Anna Turner
A keen walker and runner will run a series of writing workshops that incorporate walks to landmarks in the South Pennines.
Anna Turner, writer in residence for the Watershed Landscape project, is also setting four short stories in locations in the area.
The writer, who lives in Hebden Bridge in the heart of the South Pennines, said: “This residency is a fantastic opportunity for me as I’m a keen walker and runner, with a lively collie, and I therefore spend a lot of time out in the landscape. This brings together so many things that I love.
“Initially I’m hoping to take a group of adults with learning difficulties up to Cant Clough Reservoir, above Burnley. I’d like to record their responses to the landscape so we can create electronic postcards.
“For the second workshop I’m planning to run an early morning walk during the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival on Saturday 7 July.
“The walk will finish at Gibson Mill, in Hardcastle Crags, where we can then record our emotional responses through a writing workshop.
“Places are always so different in the early morning, when you hardly see anyone else but instead you can spot wildlife, such as deer and rabbits. We will be running a similar workshop for families in the afternoon.
“And finally footsteps will be my inspiration for a workshop to take place during the Walk and Ride Festival in September.
“Through this workshop I hope we can examine the way in which we make temporary footsteps in the landscape, either in the mud or snow, or more permanent markings by walking the same path over many years.”
Ms Turner also plans to write a daily blog during the two-week festival.
She added: “I’ve chosen Standedge Tunnel, at Marsden; Cant Clough Reservoir; Blackstone Edge, above Littleborough; and Ogden Moor, as the locations for my fictional stories as these all demonstrate the juxtaposition of the wild moorlands and man-made elements, either as remnants of the industrial revolution or as part of our modern-day power system.
Standedge Tunnel, the longest, highest and deepest canal tunnel in the UK, is the site of the first short story, although the writer admitted to her fear of travelling through it in the traditional manner: legging, in which a narrowboat would be propelled through the 3¼-mile tunnel by men with their feet against the tunnel walls and ceiling.
Cant Clough Reservoir, one of the walk destinations
The combination of the man-made sheddings created by quarrying and the wildness of the moorland makes Cant Clough Reservoir an ideal location to examine the combination of natural and man-made; as does the line of pylons that runs across the moors at Blackstone Edge, where the Pennine Way winds its way from the M62 to Stoodley Pike, above Todmorden.
The power theme continues with Ms Turner’s choice of the windmills on Ogden Moor, high above Ogden Reservoir, as her fourth location.
The stories will be published in electronic and printed versions.
She teachers fiction writing for the Workers’ Educational Association and had her first novel, Falling Through Clouds, published under her maiden name, Chilvers, in 2010.
She and her husband Johnny plan to walk the Coast to Coast route with one of their three children, Wilf.
The early-morning workshop, incorporating a three- to four-mile walk followed by breakfast, will take place between 7.30am and noon, on Saturday, 7 July, starting from Gibson Mill, Hardcastle Crags.
Places cost £10 and include breakfast. Booking, which is essential, can be made by phone on 01422 842684 or online.
Later in the day families are invited to create their own version of an alternative walking guide in a free family friendly walk, of about one mile. Maps and instructions can be collected from Ms Turner between 2pm and 4pm from Gibson Mill. Booking is not necessary.
The South Pennines lie between the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales national parks. The landscape contains sweeping moorlands, pastures enclosed by dry stone walls and gritstone settlements contained in narrow valleys. The moorlands support rare species of bird such as merlin, short-eared owl and twite.
The South Pennines have extensive areas of open access land and a dense network of rights of way, accessible from the conurbations of Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Lancashire. The landscape has inspired many including Ted Hughes and the Brontës.
The Watershed Landscape project, managed by rural regeneration company Pennine Prospects and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and South Pennines Leader, aims to enhance and protect the important ecological and heritage features of the landscape for the benefit of future generations.
