Category: Project Updates

WRITE: A Community Anthology

Post author By Erin Aitchison
Post date October 31, 2024

Each month in the Stove Cafe, author Karl Drinkwater hosts ‘WRITE’ – a creative writing workshop. Sessions are guided by thought-provoking prompts, offering dedicated time for free-flowing expression. Afterwards, participants have the opportunity to share their creations within the supportive group, receiving valuable tips to enhance their writing skills and boost confidence.

Over the last year, participants have shared their workings that have been borne from prompts from WRITE. Read a selection of works below.

The Gift

Taking a break

from his bench

the clock restorer’s

mind turned within wheels.

Absorbed in measuring

minutes and hours

how had he permitted

years

to escape?

Was pride in precision

simply an illusion

of keeping time?

A young boy

gazed longingly

at clocks

in the dusty window

as another child

may have eyed

jars of tempting toffees

reckoning

how many sweets

could be gained

for clinking coins.

Fresh eyes

eager to uncover

secret workings

spy

cogs mesh

pivots revolve

flywheels spin

coils unwind.

On an impulse

the clock restorer

beckoned.

An estimation made

pocket money

exchanged

for a slate-cased clock

in want of renovation.

On the next impulse

the clock restorer

lifted down

a box of parts.

A gift

a wondrous trove

of mechanical magic

awaiting discovery.

Boyhood

many

intricate tasks

ago.

A rhythm set

to guide his tracks

the boy

though older now

still unpacks the box

selecting

pieces

by name and designation.

Understanding

the drive to impart

knowledge

skills

art.

Polished

restored to working order

the slate-cased clock

marks

progress.

At its centre

escapement

locks

frees

locks

frees

locks

frees

whilst

its heart

beats

encouragement

motivation

belief.

Remembering an encounter with the clock restorer of Easton in Gordano, 1966.

Resolution

Resolution, wake up, make a change.

“We can’t do nothing” is the sad refrain.

Oh oops the Tories got voted in again

But I’ll never vote to put our grandkids in chains

Make a resolution get political, be more critical

Stop being arthritical, intellectually paralytical

Enough of being cynical

Sitting doing nothing is just parasitical.

Here’s what will happen if we just leave be

Money will spend into politics to make money

More money more as they build a dynasty

Neo-lords raised up off our kids not being free

But the billionaires,

Their worst nightmares

Are angry stares, our righteous glares

As we organise, challenge and protest

Step up to demand what’s best

Loss and damage

Free school meals

Working lives less stressed

Win back some rights

Without worrying about arrest

They’re murdering Palestine

Our industries are in decline

It’s not all fine

So now’s the right time

So come on make a January resolution

Build a revolution

It’s the solution

Solve pollution

Draft a constitution

The House of Lords needs dissolution

Corporate criminals need retribution

If you do one useful thing this year

Decide to get your bum in gear

Talk politics to everyone without any fear

Because a better world really is just near

And the You that makes it happen is sat right here.

© Simon Jones

The Mountain

Early gleaming of the sun kissing that beautiful peak of the mountain,

Radiating its light like silver stars in the sky,

Catching the eyes and touching the hearts of millions,

Spreading profound joy and leaving a wonderful memory in hearts.

Viewing these beautiful peaks takes away all pain and suffering,

Warming your heart and making your day bright.

Borrowing your willing ears, it allows you to listen to that tranquil music,

Secretly asking you to smell that calm air as if you were touching stars.

Sometimes it makes you speechless and takes your breath away,

Cosseting you with its natural beauty and bringing you more peace.

Nothing can erase such beautiful memories that stole your heart away,

They remind you that they are still alive snuggling up to that mountain.

You remain deep inside the heart of it, full of great gratitude and deep affection.

They bring back the beautiful memories of the mountain,

Ever smiling and living in its eternal beauty.

A beauty of nature, of peace, and of serenity.

