletter
#LiveMoreDoMore
Help us put the Lakes and Dales on the map in an inspiring new way by getting involved with our new place marketing campaign. Led by the newly launched hashtag #LiveMoreDoMore the initiative is aimed at spreading the word about what’s great about the Lakes and Dales in a bid to reclaim the area’s youth.…
Dr Will Smith and Dr Polly Atkin
Wordsworth might be the cheerleader for Grasmere’s literary heritage but two book lovers and academics are putting it on the map for modern creative writing. Dr Will Smith and Dr Polly Atkin, who live in Grasmere, are setting up a series of literary events, readings and creative writing workshops. These will all be shared more…
Lauren Smith, Laurenink
Former children’s worker Lauren Smith decided to follow her passion and has made her art her job. The Skipton-based papermaker and calligrapher loved art at school but opted to train in a career which she thought at the time offered her more long-term employment opportunities. Lauren said: “Like many people, it was put to me…
Jessica Harris, Settle Stories
Former estate agent Jessica Harris swapped property for storytelling and moved to the Dales for her first job in the arts. Now working for Settle Stories, Jessica is inspired by the innovative catalogue of events that the arts and heritage charity runs year-round. Jessica said: “I’ve always wanted to work in the arts sector. The…
Summer fun
Arts, culture and heritage were at the heart of a summer of fun in the Lakes and Dales. Revellers have scared themselves to death in an all-night horror film binge-watch, relaxed to live music, gasped at parkour-inspired performance and soaked up the agricultural traditions and sports which help give roots to rural communities. Audiences have…
Seedfunding update
Short films, augmented reality art, mentoring and training are among the projects now supported by GPLD Seedfunding. More than 30 individuals and organisations have received varying amounts of support for a wide range of arts, culture and heritage activities linked to boosting opportunities for under 35s in the area. Events including the Kendal Torchlight Procession,…
RIBA competition winners announced
The winners of our prestigious competition in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to design affordable homes which encourage young people to settle in the area were announced earlier in the summer. McMullan Studios and Outpost both took their inspiration from the longhouses and farmsteads of the past in their designs which…
GPLD supports desk space for young creatives at Qworkery
Four young creative entrepreneurs have been named as the successful applicants for GPLD-funded desks at Qworkery, Skipton’s new co-working space. Musician and educator Matthew Annable, nutrition app developer Craig Whitaker, photographic artist Mary Woolf and singer-songwriter Sarah Smout will share the two funded desks at the Otley Street premises. All were delighted to have the…
New signs coming soon
Look out for Craven’s brand new boundary signs – coming soon to a roadside near you! The eyecatching, contemporary notices, designed by 24-year-old Settle photographic artist Mary Woolf and paid for by GPLD, will be in place in time for the UCI World Cycling Championships due to visit Craven during the week September 22-29. Mary’s…
Busy autumn for ambitious young people wanting to develop creative careers
We’ve a busy autumn coming up with Play Work Stay, our free and innovative training weekend for creatives starting out in their careers. It takes place at the Dalesbridge Centre in Austwick over the weekend of September 27-29. Play Work Stay raises awareness of the creative and cultural sectors as viable options for careers and…
Spring 2019 newsletter
Hinterlands
We’re very excited that the first Hinterlands international rural film festival for the Lakes and Dales takes place in Skipton from May 16-19. A partnership between seasoned festival organisers, Wild Rumpus, and GPLD, Hinterlands is a celebration of countryside-themed cinema covering genres from horror to Wild West, survival and true stories to growing up. Lots…
Support for young creatives
Congratulations go to the recipients of the first round of funding from the Branching Out and Acorn Funds, who were announced in February. Almost 50 applicants put in for round two which closed at the end of March with the successful people and projects due to be announced by mid May. Meanwhile, the lucky applicants…
Mary has designs on signs
Look out for new Craven boundary signs which will be appearing on roads around the area in time for the cycling Road World Championships in September. These signs for Craven District Council will be special – they are being designed by 24-year-old GPLD creative champion Mary Woolf. Settle-based Mary is a photographic artist. She said:…
Skipton – Happy Town
Skipton is a town of smiles. Traditionally the ‘Gateway to the Dales’, it has also found fame as the UK’s happiest place to live, according to The Sunday Times. It has a historic vibe with its imposing Norman castle keeping guard at the top of the striking High Street, but a rural feel as the…
A Future for Culture
Our ‘future-proofing’ professional development training for Lakes and Dales-based cultural organisations has had a fantastic response. Called ‘A Future For Culture’ the six-to-nine month training scheme will look at what needs to be done to engage current and new audiences in different ways and to allow true participation of all ages, especially younger generations. The…
Fresh Perspective
