“Our whole environment can be a work of art - in theory at least; yet with nature, art, industry & people, as we all know, the true value lies beyond the aesthec”.

Stuart Bask The following are extracts from a conversation I’ve been having with myself... And Art Gene For the past 25 years Mostly because no one else is prepared to listen to me rambling on for that long Art Gene A brief introduction

Seeking out the good the bad & the ugly in order that we can have a full and frank discussion around sustainability Navigating the no man’s land which lies between different interests, agendas & demands on space... Industrial - Social - Environmental Stuart Bastik, ‘What a difference an ‘F’ Makes’, 2002

Or embracing the positives in the duality of things people and places The role of (Inter)National Artists, Architects, other Specialists & Communities in

Re-Visioning the Social, Natural & Built environment An important part of readiness is opportunity...

Art Gene - Design Cafe, ‘Street Training’ Workshop with artist Lottie Child

The Social Mobilising & empowering people... Moving beyond passive entertainment... making and realising our own stories & not believing everything we are told. An important part of readiness is opportunity...

Art Gene - Allotment Soup Community Growing Space

Working with communities to make change Laying aside notions of the ‘unique genius’ - moving from populations of viewers or audience to participants & co-authors. The ‘Natural’ anything from NNR’s & SSSI’s to Brown-field sites, backyards & allotments derelict spaces, dumps & industrial wastelands

Exploratory Drill Cores dumped at Sandscale Haws NNR View of Barrow Ironworks slag bank from Walney Island

Valuing, protecting & making use of important local ‘resources’ the things which form vibrant & complex glocally distinctive places & those which tell stories. Shed built on squatted land within what is now a National Nature Reserve

The Built including the unloved, the listed, vernacular, industrial, scheduled & the unsanctioned Developing locally defined hierarchies of value, quality, significance & importance. We are also interested in the collisions of Industry & Nature Drawing out and attaching value to unusual ‘hidden assets’ Searchlight Emplacement South Walney - structure at risk

This is important if we want to preserve some of them Remembering to question ourselves Stuart Bastik, ‘The impossibility of reliable judgement in the mind of an aesthete’, Beautiful & Ugly Stones. North Walney NNR We all become the places we live This goes for ugly places as much as beautiful ones

But ultimately the distinctions are meaningless beautiful places can be unproductive and barren and ugly places abundant...

We can author ourselves through our places. Souvenir Vickers Ashtray celebrating polaris nuclear missile Astute Nuclear Submarine Launch 2007

The next stage in human evolution (if there is to be one) is, I believe, not about finding creative ways to maintain the status quo. It is about making creativity ubiquitous, powerful, purposeful and ultimately influential in that it should change the why and way we live. Unfortunately it seems to me that artists are set to become the wind turbines in the Tesco car park of regeneration.

Servants of the imagination deficient- the authors of ‘Cultural Deprivation’ & ‘Social Exclusion’ at work - endlessly re-confirming their prejudices to each other & mistaking them for fact. Or worse… tourists - plundering & commodifying grass-roots riches & the realities of people & place - engineers of vicarious disconnected ‘experiences’ suiting the palate of a ‘superior' sometimes mocking orthodox elite who rarely give-back to the source. HMS Ambush Launch celebrated in pansies. Photo: Maddi Nicholson It seems to me that the impetus for rapid a radical change is staring us in the face but we choose to ignore it. SO WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

‘Sustainability lies in the actions of whole communities’ That means working with the folk you trust & especially the ones you don’t trust OUR TOP 10 for working collaboratively with communities, stakeholders and partners Barnes Wallis (later of Bouncing Bomb fame) was working as a draughtsman when he met H.B. Pratt. H.B. Pratt was working in Barrow & asked Wallis to join him. Together, they designed His Majesty’s Airship No.9: the frst rigid British Airship to fy successfully from her hangar on Walney Island. Later airships including the R26 class, were designed and built on Walney by Pratt & Wallis. Wallis went on to design the R80 built on Walney.

