Things seem to be happening very fast now, as my time with the project is coming to an end.  Our original Arts Council grant to cover project overheads and my position runs out at the end of March, so I will be leaving and the remaining projects will be completed by members of the management committee.

I'm feeling optimistic about the project I'm leaving behind, with a lot of good things in the pipeline:

• Jayne Lloyd's sculpture for Commission 1 will soon be publicly launched

• Landscaping work at the site behind Somerfield in Milnsbridge is almost complete

• Raphael Daden's stone sculpture is in place near the River Colne in Milnsbridge

• Raphael's sculpture Endless Pattern will soon be installed in the centre of Milnsbridge

• The final artwork in Milnsbridge will feature a poem written by a local resident

• Four animations have been chosen to tour the Colne Valley's schools and libraries

• We have commissioned Lewis Morgan to create a sculpture near Eastergate Bridge

• We have sent the brief out to artists for Rotcher Sound Commission

Check out the Commissions page for up-to-date information on each of the projects.  I hope that you will continue to enjoy the website and visit the trail itself once more sculptures are in place.

Bye!!

I woke up to a beautiful sight this morning - the whole valley was white with rime coating everything.  It looked stunning and mysterious...!

1.30pm, Tuesday 22 January 2008

I arrived back at work this week after a marvellously long break, including a holiday in Québec where I got engaged!  It's back to reality now though, as I wade through the 1,646 emails clogging up my inbox...

There's good news for the project - we've been awarded grants from the Kirklees Arts in the Neighbourhood scheme and the Colne Valley Area Committee, which means that we now have all the funding to go ahead with the Eastergate project near Marsden.

I had an enjoyable afternoon just before Christmas, when I went up to Huddersfield New College for the trial of the animated computer games.  Pupils from Linthwaite Clough tried out all the activities and left feedback for the students to finalise their designs.  There were some fantastic ideas, with great characters and music, so I'm looking forward to seeing the finished products.  It was really good fun having a go, but I don't think playing computer games is my forte!!

We still have some planning issues to resolve for Commission 1 and Milnsbridge Matters, but we're working on them and are looking forward to getting some more sculptures installed...

The River Forum was a lovely event, with displays from several local organisations, projected images of the River Colne Project and the River Colne Sculpture Trail, a birdfeed making activity for the kids, plus mulled wine and lots of delicious homemade cakes - thanks Trish!  There was a friendly relaxed atmosphere in this fabulous venue and the new format was popular with all those who attended, so it was fun all round!

The River Colne Project and the River Colne Sculpture Trail are holding a River Forum event this Wednesday - please come along and say hello:

Drop in for an informal evening, have a glass of mulled wine and chat to us to see what’s happening with the two projects

§  Hands on workshops for children and the young at heart

§  Mulled wine and mince pies

§  Displays of local groups

I'm sorry to have to announce that the launch event for Commission 1 has had to be postponed.  We are presently working very hard to resolve the planning issues relating to the sculpture and will keep you informed about a date for a future launch event.

So much has suddenly been happening with the project and yet again I've been terrible at keeping the blog updated...

Jayne's Commission 1 sculpture has been fabricated and is now sitting in my office, waiting to be installed by British Waterways on Monday.  A launch event will take place at 6pm on Wednesday 5 December, featuring a 'switch on' illuminating the sculpture, with music by Slick Stick Sambastic samba band.  This will be followed by mulled wine and mince pies at the Watershed on Bridge Street, Slaithwaite.

We have just obtained planning permission for Raphael's main Milnsbridge Matters sculpture and landscaping work started on the site behind Somerfield (corner of Scar Lane and Market Street) on Monday.  We'll be holding a 'Community Day' at the site on Saturday 1 December, 10.30am - 12.30pm.  There will be refreshments and a chance for people to lend a hand planting bulbs and painting the fence.  Raphael has chosen the stone for his piece at the bottom of the Britannia Road steps, which will feature traditional tools from the textile industry.  He'll be carving on site from around Monday 3 December.

Students from Huddersfield New College are working hard on their animations for the Interactive Feature commission, and they visited the Colne Valley in October to get some inspiration.

