Riverhead Place Project

AFTER A GREAT TEN-DAY ‘INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION’ LAST OCTOBER (2014) I HAVE CONTINUED TO WORK ON MY TWO LARGE-SCALE MAPS. THEY WILL BE ON PUBLIC DISPLAY AT LOUTH MUSEUM AS PART OF THE LOUTH NAVIGATION TRUST EXHIBITION WHICH RUNS FROM 6TH – 30TH MAY 2015. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND OPENING TIMES PLEASE CLICK HERE. 

A section of the Eastfield Road area of the Path Map

So, what’s this all about?

The Riverhead is an area in Louth, a small market town in Lincolnshire. In 1763 an Act of Parliament enabled the creation of a canal to connect the town with the Humber estuary, thus improving trade links with the rest of the country. The ‘Riverhead’ is the place where the canal terminates at the edge of the town, in its heyday a noisy, bustling and thriving community of workers, families and trades.

I live and work in the Riverhead area today, which is still a rich mix of businesses and homes, with much of the history of the area still in evidence. Places change, of course, and I have become interested in learning about who used to live and work here, and who does so now. The history of the area has been well researched by experienced historians; I hope to add fragments of information to what is already known, but more importantly, to find ways of sharing and exploring our local history through some experimental creative projects.

Arts Council England funded me to spend a year between October 2013 – October 2014 to undertake my project, working with local people and finding interesting ways to gather information about the place. As part of the project I developed two large-scale screen-printed textile maps, to which people were invited to contribute their memories or their hand-stitching. After working on the pieces over winter they will now be on display to the public during May 2015.

Nicki Jarvis