Written evidence submitted by Dymock Forest Rural Action

Heritage Lottery Fund Project No. CH-13-20878 Web Site www.themoment.press

1(a)  Dymock Forest Rural Action who sponsored and ran this project, is a community

         based group dedicated to preserving the local landscape. We work with local

         agencies and stakeholders. Our ethos is to engage with the local communities so

         that they “own” the projects and initiatives we pursue.

1(b)              To give you a flavour of those initiatives. We have reintroduced the indigenous               daffodil the fields and verges over much of the Leadon Vale and local  woods. We               have helped create new paths and maintain access to the existing byways to the               extent that we feature as a destination of choice.

1(c)              To understand “themoment.press” project it is necessary to track back to               2008/10 when with others we delivered the kempleytardis.org project. This too               was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Tardis Project recorded 1,000                             years               of the social, religious, economic and cultural life of the North               Gloucestershire village of Kempley. The story is told with narrative and                             illustrations as well as oral histories. Among them the last of a line  of farmers               stretching back to the 1730’s. A Central theme is the Beauchamp family who               owned the village and surrounding land. The story ends at the start of WW1, with               the fascinating revelation that the seventh Earl Beauchamp* a noted pacifist, was               a signatory to the declaration of war.

1(d)              * The Earl was “outed” as an homosexual by fellow peers after the war, and               driven into exile, never to return to England. It is generally acknowledged that the               Earl and his estate at Madresfield were the inspiration for Wahr’s “Brideshead               Revisited.

2(a)              Themoment.press, derives its name from that point in our history and focuses on               the impact of the war on local society. The story is themed around the “Dymock               Poets”, Frost,  Abercrombie, Rupert Brooke, Wilfrid Gibson and John Drinkwater.                They had a major impact in bringing poetry into the orbit of ordinary folk and               chronicled the hard life they endured.  NB Robert Frost is revered in New England               as a major American literary influence.

2(b)              Taking your terms of reference to heart we record below the various ways in               which our work engaged our rural communities. We can proudly say that our               project is a successful microcosm of your ambitions for the use of the Lottery               Funds.

29c)              Recruited local volunteers who worked with us throughout the project .This               included two interns from the University of Gloucestershire, who led the schools               programme.

2(d)              Carried out history and poetry workshops in local schools and provided source               material to every Secondary school in Gloucestershire.

2(e)              Published original research and commentary each month in the local village                            magazines.

2(f)              Organised ,with a local craftsman, for children and their parents to make pottery               daffodils. These are now incorporated into a memorial structure used at services               throughout the benefice.

2(g)              Created 3 Apps to illustrate and describe local walks. One followed the route               connecting the homes and lives of “Sons of Kempley”, who fell in the two World               Wars.  A second takes walkers through the landscape inhabited by the Dymock               Poets. (little changed from 100 years ago).

2(h)              Several concerts themed around local composers writers and poets including a               memorial service where all the readings were by local young people and texts by               local artists.

2(i)              Finalised the Beauchamp story including details of the 1919 auction of the               Kempley and Dymock estates. This included identifying the houses and their               history and giving participants the opportunity to learn more about their property.               NB. The social impact of the 1919 auction was immense. A whole community               went               overnight from being tenants, obligated to the Lord of the Manor               (Beauchamp) to being property owners.

2(j)              Creating a heritage map of a standard useful to academics, whilst being easily               understood by lay users.

2(k)              Worked with the local cycling groups to create a “Newent Loop” of accessible               tracks and safe roads. Within this we renovated a structure known locally as the               “Garland Hut”. This housed a valuable trove of material associated with the               Dymock Poets. It is now listed as a way point on the local footpaths and cycling               tracks, providing a resting place and information point.

2(l)              As part of our research into the Suffragette and Sufragist movements we were               invited to present an event at the Ledbury Poetry Festival.

2(m)              Organised several guided walks around the Poet’s Paths and Daffodil Way,

2(n)              Organised three local history events where local folk could come to discover more               about their family, the local landscape and the architecture.

2(o)              Catalogued the material in St Mary’s Church, Dymock and renewed and improved               the permanent display celebrating the Dymock Poets. We also gave significant               help to the University of Gloucestershire archive as they rescued and catalogued               a mass of material relating to the Dymock Poets and their legacy.

March 2019