© Sherima Pradhan

Rubble Kings

Like the torch of a slow burn
your best days are done,
you may well blaze skylines –
we’ll rebuild with the bones of
you murdering tyrants!
hack hard at your roots purge your truth
when you waken at twilight

No frills, no thrills,
no pills for your ills

Join in, gut your own out as
bleeding rats raze your house,
vomiting secrets your conscience deleted
turned cheeks get smacked, mirrors crack
your bubbles burst
forlorn king of rubble and dust

no shimmers or glimmers
no breakfast no dinners

Our ancestors weeping while war
keeps repeating. Lost souls fast asleep,
their bodies smart, crawl and creep.
Yearning for drugs cut with violence,
washed down with radio silence

no home fires burning
empty guts churning

The stench threat of warlords unbothered
in Westminster’s corridors
by children in Palestine wailing in horror
flames fanned with fear,
Tory papers, online warriors …

No pills for your ills

No pills

For

Your ills

© Davey Payne

The Princess

Once upon a clear crisp evening, while I gazed upon the stars, white gleaming,
A lone, cold tear raced t’ward my chin, broken spirit.
My heart beat thudded beneath my breast, as I tossed all thoughts of my moral quest,
I slithered to bed for desperate rest and whispered “sleep a minute.”
“Blasted storm within my brain,” I muttered, “sleep a minute” –
Yet the storm raged on, broken spirit.

Retreating, I rose and paced my chamber, mind still racing in weary labour.
These stone walls ensnared my soul, broken spirit.
Desperate for release, locks dancing with the night’s breeze,
Turning towards the dark abyss, sighing “Please! I know my limit,”
Turret window dominating the land, I yelled out “I know my limit!”
Silence. Broken spirit.

A moment later, a pitter patter, has someone heard my mournful chatter?
Is this it, are my prayers heard, restoring my broken spirit?
“Please god, my merciful master, I’ll repent to any pastor,
Free my soul from this disaster, with just one visit.”
I listened still and I listened sure, “just one visit,”
Nobody came – broken spirit.

The foreign noises, confused me still, as I peered out from my window sill,
Till the frayed ‘supper rope’ was cast before me, broken spirit.
I gathered the pot, rancid rotten veg – my lot.
Recoil on my face, excitement shot, rope returned to the captor, git!
How dare she imprison me in this perilous tower, my captor git!
To see out my life’s days, broken spirit.

Sitting still, engaged in siege, once a girl of bestowed prestige,
Till stolen from my family home, by a broken spirit.
Body against my chamber walls, sinking, I dreamed a peaceful thinking,
Of a prince, on a horse, armour clinking, rescued from the woeful pit,
Nonsense! He knows not that I’m here, in my woeful pit,
In my infertile sanctuary, with this, my broken spirit.

© Rosie Squires-Cowan

Castle of My Mind

Within my sanctuary, I am under siege,

Anxiety and stress – my only liege.

No guards on the gates, no lock on the door,

Most days I struggle to rise from the floor.

No battles raging across the plains,

Yet everyday crippling chest pains.

Outside boasts peacefully – calm and tranquil,

Inside, dark and flustered, consuming my pill,

Fire lit, body sheltered and warm,

Mind not protected from the torrid storm,

Food and water in plentiful supply,

No tears when I’m broken, cheeks are dry.

Family gathers to enjoy our suppers,

Failing to stay present, my mind scuppers,

No song or dance to raise the spirit,

Tortured by demons; Devil, Ifrit.

Begging the torment will be over soon,

Hoping screams fade to a lighter tune,

Peace will reign as it did before,

Pray, happiness return once more.

© Justin Squires-Cowan

Last Christmas – Excerpt

The 4×4 breathing technique isn’t working. She’s forced to rummage through her bag, grabbing at the various sheets of pills she always carries with her. Like a baby blanket. A safety net.

A cheeky valium or two just to take the edge off, she reasons.

Freya sashays her way to the train’s buffet carriage. Her eyes dance across the fridge doors and their shining contents, landing decisively upon the alcohol section. It is 11:11am. A frozen, snowy Monday. She averts the judging gaze of the woman behind the counter who makes a point of repeatedly looking at her watch, with cocked brows.

Message received, bitch.

A hard stare and smirk as she pays. Returning to her seat, she washes the pills down with a pre-mixed can or two. Or was it three? Either way, despite all that, by the time the train pulls in, she feels electric. Feels…silly.

***

She squeezes her way through the bustling crowds, out of the frosty hustle of King’s Cross Station and into The Black Phoenix, she is struck by the warmth, laughter and stale tobacco lacing the air. Years of spilt Chardonnay and ale, trodden deep into the paisley carpet. She somewhat trips in across the threshold, for the uncharacteristic fact she is wearing heels today. For him. She stamps and shakes the snow from herself. Her eyes, searchlights seeking.

