The Ash Project - Kent Downs

Ash tree in Scotney Castle gardens, Kent. Photo: John Miller.

Ash tree in Scotney Castle gardens, Kent. Photo: John Miller.

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Ash to Ash, White Horse Wood, 2018. Photo Manuel Vason
Current

Ash to Ash

White Horse Wood Country Park, Kent Downs

On view from end of Sept 2018 – Sept 2020

A major new public artwork by Ackroyd & Harvey situated in the heart of the Kent Downs at White Horse Wood Country
Park

The Ash Archive Opening Event. Photo: University of Kent
ExhibitionPast

The Ash Archive: Kaleidoscope Gallery

Sevenoaks Kaleidoscope Gallery, Buckhurst Ln, Sevenoaks TN13 1HW

10–20 Oct 2018, Monday – Saturday, 10–4pm

‘The Ash Archive’ is a growing collection of objects, artworks, poems and drawings that chart a unique materialist perspective on the history that we share with the ash tree. Curated by Madeleine Hodge and Rose Thompson for The Ash Project

PastWalk

Ash Pilgrimage: The Vikings Sacred Tree

Meet at St Gregory and St Martin Church, Wye, 38 Church St, Wye, Ashford TN25 5BL

Saturday 29 September 2018, 10:30-3:30pm

This 5 mile pilgrimage, presented as part of the North Downs Way Pilgrimage Festival and The Ash Project, explores the ancient cultural connections we share with ash trees in our landscapes.

Octopod Ash. Impage: Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice
PastWalk

Ask the Ash: Marcus Coates and Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice

Meet at the Brewery Tap, 53 Tontine St, Folkestone CT20 1JR

Saturday 15 Sept 2018, 2-4pm

Curator Rose Thompson has devised four walks in collaboration with artists, encouraging different ways of looking at and exploring the landscape in Kent, the third of The Ash Walks will be hosted by artist Marcus Coates and Fiona Macdonald.

The Ash Archive. Studio 3 Gallery, Canterbury (2018). Photo: University of Kent
ExhibitionPast

Woodland and Artist Talk: French & Mottershead

Sevenoaks Kaleidoscope Gallery, Buckhurst Ln, Sevenoaks TN13 1HW

Thursday 11 October 2018, 6:30 - 7:45pm

Listen to French & Mottersheads work Woodland and then join us for a discussion of the work and a wider discussion of the project with Andrew Mottershead and Madeleine Hodge curator of The Ash Archive

Ackroyd and Harvey, fabricating Ash to Ash. Photo: Kent Downs AONB
PastTalk

Ackroyd & Harvey: Ash to Ash

Quarterhouse, 49 Tontine St, Folkestone CT20 1BN

Saturday 8 September 2018, 2- 3pm

Join us for this chance to hear first hand about this unique commission celebrating and commemorating one of our most common trees.

PastWorkshop

Tree Listening: Alex Metcalf

St Mary and St Eanswythe Churchyard, Church St, Folkestone, CT20 1SW

8 and 9 September 2018, 11:30-3:30pm

The Tree Listening Project provides an experience that links both science and art by engaging the public with what happens inside a tree, to excite and inspire a keen interest in trees.

Ash Trees in Kent
ExhibitionPast

The Ash Tree: Film with Live Score by Claire Orme

Harbour Screen, Folkestone Harbour Arm, Harbour Approach Rd, Folkestone CT20 1QQ

Friday 7 September 2018, 8:45 - 9:15pm

As part of The Ash Project and in response to The Ash Archive, Claire Orme and guests will perform a live score to the 1975 TV adaption of M R James’s story. 

ExhibitionPast

The Ash Archive: The Brewery Tap

The Brewery Tap Project Space, 53 Tontine St, Folkestone CT20 1JR

7 – 16 September 2018

‘The Ash Archive’ is a growing collection of objects, artworks, poems and drawings that chart a unique materialist perspective on the history that we share with the ash tree. Curated by Madeleine Hodge and Rose Thompson for The Ash Project

Pilgrims Way, Kemsing Vale 2017. Photo: Fiona Fyfe
PastWalk

White Cliffs Walking Festival: Recording our Ash Trees

Join us on a walk with the White Cliffs walking festival, taking in some of the lovely ash trees in Oxneybottom Wood, a small piece of "common land" near Ringwould village.