The airships built in Barrow led to the development of the R100 for One of the group : Ormonde Wind Farm 2011 sited Vickers built in Howden Yorkshire with Neville Shute (later known as a 10km of Walney Island features 30 of the World’s novelist) who was the team’s Deputy Chief Engineer. Largest Wind Turbines - 156m High & 661 Tonnes ea. Roe Deer Blackpool Tower, which can be seen from the Barrow Cormorant Sea Holly R100 famously few to Canada in July 1930 in 78 hours. Covering the coast on a clear day, is only 2m taller than each of AY Buzzard AY 3300 mile journey at an average speed of 42 mph. Arguably the these massive turbines. AY Robb’s Water Fishermen’s Farm Sedge greatest (& last) British Airship of an age. Wrecked The rotors are 126m in diameter: larger than the Cabins Oak Lea Warbler 4-10 http://www.sirbarneswallis.com/Airships.htm 4x4’s London Eye. Together they are capable of providing Bass Curlew AY Farm Lowsy Point power for 100,000 homes. Pill Box d DANGEROUS QUICKSANDS oa Shoveler k R Kingfsher Par AND FAST INCOMING TIDES W AY Flounder Scarth Hole The casings & the small drive engine for spinning the bouncing bombs Rows of posts (low tide) Heron or “Upkeep” mines were built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow (& Ship Wreck ‘Anastasi’ 1909 The Fat Controller Sanderling AY Thought to be WW2 measure AY Lost Christmas Day 1946 The Thomas the Tank Engine stories were based on Newcastle) from steel procured by the Oxley Engineering company, to prevent invasion forces P Barrow’s once extensive railway system which serviced Ulverston. The metal for the casings was most likely sourced from Neolithic Finds landing troops in gliders The remains of the vessel are still visible at low Medieval shell (inc. Polished Pill Box Former the Iron Works, Docks & Passengers. Walney Island is Backbarrow Ironworks. Barrow delivered the last of its ffty “Upkeep” middens Axe) ‘Sodor’ across a bridge (Jubilee Bridge) between Barrow & tide, but anyone thinking of paying a Cello- mines to the Royal Ordnance Factory at Chorley for flling with torpex phane Vicarstown (Vickerstown). visit to the wreck site should Factory Roe Deer AY The Fat Controller was modelled on one of Barrow’s explosive on 9th April 1943 have a good knowledge of (Now a migration route Candle founding fathers, the Industrialist Sir James Ramsden. According to unconfrmed local anecdote Barnes Wallace’s bouncing the tide times & the sands Deer can be seen Factory) around it: the vessel has Skylark Dead Masked Crab Found swimming across bombs were tested along the coast north of Haverigg prior to the AY (see map cover) Up-ended walney channel Millwood Manor claimed a number of Barrow The Duke of Buccleuch commissioned Millwood Manor for Dambusters raids. Pill Box on lives since its demise. Marram Golf Club his land & mineral agent Edward Wadham c.1860. Millwood Grass Beach Lodge was the gate house & the family had their own North Walney railway siding (remains still visible). The Wadham family Ringed National Nature Reserve Plover lived in the Manor until the 1940's. Evacuees from Germany Grayling Butterfy were housed here during WW2. AY Natural England Kimberley Clark Shope Tree Sand Dunes n Toilet Roll & Tissue L Natterjack 1 r Merlin AY Scar Factory: Makes white o 360,000 cubic ft Parseval Type c.1920/22 Toad 3-7 From 1st March to 31st July o Sir Edwin Lutyens ‘Andrex’ toilet paper for m Abbey House Hotel 1914 by Sir Edwin Lutyens dogs must be kept on a short lead, no s Scars are rare, cobble & e Historic across Europe. k (1869–1944). The mansion was the home & guest Barnes Wallis went on a test fight in one of these early Parcival type more than two metres: a boulder dominated Rabbit Warren R house of Commander Craven, Chairman of e airships when it crashed into the hangar door trying to land. After the Ground nesting birds Lan intertidal habitats. Pill Box Bank Vickers Shipbuilding. Many dignitaries came incident Wallis vowed never to fy in an airship again Waxcaps to stay, including King George V. 9-10 Victorian A590 Bottle Dump Drinking Fountain 1876 G2 Walney Airport Sea Potato - Quarries e (A small Sea Urchin) Lan Pill Box alton (Dis) Aircraft Wildfowling Ormsgill D A large Royal Air Force Training school was based on Walney during Dispersal Quarry WW2. The site is now partly within the North Walney N.N.R. The current Pads (dis) WW1 ne P Pill Box La owner is BAE Systems. It is also the base of the Lakes Gliding Club who l Practice il Shelduck Sewage g s ofer sightseeing fights over the Islands of Barrow. Trenches m How Tun Works r O Wood BAE’s ‘Beechcraft King Air’ makes Ormsgill Rife Range regular fights today Romney Cottage (private) SSSI -Site of Special Scientifc Interest Codling Farmhouse Aircraft Gun Six Spot (Grade II listed building) Hawcoat Walney 1605 Park Range (moving Target) Burnet Moth 6-7 G2* Formerly known as ‘High Furness Abbey 1123 Meetings Cocken’: An early home of Scheduled Ancient Monument G1 Landfll George Romney (artist) from Once the second most wealthy & powerful Cister- Site (Dis) Upper 1742-1755 (8 to 21yrs old). Born 3500,000 cubic ft Passenger & Mail Carrying c.1920/22 Oystercatcher Walney Ormsgill cian monastery in Britain managing a massive area Sp Su Industrial Lakes Gliding Club Beckside, Dalton 1734. Waste - Inc Airport (Sightseeing Flights Reservoir of land as Grange Farms mainly producing wool. Low level Available) Rife (Drained) Oystercatchers Nuclear Bristol Blenheim ‘Stories Behind The Stones’: Airship Sheds nest on cobbles Waste base WW2 Ranges walk by Rod White: download Common Barrow on Barrow Council website just above high tide. Cemetery Following the construction of the frst British airship hangar over Please avoid Mussel Disused Slag Banks Cavendish Dock in 1908 for HMA1 Mayfy (1911) a land based airship cobble areas 1st March Landfll Avro Anson Hangar shed was built behind Fort Walney c.1913. It was demolished for scrap to July 31st Site (Dis) base WW2 Lenny Hill Barrow-in-Furness

