Creetown Ferry-Bell Tower... The Opening

The Ferry- Bell tower was officially opened by Creetown's town crier Evie Cloy. Highlights of the wonderful (but rainy) opening are now on flickr

Ferry Bell Rings Out on BBC Radio Scotland

Well tuned folks may have heard The Ferry Bell's ringing on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday evening, as Willie Johnston reported on the works grand unveiling in D&G's finest February weather. If you missed it, you can listen back to the whole programme online for the next week here, or have a wee listen to the extended report below. Ring Out Wild Bells indeed!

The Big Launch.....You're Invited!

The blondin bell tower is installed!!

Blondin Production

We thought we'd share a sneak peak of the blondin in production. This is about half of the final structure - Finn Barlow has been doing a stellar job! If you happen to be out and about along that never-ending A75 in the next week or so, keep your eye's open for some exciting changes near Creetown…
More details to follow!

Creetown Bell Casting - the film

Our event at Creetown last Thursday has been deemed a success, with plenty of chat, exciting unveiling of designs from Will and Lisa and the world premiere of the short film Amy Dee Tighe of the Creetown Initiative made documenting the bell casting weekend. If you missed us up at the Gem Rock, Amy has kindly uploaded the video to share. It already feels like a fair while ago, and the stovies were feeling pretty nostalgic watching it back! Thanks to the fantastic work by Roddy and Kevin at the Mobile Foundry that weekend.

The Creetown Bell from Creetown Initiative on Vimeo.

Sculpture Design to be Unveiled!

Exciting things are happening in Creetown this week. Artists from the Stove Network have been working in and around Creetown since January this year, developing a new way-marking sculpture for the town. 

This is the first chance to see all of the work produced thus far coming together, as the final designs for the sculpture are unveiled and artists involved in the project will be on hand to discuss their work on the project. 

We would like to extend an invitation to all those from the wider Stove community and those interested in the project to attend our open evening, which will take place this Thursday, 3rd October in the Gem Rock Museum.

For more details please contact the stove by email info@thestove.org

Creetown bell is ready to ring!!

Week 5: Creetown Flags

Corpen – (1) A maneuver of a formation of ships. In its simplest form, ships in a column turn in succession, each at the same point, akin to a column movement of marching men.

"What difference are you making?...

We’re sheltered from the world by Larg Hill and Cairns. For those of us who left - seeing those hills on the horizon lets us know that we’re nearly home - my brothers and sisters say the same....

‘The Crusher’ (the granite crushing plant) was an iconic landmark for us too – on our return we would always look out for it down on the shore.

Home...Shelter and Protection...

It’s hard for people to imagine Creetown with a harbour.... because the estuary has changed... it silted up over time. My family arrived in Creetown in 1856 and they were fishermen - Creetown was a fishing village.

In my view - Creetown’s greatest export throughout its history (...more than granite or anything else!) has been it’s labour.

Historically - much of the work Creetown had to offer was unskilled/manual labour.....and so there are generations of Creetonians who left this village to find other work...to make something of them-selves....

The work-shortage in Creetown has got worse - but to a certain extent, it has always been this way. I don’t think it will ever change - why would it?

I think economic revival is pie in the sky. I’ve seen the changes...... this is progress. It’s evolution and its progress........people develop and circumstances change. It has always been this way....

What would reverse the trend and keep young people here? I’m not sure....

Young people need role models to understand the world of work......

At one time Creetown had a strong work ethic ....... so a flag representing men and women in various working poses for example (like the old trade union/propaganda posters)......would be an historical view of Creetown.....

The last Creetown factory closed a few years ago  ..... it made concrete panels to build football stadiums and multi-storey carparks. In the end they were too far from the market and couldn’t survive.

It says something about the current labour market...that many of the jobs available locally are occupied by under 16’s.

... The Clock tower is another iconic landmark for Creetonians – it’s a defining and enduring symbol..... represented on the school badge..... and the football club, bowling club and Silver Band crests.

I suppose I’ve lived my life in a circle. I was born here and after years of working away – (in London and other places) - I wanted to come home, to a community where I’m seen as a person rather than a number.

I want to give something back – I worked for many years as a civil servant and have skills that are useful to people here...

What difference are you making?”

Creetown gets blown up by the last public arts performance event?!!