Tuesday 28 August 2018, 2pm-4pm

This walk will take in some of the lovely ash trees around Ringwould and in Oxneybottom Wood, and discuss the importance of collecting objects that record the history of human…

Adam Chodzko, Haywain Re-enactment Confusion, 2014. Photo: Seth Barnard.
PastWalk

The Ash Walks: Adam Chodzko

Rough Common, Canterbury, CT2 9DQ

Saturday 25 August 2018, 2 - 4pm

Curator Rose Thompson has devised four walks in collaboration with artists, encouraging different ways of looking at and exploring the landscape in Kent, the third of The Ash Walks will be hosted by artist Adam Chodzko.

PastWorkshop

Drawing with light: Workshop with Rocio von Jungenfeld 

Hucking Estate, Kent Downs

Saturday 18th August 2018, 10am -2pm

In this workshop with walking artist and photographer Rocio von Jungenfeld you will learn to look more closely at the relationship between ash trees, light and shadow.

Folkestone Downs exchange. Photo: Rubiane Maia
PastWorkshop

A Photographic Exchange: Workshop with Manuel Vason

Folkestone Downs, Meet at the Brewery Tap on Tontine Street

Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 August 2018, 10-5pm, you must be available to attend both days of the workshop

Over two days we will practice photography as a methodology to communicate and connect with the ash trees of a small forest near Folkestone.

Newlands Corner, Surrey. Photo: Belinda Knox
PastWorkshop

Wonder of the Wood: Photography Workshop with Belinda Knox

Kearsney Abbey and Russell Gardens, Alkham Rd, Temple Ewell, Dover CT16 3DZ

Sunday 5 August 2018, 10am - 2pm

In this workshop at the beautiful Kearsney Abbey we celebrate the ash tree  in this workshop as we focus primarily on the ash tree and the surrounding landscape.

Kearsney Abbey. Photo: Kent Downs
PastWorkshop

Create an Ash Tree Book

Meet at Elms Vale recreation ground car park, Elms Vale Road, Dover (TR 299 414)

Saturday 4th August 2018, 2pm-3:30pm

Come along with your children to this very special Green Gang event. Learn about ash and make your very own ash book, from things collected on the Whinless Downs

PastWalkWorkshop

Trees of Kearsney Abbey with Mike Phillips

Kearsney Abbey

Saturday 4 August 2018, 10:30-12:30

Have you ever wanted to know your ash from your walnut or your beech from your hornbeam?  On this walkshop you will learn what makes ash so distinctive in the landscapes of Kent and see how it is a special feature of the wild spaces around Kearsney Abbey

Trosley Views. Photo: Explore Kent
PastWalk

Strolling through Trosley Woods

Join us and Kent Tree Wardens in this woodland country park and find out how ash trees were managed by our ancestors in this historic and very special place.

Tuesday 24th July 2018, 10.30am - 1:00pm

Join us as part of Trosley Country Parks Open day for a walk with Kent Tree Wardens in this beautiful woodland country park.

PastWorkshop

Diminishing landscapes: Photography Workshop with Peter Coles

White Horse Wood

Saturday 21 July 2018, 11.00am - 3.00pm

Stalking the disappearing ash tree; an experimental photography walkshop with Peter Coles & Andrew Stuck from the Museum of Walking.

Listening to Woodland by French and Mottershead. Photo: Madeleine Hodge
ExhibitionPast

The Ash Archive: Halpern Gallery

The Halpern Gallery, 272 Hight Street, Chatham, ME4 4P

5 – 18 July 2018, Monday - Saturday, 10 - 4pm

‘The Ash Archive’ is a growing collection of objects, artworks, poems and drawings that chart a unique materialist perspective on the history that we share with the ash tree. Curated by Madeleine Hodge and Rose Thompson for The Ash Project

Cobham Woods, 2017. Photo: Fiona Fyfe
PastTalk

Peter Fiennes and Lisa Samson – Journeys Through Trees

The Woodland Tent, Boldshaves Garden, Woodchurch, Kent, TN26 3RA

30 June 2018, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Join us at the Wealden Literary Festival for a talk with two authors who have written about the tragic and violent loss of trees.

North Downs Way above Brabourne 2017. Photo: Fiona Fyfe
PastWalk

Ash Trees in the Heart of Kent

Pierland Wood, meet at the small car park which is on Ash Hill, Ruckinge, near Ashford, nearest postcode at Horton Green, TN26 2PF

Saturday 30th June 2018, 10.30am - 1:00pm

Join us and Kent Tree Wardens in this private woodland sanctuary for wildlife and see ash trees in this historic and very special place.

