Creative Walk with Clare Balding

Creative Walk with Clare Balding for BBC Ramblings, Parkend Forest of Dean

During any Creative Walk, there’s usually an element of surprise and wonder where something planned or unexpected occurs and this walk certainly lived up to the expectation!

On Thursday 9th February, writer and broadcaster Clare Balding and producer Maggie Ayre, were welcomed onto Canopy’s monthly artist led Creative Walk to record an episode of BBC ‘Ramblings’ for Radio 4 which you can listen to below.

Or volunteer Sara Rickard, invited Clare to the Forest of Dean as she thought the Creative Walks she plans for Canopy would make an interesting radio programme. Each carefully planned walk invites participants to respond creatively through writing, photography, sketching or simply ‘being in the moment’. 

Each Creative Walk is led by an artist and in this case, it was the lovely Sara Rickard, local textile artist who makes the most exquisite nature inspired embroidery with a humous twist. She started off by providing the small group of walkers and artists with a notebook & basic drawing materials for recording their ideas along the route before heading across to the platform of Parkend Dean Forest Railway Station. There she read aloud a poem by local composer and poet, Ivor Gurney whilst the group reflected on his life alongside the bench dedicated to him.

Once over the bridge, the footpaths led up to St Pauls Church where the group were invited to take out their drawing supplies and indulge in some simple mark making exercises which Sara demonstrated. Paper view finders were distributed to look closely at the surrounding scenery before using them to take 3 minutes to sketch or write about the landscape though the aperture. Moving into the church ground, artists took rubbings of carvings and lettering on the gravestones which they found interesting and once again were encouraged to use the time for reflection and observation to inspired their creativity.

Some like Clare, felt called to write a few words which they read aloud for the group whilst others shared their drawings.  

Sara said she was “very impressed the work created with the very limited supplies – from the rubbings to the ink to the graphite and biro through to some colour and writing coming through”.

 Lyn Heyler, Bill Otto, Clare Balding, Peter Dunford and Roger Drury each delighted the group with poems inspired by the walk so far.   Read on below the photos…

Whilst meandering up through the forest to Oakenhill Nature Reserve, Sara led the group in creative exercises designed to mindfully connect with nature, whilst Clare spoke with various members of the group about their experiences of the walks. Sculptor Dorota Rapacz spoke about how allocating a time to enjoy rambling through the woods helped her to relax and recharge without worrying about the time spent doing so; painter Sharon Harvey expressed how the exercises inspired her work upon returning to the studio; creative Tanya Gaffney-Greetham spoke about the mental and physical benefits of the walks and Canopy’s Head of Marketing Charlotte Sparks illustrated how valuable these organised walks are in terms making friendships and building strong communities between local creatives who otherwise often work in isolation. Towards the end of walk with leaves brushing underfoot and the birds singing in the canopy, the group walked silently back down the hill, observing the trees shimmering in the sunny winter light where they were pleasantly surprised by the enchanting sound of the flute drifting up somewhere within the trees… with thanks to Karen Stevens who had secretly slipped ahead of the group!

Intuitive abstract artist, Charlotte Keating said “It was wonderful to spend time in the woods observing it from a different perspective whilst making new friends. The experience was inspiring and I particularly enjoyed scratching images with the ink and feather provided and the magic of the sound of the flute”

With a final amble back down towards the train station, we all grouped back together before heading off to the Dean Forest Cycles Cafe for some excellent coffee and lunch to swap experiences, drawings and contact details having already made firm friendships and a vow to do another walk!

Now if that gets you excited to join us on our next Creative Walk on Saturday 25th February, click here to book your space. You never know what lies in wait for you!

More photos can be viewed here

To catch the episode of BBC Ramblings recorded on this walk, tune in on March the 2nd https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jl2k