HEAF moves into phase II with a focus on the experience of inhabiting a protected landscape. At the heart of the project is the invitation to LISTEN—to the land, to individuals, to pressures from outside and to ourselves when we venture into this landscape. But what about the land itself?
Collecting oral material in wider Eskdale area
October 2025 – ongoing
A HEAF MAPPED in words | The Community Gallery, Ravenglass Railway Museum
September 2026 – January 2027
Four Artist Commissions for co-created works in conjunction with Eskdale communities.
October 2026 – February 2027
Exhibition of commissioned works; verbatim poems & film | Venue TBA
March 2027
Performance produced in response to co-creation process, communities & oral material | Venue TBA
Spring 2027
Poems, audio, locations and images will begin to appear on the Lake District National Park interactive map. Follow the pins to discover voices of Eskdale valley as they are published.
Coming soon…
“Landscape has always responded to issues of our time.”
Jack
“I don’t feel I own it. Just that I have a right to be here”
Rachel
HEAF is a creative led project that began with the question “what gives someone a sense of connection to land?” From October 2025 poet Melissa Davies has been gathering oral material from people connected to Eskdale Valley and the West Cumbrian surrounds to investigate individual connection to land and landscape.
These recordings are gradually being transformed into a body of verbatim (as spoken) poems, which have already been exhibited in a variety of visual forms. From these many hours of conversations, the project has honed its focus; with the aim of creating a record of the lived experience of rural communities living within the protected landscape of Eskdale. How do they inhabit this landscape and how can we listen to the land of Eskdale itself?
In this next phase of HEAF, other artists will be brought in to offer their reflections, while also providing the opportunity for Eskdale’s communities to experiment with creative expressions of their own experience.
Selected Artists & Locations (tba)
Artist One
Responding to Upper Esk/Boot
Artist Two
Responding to Miterdale
Artist Three
Responding to Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway
Artist Four
Responding to the Esk estuary
Phase III | HEAF ACROSS The valleys
Over almost two years exploring rural experience and connection to land in Eskdale valley, UNESCO World Heritage Site are coming onboard to support a wider project encompassing all thirteen valleys of the National Park. Outcomes from Phase II will gradually incorporate other valleys as we begin to build a living record of the world heritage site.
HEAF | Project Partners
Melissa Davies 