Is he here? Breeeeathe.

Her heart is racing. Her cheeks burn a horny shade of fuchsia.

I can always blame it on the cold.

She’s never been subtle. Shit at poker. She’d named her face ‘Judas’ in the mirror one messy night, years ago in some stranger’s bathroom. She takes in the festive glow of the twinkling lights draped around the bar and windows. George Michael’s ‘Last Christmas’ croons through the speakers, weaving its way between loud cackles and hushed chats. A smile slithers across her lips.

So this is why they call it the silly season. Ha.

She bites her lower lip. Silly is an understatement.

The heat pumping throughout the cosy pub feels especially luxurious, considering the whipping cold outside and the crippling recession which has stifled the country with its cost of living. Old friends with grand bellies sit around small wooden tables, chuckling with nostalgic glee. The knitted sleeves of xmas jumpers wipe froth from whiskered chins.

A ruddy faced barfly calls out:

‘Oi oi, Captain, another, eh? Good lad,’ as he proudly slams his empty pint glass down. A leathered wink and a discreet stumble. Glasses clank loudly as they collide, amber contents splashing and spilling out.

© S.J. Wildling

Read the full short story here.

Through The Stars Dumfries

You can see Dumfries from the Moon. On trips to the observatory decks I would point the large lens telescope towards the Southern part of Scotland and have a better look at what we left over. Others who were crammed here in the living centres would use the time they bought to look at the parts of history they wished they had visited. My Grandfather and I would often study the old images of the town stored via projections from the company data packs. Grandfather would always show me the pictures he had saved of the place our family came from. We couldn’t take them too far away from the Grid though, stray from the network and the company would delete them regardless of payment. The charge for reactivating any memory was too much for most, myself included. Most of the images stored in the Grid were constructed from various accounts and memories of those who had left us. The ones Grandfather and I had were real though, at least to me.

The first thing I always noticed about them was the sky. Sometimes it was a bright, radiant blue but mostly it seemed to settle on a dull grey. The main thing was that it was there. No glass above your head, no sealed domes to control the atmosphere, just an expansive sky you can look up to at any time. The people would walk places without the constant connection to the Grid to monitor everywhere they were going.

On the last visit to the observatory deck I asked my Grandfather about going back to Dumfries.

“Very dangerous” he replied.

© Cameron Phillips

Read the full short story here.

Hosted by multi-genre author and editor Karl Drinkwater, WRITE! is designed to allow you to play with words and construct short or longer pieces of work, whichever you desire, and it is open to all abilities!

If you would like to attend the next WRITE! session, click here.

To learn more about Karl his website, click here.

Tags 100 High Street, Creative Writing, Dumfries, Open Hoose, Write

News Project Updates

Maya Edwards: Harbourland Phase 2

Post author By Kirsty Geddes
Post date October 18, 2024

Context

Maya was recommissioned for Phase 2 of the Harbour project in July-November 2024 to continue their creative engagement process toward developing a community design concept for the new piece of dredged land within the Waterfront re-development. Alongside gathering local insight for the co-design process, Maya hosted a programme of events and engagement at Creative Stranraer to test ideas and continue engaging people in the creative vision for the future of the town under the regeneration. Visit Harbour Project Phase 2 Blog Update 1 here to read the first chapter of Maya’s journey.

Harbourland is an Opportunity to Make a Whole New Part of Stranraer.

As part of the process of extending the marina, some dredging must take place to make Loch Ryan deep enough for larger sailing boats. Within the plans for One Waterfront a new area of land will be created next to the East Pier using the material dredged from the loch. I’ve been working with local people to imagine what this new area of land could be:

‘The safest harbour is a world between land and sea. Harbourland is an ecosystem – a place to witness and protect many forms of life and provide a space for them to survive, thrive and connect with one another. It is place that belongs to everyone and somewhere that will show the best of Stranraer to visitors. Harbourland asks: ‘how can we act like the oyster and build an area that benefits both people and the coastal biodiversity? What are the types of ‘surfaces’ that communities in Stranraer can attach to and make their own?’