The effects of ash dieback in the Kent Downs. Photo: Kent Downs AONB, 30 Sept 2016.
PastWalk

How our woodlands are changing

Hucking Estate, Church Rd, Maidstone ME17 1QT

Sunday 24 June 2018, 10:00–13:00

In this walk we will explore this amazing woodland as it stands proud on the North Kent Downs today, and peer into the crystal ball of the future of woodlands in Kent. 

The Walking Reading Group, On Commons, Summer 2017. Courtesy of the artist and commissioned by SPACE. Image: Tim Bowditch
PastWalk

The Ash Walks: The Walking Reading Group

Meet opposite the Horsebridge Arts Centre 11 Horsebridge Road Whitstable CT5 1AF

Saturday 9 June 2018, 2-5pm

Curator Rose Thompson has devised four walks in collaboration with artists, encouraging different ways of looking at and exploring the landscape in Kent, the second of the 2018 Ash Walks will be hosted by The Walking Reading Group

Ash wood chair, John Waller. Photo: John Waller
PastWorkshop

Ash Chair Making Course

Bore Place, Chiddingstone, Edenbridge Kent TN8 7AR

9th, 17th, 23rd, 30th June and 1st July 2018 (5 days)

This course will teach you how to make a complete chair from an ash log. Creating your very own memories of ash to take home with you.

Asholt Wood 2017. Photo: Kent Downs
PastWalk

Elham Valley Walking Festival: In Celebration of the Ash

Meet at Car Park in Peene, CT18 8BA, (immediately left after the old railway bridge)

Saturday 2 June 2018, 11:15-1pm

Gain insight into both the scientific and cultural importance of this very special tree on a walk through one of the most affected woods in Kent.

Ash Trees in Kent
PastWorkshop

Ash Markings: Charcoal Drawing Workshop

Manor Park Country Park, St. Leonards St, West Malling ME19 6PE

Friday 1 June 2018, 11-1pm

Artists such as John Constable, Henry Moore and David Nash have all taken inspiration from landscapes of ash trees. In this morning workshop we will draw some of the magnificent…

PastWalk

Trees in Cities: The Eco-benefits of Ash

Westgate Park, Canterbury, meet at the Toddlers Cove car park which is located at the end of Whitehall Road, Canterbury, CT2 8BG

Sunday 20 May 2018, 10.30am - 1:00pm

Join us on walk through Canterbury’s lovely tree lined parks and streets with local Kent Tree Wardens and learn about all the benefits of trees in cities.

Abhainn Ashik to Yr Onnen, Ackroyd & Harvey, 2018
ExhibitionPast

The Ash Archive

Limbo Gallery, 2 Bilton Square, High Street, Margate CT9 1EE

17 - 26 May 2018

The Ash Archive is a growing collection of objects, artworks, poems and drawings that chart a unique materialist perspective on the history that we share with the ash tree

Farningham Woods. Photo: Explore Kent
PastWalk

Ancient Ash Woodland Walk

Farningham Wood, meet at the car park which is located at the end of Calfstock Lane, Farningham, DA4 9JH

Saturday 12th May 2018, 10.30am - 1:00pm

Ancient Woodlands protect biodiversity and develop as ecosystems that are rich, complex, and irreplaceable. Join us to learn more about how we can spot these special places

PastWalk

The Ash Walks: Hannah Lees

The Lees, Blind Ln, Challock TN25 4AU

Saturday 28 April 2018, 11-2pm

Curator Rose Thompson has devised four walks in collaboration with artists, encouraging different ways of looking at and exploring the landscape in Kent, the first of the 2018 Ash Walks will be hosted by artist Hannah Lees.

Xanthoria and physica. Photo: Medway Valley
PastWalk

Ash and Lichen Medway River Walk

Meet at Lees Car Park, Yalding, Maidstone ME18 6HG

Sunday 15 April 2018, 10:30-1pm (2.5 Hours)

Study lichen growing on ash close up with our expert guides and take away some digital memories and lichen spore prints

Ash tree near Ightham Mote and Knole, Kent. Photo: John Miller.
PastWalk

Tales of the Ash Tree

Saturday 17 March 2018, 10.30am - 1:00pm

Join us as we walk through the woods, spinning stories about the history of the ash tree

Gorham Woods, near Bicknor
PastWorkshop

Tree Planting: Bicknor

Meeting at St. James church, Bicknor, Sittingbourne ME9 8AY.

Thursday 15 March 2018, 10:30am-3:00pm

Come and help us plant trees to create a new woodland in a landscape in Kent. With trees selected by a local ecologist to protect the biodiversity of this landscape.

