Marie Lamont

From last year's graphic novel, Identity The Archivist's Treasure, still free to download online.

Identity : Comet Cartoon

Just thought we would share this one as it's a wee cracker. As part of the Identity project run by Inverclyde Community Development Trust, the team worked with St John's Primary School to produce an animation based on the story of the historic vessel.

The film was illustrated, scripted and recorded by pupils - it's smashing.

St John's also worked with the team to tell the story of their own school for the Identity Graphic Novel, The Archivist's Treasure.

Identity - The Archivist's Treasure

Identity - Graphic Novel

The Archivist...bet he knows a few stories....

As part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Identity project, the project team have worked with local schools to produce a graphic novel charting the heritage of the area. The project is focussed on migration, but there are a few wee folk tales that have been handed down which have been included in the graphic. The 64 page book will be released later in the year, and so far, it looks fantastic. Follow the Identity facebook page or blog for regular project updates.

Magic Torch got to provide a few pages based on the story of Minnie Dean, but this preview page below is a retelling of a Mermaid story we've always enjoyed...

We really like The Archivist from the graphic novel, but he is of course a fictional character. This week however, Inverclyde Council's real life Archivist played a bit of a blinder and uncovered a secret cupboard full of centuries old books. Hats off to you sir.

Sugar Sheds Event - Free Tickets!

Its been almost a year since the Tall Ships and we're delighted to see that there's still an interest in The Sugar Sheds...


The Heritage Lottery funded Identity project run by Inverclyde Community Development Trust has worked with Riverside Inverclyde, James Watt College and Inverclyde Council to secure permission for a one day event in the Sugar Sheds...a performance of a play written by pupils from Saint Columbas with support from scriptwriter Danny McCahon (Waterloo Road, Casualty, River City)

Tickets will be available from today (Wednesday the 20th), and they are free! Show times are 4 o'clock and again at 7 o'clock on Thursday the 28th of June. Tickets are limited and are on a first come first served basis, so rush down to 7 1/2 John Wood street as soon as possible to get yours reserved.

Attendees MUST ARRIVE VIA PROJECT'S PROVIDED TRANSPORT, it is also free, but once everyone claims a ticket they will choose a location suitable to them to be picked up via bus, and then returned to that location after the show.

For more information or any questions please e mail gemma.callan@the-trust.org.uk or phone 7 1/2 John Wood Street at 01475 806 760.

We've also heard about another very interesting event hopefully happening in the Sheds sometime in the future. Cardboard Bay...find out a little more on Kim Simpson's blog.


And taking inspiration from the buildings a new local website has been set up to promote the Inverclyde music scene, listing everything from event management and recording services through to tutors and wedding bands. While they don't have any events scheduled in the Sugar Sheds at the moment, they will be running band nights at other venues across the area very soon. Check out The Sugar Sheds and a whole lot of local bands right here.

Meanwhile

After all that Capn Kidd action, a wee breather and some more traditional vids from the Heritage Lottery funded Identity project.

This is part one of an online series looking at the history of Inverclyde, first shown at the project's touring exhibition earlier this year. 

This next film was shot in The Dutch Gable House and features the Gaelic singers of Sgioba Luaidh Inbhirchluaidh. The girls have agreed to join us again in later in the year at the Gable for another wee singalong...look out for details soon.

And I wrote a wee flash fiction piece for the Gable House as well, you can read it (and many other nice stories) on the flashpoint blog.

Finally, a text version of the Sugar Sheds story "Candy Bones" is being published over on the 1000words blog. Hopefully some news on the Sugar Sheds in the next week or so...

Elsewhere...

As well as writing stuff for this blog in spare moments, or running my own blog Stramashed, I'm lucky enough to actually to do a wee bit of heritage in my proper day job. Right now, that's a Heritage Lottery Scotland funded project called Identity, which also has its own blog and facebook page.

Here's a wee vid explaining what the project is all about...



The project will be launching a graphic novel later in the year, prepared by the project team and local schools - a couple of stories from the Tales of the Oak the blog have also been adapted. You can help decide the title of the graphic on the Identity blog.



The smashing wee video above really makes me want to watch classic 80s TV series Knightmare. Really looking forward to the graphic novel...and if we're extra lucky...the launch will be pretty special too.

For those who were also following the Sugar Sheds Campaign - which has been a bit quiet of late - we are hoping for a few interesting announcements there too over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.

And back here on Tales of the Oak, we're busy preparing for May's annual Captain Kidd Month.

Hibernation over all round.

#AmWriting

the lovely folk of Greenock Writers Club

We had the pleasure of visiting the Greenock Writer's Club the other night to give a talk on the nicely broad theme of "Fantastic Fiction".