Harbourland Polling Station Results

If you came down and joined the thousands of tourists and celebrators at this year’s annual Oyster Festival, you may have come across the Harbourland polling station. As mentioned in the previous update, Oyster shells were historically used as the first ever ‘ballot cards’ during the early days of democracy in Ancient Greece. This year, I worked with the Rhins Mens Shed to create an interactive installation to bring this tradition back to modern-day Stranraer to inform the Harbourland consultation. Using the data gathered from countless conversations with local people, community organisations and from Raise The Sails Festival in April, I collated the main hopes for Harbourland into 5 key categories:

A sheltered place to sit and bide a while,
Tidal rock pools for coastal wildlife
A place to share stories of Stranraer
A space for community events and festivals
Interactive play structures.

Over the weekend, nearly 400 people cast their oyster shells to vote on what they would like to see as part of Harbourland. The oyster shells that are typically gathered for redistribution back into the loch were instead used to facilitate important conversations about the communities hopes for the future of the town, before making their way back to the water. We had older residents keen for interactive play structures so that they could ‘share the town with their grandchildren’ and ‘give them a reason to visit,’ along with younger generations of nature enthusiasts who were terribly excited at the prospect of tidal rock pools in Stranraer.

A landslide amount of votes for tidal rock pools was the outcome of the initial consultation as seen below. All of the information gathered from the Harbourland Polling Station is being fed directly back into the Waterfront regeneration.

Sandcastle Competition

At the end of September, I staged the Great Stranraer Sandcastle Competition on the shores of Agnew Park. I designed bespoke Stranraer sandcastle buckets inspired by the topographical oyster forms that I’ve been working with for participants to take home for future days by the Loch.

Sandcastle competitions are an ancient tradition for coastal communities, an excuse to spend time down by the water and exercise the creative potential of natural materials. We’re hoping to create a future waterfront that is a place where families want to gather and to feel more connected to. Stranraer’s waterfront regeneration is set to transform the town in new and exciting ways, and we’re keen for these designs to be co-created to ensure a future landscape that reflects the needs of all communities – both human and sea species!

Following from my ‘Siltcrete’ experiments, there’s a strong intention to make use of the dredged materials from Loch Ryan in the plans for the new piece of land in creative ways that benefit the unique natural environment. The competition gave people of all ages the opportunity to take part in co-designing future structures of the coast, to be inspired by the shapes of their local ecology, and to build ambitious sand sculptures down on a mostly disused shoreline.

Over 70 people came down to take part and Stranraer beach was transformed with people coming together to play and find inspiration from their native oyster beds. The landscape was soon transformed into a mass display of everyday creativity and celebration of local site-specific ecologies. Teams won prizes from categories including ‘best sportsmanship’ and ‘most imaginative concept’, and as ever, the creativity of Stranraer’s community didn’t disappoint. Some of the sand sculptures included the story of Esmerelda the lost mermaid, Oysterland castle, Ailsa Craig and her lighthouse, and a whale who loved smarties! By the time the tide was returning, the coastline was covered in hundreds of oyster forms, reminiscent of a community made oyster bed.

Harbour Hub Takeover

As the final installation within this latest phase of the Harbour project, I will be feeding back all of the community ideas, events and interventions that have taken place so far, and what there may be to look forward to in the next stage. This will take the form of a Harbour Takeover in the Creative Stranraer Hub (23 King Street). 3 display boards will detail each stage of the project, along with the initial design principles for the new piece of reclaimed land highlighted through creative consultation.

Alongside the 3 display boards themselves, there will also be a window screening of underwater footage commissioned by the SCAMP (Solway and Marine Partnership) project to captivate passers-by as our evenings begin to get darker. The film by the Newton Stewart Sub-Aqua Club and John Wallace documents the underwater world of the of the Solway Firth and gives us an insight into some of the ecosystems that we are aiming to foster through Harbourland. Huge thanks to the Community Re-Use Shop for their donation of a TV!

The final aspect of the takeover is a community boat report created by artist and consultant Anne Waggot-Knott. Anne was our researcher/recorder/reporter in Phase 1 of the Harbour project and has been embedded within the project since its conception. The Community Boat Reports are interactive, informative documents which are designed to be folded up into the perfect paper boat. These are available for all visitors to read, build and take home.

Come and visit the Harbour Takeover from October 16^ththrough to November 11^th at Stranraer Creative Hub.

Until Next Time…

If you want to find out more about the Harbourland proposal programme or the context of the project, please contact Maya on [email protected]

If you want to read more about the Creative Placemaking strategies currently taking place in Stranraer, please visit the What We Do Now resource written by Shawn Boden here.

