The Stonemason's Tale (From Hereford Times)

The Stonemason's Tale

9:59am Thursday 1st September 2011 in Reviews

The 400-strong procession of dancers, artists, musicians and elaborate carnival structures parading through Hereford’s High Town on June 29 celebrating 1000 years of Hereford's fascinating history was the colourful and spectacular culmination of an impressive year long project complementing the recent renovation of Hereford Cathedral Close.

The Stonemason's Tale united the historical, social and spiritual connections between the Cathedral Close and the people of Hereford. This was done through a series of specialist-led workshops for 11-14 year old students, offering schools a chance to explore National Curriculum subjects in a slightly different way, such as stone carving and film making, storytelling and photography, carnival arts, dance, music, drama, and even the chance to build and use medieval siege catapults to explore science and maths, an opportunity unsurprisingly popular with the pupils! Jo Henshaw, Close Connections Learning Plan Manager at the Cathedral, commented, “The enthusiasm, co-operation and stamina of all the young people, their teachers and the professional artists have been incredible.”

Invaluable help from The Music Pool

The ambitious idea that became The Stonemason’s Tale began in 2006, when Hereford Cathedral was putting together a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to support a project to renovate the Cathedral Close . Close Connections, a community educational activity project, was incorporated into the bid. Within it was The Stonemason’s Tale, in which a host of outreach activities helped pupils in Key Stage 3 to celebrate the Cathedral’s history through music, drama and other platforms, assisted by the Cathedral’s partner in the project, Herefordshire’s premier music charity The Music Pool. Without the invaluable help, talent and expertise of The Music Pool’s Dennis Schiavon, Rob Strawson and Mina Nakamura, the project would not have been possible. The Stonemason’s Tale was just one example of The Music Pool’s innovative work throughout Herefordshire. The project was ably led by tirelessly enthusiastic Artistic Director, Catherine Gilling, and involved thirteen secondary schools across the county. Students enjoyed the rare opportunity to connect with the past through the activities available, exploring and discovering what life really was like for Herefordians in days gone by.

A quick glance up at the stunning architecture of Hereford Cathedral reveals the impact that stonemasons have had in shaping our visual impression of the building. Since Norman times they have been an active and vital part of everyday Cathedral life, and their work provided the inspiration for the 'The Stonemason's Tale'. David Whitehead, a local historian, provided much of the information that would inspire the project.

Catapult workshops

James Atkinson captured the students’ work on film, and produced some short silent films with the students, in which they portrayed the role that stonemasons have played throughout the Cathedral's history. In a stonemasonry workshop delivered by on-site masons, Capps and Capps, pupils participated in a hands-on stone-carving experience, starting their own carvings to be finished in school under the guidance of specialist Design Technology tutor, Angela Thoo. In another workshop, led by Charlie Lupton of Make Your Own History, pupils explored Maths and Science through the catapult workshops. Inspired by the rich history of the Cathedral in the grim 12th century struggle between royal cousins Stephen and Mathilda, when siege catapults were fired from the cathedral tower, this workshop was enjoyed by classes from Whitecross High School, St Richard’s School, the Steiner Academy and St Mary’s RC High School. Adam Yearnshire, a science teacher at St Mary's, commented on how much his class had enjoyed the experience, “The children were encouraged to work in a team and were given the minimum level of support; this really tested their organisational skills, something that we don’t often get chance to do in a busy science lesson.”

Captivating storytelling

However, it was not only practical activities that Herefordshire pupils had the opportunity to enjoy. Story tellers David Phelps and Austin Keenan were sent out to schools, captivating the imagination of pupils with stories from the Cathedral Close’s history, including that of the medieval St Ethelbert, to whom Hereford Cathedral is dedicated.

The festivities of Wednesday 29th June began on the newly re-turfed Cathedral Close, opening with a performance from students of the Steiner Academy. Their piece, devised by Catherine Gilling and inspired by the research of cathedral volunteer, Claire Olzsanska, recreated the days when the Close was Hereford’s only cemetery. Drama students from Hereford Sixth Form College ushered the audience, into the Cathedral. Inside they were greeted by the evocative sound of medieval plainsong by the choir of St Richard’s School, alternating with a magnificent new composition, the Hereford Pavanne, played by Fairfield High School’s 35-piece orchestra and written for the project by Lyndon Eatough-Smith, Fairfield’s head of music. As they toured the Cathedral before taking their seats, the audience saw dramatic, costumed tableaux portraying scenes from the past of Hereford Cathedral Close.

