Support Us
Categories
News

In Flight

Both birds and humans have migrated for millennia, whether seeking more abundant food, or more favourable climates. Some of these journeys are regular and temporary, others more permanent, perhaps due to catastrophe or dreams of a achieving a better life elsewhere.
Currently Europe is seeing a huge influx of migrants and –stoked by the vitriol of a malicious press and an ugly political mood – it’s becoming alarmingly commonplace to consider our fellow human beings as pests, no matter how urgent their need for shelter and security. Our individual and collective capacity to help them remains largely unfulfilled.
Perhaps it would be useful to imagine a scenario where we are the migrants – climate change predictions (irrespective of whether it’s a natural cycle or mans interference at the root cause) suggest there won’t be many decades before this becomes a reality. Arguably it already is, with people displaced from their homes from the increasingly damaging floods we experience in the UK.

10353561_10154183843915346_3090973347936609534_n


In Flight itself depicts both birds and people; in the end we are the same, following evolutionary paths birthed in the stars. Fluttering on the wind, lit by the sun and moon, refreshed by the falling rains, the intermingling of the white birds and the people offers a prayer of peace and love to our family in need across the globe.
The location of the installation is an unused close in Dumfries and the first work will be to clean it, to prepare a welcoming space for the flock. Experimental and expressive, the artwork will only fully take shape upon completion.

In Flight will take place during our Chapter One event on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th November, in a nearby close. For details of where to find the work drop into the Bakers Oven and ask for directions. Full details about Chapter One available here

In Flight has been created by artist and photographer Morag Paterson. More details about her work available here

Categories
News Project Updates

Midsteeple Quarter – a community-led development project for Dumfries Town Centre

Over the last 8 months The Stove has been part of a major community-led project within Dumfries to take positive action to create a new, beating heart in centre of the town. This initiative has gone through a series of working titles including: ‘#MakingDumfries’ and ‘Living on the High Street’ (search these terms in our website and social media and the detailed story will emerge) – but for now Midsteeple Quarter is the title that most of the diverse partnership involved in the project will recognise.

Midsteeple Quarter re-imagines a strip of empty shop buildings on Dumfries High Street as a community-run mixed develop­ment of live-work/ education/ enterprise/ social spaces.

Empty properties on Dumfries High Street (above) re-imagined as a vibrant mixed development
Empty properties on Dumfries High Street (above) re-imagined as a vibrant mixed development

The project began with the #SquareGo events in March 2016 which saw The Stove taking over Fountain Square in Dumfries to ask local people how they would like to see the Town Centre re-invent itself for a new era when market towns like Dumfries will not be dominated by retail.

People marked their ideas in chalk directly onto the paving of Fountain Square
People marked their ideas in chalk directly onto the paving of Fountain Square
The main themes identified at #SquareGo were displayed in The Stove Cafe for 2 months for further discussion and additions
The main themes identified at #SquareGo were displayed in The Stove Cafe for 2 months for further discussion and additions

Repopulating the town centre was one of the strongest themes identified by the #SquareGo project

In the same week as #SquareGo John Wallace’s documentary ‘A House on the High Street’ was premiered at The Stove.

Trailer – A House on the High Street from Pile-on Productions on Vimeo.

The film inspired local resident John Dowson to convene a meeting of stakeholders in the town centre to see if a practical action plan could be agreed to take forward the ‘re-populating’ idea. NB ‘slum’ clearances in the 1960’s emptied the centre of Dumfries with people re-locating to the housing estates at the edges of the town – now less than 1000 people of a total town population of 40,000 live in the town centre and John and his wife are effectively the last remaining residents of the High Street itself.

The initial meeting identified the run of empty buildings on the High Street starting from Bank Street and running up past the Midsteeple as the location for a core ‘block’ that could establish a new pattern of inhabitation and uses for the High Street and start the re-population of the centre.