Tags Community Engagement, Creative Placemaking, Public Art, Stranraer

News Project Updates

Off The Margin with The Stove Network and WWDN Digital

Post author By Erin Aitchison
Post date September 26, 2024

WWDN Digital works with community groups and organisations to set up and run digital spaces, host collaborative programmes, and create shared online resources to increase communities’ access to technology and training in digital media skills. As part of its launch, The Stove Network hosted Off the Margin, a micro-festival celebrating Dumfries’ print heritage.

In this age of digital media outlets and information sharing, Off the Margin delved into the print heritage of Dumfries and investigative journalism more broadly.

As part of this programme, The Stove’s Artistic Director Martin O’Neill sat down for an insightful discussion with a panel of speakers whose expertise ranged from the history of investigative journalism to Riso printing techniques and working in the former news and print spaces of Dumfries’ high street.

While examining the current landscape in Scottish grassroots print and journalism, the panel tackled how communities, creatives, and journalists can reclaim their agency while navigating an era marked by an increasingly divided mass media and heightened public scrutiny regarding the accuracy and biases of printed media. This discussion revealed insights and sparked a hopeful community discussion on the potential future of print, media, and journalism in Dumfries and Galloway.

The discussion directly followed a screening of film-work Imprints in Time by Artist John Wallace, documenting the master printmakers and enduring machinery still in use at Solway Print while uncovering the printing heritage of Dumfries town centre.

The panel comprised of Judith Hewitt (Museums Curator East for the Dumfries and Galloway Council), Johnny Gailey (Out of the Blueprint Project Manager), Karen Goodwin (Investigative Journalist and Co-Editor of The Ferret), Pete Fortune (Doonhamer* and Printmaker), and John Wallace (Artist & Filmmaker).

Each panellist brought unique and specialised knowledge into the discussion. Hewitt shared her expertise on the unique history of early print protest, bringing to life Doonhamers’ struggles and lived experiences in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. From historical accounts of the Kings Arms (now Boots) to outlining how individuals used print to protest food inequalities, Hewitt brought with her a wealth of knowledge that leaves you returning for more. Out with the panel, she oversaw the exhibition ‘Fighting for Justice: Strikes and Protests in Dumfries 1770-1920’ as part of the Off the Margin period.

Gailey brought over a decade of experience in printmaking and youth engagement to the conversation, underlining the importance of teaching young people this skill and providing them with the means and opportunities to grow their confidence and creativity. At Out of the Blueprint, the eco-studio he co-manages in Leith, Edinburgh, he specialises in Japanese printing techniques such as RISO,
GOCCO, and provides mentorships for young artists. They offer affordable, sustainable, and ethical print services for the local community and reinvest all profits to support young people through residencies, publishing support, training, and education initiatives.

Goodwin works as a journalist and a co-editor for The Ferret, a media co-op where she reports extensively on social affairs and health inequalities. While on the panel, she highlighted the importance of community-owned news for tackling media bias and misinformation. Outside The Ferret Goodwin has written for many Scottish and UK broadsheets, magazines, and online platforms, including the Sunday Times and the Guardian, reported for BBC Scotland’s Disclosure, and has worked on other radio and film projects. She is currently writing and co-hosting the podcast ‘Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry’.

Fortune’s working life began in the printers of Dumfries, having grown up in a golden thread family line of Doonhamer printmakers. Pete Fortune brings a vivid, real-life account of the industry, capturing his apprenticeship and the vibrant characters and community of the town at the peak of the printing era. He rounded the discussion out by proposing the lifelong fellowships that printmaking can craft. Fortune moved on in his career to become a social worker and is now a writer of memoirs and short fiction.

Wallace, the artist behind Imprints in Time, brought to the panel a career that expands across multiple disciplines, from installation work to filmmaking. His work delves into human relationships with constructed and natural environments, emphasising the idea of ‘insider art’, allowing locations that personally connect to the artist to be central to a film’s narrative. Inspired by the fusion of technology and the environment, Wallace incorporates live and historical data sources to craft the responsive, dynamic audiovisuals found in Imprints in Time and all his installation spaces.

‘Off the Margin Micro-Festival’ ran between March 22nd and 23rd, 2024, as part of the What We Do Now Digital Media Festival.