We have received an anonymous donation of £10,000!!!  We're still in discussions about the best way to spend the money, but I'll keep you informed.  We have also been given a grant of £300 from Community Spirit towards an education programme and £1,000 from The Cuckoo's Nest towards a community sculpture project near Eastergate Bridge, Marsden.

I promise I'll try and keep you more up-to-date next time!!

I'm off to do a site visit this morning, with Cate Clark from the management committee.  We're going to look at the area behind Somerfield in Milnsbridge, where Raphael's light sculpture for Milnsbridge Matters will go.  A landscape architect has kindly surveyed the site for us and made some suggestions, so it will be good to get down there and visualise how it will all look..... although it is raining and blowing a gale today, so not the best sort of weather for standing around outside!

Jayne Lloyd is in the process of fabricating the three panels that make up the Commission 1 sculpture.  You can see photos of the 'work in progress' on the Commission 1 page.  I'll let you know when we have a date fixed for installation...

A group of students from Huddersfield New College are about to get cracking designing us an interactive feature for the website, aimed at encouraging children with no previous interest in 'sculpture' to get involved.  I'm super excited about this project, which will be trialled at primary schools in the valley in December and launched publicly in the New Year.  I can't wait to see what the students come up with!

Check out the Interactive Feature page for more info.

Just got a funding application to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation sent off, so that's a big relief.  If we're successful with this bid, we'll be able to offer a 3-week residency to two artists.  For the moment though, I'm just happy I've got it all done. 

And the sun is shining, so it's all good!

I popped in to see Gus at the Central Cafe in Milnsbridge this morning and it seems the Milnsbridge  Matters display has been generating a lot of interest, especially some of the children's colourful ideas!  The display will be up in the cafe for another couple of weeks, then it will move to the foyer of the Baptist Church on 4 September.

A bit of good news greeted me when I returned to work yesterday after a week's leave - we've been granted planning permission for Commission 1!  This means that we've finally got the all clear to go ahead and install Jayne's sculpture near the canal in the centre of Slaithwaite - I'll keep you posted with more details about this when it happens...

It's 'River Forum' time again - our next public meeting will be this Wednesday (1 August) and will be a chance to find out what's been happening with both the sculpture trail and the River Colne Project.  The meeting will be held at the Watershed on Bridge Street in Slaithwaite (see map) and kicks off at 7.30pm, with drinks and displays to look at from 7pm. 

Everyone is welcome to come along!

Milnsbridge Matters has been progressing well: Raphael ran some workshops at Royds Hall and Crow Lane schools and the kids came up with some wonderful ideas about how the site behind Somerfield could be developed - some of them are a little too weird and wacky to ever happen, but fun all the same!  A selection of the best ideas will be displayed at the Central Cafe for a few weeks and will then move on to Somerfield and Milnsbridge Baptist Church.  But for a sneak preview , check out these pics:

Just putting together a funding bid for a joint project with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, which I'm excited about.  We're hoping to get an artist to create a sound installation for the trail, so let's hope we get the funding!

I've been out and about looking at sites this morning - it's great to get out of the office, get some fresh air and take some photos!

I met with Raphael on Monday, so he could have a good look around Milnsbridge and at the three sites for Milnsbridge Matters - I think each site throws up its own challenges, but I'm sure Raphael will get over these and produce some stunning work!

Andy Gracie (hostprods) is about to start a three-month residency at the Digital Research Unit in Huddersfield.  The brief for the residency is 'the Pennine landscape (around Marsden) and network technology', which ties in well with the sculpture trail's vision.  Andy is a multi-disciplinary artist making work with technological and natural systems - you can check out his blog for the residency here: www.hostprods.net/blog

Last week was a busy one - we're all very excited about commissioning artist Raphael Daden to produce some light works in Milnsbridge for Milnsbridge Matters.  I also took my first trip into Standedge Tunnel, as part of the launch of the new visitor centre, and attended an event in Bradford, where I learnt about an initiative called Why Waste?  This allows organisations to benefit from the unwanted materials that businesses would usually throw away, so there's the chance we could come across something useful for the trail!  And best of all, I went to a preview of Andy Goldsworthy's work at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which was fantastic!!

