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Between March and June 2013 we worked for Yorkshire Peat Partnership to explore the issues around the possible creation of a strategic Peat Partnership covering the whole of the Pennine Chain from the Scottish borders to the Peak District. Valuable work is already going on to restore degraded upland peat bogs but could a strategic partnership tap into other funding, co-ordinate work and speak collectively to regional and national bodies? Our work to assess the appetite for the partnership involved 62 in depth interviews and three stakeholder workshops.
Recently two of our team – Becca and Kerry – spent a day at Manchester Art Gallery with our consultation stall for the work we’re doing on the Irwell Sculpture Trail. They had a fantastic spot in the main atrium at the gallery and interviewed over 50 people throughout the day.
The staff at the Manchester Art Gallery were so lovely and helpful – they’d already set up a table and chairs for us, and let us in early to set up ready for the doors to open at 10am.
We brought along the giant map of the Irwell Sculpture Trail and stuck in images of some of the sculptures. And of course, a jar of chocolate eggs always helps and is a nice way to thank people who stop to talk to us.
Find out more about the work we’re doing on the Irwell Sculpture Trail.
We are still carrying out our consultation work for Fix the Fells and have received some more great photos from our team Kate and Ellie who have been climbing the peaks to interview hikers.
Last Friday 24th June they were up Stickle Tarn – that’s 1,500 feet up and pretty chilly! Lots of friendly and cheerful interviewees, which made for a successful day.
On Saturday they headed back up Catbells in drizzle and later drove to Seathwaite Farm in Borrowdale, where they’d been the week before.
And yesterday they went into Coniston and drove up the Old Man track and set up the stall at Miner’s Bridge, interviewing people as they passed. We hear the weather was much nicer than the rain from Saturday, and even the sun came out briefly.
For the last week our fab team – Kate and Ellie – have been up mountains in the Lake District interviewing people for our Fix the Fells work. They have also been in Keswick speaking to people in the town, and have been sending us updates and great photos of what they’ve been up to.
This is undoubtedly our highest consultation ever! And check out the beautiful banner Ellie made for the consultation…
We thought it would be nice to include a few of the reports from Kate and Ellie:
Thursday 16th June 2011
We were heading for the top of Helvellyn this morning but it was pouring with rain, so we headed to the Moot Hall in Keswick. We enjoyed a trickled of interviewees there, but as soon as it brightened up we headed back out up to Catbells where we had a steady flow of people who all thought it was a good idea us being up there. Let’s hope the weather is better than forecast tomorrow! Best wishes, Kate
Saturday 18th June 2011
The cloud was down and the rain light though persistent, but many a hardy walker passed our little base at the entrance to Seathwaite Farm. Nearly all we stopped were happy to chat, despite either being keen to get on with their five-hour hikes or absolutely exhausted after returning from such exertions!
We are doing a lovely piece of consultation and market research on the Irwell Sculpture Trail.
Soon to be relaunched, the Sculpture Trail runs from Salford Quays up to Bacup – approximately 30 miles along the River Irwell dotted with sculptures.
For our first day we were set up outside Salford Museum and Art Gallery on an incredibly hot day. Our stall, which has been lovingly designed for this piece of consultation, features bunting, pots of spring flowers, and a map of the trail.
We also set up an Easter kids activity on some picnic blankets – making Easter nests from hay and filled with chocolate eggs and a yellow chick.
Over the next couple of weeks we will be out at various locations along the Sculpture Trail to speak to people about the sculptures and find out how people find out about places – especially whether people like the idea of new technologies such as downloadable audio tours and QR codes.
Whilst we update our website we will be sharing what we’re up to here – our shiny new blog. We’ve got some exciting new pieces of work coming up during the summer and some lovely pieces of recent work to share.
We are a social research organisation based in Manchester – please take a look round, read about the work we do, and follow us on Twitter.
Pathways 