Walking the Land is an artists collective that has been active in and around Gloucestershire’s Stroud Valleys since 2002. More recently our network has grown with active members from across the UK, Canada and Australia.
We link landscape, community and art through projects, research, exhibitions, installations, writing and shared walks with numerous artists, other professions and wider communities. We have
a common interest in the use of landscape for social change, public engagement, critical debate and creative forms of community activities.
Upcoming Events
September 4th – First Friday Walk : This months walk will be lead by Amanda Steer.
We will be walking on Cleeve Common thinking about accessibility and the interventions introduced to encourage access by all, the barriers there may be and the implications of offering these outdoor experiences to all.
Starting off along Cleeve Common’s “Tramper Trail”, we will continue off it to complete a total of about 4 miles from start to finish. The route has some undulation and a steepish descent and a short sharp ascent later into the route. The “Tramper” is an electric all-terrain mobility scooter designed specifically to cover rough ground and grass safely.
Those wishing to use the “Tramper” will be able to book it independently on the Cleeve Common Website( https://www.cleevecommon.org.uk/tramper-hire) and so will be able to join us for the first half of the walk, before independently returning to the Golf Club. (Amanda is hosting a targetted Tramper Walk event the week after the FFW (see the Cleeve Common events page for details).
While walking on Friday, together and remotely, we will look at the landscape and think about accessibility, whilst considering the words of Robert Macfarlane:
”We will not save what we do not love and we rarely love what we cannot name or do not see”
We ask you to look at the signs of human interventions made to enable access for all and to consider their impact on the landscape. Similarly, we ask you to consider blocks to access. We will think about how to encourage people to experience the spaces that we are visiting, measured against the impact of this on the landscape and its inhabitants. We will think about how we care about local landscapes and how these walks enhance our curiosity, knowledge, love and care of such spaces, and how others can be encouraged to experience this. We will also personally respond to what the space has to offer and the impact it has on our wellbeing. We will make numerous stops along the way to do this.
To find out more information or to receive further prompts if you would like to walk your own route remotely, please email wtl@walkingtheland.org.uk by Wednesday 26th August to book your place and receive details of where and when we are meeting, plus lunch info.
To receive a monthly reminder in your inbox with details of upcoming Last Tuesday Café calls and First Friday Walks please contact wtl@walkingtheland.org.uk