Heartlands tours on offer to the local community

Local people are being reminded that guided tours are taking place on a monthly basis around Heartlands in Pool.

The next monthly tour will leave Pool Health Centre on Friday 6th March at 2pm and the group will have the opportunity to learn first hand how the site will be transformed into an inspirational cultural landscape.

The group tours will be an opportunity for people to see how work on the site is progressing. The tours are being conducted by Heartlands Community Project Manager, Kirsty Davies.

Kirsty will be able to answer any questions people may have about the project and give commentary about key milestones whilst leading the group around perimeters of the 7.5 hectare site.

Kirsty said: “The feedback we’ve had from the tours I’ve already done has been really positive. The tours are another opportunity for local people to hear first hand from a member of the project team about what’s going on at the site and stay up to date with the project before work officially gets underway.”

Pool School students get creative at Heartlands

Art students from Pool Business and Enterprise College are using their creative talent to help make elements of Heartlands become reality.

The year-nine students are working closely with one of Heartlands’ commissioned artists, Nicky Neate, to carve their own designs on 20 wooden poles, which will form the outline of the smaller outdoor performance space on the site.

‘Plain an Gwarry’, which means ‘playing place’, will be set in the heart of the unique landscape, and host workshops and visiting theatres groups.

The students spent time at the Heartlands site in Pool gathering artefacts to inspire their designs on the 20 poles. To help capture the sites memories the students were given a first hand account of the area’s history from ex-miner Peter Hughes and were also given a tour of the Engine House, situated at the centre of the project in Robinson’s Shaft.

Cllr Carolyn Rule, Kerrier District Council’s portfolio holder for economy and regeneration, said: “Creativity and people are at the heart of Heartlands and this is a great example of just that. The young people have been a strong part of our inspirations for Heartlands from the beginning and it’s great to learn about how they are now helping make the project become reality and making their mark on what will essentially be an area for them to use and enjoy.”

Nicky Neate, one of the commissioned artists working on the Heartlands Project, said:” The students have been involved with Heartlands since the early days so despite the weather the students really enjoyed themselves. We tried to make the session as fun as possible the students wore wigs and performed a dance around the ‘Plain an Gwarry’ performance space where their designed poles will eventually be placed.

“People and creativity are at the heart of Heartlands and by combining the two it is our aspiration that the community has a sense of pride and ownership over the project.”

Scott James, Heartlands Programme Director, said:” The design of Heartlands has been subject to extensive consultation with the local community and students from Pool Business and Enterprise College played a large part in helping to inform the design process. It was great to have them on site, especially at such an exciting time as works are now well underway to prepare the site for the major site works to start.”

Local people invited on a tour of Heartlands

Local people are being given an opportunity to have a guided tour around the site of Heartlands in Pool.

The first tour will leave Pool Health Centre on Friday 5th December at 1pm and the group will have the opportunity to learn first hand how the currently derelict land will be transformed into an inspirational cultural landscape.

The tour, which is set to be the first of many, will be guided by Heartlands Community Project Manager, Kirsty Davies. Kirsty will lead the group around the perimeters of the site and will give people a commentary about what’s planned on the 7.5 hectare site and also answer any questions people may have about Heartlands.

Kirsty said: “We’re keen to get as many local people as possible involved with the tours. As a community led project the guided tours will be another opportunity for local people to stay up to date with the project in the lead up to the official start on site early next year and thereafter.”

The tours will be limited to 10 people and anybody interested should contact Kirsty Davies, Heartlands Community Project Manager on 01209 722323.

Heartlands welcomes Mexican officials

Mexican delegates have made a visit to Heartlands in Pool as part of their tour of Cornwall.

As part of the weeklong trip to explore links between the two lands, Mexican state and government officials have learnt about how the Heartlands Project will transform 7.5 hectares of former mining land into a truly inspirational cultural landscape with World Heritage Site status.

The Heartlands team gave the officials a tour of the Heartlands site and talked them through the key areas of the project. Among the visitors were Omar Fayad Meneses, Mayor of Pachuca and Jessica Blancas, economic development minister.

The links between Mexico and Cornwall date back to the early 1820s when local mineworkers were recruited to help reopen redundant silver mines in and around a small town in Northern Mexico. The visit by the Mexican officials follows a visit to the country by a delegation from Redruth and Camborne in the summer this year.

Cllr Loveday Jenkin, Kerrier Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Arts and Culture, who also joined in the tour, said: “The visit has been a fantastic opportunity to bring together Cornish and Mexican cultures and demonstrates the close links our communities still have. It is essential we keep these relationships strong and the visit to Heartlands clearly illustrated to the Mexican delegates how elements in the project will celebrate the links our two regions have.”

Scott James, Heartlands programme director, said: “We were delighted to welcome our visitors from Mexico and were grateful for the opportunity to give them a taste of what we’re aiming to create at Heartlands.

“We know our local communities share close cultural links with Mexico and it was fascinating to hear about this. The Mexican officials were really interested to learn about how elements of the Heartlands project will celebrate both Cornish culture and the links with Diaspora countries such as Mexico.”

Calling all Cornish creative talent

The creative community are being invited to register an interest in being included in the Heartlands Arts Directory.

The directory will be a resource for the design teams during the construction phase to identify creative practitioners with the right experience, skills and quality of work to be able to deliver the creative elements at Heartlands over the coming months.

The Heartlands team is developing the Heartlands Arts Directory which will include full details of all artists interested in being part of the project. It will also be a valuable resource for the future Heartlands Trust in developing creative projects, such as events and workshops, when Heartlands opens.

Heartlands is keen to hear from local artists and makers with a contemporary approach, with experience of working on creative and innovative public arts projects. The team would particularly like to hear from creative practitioners with a specialism in metal, stone, mosaics, wood and audio visual installations to register an interest.

Sarah Williams, Heartlands Arts and Culture project manager, said: “We’re keen for local artists and makers who want to get involved with the Heartlands Project to get in touch. We are looking to build a comprehensive directory and would particularly welcome interest from contemporary artists and makers and local crafts people to create a directory of as many and diverse artists as possible.”