Fresh Perspective was set up in 2019. The idea behind the project was to bring together 16-25 year olds for evening get-togethers based around what young people would like to see on the cultural agenda in the area. The idea was that the group will become a natural ‘go-to’ for consultations on arts and youth…
Kane Pulford-Roberts, The Clubhouse Coffee & Cycling
Work brought Kane Pulford-Roberts to Leeds, but the pull of a growing indy coffee scene and fantastic cycling was behind his decision to move to Skipton. Kane fulfilled a long-held dream to work for himself when he opened a specialist café in the town in July 2018. The Clubhouse Coffee & Cycling does exactly what…
Josh Simpson, The Art Mill
Kendal based artist Josh Simpson is behind Picasso’s Playground, a project to bring a theatrical life drawing experience for all the family to festivals and schools. Josh runs The Art Mill, at Mealbank in Kendal, home of the upcycling initiative Ragtag Community Scrapstore, and studio base for emerging artists, along with his sister, Emily Dewhurst.…
Chloë Hampson Ward
Creative Economy consultant
Winter 2018-19 newsletter
Inspirational Creative Champions sought
Creative young people who have put down roots in the Lakes and Dales are being urged to help inspire others to make a local lifestyle work for them. The Great Place: Lakes and Dales (GPLD) programme is looking for what it calls ‘creative champions’. It already has a number of young people who are happy…
Creative Connections a big success
Great Place: Lakes and Dales (GPLD) took over a wellness venue near Skipton to host Creative Connections in November. With more than 120 delegates across two days, the conference explored the power of creativity and placemaking. It welcomed a range of keynote speakers, including Alastair Humphreys and Wayne Hemingway. Several exciting projects were launched: Branching…
Hinterlands is coming to Skipton
Movie fans are in for a treat with a major new international rural film festival called Hinterlands hitting a range of venues across the Skipton area from May 16-19. GPLD is working with Wild Rumpus, an award-winning arts organisation, to bring the celebration of all things countryside on the silver screen to the southern end…
Karen Merrifield
Business Relations consultant
Jael Williams
Business Relations consultant
Kendal is calling
Creative arts are flourishing in Kendal as the town is quickly establishing itself as the festival capital of the North West. It’s the spiritual (and namesake) home of Kendal Calling, the music festival which has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years – so much so that it has outgrown its venue twice…
Zanna Dennis
Following a successful career as Co-Creative Director of Blue Moose Dance Company, Zanna is now using her skills developed in the Arts to return to her agricultural roots in a new role as Development Officer for the Livestock Auctioneers Association. From a farming background, Zanna lives near Bentham, where her father is the local Livestock…
Steph Dwyer
Steph Dwyer’s Great Place is underground, literally. Among the UK’s foremost cavers, Steph and her partner, Mike Bottomley, recently took over Settle-based Yorkshire Dales Guides, which allows them to combine their passion for underground exploration and the outdoors with a viable business. Yorkshire Dales Guides takes people out into the countryside of the Lakes and…
Rachel Thornton
Bentham artist Rachel Thornton took the plunge to become a full-time artist in 2017 and she has never looked back. Born in Suffolk, but a North Craven resident since she was two years old, Rachel always loved art. She was awarded a first from UCLAN in fine art in 2013 then worked in the family…
Get up to £10k for innovation
Got a bright idea for working differently to support young people to live and work in the Lakes and Dales? Then there could be up to £10k in grant funding available to help you make your dream a reality. Our new seedfunding scheme was launched at the Creative Connections conference and money is available for…
Autumn 2018 newsletter
Boxer and Hound
Katy and Jake’s Settle coffee bar and bottle shop, Boxer and Hound, is a labour of love and the ticket to a country lifestyle for their family. The couple moved to the area a couple of years ago from Bradford, attracted to Settle because the train links meant they could commute to their sales jobs…
Steep and Filter
Michael Jennings never considered living in the rural North until he met his wife, Alex, who is from Skipton. The couple, who met at university in Liverpool, decided to make the town their home, drawn by Alex’s roots but also a desire to live in a lovely area but one which is also accessible to…
Ollie Collie
Heather Thomas moved with her family from the Midlands to Sedbergh nearly four years ago. Said Heather: “We had always talked about moving to the country and when our son was coming up to finishing primary school we decided it was now or never. I was pregnant with my second child and didn’t want to…
Events around our great place
GPLD creative consultants have been out and about at various events throughout the area. France-Leigh and Emily, our creative economy team, have been chatting to people at the first two of the monthly Bob-Ups: get-togethers held in Skipton and Sedbergh so far. The next one is planned for Bentham Community Library on Thursday November 1…
Settle Down in Settle
Settle has a vibe unlike anywhere else. It’s stunningly beautiful, outdoorsy and artistic, contemporary yet traditional, safe, lovable and bursting with opportunity. It was also recently named in The Sunday Times top 10 of places to live in the countryside in the UK – no surprise there for its 2,500 residents. Once you’ve fallen for…
Know any good places?