We have always tried to use local history and heritage as a jumping off point for fantastic stories; our original grandiose plan when we started collecting 13 years ago was to help create a mythology for the area, starting the story of Inverclyde hundreds of years before the arrival of the industries that we continue to mourn. 

It was a great opportunity for us to showcase some of the papers and stories of questionable local antiquarian Sir Douglas Rhodes, an avid collector of curios and "unusual" news items and stories. We have printed a few pieces on the blog over the last year, some directly quoted from his papers, others written by us, inspired by something from his collection. 

We read a few of Sir Glen's pieces out on the night, including this wee fragment which has actually just been adapted for a graphic novel being produced as part of the Heritage Lottery Scotland funded Identity project.

Visiting the club reminded us as well just how many interesting and creative groups and people there are in the area, just getting on with doing what they enjoy. For lovers of old photos, there's the Inverclyde Old and New Blog or Greenock in Old Photos Facebook Page. If you like your old places even more ancient, check out Inverclyde Visual Archaeology Project. We hear there's a number of very interesting arts projects potentially lined up for Greenock Sugar Sheds, Absent Voices is one of them. Arts for Inverclyde gives a real flavour of just how many artists there are working in all fields across our community.

Sometimes groups are quite happy working the way they work, and that's great, but it's always worth remembering that there are support and funding opportunities out there if you are part of a group who would like to develop new ideas or involve even more people. CVS Inverclyde ran a funders fayre in Port Glasgow last week with funders along from a whole range of organisations including The Robertson Trust, Big Lottery, Heritage Lottery Scotland and Lloyds TSB Foundation, all keen to invest locally.

These funders don't just fund Inverclyde of course, there's opportunities for all, provided you can meet the criteria set by the funder, it's always really important to check out what funders will consider; however, in Inverclyde we do get less than our per-capita share of Lottery funding; that is, proportionately, we spend more on the gambling aspect of the Lottery than we get back in good cause funding. 

Maybe you've got an idea that could even up those odds...

arctic rope, yesterday

The Young Emigrant's Farewell

We've been cleaning out the old Magic Torch archive over the last few weeks (actually, archive sounds quite grand, its a battered old filing cabinet and some plastic boxes packed away in a disused boiler room) In doing so, we've discovered a few wee gems and pieces we had forgotten about ourselves which we'll be sharing with you over the month.

Last year, we made tracks from our Downriver CD available online; original copies of the CD had fourteen tracks, but we could not locate master copies for the two missing tracks...and we'd given all the original CDs away. However, we have now located the two missing tracks, and here is the first of them, "The Young Emigrant's Farewell"; rather appropriately, the only one of the tracks to be recorded "overseas" in Brisbane, Australia. You can read a transcription on the always wonderful broadside ballad site The Word On The Street.




If you are in the mood for tales of migration and are in Greenock this week, why not pop along to the Oak Mall from Friday 17 February - Tuesday 21 February to see some of the work that has been done so far by the Heritage Lottery Scotland funded Identity project. And if you are a local group with an idea for a heritage project yourself, then Grants Officers from Heritage Lottery Scotland will be in attendance to offer advice and support.

And, apropos of nothing other than just pleasantly sharing info, this Wednesday (15 February), Broomhill residents will have another opportunity to look at the historical images which will shortly be transferred to a wall on Ann Street, using a process known as "wall wrapping". From 12.30 – 2.30; the images chosen by the community will be on display at Prospecthill Church. The images are all part of the Eugene Mehat collection, used by permission of Inverclyde Council. The project has been undertaken in partnership with River Clyde Homes, Broomhill Tenants and Residents Association and The Trust.

The Mehat collection captures sixties Inverclyde, at a critical period of regeneration prior to major industrial decline...tenement closes sit alongside bombsite gaps, the stone walls caked with decades of smoke, roads are not yet clogged with cars and roundabouts, shops are still family run...a wonderful window onto our recent past.
So there ye go, now, here's the original broadside for "Young Emigrant's Farewell".

Something Wicked..

We're busy trying to compile and create a few new Ghost Stories for throughout December, but in the meantime, here's a few wee links to other stories and things we've been involved in over the last few weeks.

Over at Zuckerbeckers blog, you can read an excellent piece on one man coming to terms with what side Greenock took during the American Civil War. Hang on...are we the baddies?

On the Sugar Sheds blog, you can read about our journey into the heart of sugary darkness as we wander round the Sugar Sheds with psychic medium Joan Charles.

On TrustInverclydes Scribd page, you can download a copy of the Port Glasgow Social History book "Newark to Newark".

If you havent already, take a look at the Identity project blog...some good Galoshans video heading there soon.

And of no particular folkloric significance...I've been trying hard to work on National Novel Writing month. Here's a few chapters of my West of Scotland alien invasion story "Wasted", just to get them out there...

Now here's some Rik Mayall storytelling cheer....