*A Doonhamer is a colloquial term to describe someone who is born and bred in Dumfries

Tags 100 High Street, Community, Dumfries, Festival, Making Dumfries, Off The Margin

Musings News Project Updates

Creative Spaces X Conversing Building: Inspiration Donation

Post author By Erin Aitchison
Post date September 10, 2024

We got stuck straight into our first Creative Spaces project at the start of August, and I think I speak for all of us when I say we had a ball with it. We wanted our installation to examine the ideas of imposter syndrome in creativity and dissect what it is that makes a person creative. And so, the Inspiration Donation was born. It went through a couple of iterations before reaching its final form, but we were all dead chuffed with the final installation. We started off by going on a wee adventure to the local garden centres to check out clear containers (we did get briefly distracted by the fish on display at Heathhall Garden Centre) and had a roam about the Range to get the rest of our supplies together.

We worked together on four panels of collage to demonstrate how we hoped the final product would look – we experimented with creating stencils for these too, along with the ‘feed me’ stencils that went up on the walls. It was great to start working together on some artwork, it was a fun way of bonding and building each other up as a team. The installation went up with the help of Stovie & artist Katie Anderson, who offered her expertise and guided us through the process. We had some brilliant donations from the Stove team after we had added our own inspirational pieces in (some Blu Tack, a feather and a funky rock), such as a vintage toy car, a post-it note that read ‘Sparkle Baby’, and a map of the town.

Our Conversing Building project was a super fun introduction to our roles at Creative Spaces. It was my first opportunity to work collaboratively on a creative project with other young creatives, something that felt quite daunting at first is now something I’m looking forward to doing more of in the future.
James

The Conversing Building project pushed us straight out the gate to create something that represented us, and in turn our community in Dumfries. It helped us work as a team and realise where some of our strengths lie”
Sonah

Conversing Building was a really interesting jumping off point for our time with Creative Spaces. Working on this project taught us how we fit together as a team, and got the ball rolling with our style and approach.
Anna

Creative Spaces is a Dumfries-based collective of young creatives, working with and advocating for our region’s young artists.

Situated in the heart of Dumfries, Creative Spaces collaborates with young creatives from across the region, providing young people with opportunities to engage in the arts. Whether it’s through events, workshops, mentorships, or our annual Associates Programme, we aim to enhance Dumfries and Galloway’s creative scene by offering free access to opportunities and paid commissions.

Keep up to date with the Creative Spaces team on Instagram: @creative.spaces_

Tags 100 High Street, Community, Conversing Building, Creative Spaces, Dumfries, Emerging Artists, Public Art

Musings News Project Updates

Stranraer ‘Harbourland’

Post author By Erin Aitchison
Post date September 9, 2024

An update on the next phase of Stranraer’s waterfront development project by Maya Rose Edwards.

The Stove and Creative Stranraer have been commissioned by Dumfries and Galloway Council to use creative placemaking techniques to involve the local communities of Stranraer in the rethinking of the town’s waterfront spaces as part of a major regeneration effort following the ending of the ferry service to Belfast in 2011.

In November 2023 we commissioned artist Maya Rose Edwards as artist-in-residence for the waterfront – Maya’s brief was to use their creative practice to reach out to diverse communities in the town and seek their thoughts and ideas about the kind of waterfront they’d like to see for the town. This initial phase of the project was very successful – ending in a public festival day called Raising the Sails. We were delighted that DG Council have integrated a creative placemaking approach into the continuation of the One Waterfront project and we were able to bring Maya back to the town for a second stage of work. This is their first blog on returning to Stranraer.

Watch the Raising the Sails film by CT Productions HERE.

In the initial Harbour project we engaged with nearly 900 local individuals and 27 community groups to get people’s thoughts about the kind of waterfront they would like to see for the town. I am now homing in on one aspect of the proposals – a new area of ‘reclaimed’ land between the slipway and the East Pier which will be formed using the material dredged from Loch Ryan to make the harbour area deep enough for larger boats to use the marina.

Site specific research/concept realisation

My hope is that Harbourland will be a new piece of Scottish coastline built from the ground up using community ideas and creative inspirations taken from the locality. I have commenced the initial research process thinking about the nature of the land itself – the dredged Loch Ryan sediment. Sediment is an essential component of natural cycles and ecosystems it it acts as a constantly changing barrier between the ocean and coastal communities. I’ve been considering ways in which that ‘barrier’ can instead increase our access to the coast and our connection to the water itself. Turning the tide towards a future where the communities in Stranraer are more connected to their coastal culture and its ecosystems.