in the late 1920's (it was too small for any of the airships proposed in Domestic Lower Ormsgill Reservoir Hangar W Waste

the 1928 British rigid Airship programme). There was then a move to Ironworks1 Reservoir. 1865 Stanton Shelter a turn the Walney hangar into flm studios, which failed, & the shed was Site of The islands were

Flounder & Hut Bases l Herring Gull AY

n Largest planned - in for sold for scrap. Thomas Mawson designed the 45

e Ironworks later use as a acre public park. The park was recently

Kite & Wind Barn Owl AY y boating The very extensive Vickers airship archive was unfortunately Lime in World

North St James’ Church restored in line with his original plans - Surfng lake. deliberately incinerated in the mid 1980's by a zealous employee who West Kiln C 1869 G2*-former winning the Landscape Institute Heritage thought it was time to clear out the old stuf, so the airship record is Shore Scale h St James’ Palace Organ. & Conservation Award 2007.

Earnse Bay Park a

now very scarce. Used at Queen Victoria’s Mawson was the frst English Garden Know a little about a lot - in preference ton - A lot about a little Wedding Designer to call himself a n ‘Landscape Architect’.

Identify the connections between featurese which form places l SELDOM SEEN MAPS Cumbria & Lancashire coastlines. The maps capture an extended conversation about the value and character of this place. A conversation between hundreds of members of our community. Many of whom have never met. 2

Understand the complex nature of sites - the people, flora & fauna who live them (the aspirations & interests of the people who will remain after the end of any project) 3 Jenny Holden, Ecologist, Art Gene Mass Walk to Piel Island

Provide opportunities for whole communities to get involved. (never expect them to come to you) 4 Islands of Barrow Beer Maps Present complex ideas in simple ways Bite-sized pieces of information presented in familiar formats. The Islands of Barrow Peoples' Museum Meat Pies, Natterjack Toads, Nuclear Submarines, Basking Sharks, The Fat Controller, Airships, Six Spot Burnet Moths, Mass Observation, Skinning Squirrels, Super Stimuli, Mythological Kings, Yellow Horned Poppies & the largest Off-shore Wind-farm in the world...

Placing & contextualising peoples’ collections alongside... (Bird Skull Collection: Nicola Evans) the Nobel Prize-winning research of Niko Tinbergen & Nella Last’s writing for Mass Observation 5

Places are never one thing...