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/news-in-a-nutshell-6

Amazing!!!

Bronze Pour in Creetown - Ring Out!!

Exciting things have been happening in Creetown.
It started slowly, and built throughout Saturday - to climax point, when just after 6pm The Mobile Foundry poured Creetown a new bell.

Head the The Stove's flickr account for a peak of the events!
It emerged on Sunday amidst the drizzly morning, and a keen crowd that trouped down to witness the unveiling. 
Stay tuned for more pictures!!

Ring Out, Wild Bells - Creetown Plays with Fire

Exciting things are happening in Creetown......

We have teamed up with , Roddie Mathieson who runs The MobileFoundry, to create a bronze bell, which will form the centrepiece of the sculpture. This is taking place next Saturday and will be open for everyone to come and witness. 

“This is an opportunity to see the casting process in action,” says Roddie, “We will make moulds of the bell and clapper and pour them as part of a public demonstration. It is quite a spectacle and really exciting to watch.”

We will also be holding an all day casting session at Creetown Primary school for pupils to get a chance to try their hand at the casting process. They will use moulds to make sculptures and will then use a charcoal furnace with bellows to cast them.

Exciting events are unfolding next week, look forward to seeing everyone there!

 

bell cast positive

"Ring Out, Wild Bells" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light;

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more,

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Week 4: Creetown Flags (Part 2)

Listen to the Granite:

Granite is an igneous rock.

Creetown Silver Band (April 2013 – Rehearsal)

The Creetown Silver Band was formed by granite quarrymen in 1880.

In that year, Mr. John Barr and Mr. Rob Elliot raised £20 and purchased 20 brass instruments. Today the band has 29 members of all ages – and throughout its 132 year history there has always been a member of the ‘Barr’ family amongst its ranks. Rehearsals take place on Thursday evenings at St Josephs (a former church) in Creetown.

Tonight, the conductor is waiting - while one of the trombonists jokes:

(Ear trumpet )

 “If you’re making a flag inspired by us - it should have a big hearing-aid on it!!” 

(All assembled are laughing)

The conductor is waiting....... waiting for the hub-bub to die down.... he hears shuffling.....then near silence – more rustling – moments pass and then complete silence. Players and instruments ready.

Rehearsal begins:

The conductor springs forward, arms aloft and 29 brass and silver instruments of all shapes, sizes and pitch launch in unison.

WOW!!!!!

Igneous rock is sometimes referred to as fire rock from its Latin translation 'ignis' - which means 'pertaining to fire'.

Igenous rock is derived from the cooling and crystallization of magma or lava.

and GULP!!!!!

Magma is a naturally occurring molten rock material, which comes from deep within the Earth's surface.

The sound is incredibly powerful .....

Igneous rocks form where lithospheric plates pull apart at mid-ocean ridges, where plates come together at subduction zones....

.... it's building AND BUILDING .....

....and where continental crust is pushed together, making it thicker and allowing it to heat to melting point.

.....  and moving

- the ground is V-I-B-R-A-T-I-N-G...

In the dim light of the hall, two wall-mounted heaters glow red hot either side of the Silver Band’s official crest. A black and white emblem with Creetown’s clock-tower at its centre.

A hooded girl in the central section of the band – is wearing adidas stripes as she plays...... I see more stripes along from her.....and then yet another set. Three sets of ‘go faster’ stripes.

The conductor halts suddenly..... and the thunderous charge subsides.

Should I clap? - I want to clap.

The conductor takes out an ipad (To general derision and laughter)

At this point, the door of the hall creaks open and Jill (nee) Barr enters and takes her place - also wearing Adidas!

Conductor: “The double bar.....3 bars before the fine (fee-nay) DA DA DA DUM – DA DA DA DUM – DA DA DA DUM”

And again, the band takes off... picking up speed...

It feels like it’s coming from the ground up.... from deep undergound.....– from below the bedrock. From the granite? – maybe it is?......this sound/band was founded by granite quarrymen afterall.

The term 'plutonic' comes from the Greek God of the underworld, Pluto.

Granite is a plutonic rock – formed from molten rock that never reaches the surface of the Earth. Magma that has cooled, solidified and crystallized in pockets or chambers beneath the Earth's surface.