I’ve also been thinking about oysters. The Loch Ryan oyster beds are a rare and unique feature of this coastline, and something of great pride for the communities of Stranraer. Oysters themselves are natural dredgers, with each individual oyster filtering over 50 gallons of water per day. Once an oyster attaches to a bed, it grows and forms around the surface it attaches to. It’s like starting a rubber band ball, the oyster needs an initial surface to attach to, but once they start growing, they can transform an artificial reef into a natural one. The question I am asking myself is – how can we act like the oyster to build an infrastructure that benefits both the toon and the coastal biodiversity? What are the types of ‘surfaces’ that communities in Stranraer can attach to and make their own? How can harbours and sea walls become landmarks of heritage value for communities of the future?

With this site-specific research underway, I’ve began to combine the visual languages of the geologic coastal sediment and the organic processes of the oyster bed to develop sketches of landforms, tributaries and coastlines for the Harbourland proposal.

Co-design and collaboration

With initial sketches starting to take shape, I then began to meet with local folk, organisations and marine researchers who were key partners within Phase 1 of the Harbour project for their input. We have all sat down around a large acetate map and plotted might be needed within this new piece of Stranraer. Some of the feedback included practical requirements for community events, lighting, recycling and growing facilities, etc, all of which have been drawn up and incorporated within the wider design.

As a part of the co-design process, I am putting together a programme of creative engagement activities and events to further inform the proposal for Harbourland and provoke the imaginations of those who have not yet been reached by the project. The commencement of this programme is now underway, with the first interactive installation due to take place at this year’s Oyster Festival.

Harbourland polling station

Oyster shells were historically used as the first ever ‘ballot cards’ during the early days of democracy in Ancient Greece. Communities would cast their shells to announce/denounce happenings within their towns and villages. At this year’s Oyster Festival, the talented guys at the Rhins Mens Shed and I have created the ‘Harbourland polling station’ to bring this tradition back to modern-day Stranraer.

During the Festival, the shells of millions of oysters consumed over the weekend are collected for re-distribution back into the Loch. These shells then form the basis for new growth and the continuation of the native beds. This year before their redistribution, the empty shells will be collected to form a part of an interactive public consultation for ‘Harbourland.’ This 3-metre polling station will hold large clear box sections, within which people will cast their shells in vote for specific features they’d like to see on the land – much like your little blue tokens at Tesco! This data will be recorded to further inform the design proposal and initiate important conversations about what matters to people most. From interactive play structures to a sheltered place to sit and bide a while – this will be the first and most public opportunity to engage in the co-design process.

Siltcrete trials

I will also be undertaking several material trials. I have been working with the form of the Oyster shell as a sculptural reference point, exaggerating its topographical layers to create tiered island structures. These forms also reference harbour staircases, where ecological growth can be tracked through tidal fluctuations.

I have been experimenting with use of the Loch Ryan seabed aggregate (a mixture of Grey Wacke, shale and Red Sandstone) for use within sustainable building materials, leading me to create ‘Siltcrete’. I have been researching the many ways in which architects, sculptors and engineers have been developing organic material composites towards a sustainable future. Due to the rich mineral content of the dredged seabed, the incorporation of this material into the foundations of Harbourland should greatly improve the biodiversity we’re hoping to achieve.

From hand carved sculptures cast in silicone to form a mould, I have been creating ‘Siltcrete Harbours’ from a mixture of cement, local beach sand and coastal aggregate. I have formed a relationship with marine biologists at the Solway Firth Partnership who have offered to formulate a report at the end of the installation period to track the ecological growth in the harbour, on the siltcrete and within this topographical form. This should form a key piece of research within the wider proposal for Harbourland.

Siltcrete experiments installed on the harbour steps

Until next time

Over the next few months as we move into Autumn, residents of Stranraer should expect more opportunities to engage in the Harbourland proposal programme, beginning with a sandcastle competition on Agnew Park beach on Saturday 28^th September. All participants will receive a free ‘Stranraer Oyster Bucket’ inspired by the topographical sculptural trials. Over the course of the afternoon, we will fill the coastline with a community oyster bed of inspired organic structures! Prizes will be available, see poster below for further details.