Mill Race Project's legacy flows on

For the first time, Lancaster City Council joined forces with Lancaster Arts at Lancaster University when redevelopment work in the mill race area was awarded Historic England funding.

As improvements to buildings and streets began in the High Street Heritage Action Zone(HSHAZ), the three-year Mill Race: Flow of Change cultural programme ran alongside this and has left its own legacies.

"The mill race area now has a strong identity and the cultural programme has shown how it can be a destination, not just a place to pass through," said the city council's regeneration officer, Kate Smith.

Song was one way people have connected to the area. The premiere of The River Runs involved recruiting a choir to work with Morecambe Bay Singers and soloist Emma Williams, as well as artist, Steve Fairclough’s collection of oral histories about singing in the area.

It inspired artist Loz Kaye to launch the County of Song, a year-long series of events across Lancashire.

“What has been fascinating is how little people knew about the history and geography of the mill race area and how many people we’ve been able to open a dialogue about it,” said Loz.

The River Runs was performed in St John’s Church run by the Churches Conservation Trust(CCT) which has also been inspired by Flow of Change.

“It has been really positive in terms of hosting a cultural offering in a church that’s not in great condition,” said Elanor Johnson, CCT’s regeneration officer.

The programme helped to increase CCT’s volunteers so St John’s could open more frequently and artists who had work installed there have been invited to tour to other churches.

Although Flow of Change has now officially finished, it continues to have a life in a variety of other ways.

Ceramic jugs produced by Lancastrians with artist, Rose Atherton for the Spill the Mill Race event at St John’s are on display at the Standfast & Barrack’s centenary exhibition at Lancaster City Museum and at the Maritime Museum as well as in a new pottery studio in Moor Lane.

And an experimental documentary – Mill Race: On the Edge – which explores the past and present lives of people in the area will be distributed to independent film festivals.

Meanwhile, a banner produced by Lancaster’s Sewing Café, depicting the Lune’s social and environmental histories and which inspired River Tours performances, has visited communities up and down the river and will eventually join other textiles on a global tour.

The cultural programme also provided an unusual opportunity for a consortium of local people from a variety of backgrounds to choose several of the final commissions.

One of the cultural consortium, Anita Chamberlain, wanted to participate ‘to form a deeper connection to Lancaster’s history.’ She helped with mentoring during the programme and will be involved with another Lancaster Arts project this summer.

Said Lancaster Arts director, Jocelyn Cunningham: “Flow of Change has been about arousing curiosity in a place so that when regeneration happens, it means more to people.”

A booklet about the cultural programme entitled A 'live' place: Experiencing the Mill Race through Arts and Culture, is now available at Lancaster City and Maritime Museums. Although free, donations will be welcomed to support the CCT's work at St John's Church.

A film is also available online: Mill Race: Flow of Change draws to a close | Lancaster Arts and for information on the entire project, visit www.lancaster.gov.uk/millrace