There are blue folders everywhere - with sheet music in them – one on top of the pile nearest me - is titled ‘HOMETOWN’ in black biro.

Granite is found in all continents around the world and is generally the foundation of many orogenic belts or mountain chains.  

There are three tuba players under the Silver Band Crest..... they are the only band members playing now.....but ALL 30 of the music stands are rattling....

Most often granite is the underlying rock upon which sedimentary and other continental rocks rest.

The conductor wants to correct something.....

 “This is all about dynamics....and getting the tune through.............mezzo forte................”

They have stopped playing now, to discuss a contest this weekend - I hear a mixture of Scottish and Yorkshire accents.

Conductor: “The adjudicator will be sitting in a box................”

Tuba player (Yorkshire accent):

“Everyone please wear your uniforms.....purple shirts and red ties - black trousers. And wear the band jacket....no grey socks and no trainers please”...

(General discussion)

The conductor motions for silence and on his signal they’re off....

This is incredible, absolutely beautiful - what does it feel like to make this sound?.....to be part of this sound?

The conductor turns to the horns, the barritones.... (nee) Barr is on his near right.

 “Make sure it’s there....” he directs.

Quiet again now.....apart from rustling - as 29 people rifle through their sheet music.

A few moments pass and the sound explodes upward again.

As I recognise the tune (the theme music from Rocky)...I laugh out loud......NOT that they can hear me.

Embarrassed though....I look at the carpet – it has an interesting pattern – of dark red and blue, interlocking geometric (celtic inspired) sections.

Because they solidified from a fluid state, igneous rocks tend to have an equigranular texture, a uniform fabric without layers. The mineral grains are packed together tightly – to form interlocking crystal frameworks.

The conductor is shouting:

“THE MIDDLE OF THE BAND.......WHERE THE SOUND COMES FROM”

The mutes have come out. These are white solid cones........

Mutes in place and the sound of Bees, a kind of eerie vibrating hum fills the hall. I dont have words to describe this sound.....

The Conductor shouts: “CORNET - REVERB!”

...’Hornet Reverb’ (?) or

it’s like ‘Throbbing Gristle’ ...(the band)? or something..

'Plutonic - relating to the underworld or the god Pluto' ?

I focus on the Silver Band Crest again – the clocktower.....and the numbers ’18 - 80’

To the right are some free-standing office dividers – covered in white sheets of A4 paper – which turn out to be a glossary of musical terms.

Conductor: “Second cornet - Third cornet – LADLELADLELADLELADLELADLELE”

They respond.

A nonchalant looking teen in a hood - starts to play the snare drum in the corner of the hall.

I want to clap.

Conductor: “ Three bars – YA DA DA DA DUM DUM. DE DE DE DE LE CHUM! ”

“Crotchets – Meta A...................from A all in  - Horns”

The reply is beautiful.

Conductor says: “ Chick Chick Chick Chick Chickens......”

(?)

(General laughter and the sound of sheet music being shuffled)

More blue folders arrive on the chair to my left – titles: ‘Drink to me only’; ‘Four pieces for four trombones’; ‘Suite for trombone quartet’

(Discussion ensues about bus arrangements for the weekend’s contest. Space for 38)

Jill (nee) Barr: “Ah need tae know if yer going on the bus or no!!!”

(laughter)

Conductor: “And whatever you do this weekend – don’t drop your mutes”

Two hours have passed and the rehearsal ends when the conductor says:

 “BREATHE.........."

Week 4: Creetown Flags

William Blake: Ancient of Days (1794)

Listen to the Granite - the stone talks

“Our history makes us what we are. Our geology makes us what we are”

                                                                                             (Creetown Resident: April 2013)