Hanging Trees - Andy Goldsworthy

I'm sorry to all those who have been frustrated by my lack of updating on the website recently.  Things have still been happening with the project - we have secured permission from various landowners to site works on their land and I have put in a bid to the Arts Council for a project called Artists Partnerships, which will involve emerging artists working together with more established artists.  We should hear back shortly about the planning permission for Commission 1 and we're looking at offering a commission to a sound artist in collaboration with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.  We've had a great response to Milnsbridge Matters, with 25 artists applying and 6 shortlisted for interviews next week.  All this plus I've just had a week's skiing in Switzerland, so I can't complain!

A belated Happy New Year everyone!  I am really enjoying this cold snap we're having - the Colne Valley looks beautiful with the tops of the hills all dusted white and it's an exhilarating feeling to be up in the hills crunching through the snow in the bright sunlight with the wind putting some colour into my cheeks!

Things are going well with the project.  We've been awarded a grant from Kirklees Environment Unit so that I can work an extra day a week and we're developing the artists brief for Milnsbridge Matters.  Jayne Lloyd ran a series of community workshops during the autumn as part of Commission 1 and she has finalised her design for the artwork, so now we're just waiting to get planning permission for it.  Fingers crossed!

I'm back at work now, after a wonderful week's holiday in Oman and a not-so-wonderful week off sick.  But excitement levels are still high about the People's Millions funding, which is just as well, because I'm sitting here faced with a big pile of post and an uncooperative computer!

WE DID IT!!!  We won £50,000 from the People's Millions!!  ITV have just been down to film us receiving the large cheque, and we'll be on Calendar again tonight - I think we're all walking on air right now!  I've got people coming round to watch us on TV tonight, then I'm off to Oman first thing in the morning, so now I can go on holiday with a spring in my step!

To vote for Milnsbridge Matters:

Call  0870-243-5501

or

Text  YORKS 1 to 63330

Lines close at midnight and you can vote TEN TIMES from one number - we need your vote!!

The date for filming draws nearer!  An ITV cameraman and reporter are coming down to Milnsbridge next Thursday to film us and some pupils from Crow Lane School for Milnsbridge Matters.  I'll have to make sure I wash my hair that day - a girl's got to look good for the camera!!

We have made the final shortlist for the People's Millions!!  This means that ITV will be making a short film (2 mins!) about the Milnsbridge Matters project (see THE PROJECT page for more information), which will be broadcast during the Calendar news programme at 6pm on Wednesday 15 November.  Viewers then vote for the project they would like to receive a £50,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.  So look out for more information nearer the time and REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR US!!!

I had a nice break in Seville last week, and since then I have been busy with meetings to build links with Lumen, a Leeds-based arts organisation and Huddersfield University's Centre of Excellence in Digital Design, as well as drawing up the contract for our first commission - there's a lot going on and I'm really enjoying it!

It's exciting times now for the project, having commissioned our first artist yesterday!  Jayne Lloyd lives in London but grew up in Golcar and in her work for this commission she is hoping to explore the way the mills have changed from being places of work into places to live.  My life has been rather hectic recently with the project moving forward, moving house etc. so I'm looking forward to getting away to Spain for a few days tonight!!

Guess what?!  We've been shortlisted for the People's Millions!!  For those of you who don't know what this means, the People's Millions is a competition run by the Big Lottery Fund in collaboration with ITV, giving organisations the chance to apply for a grant of up to £50,000.  We are lucky enough to have been shortlisted for the Milnsbridge Matters project.  If all goes well, we may appear on TV, going head-to-head with another project for the public to vote on which project they would like to receive the money!  It sounds a little scary, but very exciting...

We've received lots of good proposals for the first commission and are very pleased with the response.  But this does mean that there are some difficult decisions to make!!

We are now advertising for artists for the first commission!  This is great progress, and it really feels like things are starting to happen!  The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Tuesday 22 August, so I'm looking forward to receiving all the proposals!  Please go to the 'Commissions' page to download an application pack.

This is an exciting time for the project as we are about to start advertising for artists for the first commission!  British Waterways have very kindly agreed to site the sculpture on their land near the Moonraker floating tearoom in the centre of Slaithwaite, so check out the 'Commissions' page in the next week or so for more details about applying.

The Rail & River Centre Open Day on Saturday went well, with lots of fantastic sculptures being made.  Most of the artists were very attached to their creations and wanted to display them in their bedrooms, but some were kind enough to leave them with me, so they are now brightening up my office!  Have a look at 'The Project' page for more photos.

