Well, it’s been a busy and exciting 10 days or so for the HUNT! project and I thought it was time for a bit of a round up of what’s been going on behind the scenes before our first project trip on Tuesday next week.
Those of you following us from the start will know that we were very excited back at the beginning of July as we had arranged for David Mwanaka (Mwanaka Farm Fresh Foods, Basildon http://www.mwanakafreshfarmfoods.com/ ) to visit Granby, meet some of the young people involved in the project and speak to local residents and fellow growing enthusiasts about his own experiences of coming to the UK and the long process of setting up his own farm which is now a successful business.
Unfortunately, due to the severe drought conditions in the south of England, David was unable to make the trip as he needed to be on hand to install irrigation equipment on his land in order to save his White Maize and White Sweetcorn crops.
We are very pleased to know that this operation was successful and the firs of the crops are now available at the Mwanaka Farm Fresh shop in Basildon. We’re still hoping that David will be able to visit the project later in October and share his experiences so we’ll keep you posted.
In the past week we’ve been to meet and discuss the project in more detail with our partners the Granby Toxteth Development Trust and we’re really excited to be working more closely with them. We’re also glad that members of the Unity Youth and Community Centre will be joining us along the way.
Tomorrow marks another step for the project. The first of our field trips leave at 10am on the 13th August from Kingsley Road, L8 to visit Tam O Shanter Farm in Bidston http://www.tamoshanterfarm.org.uk/
Here our group will find out about the animals they have on the farm now, how they are looked after and which kind of animals the people renting farm land in Granby would have been keeping several hundred years ago as well as the kind of crops they would have grown, the houses and buildings they would have lived in and the other industries that would have surrounded the farmland such as milling flour.
This is the first of a series of three trips planned this August with a few more to come in the autumn. Other destinations include Lathom Park near Ormskirk, the Lancashire Records office, Croxteth Hall and Dunam Massey. Each trip will offer an opportunity to look at the history of Granby with a different perspective and will examine what we know of the park as it was, who owned the land itself and who made decisions about what happened on it, the animals that were hunted in the park and farmed on the land and the family who were responsible for renting out to farmers.
The project is really interested in the layering of history in the Granby area and we will be working with local historians and local residents to uncover the rich and diverse histories of the communities who have lived and still live in Granby.
Some of the projects next steps will be to work with local residents more closely and gather their stories about where they live, who may have lived their before them 50, 100, 200 years ago and the traditions and practices, including growing fruit and veg and keeping animals, that they may share with these distant communities.
There will be other opportunities for residents to get involved in the autumn through a series of creative sessions led by a local team of artists and experts. These sessions will lead to a public event in October where the project will share our discoveries, histories and stories past and present.
We hope you can join us for the journey…
There are still a few seats left on the bus tomorrow!
HUNT! Liverpool 