River Tours: The Lune

River Tours: the Lune was an eight-site performance tour along the river Lune, that took place in April 2024 alongside five schoolworkshops. Creative Producer Alice Booth shares her experience of taking River Tours: the Lune on tour.   

It was after we’d first presented River Tours in Lancaster in 2022, right by the Lune at Lancaster’s skatepark, that we started hatching a plan to take the whole thing up, or down river.  The creative team in Lancaster (writer Claire Dean, performer Orla Cottingham, several members of Sewing Café Lancaster led by Katrina Barnish, and me, Alice Booth from Lancaster Arts) were so enthused by the project, and just a hundred people had seen it.  We wanted to find a way of sharing it further, of bringing it into contact with new people.   

We’d had a blast making the project.  It was one of those creative collaborations that really took off.  Not all of them do, especially when partners are brought together without knowing each other first.  A bit of magic happened within the team – in part, I think, because of the generosity and openness of those creating this artwork.  The group were able to view the challenge of making the piece from different perspectives and artforms, and then combine that knowledge and insight to create a path, or channel, forward.   

What was made felt special.   

You can find out a bit more about where River Tours came from and how it was made in these blogs by James Yarker of Stans Cafe and Claire Dean and Sewing Café Lancaster.  You can also find out about presentations in 2023 at Lifest and the Aqueous Futures conference in the links.  For now, I’m going to tell you a story about how we set sail on a tour along the river with River Tours: The Lune this April 2024.  OK – I admit it – we didn’t set sail exactly – but we did race up and down the river by car, often right alongside it, to meet with and work with an array of river dwellers (or at least those living near the river) ranging in age from just 10 days old to a man well into his 80s.   

Orla performing by the Lune at Devil’s Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale 

After weeks of preparation – raising funds, visiting sites and schools, speaking to teachers, rural touring agencies, the Campus in the City team at Lancaster University, councillors, community leaders, a head of horticulture, a chandlery… planning workshops, gathering materials, writing risk assessments… we set off… the meander of the river turned into the rush of rapids over rocks – nine packed days of shows and workshops and engaging with nearly 1000 people along the way.   

We went to a broad range of venues and sites – indoor and out.  Each performance site was connected to a venue or partner organisation, that could help us connect with local people.  Our first was perhaps both indoor and out.  It took place in a polytunnel at Growing Well, an organic farm and mental health charity, just behind Tebay services.  This was the furthest-North venue, nearest to the source and the end of Claire’s story, which starts at the sea and heads backwards to the salmon nests.  Growing Well is probably about eight miles from the source, in fact.  Here we played to our youngest audience member – just a few days old (although we think he slept for most of it).   

Our youngest audience member at Growing Well, Tebay 

Al fresco sites included Glasson Dock, right by the Marina and alongside the hum and roar of motorbike engines, and at the picturesque Devil’s Bridge, which features strongly in Claire’s story. The Devil is in the river building a bridge. It’s rare to see him working so hard. The performance here began in stinging sunshine and ended with a dramatic downpour. An audience member said to me: “the wind was blowing, and the river looked like it was performing alongside her (Orla)”.    

Audiences braving the rain at Devil’s Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale 

 Some venues were in the heart of communities – Arkholme Village Hall, for example, and some a bit more off the beaten track – Briggflatts – an astonishing, grade-one-listed Meeting House, apparently the second oldest in the country, lime washed and decked out with exquisite wooden panelling, balustrades and columns.  The kids in the audience picked the best vantage point – on the balcony, with a bird’s eye view of Orla and the Lune textile.   

The best view in the house 

This was my favourite of the venues, and one where we created an exhibition of artworks from the two schools we’d worked with locally – Sedbergh Primary and Settlebeck Secondary.  The image below shows the ‘river’ bookmarks the young people made, using natural printing and their own invented compound words to describe the River Lune.  Daisytwirl. Drizzledrop. Tinklespit.  

Katrina hangs the bookmark display  

The children also made a banner to rival Sewing Café’ Lancaster’s own – featuring the part of the Lune at Sedbergh – and they produced textile pictures of objects, creatures and people which are being stitched on by Sewing Café Lancaster as I write this.  Can you spot that well known river creature – chicken nugget man?   

Banner made by the young people at Sedburgh Primary and Settlebeck School  

Our final stop was late afternoon at the stunning Sunderland Point, where Orla’s backdrop was the intermingled landscape of sea, river, saltmarsh, shingle and mud flats.  It was our (perfect) end but is the very start of Claire’s story – Let us begin at the end of the river.  Where the tide rushes up from the lune deep.  

On the beach after the show 

With a backing track of oyster catchers, Orla performed Claire’s text for the last time.   

At least for now.   

That lovely textile may be rolled out again.  And we are already thinking that the children’s textiles deserve another outing.   

And what have we learnt along the way?  That there is great benefit in meeting people where they are – in the places they are.  And we were grateful to meet those that, in Claire’s words, live and work on the banks between rivers.   

And that rivers flow through us as well as through places.    

Looking at the River Tours: The Lune book   

A full-length film of River Tours: The Lune is currently being made.  Check back here for updates. 

You can purchase the River Tours: The Lune book here, which features Claire Dean’s full text and a foldout image of Sewing Café Lancaster’s Lune textile.  If you require a large print version of the text, please contact alice@lancasterarts.org for a free copy.   

The touring team were Orla Cottingham (Performer) Alice Booth (Creative Producer, Lancaster Arts) and Katrina Barnish (Sewing Café Lancaster), with support staff from Lancaster Arts.  

The workshop team were Katrina Barnish, Carol Gittins, Enda O’Regan (Sewing Café Lancaster) Claire Dean (Writer) and Alice Booth (Creative Producer, Lancaster Arts).  

Images by Rich Berry (Reel Things) and Amanda Berry.  

Film by Rich Berry (Reel Things).  

This project was funded with thanks by Arts Council England and the Lune Rivers Trust with additional support from Spot on Lancashire and Lancaster Litfest.