‘In the parish of Kirkmabreck very extensive operations in granite working have been carried on for a long series of years. Adjoining the public road leading to Gatehouse, about two miles from Creetown, is an extensive quarry, leased by the Liverpool Dock Trustees. All the stones procured there are used for dock purposes only. There are four vessels constantly employed by the Liverpool Company in transporting the stones to their docks, and other vessels are often engaged in the same service. On one occasion, when the quay at this place was transferred from one proprietor's land to that of another, there were nineteen vessels constantly occupied for six months in the removal to the banks of the Mersey of the material that had accumulated at the abandoned wharf. About two miles east from these works, on the farm of Bagbie, on the estate of Kirkdale, belonging to Major Rainford Hannay, a quarry was opened in February 1864 by Messrs Forrest, Wise, & Templeton. The stone of this quarry is of first-class quality, and, like that at Kirkmabreck, can be worked without blasting. In connection with their works the firm have a commodious quay erected for the shipment of such portions of their prepared materials as are transported by sea, and between it and the quarry they have constructed a tramway. There is still another quarry in this neighbourhood deserving notice. It is situated near the apex of the hill at whose base are the Kirkmabreck quarries, and almost in a straight line from these works. It is within the farm of Fell, and hence called Fell Quarry. It is worked by the Scottish Granite Company. Messrs Newall have an extensive polishing establishment. The process of polishing is of recent introduction into Galloway, the first experiments in it having been made by the late Mr Andrew Newall a few years ago. By Messrs D. H. & J. Newall the art has been brought to a state of great perfection, and is extensively carried on by them with a constantly increasing business. From their quarries on Craignair the firm are supplied with part of their material for polished work’

The Industries of Scotland, their Rise, Progress and Present Condition
 - By David Bremner (1869)

“Our history makes us what we are. Our geology makes us what we are”

                                                                                             (Creetown Resident: April 2013)

Creetown is built on and from granite - its houses made from stone quarried from the surrounding hills. This granite, formed around 400 million years ago - was derived from the partial melting of rocks lower within the earth’s crust, where the heat and deformation caused by continental collision was most intense. A course grained igneous rock composed of quartz, feldspar and mica - the whiteness of Creetown granite is due to its high levels of quartz - which...

“sparkles in the sunlight”

                                    (Creetown Resident: March 2013)

Quarry men have said that the stone talked, that you had to wait and listen to the stone. On a still and quiet day you could hear the granite clicking as the plug and feathers were tapped in....as the pressure on the stone gradually built up to splitting point.

With harder materials, such as granite, before the introduction of pneumatic drills stone was traditionally split manually, with quarry workers using the ‘plug and feather’ method. This involved boring lines of holes along the stone’s grain using iron rods. Iron plugs and wedges were then inserted into the holes and struck with a maul, in order to gradually split the stone apart.

The word "granite" comes from the Latin word "granum", a grain.

 “Creetown granite is hard to work” (Creetown Resident: March 2013)

‘......due to it’s tangled reed’...........’The ‘reed’ is the local word for the granite’s grain - and is equivalent to the grain in wood’

(In Context: Hideo Furuta and Adamson Square)

  

How did quarrying granite (‘one of the hardest materials on earth’) shape the character of the Creetown men who worked it? – How did this in turn, shape the lives and character of their children and their children’s children?

‘Stones have their natural tendencies, as well as mortal men.....’

‘The block of granite, which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, became a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong’

                                           Thomas Carlyle

                                                                       

‘The unforgiving nature of granite demanded of him very long hours, patience and the skill of a mason’..........Former Quarrymen... ‘recognised in him a straightforwardness, honesty and dedication..' (In Context: Hideo Furuta and Adamson Square)

“Creetown is not a pretentious place, people here have a strong work ethic – this is a working village” (Creetown Resident: April 2013)

Resin block with suspended spheres and black specks ('micas'?) made by Creetown resident Gemma in 2006

Hideo Furuta: Sphere on Adamson Square - keystone/locking stone

Creetown Granite at Liverpool Docks (1/4/13) - keystones/locking stones

Week 3: Creetown Flags (part 2)

Accident at the Bar Quarry, Creetown

THREE CREETONIAN LADIES & “the days when there wasn’t much light”

The big boys used tae jump over the mill-lade.

An’ we used tae race the burn up tae the mill – trying tae outrun the water. Dae ye remember that?

(laughter). Aye

– An’ a remember being tied tae the flour bag hoist and no being able to get doon again

(laughter)  

We play’d in the burn a lot. It’s aw changed noo...

An’ the ‘bug hole’ was where we used tae swim... At the confluence of the burns.

An’ down at The Inks

The sea pinks – bright, bright pink flowers.

There’s a picture of me in the museum – from years ago - down thare with the swans....

...an’ we used to bike to Ravenshall rocks (The Judge’s Head Rock) six miles up shore........

................................................

