A series of walks captured through words, film and images with people and their places.

Wayfarer People

Helen Mort, James Lockey & Dominic Somers.

A series of walks captured through words, film and images with people and their places. 

Wayfarer People explores the ghosts of our memories that are connected to the landscape and urban environments we live in or once did.

The Frontiers of Mexborough and Denaby

John Beal – Mexborough - OUT NOW!

We start in a room with a view and the room that John was born in before heading out into the streets and places that inspired Johns creative mind.

Kathleen Somers Denaby  - Out Now!

Denaby born and raised before escaping to other places Kathleen returns to explore the Denaby Main of now and the Crags that offered her an escape during childhood that was often viewed in an industrial monochrome. 

Jim Mclaughlin – Mexborough - out now!

Jim like many was born in the Montague Hospital and lived in various places before settling back in Mexborough in 1990. Jim runs the brilliant Re-Read social enterprise in Doncaster and we are keen to explore the words of his memories.

Wayfarer People

A series of three films will be made and shown back into the communities the walks explored. The first films will be shown at the Cosy Cinema at the Mexborough Business Centre from the 27th March 2022 onwards. Films will also be available online and shared into social media nostalgia/heritage groups to allow others to share memories and connections the work may trigger. The walks allow the artists to listen, follow and learn about people’s lives from the footsteps of their stories. The walks are the spark for memories to be shared and the random encounters we have with others along the way.

Artists

Helen Mort

Helen is an award-winning author based in Sheffield. She has published two poetry collections (Division Street, 2013 and No Map Could Show Them, 2016), a debut novel (Black Car Burning, 2019), a short story collection (Exire, 2019) and she also writes drama and creative non-fiction. She has been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and Costa Prize and won the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize in 2015. She appears regularly on BBC radio and sometimes on TV. She also has taught creative writing for over ten years and is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Helen is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

James Lockey

James Lockey is a quarter part of alternative rock supergroup, Minor Victories. The band includes vocalist Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), guitarists Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai) and Justin Lockey (Editors), with James on bass. James is also one half of HandHeldCineClub who have directed, shot, edited and produced music videos for all major music labels and their work has been broadcast worldwide with recognised acclaim. They have created works for Editors, The Vessels, The Staves, Lanterns on The Lake, and Band of Skulls to name a few.

Dominic Somers

Dominic began his career as a theatre practitioner in 2001, working with BAFTA award winning Geese Theatre Company, presenting interactive theatre and facilitating drama-based group-work, staff training and consultation for the probation service, prisons, young offender institutions, youth offending teams, secure hospitals and related agencies throughout the UK and abroad. Dominic is an accredited action learning facilitator and has conducted extensive work as a business diversity and equality facilitator and trainer and worked in various sectors. He was creative director of Wiltshire’s theatre development agency from 2008 to 2012. In 2013 he led on the development of new projects and wider engagement in arts & culture in Mexborough, South Yorkshire as part of the Creative People and Places project Right Up Our Street. In 2015 he co-created the Ted Hughes Poetry Festival which he continued to develop until 2017. In addition, Dominic also established Field Trip Arts which creates outdoor performance work in unusual places and spaces. He has also worked at several universities teaching performance and works extensively as a creative producer across South Yorkshire.

Behind the Scenes

Do you have any memories you’d like to share with us from the Wayfarer People?

We’d love to hear from you!