From crying the neck to croust time, furze stogs to firewood, a project working with communities and schools to explore and rediscover Cornwall's rural past through storytelling has been given the go-ahead.
Tallys An Tir – Traditions & Stories Of The Land has been awarded £35,800 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), with additional funding from Feast Cornwall.
Led by the Cornish Audio Visual Archive (CAVA), the project aims to work with people through Cornwall to capture and share stories relating to the rural landscape.
CAVA director Garry Tregidga said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to capture stories that build on the valuable work started through our last project, Family, Farming & Tradition.
"From folk songs to farming with horses, thrashing days to foraging for goosegrass, Cornwall is a unique place with a rich heritage and what better way to explore this than through stories."
CAVA and the Institute of Cornish Studies will deliver a variety of free training sessions to people in each community. Old photographs and footage will also be gathered, enabling a series of short films to be produced for each area.
The material will also form the basis of community events at Rosehip Barn near Launceston, Kestle Barton in Manaccan, Gunwen Chapel near Luxulyan, Pendeen and on the Roseland. In the run-up to these events there will be memory days, heritage walks, storytelling workshops and a range of training.
Tallys An Tir will also deliver a series of artist-led workshops to primary schools, using stories of local farmers as a starting point for creative learning. Working with the Farming & Countryside Education charity, the project will also produce free education resources for primary schools.
Richard Bellamy, of HLF South West, said: "Story-telling is a means for sharing and interpreting experiences. Stories have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education and cultural preservation.
"Tallys An Tir will re-interpret and retell traditional stories of the Cornish landscape using modern technology to make them available to the widest possible audience."
Anyone wanting to contribute to the project can visit www.cornishstories.com.
