Do we hear the voice of land in the space between past and present voices? How present is this voice in the rural everyday?
Have you ever tried to listen to the land itself?
Heaf is a creative-led project investigating individual connections to land, and landscape, in Cumbria’s Eskdale Valley. Alongside the people living, working and loving this rich corner of the National Park poet Melissa Davies will consider how we might bring land itself into the conversation.
Over autumn/winter conversations with local groups, partners and individuals will be recorded and from these a collection of poetry will be born. Every participant is invited to contribute material for a run of paper made specially for HEAF. A co-created exhibition and performance will offer further opportunity for participation, to consider how—and in fact whether—local people feel connected not only to Eskdale but to the land itself.
This is the research and development phase of a long-term project, exploring ideas of preservation in our increasingly digitalised existence as well as creative ways to represent non-human perspectives. Participants will be a mix of community groups, organisations and individuals. These voices will be central to development of project outcomes through feedback and co-creation opportunities.
Collecting oral material
October 2025 – ongoing
Micro-pamphlet of poems exploring initial recordings
January – February
Visual poetry workshops at Florence Arts & Eskdale
26th/28th February
A HEAF MAPPED | Co-created exhibition at Florence Arts
April / May
Artist commissions; public opportunities to co-create; collaboration with archives; poetry readings
Summer 2026
HEAF Exhibited | Community Gallery, Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Museum
August – October
Want to get involved?
Anyone who considers themselves to have connection to Eskdale Valley can contribute by volunteering to be interviewed; participating in a workshop or simply attending a performance. Details of participation opportunities will be published here & on Instagram.
Check back here, follow the project partners or contact Melissa to express your interest.
- Journal #5 | How much of our connection is storytelling?
The oldest stories were told to connect people: to each other, to a place, to a way of life or… Read more: Journal #5 | How much of our connection is storytelling? - Journal #4 | Reflections on first recordings
Immediately I understand how much this project will be about the individuals who participate as it is about the valley.… Read more: Journal #4 | Reflections on first recordings - Journal #3 | Moss teaches me that connection is fluid
I experience fear when the valley vanishes entirely into mist. At the point when I no longer see undulating curtains… Read more: Journal #3 | Moss teaches me that connection is fluid - Journal #2 | Finding a balance of voices
What outcome will spontaneous conversations have? Will they differ from pre-arranged encounters where participants have had time to gather thoughts… Read more: Journal #2 | Finding a balance of voices - Journal #1 | The distinction between ‘land’ & ‘landscape’
Should they be used interchangeably? These terms I’m grappling with to express what connection could be with, is with. I… Read more: Journal #1 | The distinction between ‘land’ & ‘landscape’
Phase 2 | Winter 2026…
Using feedback from participants and learning from six months immersed in Eskdale Valley, phase 2 of Heaf will have an emphasis on oral history. Archive quality recordings will continue to be collected throughout 2026 with an eye to creative outcomes at the end of the year. Meanwhile community groups and participants already involved in the project will have the opportunity to collaborate with artists to co-create installations for an autumn exhibition. Poems will be shared live at different events throughout the summer as the full manuscript develops and new voices are incorporated. Watch this space for opportunities to participate!
HEAF | Project Partners
Melissa Davies 