Ash Trees, Thorn Wood, May 2016. Photo: Kent Downs
PastWorkshop

Tree Planting: Thorn Wood

Thorn Wood, Meet at the small carpark at Stone Farm on Ashford Road, Hythe, CT21 4EL

Saturday 10 March 2018, 10am-4pm

Come and help us plant trees to replace diseased ash trees in a woodland in Kent. With trees selected by a local ecologist to protect the biodiversity of this ancient wood.

Ash Tree, Knowle House, Kent. Photo: John Miller
PastTalk

Poetry Evening in The Ash Archive

Studio 3 Art Gallery, Jarman Building

Thursday March 29 2018, from 6pm

Join us for an evening of poetry, art and wine, in the Ash Archive exhibition. The evening will feature poet Urvashi Bahuguna, the University of Kent’s Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow in the School of English.

Listening to Woodland by French and Mottershead. Photo: Madeleine Hodge
ExhibitionPast

The Ash Archive: Lunchtime Concert

Studio 3 Gallery, Jarman Building, University of Kent

Friday 23 Feb 2018, 1.10pm

EarBox and University Chamber Choir present a lunchtime concert within the setting of The Ash Archive

Clearing up. Photo: Medway Valley
PastWorkshop

Putting Wood to Work

Hadlow College, Tonbridge Rd, Hadlow, Tonbridge TN11 0AL

Wednesday 21 February 2018, 10am-3pm

Learn some about some of the traditional uses of ash wood in this one day green woodworking workshop at Hadlow College

Brockhill Country Park with Tree ID Workshop Participants: Kent Downs
PastWorkshop

Tree Planting: Brockhill Country Park

Brockhill Country Park

Wednesday 21 February 2018, Drop in any time between 11 and 2:30pm

Come and help us replant an area of Brockhill Country Park that has had some ash trees removed due to ash dieback.

Greenwood working in action. Photo: High Weald Partnership
PastWorkshop

From Saw to Spoon

Cinderhill Wood and Nature Reserve, Five Wents, 5 Cinder Hill Wood, Matfield, Tonbridge TN12 7ED

Tuesday 30 January 2018, 10-3pm

Join The Ash Project and the Kent High Weald Partnership at Local Nature Reserve, Cinderhill Woods in Kent for a day of green woodworking.

Burning off, after coppice. Photo: Medway Valley
PastWorkshop

Ash Coppicing

Yalding Fen

Tuesday 23rd January 2018, 10am-3pm

Join the Medway Valley Countryside Partnership and spend a day coppicing an ash tree at a local wildlife site.

Abhainn Ashik to Yr Onnen by Ackroyd & Harvey. Photo: Gorm Ashurst
ExhibitionPast

The Ash Archive

Studio 3 Gallery, Jarman Building, The University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7UG

18 January – 14 April 2018, 11am to 5pm Monday – Friday and Saturday 14 April, between 11am-3pm.

The Ash Archive is an Exhibition at the University of Kent from Jan – April 2018

Sopwith Camel. Image: Ackroyd and Harvey
PastTalkWorkshop

Ash Object Lessons Part 2

Urban Room, Folkestone Harbour, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1QH (Parking is available on the Arm)

Sunday 5 November 2017, 2-4pm

Ash wood is known for being lightweight, tolerant to vibration and very hard. Egyptians imported ash from Europe and used the wood, which bends when steamed, to perfect the invention…

Ash and vapor trails. Photo: James Collie
PastWalkWorkshop

Lost in Transmission

Meet at the Urban Room

Saturday 4 November 2017, 11am - 2pm

Learn about the changes to rural and urban landscapes that ash dieback will bring, and discover the pushes and pulls (both natural and cultural) that drive its spread.

The effects of ash dieback in the Kent Downs. Photo: Kent Downs AONB, 30 Sept 2016.
PastTalk

Landscape Change and a Future for Trees

Urban Room, Folkestone Harbour, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1QH (Parking is available on the Arm)

Friday 3 November 2017, 7-9pm

The talk will take in the impacts that this and other tree threats will have on the future of our landscapes and how we might mark and celebrate ash in light of this epidemic trees before it is too late. With Ackroyd and Harvey and David Carey leader of the Tree Wardens of Kent.