"Put" by Dale   "Dog" by Louisa

Things are still busy here, with preparations for the first commission well underway.  Saturday was the Green Fair at Marsden Mechanics Hall, where Cate Clark and I had a stall for the River Colne Sculpture Trail project.  Despite the lovely hot weather (and the England game!) plenty of people turned up to find out more about the project and to have a go at making mini sculptures!  These were put up around the hall to form a mini sculpture trail, and they are now being exhibited for two weeks in the window of the Community Spirit shop in Slaithwaite.

The River Forum event on Wednesday night was a great success, with a large turnout and lots of positive feedback on the project so far.  There were displays from the River Colne Project, Friends of Slaithwaite Spa, River Corridor Greenways Project and of course the Sculpture Trail, as well as plenty of nibbles to tuck into!  I'd like to thank everyone who helped make the evening a success, especially the Watershed for letting us use their wonderful venue.

I just opened another nice letter today, informing us that we have been awarded £2,000 from the Kirklees Arts in the Neighbourhood scheme towards the first commission!  That cheered me up, especially after walking into my office yesterday to find my precious new computer covered in dust from the builders who have been blocking up my window and turning my office into a dungeon...

Anyway, it's the River Forum tonight and a chance to use the brand new digital camera, so I'd better get busy preparing for that!

I've been pretty busy lately, looking more closely at the route the trail will take and at possible sites for sculptures, meeting with various people and working on more funding applications for the sculpture commissions.  There are a few events coming up where people can find out more about the project and get involved:  The first is the River Forum, which is held jointly with the River Colne Project and takes place at 7.30pm on Wednesday 24 May 2006 at the Watershed, Bridge Street, Slaithwaite.  This event is free and there will be snacks available, as well as displays from other local organisations.  A couple more dates for your diary: a Green Fair will be held at Marsden Mechanics on Saturday 1 July 2006, 10.30am - 4pm and there will be an Open Day at the Rail & River Centre, Slaithwaite on Saturday 22 July 2006.  More details to follow!

More good news!  We have been given a £500 grant from the Huddersfield Common Good Trust towards a computer, printer and digital camera, which are vital for us to be able to run the project.

GOOD NEWS!!  We received a letter today telling us we've been successful in getting £5,000 from Awards for All, which is most of the funding we need for our first sculpture commission!

I visited the Chiltern Sculpture Trail last weekend, which was very interesting, but a little spooky in the woods all by myself!!  I've put some posters up around the valley telling people about the project and I'm having my photo taken for a piece in the paper tomorrow, so the publicity is coming along well.  Plus I went to the press launch of the new interpretation boards along the canal last week, where it was good to chat with other groups working in the valley.  We're still waiting to hear if we've been successful in getting the funding for our first sculpture commission, but we should hear by the end of the month, so I'm keeping an eye out for those envelopes! 

Had a few setbacks recently - computer problems still plaguing me and then a bout of the flu, but things are picking up again now!  I've received lots of positive feedback about the website and have been contacted by some artists interested in commissions, so that's good news.  I have started to look more closely at the route the trail might take and there have been discussions about the interactive virtual aspect of the trail, which is all very exciting!

I experienced my very first Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival last night and it was amazing!  I wasn't expecting to see so many beautiful lanterns - the procession seemed to go on forever!  For those of you that don't know what it's all about, the festival is a celebration of the Slaithwaite legend (ask somebody about that one over a pint!) and the culmination of a week of lantern-making workshops and other events.  This was the 22nd year of Moonraking and the weather was lovely, so there were loads of people there to see all the spectacular lanterns, the projection on the side of Globe Mill, the fantastic fireworks finale and then the Ceilidh in the leisure centre - it was quite an experience!

There has been a lot going on since I started work on the project last November.  I barely had time to settle in and get to know the beautiful Colne Valley before being flung into the chaos of producing an application DVD for the Channel 4 Big Art Project!  It doesn't look like we have been successful with this one, but we still have the DVD we made, which is a great resource for the project.  I am now busy trying to establish a suitable route for the trail, and have recently applied for funding for the first commission, so fingers crossed for that one!