Midsteeple Quarter marked in red
Midsteeple Quarter marked in red
Artists impression of a mixed live-work development (indicative only)
Artists impression of a mixed live-work development (indicative only)

A core aspect of the project is for local people to literally take back ownership of their town centre. Currently most of the buildings are owned by Pension Funds and other corporate ‘absentee landlords’ – these owners have no stake in the town beyond the relative value of the assets on their balance sheet. New legislation is being passed by the Scottish Government that will grant powers to community groups to take ownership of underused assets in their area – the Dumfries initiative was written up on the Common Space web platform as part of the Common Weal’s ‘Our Land’ festival in August 2016

Screen Shot 2016-08-23 at 21.40.43

Around this time The Stove Network established itself as the Community Development Trust for the town centre of Dumfries and was accepted as a full member of Development Trust Association of Scotland – see here for the definition of a Development Trust. The Stove then became the gathering point and lead organisation for a diverse community partnership that supported the idea of the Midsteeple Quarter and were playing a positive part in making the project a reality:

The Stove Network, Loreburn Community Council, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway, University of the West of Scotland, Crichton Institute, Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of Commerce, MakLab, Dumfries and Galloway Council, D+G College, Loreburn Housing Assc, NHS, South Scotland MSPs, Dumfries and Galloway MP, Prominent local individuals and professionals

The vision for the project was further developed through a Visioning Session attended by 28 people representing the stakeholders listed above.

Stakeholders Gathering 6th October 2016 at The Stove
Stakeholders Gathering 6th October 2016 at The Stove

The Stove Network then circulated and action plan for group which had the priorities of:

  • Interacting with the Local Plan being developed by Dumfries and Galloway Council for Dumfries – to build in special conditions for the Midsteeple Quarter, enabling mixed development to be supported by statutory processes
  • Holding an national Architectural ‘ideas competition’ for Midsteeple Quarter to shape an identity for the project that local people and other stakeholders could get behind
  • Formation of a Community Benefit Company for the project that would be able to offer Community Shares to local people to fund the purchase and development of under-used properties in Midsteeple Quarter
  • Taking ownership of the ‘Bakers Oven’ building (from Dumfries and Galloway Council) in the Midsteeple Quarter and developing this in partnership with University of West of Scotland as an enterprise and education hub with residential accommodation above

The Stove Network has created drawings to define the idea of the Midsteeple Quarter – these have been shortlisted in the Futuretown Scotland competition run by Scotlands Towns Partnership. The drawing were done by Dion Corbett an recent graduate of Strathclyde University who has returned home to Dumfries to build her career here and is working at The Stove.

the-stove-midsteeple-quarter-a2-web

Please vote in the Futuretown competition – here

Download a larger version of the Competition drawing – here

On 15th and 16th November, the Midsteeple Quarter project will be occupying the Bakers Oven building for local people to see progress and talk about their ideas and ways to be involved in making this vital project for the town come to fruition. Details about this ‘Chapter One’ event are – here

For more info about the project, and/or you’d like to get involved, please contact Matt Baker at matt<at>thestove.org

Categories
News Project Updates

Journey through our town – ONS

September brought Our Norwegian Trail to life with the most recent Mapping Event.  We scribbled, played, discussed and stitched Our Story into creation on a beautiful sunny day despite half of our team being struck down by one of those Autumn bugs.

stove-our-norwegian-story-mapping-20160917-005
The Mapping Our Norwegian Story/Dumfries

Large chalk drawings are always fun!  We had lots of young helpers join in our antics outside on the pavement as well as a few inquisitive chats and walks down memory lane.

stove-our-norwegian-story-mapping-20160917-007
stove-our-norwegian-story-mapping-20160917-061

Artist Deirdre Nelson joined us over the two days with large printed squares of Dumfries.  Embroidery silks at the ready she helped passers by stitch significant places in Dumfries’ Norwegian history as well as other personnel significance onto our maps.  We are looking forward to welcoming her back to continue – and maybe tidy up slightly some of our own attempts – for the next ONS event STORY on the 10th, 11th and 12th of November, come join us!

The Mapping Our Norwegian Story/Dumfries
The Mapping Our Norwegian Story/Dumfries
The Mapping Our Norwegian Story/Dumfries
photo-17-09-2016-17-03-41-copy
photo-17-09-2016-17-02-08-copy
mapping-galina-walls-copy-2

If you have a place or a memory that relates to Dumfries’ Norwegian Story please do get in touch, we are keen to make this story truly Dumfries’.

[email protected]

Skip to content