Arrows. Image: Ackroyd and Harvey
PastTalkWorkshop

Ash Object Lessons

Urban Room, Folkestone Harbour, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1QH (Parking is available on the Arm)

Friday 3 November 2017, 5-7

In this session, we look at a selection of objects from collected from Rob Penns the Man Who Made Things Out of Trees and museum collections which will form part of a larger archive of ash objects at the University of Kent Studio 3 Gallery in 2018.

Robin Wood Bowls. Photo: Rob Penn
PastWorkshop

Ash spoon making

Bore Place, near Edenbridge, Kent

Sunday 15th October 2017, 10am - 4.30pm

Come along and play with some green ash wood. Join us for this brilliant workshop taught by John Waller, the underwoods man of Kent

Tree in field. Photo: Kent Downs
PastWorkshop

Ash Tree ID Course: Lullingstone Country Park

Lullingstone Country Park

Sunday 1 October 2017, 10am - 1pm

Have you ever wanted to know your ash from your walnut or your beech from your hornbeam?  Come and learn what makes ash so distinctive in the landscapes of Kent. This…

Ash Coppice. Photo: Edward Parker
PastWorkshop

Ash Tree ID Course: Shorne Woods Country Park

Shorne Country Park

Sunday 17 September 2017, 10am - 1pm

Have you ever wanted to know your ash from your walnut or your beech from your hornbeam?  Come and learn what makes ash so distinctive in the landscapes of Kent. This…

Trosley Views. Photo: Explore Kent
PastWorkshop

Ash Tree ID Course: Trosley Country Park

Trosley Country Park

Sunday 3 September 2017, 10am -1pm

Come and learn how to identify all the trees in our landscape, followed by a special ash walk in our beautiful Kent Country Parks

Bark from an ash tree near Ightham Mote and Knole in Kent. Photo: John Miller.
PastWorkshop

Ancient Ash Woodlands Course

Kent

Winter 2017

Learn the more about the practices used in managing ancient woodland in this two day introductory demonstration run by the Kent Woodland Employment Scheme

Ash Trees at Brockhill. Photo: Kent Downs
PastWorkshop

Ash Tree ID Course: Brockhill Country Park

Brockhill Country Park

Sunday 13 August 2017, 10am - 1pm

This tree ID course will offer a practical guide to understanding the trees in the woodlands of Kent, and will be followed by a walk in the ash woodlands to practice your skills.

Ast trees, Folkestone Downs
PastWalkWorkshop

Ash Trees of the Folkestone Downs

Folkestone Downs, Meet at the far end of Holywell Avenue, off Canterbury Road, Folkestone CT19 6LB

Saturday 5 August 2017, 2-4pm

Discover the fascinating history of ash and help us make our own ash tree myths.

Reference-Points-Event
PastWalkWorkshop

Reference Points

Sidelands Farm on Little Olantigh Road. Post code TN25 5DQ [Grid Ref TR066467]

Saturday 29 July 2017, 10:30am - 1pm

Ancient trees hold and locate histories; providing valuable resources, marking boundaries and important locations which have had meaning to local communities over centuries.

The effects of ash dieback, near Ightham Mote and Knole, Kent. Photo: John Miller.
PastWalkWorkshop

The Song of the Ash

Shorne Woods, Gravesend

Sat 1 July 2017, 10:30 - 1:00 pm

Ash trees are dying, in this workshop Chris Poundwhite guides us through the ash woods of North Kent to connect with what remains.

Film making workshop
PastWorkshop

Make a Landscape Film

The Quadrangle Trust, Shoreham

Tues 6 June 2017, 10am - 4pm

Make a film in ash landscapes with acclaimed film makers Juliet Brown and Rani Khanna

Ackroyd & Harvey
PastTalk

Ash to Ash talk – London Tree Week

Euston, London

Sun 4 June 2017, 4pm

Ackroyd & Harvey and Edward Parker explore the links between their major new art commission and the history of the ash tree

The Hardy Ash in Old St Pancras Churchyard. Photo: Paul Hudson - https://flic.kr/p/cn1uSf
PastWalkWorkshop

Stalking the Hardy Ash

Kentish Town and St Pancras, London

Wed 31 May 2017, 6:15pm

Join us on a photography walkshop led by Peter Coles and the Museum of Walking for London Tree Week

A lasting legacy for the ash tree

The Ash Project – Kent Downs

About

The Ash Project is an urgent cultural response to the devastating effects of ash dieback in the Kent Downs, celebrating the cultural, natural and social history of the ash tree, and creating an enduring legacy for future generations. The Ash Project is an initiative of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Unit which received funding from Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England to host ash related events in Kent from 2017–2018.

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The Ash Project - Kent Downs

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