After being lead to their seats, the audience was treated to a show from students around the county. Former BBC presenter and drama tutor, Janine Sharp, helped the Cathedral School students depict real historical characters in a short play about Hereford during the English Civil War, and the invasion of the Cathedral itself during 1647. Janine took inspiration from some of the carvings and statues around the Cathedral, which helped provide the basis for the story. Janine said that the young people involved loved connecting with Herefordshire’s past.

“The students learnt how rich and important Hereford’s history is and how proud we should be of its legacy.”

For Janine herself, it was a great experience.

“I loved every moment of this project. As a playwright and director I was able to bring history alive for all the students involved and for the audience in the cathedral.” This was followed by a dance enacting the catastrophic collapse of the Cathedral’s West End on Easter Monday 1786, with students from the Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School and St Mary’s RC High School. Choreographed by Tamsin Fitzgerald and Fiona Hay of Hereford’s renowned 2Faced Dance Company, the dancers were accompanied, in a wonderful collaboration of modern dance with classical music , by Peter Dyke, Assistant Organist at Hereford, playing Bach’s dramatic Toccata in D Minor. The audience was fast-forwarded into a Victorian photograph album, brought to life by students from Weobley High School drama club and the choir of St Richard’s School, in roles that varied from maidservants, to soldiers, to Sir Edward Elgar – on his bicycle, naturally!

High Town comes to a halt

After the morning show had finished the performers’ numbers swelled to 439 students, as they were joined by further pupils from their schools to take their positions in the spectacular carnival parade. The procession started from Hereford’s historic black and white house, to the vibrant and stirring soundtrack of live music from local schools and musicians, performing together in procession for the first time.

A packed High Town came to a halt as gargoyles and grotesques, historical characters, the River Wye and even a superbly created Hereford bull - the result of workshops in schools by the Carnival Arts Group’s Leo Caithness and Becca Huggett - made their way through town, ensuring a visual feast for the many onlookers. The beautiful, eye catching costumes worn by the actors were designed by artist and costume supervisor Sally Kingston. The details of the costumes attracted much comment and admiration from the crowd. Sally said that she had found the project extremely enjoyable. “A great passion of mine is the memory and history of period costume, so I have found the entire experience extremely inspirational. My job has been to make and source costumes and props relevant to the Cathedral’s history, from medieval times through to present day. This has included making ‘stone’ elbow and knee pads, a collection of costumes for dead Georgian’inhabitants’ of the former graveyard, walking picture-frames, hats, rats, and river attire! The experience has been incredibly creative, and I have had the pleasure to meet many wonderful people and talented children.”

Amongst the many other artistic creations that caught the eye within the Cathedral were the colourful banners and photography exhibition that graced the Cathedral on pageant day, which were produced from photography workshops earlier in the school year, led by local photographer and champion of the arts, Hilary Smallwood, who had been involved with the project from its inception.

A memorable experience

The Stonemason’s Tale truly showed the great artistic talent within Herefordshire. Canon Chris Pullin was thrilled with the way that the day’s celebrations unfolded. “It was a huge project, and we sometimes wondered whether we hadn't bitten off more than we could chew. However, hard work, great leadership and a wealth of experience to draw upon meant that it all came together perfectly. The dedication of all those involved was really inspirational.”

The whole event was a truly memorable experience. Speaking after the event, Catherine said “I was very lucky in having a very strong artistic team, all talented people in their own specialist areas. There was lots of support from schools in the county, from key link-teachers who embraced the idea and put a lot of time, effort and energy into the project.”

Over twelve months hard work came together in an extraordinarily successful effort, ensuring that participants and onlookers enjoyed a day to remember. As a result of their participation in the project to celebrate the heritage of Hereford and its Cathedral, all involved now have their own place in its fantastic and celebrated history.

Tom Kennedy