Harbour Street was called the ‘al’ street an’ one of the houses on it was called ‘The Granite’.....................

Creetown granite is hard tae work...

A remember a neighbour lost his leg in a dynamite accident up at the quarry.......thair were a fair few accidents.......

...an often the men would head off to the quarry in the morning and be sent home again if it was raining – they didnae get paid if they didnae work.

Do y know about Adamson’s Square? An’ the sphere... Hideo lived at the quarry– we took him furniture... an’ invited him for Christmas dinner.

................................

I was away from Creetown fur a while, but now I live in the same house I was born in......

Beside my house is a garage, which used to be own’d by the Carson family - who were in the building trade.....they were a well-off family in Creetown...

I remember the night Jean Carson’s house went on fire - on what’s now Silver Street.....

..It makes me laugh tae hear it called Silver Street.....because it wasnae always call’d that, it was the ‘Back Green Road’ and it was just three houses.

... I was paperin’ my house at the time – and there was a problem with the fire hose outside an’ all you could hear was a voice shouting in the darkness ‘Pump it up Bill!!!’ over an over again - as they tried to put the flames out (laughter).

I made ham n’ eggs for the boys once the fire was oot.........

.................................................

I remember... in the days when thare wasnae much light  - Bill was walkin’ past the doctors one night an heard a voice coming from the big hedge..... Jonny had fallen in tae it an couldnae get oot again an’ had tae be rescued. (laughter).......

.............................

...Len Harvie had a turf business, he took over some fields (near the factory) and tended the grass for a while – he cut it ...... kill’d off the weeds – an’ the turf was used for bowling greens in Edinburgh (Holyrood) an Glasgow. Some Creetown turf was laid for the queen when she open’d one o’ the bridges in Edinburgh.........

.........................................

The Silver Band – Barr?

My Great, Great...(I think that’s it...) Grandfather on my mother’s side (James Barr). Well, his mother (a ‘Carson’) - and father ran away to Liverpool to get married. Jane Carson said she wouldnae raise a family in Liverpool......so they returned to Creetown where they went on to have 12 children. .... She was only a small woman tae......

There’s always been a ‘Barr’ in the Silver Band - Jill Barr plays in it now.

.................................

We used tae play oot all day an never locked the doors.

My neighbour used to take my washin in....she even ironed it, including Mickey’s socks! ..........a remember that day he put on a pair o’ trousers and felt a draught at the back, (name) had managed to iron a hole in tae the back o’ them (laughter).

What are your hopes for the future of Creetown?

That we keep fit........

We can’t hope for any more than we have.....

Our children won’t come back

“Mare visitors”............

An’ things for them to do........

Thare used to be a pool on the back green...........

.......................................

We used to have a train station here tae....an lots o’ tourists would arrive that way - the public transport isnae very good now.

The bottom shop is good, .....

an’ we drive to Dumfries, Glasgow and Carlisle to buy clothes

....(Discussion about outfit choices for a forthcoming wedding)....

“Ye cannae buy a pair o pants here” (laughter).

We’ve lost the police station, the doctors, the nurse......

There was a house for the school headmaster.

There was a post office,

Dozens of shops.

Annie Erskines – sweetie shop....

and Bessie McMaster would give us a ‘poke’ of sweeties in paper cones she made from white greaseproof paper.

She would stand for hours while we a work’d oot what we wanted tae buy..................

I can still remember the smell o’ sweeties an’ parrafin oil.......me too

Bessie McMaster had an Orcadian boyfriend who would come and visit every year “between the high an’ the harvest” – each year he would ask her tae marry him an’ she would say no......

Her mother passed away when she was 60 – and it was only then that she married him an’ moved to Orkney....

She’d lived in Creetown all her life an’ took the change hard..............

Thare are no tradesmen left – there was Jim Owen (who was in the Silver Band).....his brothers and sisters went to university and he stayed in Creetown tae carry on the family trade. Rather than give you what you ask’d fur – he would give you what he though was best (laughter). He eventually agreed tae dae the work a’ needed done on the extension.

Alan Blane (his family owned the mill) was a joiner, painter and decorator.

Whit aboot themes, are ye going tae come up with themes for the flags? Ye could think aboot the shore, granite, flora an fauna, smuggling.....what else?....

The Inks

Creetown Railway Station