We’re on the hunt for Lakes and Dales hidden gems, the unused or unusual spaces from Skipton to Grasmere and everywhere in between, which could be used differently as part of our creative work to highlight our area’s uniqueness. We’d love to hear from anyone with their suggestions. It will all be part of our…
Creative Conference to Unveil Research Findings
We’re getting excited about our Creative Connections conference which will be held on Broughton Hall estate, near Skipton, on November 22 and 23. The results of our major research commission will be revealed and plans for new cultural events discussed at the two-day interactive event to be held at Avalon, the newly opened wellbeing centre…
Lisa Jamieson
Creative Economy consultant
Richard Dowson
Placemaking consultant
Summer 2018 newsletter
Research will be at the centre of GPLD
A major research study to explore and try and understand the perceptions of younger people towards living and working in the Lakes and Dales will steer GPLD programme delivery. The Audience Agency, which specialises in cultural research and has worked on a wide range of rural place based research commissions, is leading an expert and…
Famous designer hosted inspirational events
We are delighted that inspirational British designer Wayne Hemingway is working with us as an ambassador to pioneer a major cultural festival celebrating our Great Place. The co-founder of award winning multi-disciplinary designers, HemingwayDesign, and whose first brand was Red or Dead, hosted two interactive events in Skipton and Kendal to get people involved in…
Grassington was the place
We teamed up with Grassington Festival to make it easier for younger people to access the event and to provide some free fun activities. We worked with Hope and Social to run their ‘This Must Be The Place’ music project linking locations with people’s memories and ‘sense of belonging’, which was the theme of this…
Be inspired by our creative champions
Be inspired by our Creative Champions It’s always interesting to hear how younger people are bringing an entrepreneurial approach to creating work opportunities to enable them to live and work in the Lakes and Dales. Many inspirational people have been in touch telling us their stories, about how much they love the Lakes and Dales…
Photo competition
Love taking pictures? Love the Dales and Lakes? Combine the two to show us your creative talents and capture what opportunity looks like in the area for you. It could be a building, a place, a landscape, a local business, creative people or somewhere/someone that simply inspires you. Think outside the box but be sure…
One year on
In autumn 2018 GPLD will be celebrating its first 12 months with a creative two day conference in November at Broughton Hall just outside Skipton. A mixture of creative workshops, inspirational key note speakers, guest panels and cultural activities will feature along with publication of our research commission findings and announcements of new GPLD schemes…
Get involved in your Great Place
If, like us you’re passionate about our Great Place and want to help ensure it’s an appealing area to call home for younger people, please get involved! From contributing ideas to sharing your thoughts via a blog, hands-on help for events to shaping planning policies and local plans, we need 16 to 44-year-olds on board…
Elisa Lafuente
Elisa Lafuente, who was born and brought up in Spain, found artistic inspiration in the Lakes and Dales, settled in Kirkby Lonsdale and is exhibiting her paintings at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh this summer. Her website is www.emlafuente.com. Elisa said: “The open countryside inspires me for my work and the super-fast internet connection in the area…
Em Hill
Em Hill gave up the chance to move to London and pursue a career in singing because she felt her home was in the Lakes. Now she is managing The Jumble Room restaurant in Grasmere and hasn’t looked back since. “I was born in Grasmere, grew up in Hawkshead and now I live in Outgate,”…
Alice Cummings
Alice Cummings moved to Malham because she always wanted to live in the countryside. Six years later she has retrained as a dog groomer so she can work from home and stay in the village she has grown to love. Alice said: “I love living in Malham and I see this self-employed job as the…
David Smurthwaite
Craven District Council
Beth Sculpher
Programme Officer
Lindsey Hebden
Programme Manager
Welcome
WELCOME FROM LINDSEY HEBDEN, GPLD PROGRAMME MANAGER Welcome to the first newsletter from Great Place: Lakes and Dales (GPLD). We have hit the ground running working towards using culture and heritage to encourage younger people to live and work in the Lakes and Dales. I have enjoyed an incredibly busy but very rewarding first few…
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