North Walney National Nature Reserve

Moving beyond ‘Romantic’ conceptions of place - Invest in research - uncover & embrace the complexities & contradictions of a site to maximise the possibilities. We try to avoid nostalgia because it romanticises the past - and presents us with a false picture We try to do history because it can inform our futures more usefully and we can learn form it We believe that exceptional ‘creative’ thinking is needed to re-address and redefine the fabric and cultural structure of our environment. Or… some dreams are more useful than others Photo: Lawrence Hill 2005

Photo: Lawrence Hill 2005 Allow the context to shape the concept and evolve methodologies

North Walney National Nature Reserve: Sand Dune Habitat - Landfill Site - SSSI - Quarry - Bird Sanctuary - Wildfowl Hunting Site & RAMSAR Wetland featuring: WW1 Practice Trenches, Aircraft Dispersal Pads, a WW2 Gun Range & a 'Low Level' Nuclear Waste Dump... Photo: Lawrence Hill 2005

Fort Walney Uncovered : Art & Archaeology Project An Art Gene Heritage Lottery funded project which began with an excavation of rare WW1 Practice Trenches within the North Walney NNR. Developed In partnership with Natural England, BAE Systems & archaeologist Dr George Nash. Photo: Lawrence Hill 2005

‘One for Sorrow’ Fort Walney Uncovered - A non civic war memorial in two parts... North Walney National Nature Reserve

Photo: Lawrence Hill 2005

‘One for Sorrow’ Fort Walney Uncovered - A non civic war memorial in two parts... North Walney National Nature Reserve

1 SELDOM SEEN MOBILE PHONE APPS 6 Focus on Social Regeneration rather than economic regeneration (economic growth is unsustainable despite what they tell you) Go out and meet people & learn from them - their skills & resilience, Re-Visioning Utopia: (Inter)national immersive research charrette for artists and academics 7 Work within a Glocal framework: think globally-act locally (establish international networks share & test your ideas) Practice8 Maddi Nicholson, Artist co-founder Director, Art Gene, Touring inflated replica of a demolished Barrow Terraced House

Understand the power of humour in communicating complex & serious concerns or ideas

9 Frame the future as a positive place full of possibility Roker Pods for Sunderland City Council: A CABE Sea -Change project developed for the communities of Roker. Embrace new technologies and learn from old ones Roker Pods Off grid touring spaces. Create a culture of invention and imagination which embraces risk as a catalyst for rapid change 10

Take your work seriously but not yourself... SHOCKING NEWS INSPIRES CURRENT PROJECTS BARROW BOROUGH IS THE No.1 Borough in England for the number and quality of its Natural Heritage assets.

Source: Royal Society of Arts & Industry survey for Heritage Lottery 2016 & 2017 “REALLY” :-) “No” :-( ? SAY THAT AGAIN… BARROW BOROUGH IS THE No.1 Borough in England for the number and quality of its Natural Heritage assets. OUT OF 326

Source: Royal Society of Arts & Industry survey for Heritage Lottery 2016 & 2017 SO SO

SO… We set about asking a simple question SO

SO… We set about asking a simple question

What does the No.1 Natural Heritage Borough in England look like in 5 years time? AND ESTABLISHED OUR NEW COASTAL TEAM The Islands and Bays of Barrow and Furness - Coastal Community Team

Managed by Art Gene And began thinking about the benefits of Linking our Communities and Landscapes

For improved Health and Well-being Consolidating much of our recent work in a more sustainable suite of new projects funded by the Coastal Communities Fund

Art Gene Mass Walk to Piel Island WALNEY ISLAND VISITOR CENTRE

Sandy Gap cic - Will create a new Visitor Centre, meeting space and cafe on Walney Island Working with local people as the drivers in meaningful change.

OUR COASTAL TEAM will create New employment opportunities, workshops, volunteering & events, mobile viewing structures & capture ideas for the future. Braithwaite Hide 2017

Which builds on our current work with coastal communities

Two new hides, interior interpretation and a whole-site masterplan for South Walney Nature Reserve - for Cumbria Wildlife Trust

Painting South Walney Hides Herring gull egg pattern - after Tinbergen’s super-stimuli

5 Tinbergen Hide 2017

from Communities to Concept and Realisation www.artgene.co.uk