The Parish Council is keen to build on the work which has already been done to create an Arts Trail in the Holme Valley. Hopefully, you will have seen articles about the consultation which has been taking place over the summer of 2005 about this.

First of all, a huge “thank you” to so many of you, not just for your interest but for your creativity!

Earlier in the year we asked for your ideas for the Holme Valley Arts Trail. We were delighted to receive some fifteen proposals from professional artists, school children, societies and individuals. Some of the submissions were suggestions for specific pieces of art, some were ideas which would need to be developed by an artist; some were suggested locations for placing a piece of art. Several themes emerged from the suggestions:

• Works to commemorate the textile industry in the Holme Valley
• the Holme Valley’s musical traditions
• features of the Holme Valley’s varied rural and agricultural life
• anecdotes about the Holme Valley’s history and past (eg Fenella, the Tiger)
• tributes to famous Holme Valley residents.

It was interesting that a number of the submissions had the similar idea of working with local schools to produce one or more pieces of art. We believe taking this idea on board would lead to many exciting possibilities. Not least, it would allow us to develop a larger number of smaller projects, at different locations and using different media. It would allow the Council to take ideas from several of the submissions and involve a whole range of people including local professional artists. In particular, we believe that involving local children would increase their sense of ownership of the Arts Trail. We hope all of this would lead to a continuity of the overall project.

To develop the project in this way the budget will be split into three parts, allowing three schools from different areas of the Valley to be involved. In turn, this will involve a variety of artists and spread the project across the length of the Riverside Way. It was felt that the schools should be Holmfirth J, I & N School, as this school had already submitted ideas, plus one of the Honley schools and one of the Schools from the southern end of the Valley.

We are delighted that the three artists involved in the initial discussions will be Mike Disley, Sue Jenkins and Mick Kirkby-Geddes. These three professional artists are all local and have already worked with local schools.

There has been a terrific interest in the project and so expanding the Arts Trail should be an on-going public art project. An application for funding will be made through the Parish Council as well as to possible sources of sponsorship and, in addition, outside additional funding will be sought wherever possible.

The Council knows that other organisations such as Holme Valley Civic Society, Holme Valley Business Association, Kirklees MC the Valleys Area Committee and Kirklees Countryside Management Unit are all interested in promoting and developing the Arts Trail. The Council hopes that all these organisations can work together to combine ideas, funding and potential opportunities.

Working together will improve the opportunities and chances for attracting external funding such as Lottery or Heritage grants.

Keep watching this space! We shall be seeking your views again, as the project progresses.. The next Arts Trail update will be in Spring.


Cllr. Mrs. Rhona Bratt, member of the Arts Trail Working Party