FROM CAVES TO CATHEDRAL JANUARY 2015

From Caves to Cathedral

In 2013, The Jurassic Coast Teaching School Alliance was awarded a Department for Education grant to develop and model good practice in cultural education in schools and communities across the country. With only two national lead schools, this was a prestigious award recognising the outstanding practice already taking place in the twenty-eight alliance partner schools.

The aim of the grant was to encourage greater participation by young people in a wide range of cultural activities. This evening’s concert represents the culmination of a very successful year’s work. Dot Wood, Director of Arts at The Woodroffe School, has, over the course of a year, organised a really impressive range of activities and training opportunities including staff training in poetry, stone carving, model and mask-making, printing and music composition.

This evening’s performance showcases some of the outstanding work developed by students in the schools involved. The Lyme Regis based music charity B Sharp has been a key player in many of the activities featured tonight, and the schools involved have benefited from the involvement of an incredibly supportive and inspiring group of professional composers, musicians and music mentors.

The Beer Quarry Caves Concert is a celebration of a year long project that has seen 390 students and around 50 teachers visit the historic caves in Beer where stone has been quarried for over two thousand years, stone which was used to build Exeter Cathedral and St. Paul’s Cathedral, as well as parts of Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle.

Words and music inspired by visits to the ancient Beer Quarry Caves will be performed by children and young people from across the region. The performers include students from the Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis; Colyton Grammar School, Holyrood Academy in Chard, and from four primary schools – St Michael’s, Lyme Regis, Mrs Ethelston’s in Uplyme, Marshwood Primary and Bridport St Mary’s.

Award-winning poet, Greta Stoddart, will read a new work inspired by her visit to the caves and the renowned children’s author Ellen Renner will read a specially commissioned short story also based around the caves and the cathedral.

Composer and music leader, John K Miles, has been working with B Sharp Vocal Collective, a dynamic, creative singing project funded by Youth Music and West Dorset District Council, designed to raise levels of aspiration in young people through group singing. A core group of 13 soloists with vocal coach Deborah Jordan, drummer Winston Clifford, bassist Dave Manington, guitarist Jack Ross and B Sharp music mentors Chloe Stratta and Jacques Verhaeren will join the 94 strong choir of primary school children plus 56 Year 9s from The Woodroffe School. Tonight’s performance at Exeter cathedral will be the final one in a series of three concerts.

Concert Programme

Welcome - Dr Richard Steward, Headteacher, The Woodroffe School, Jurassic Coast Teaching Schools’ Alliance ChairNothing for Light - A new work from award winning poet, Greta Stoddart, inspired by her visit to the cavesA Collection of Poems - Written by Year 9 students, Charlotte Dawe, Rory Llewelleyn and Oliver Roger - The Woodroffe SchoolFilm and Musical Score - Composed and created by Music Technology and A Level Photography students - The Woodroffe SchoolPoem Pain Tortured Dying - Written by Year 9 student Naomi Davis Griffiths from The Woodroffe SchoolThe Miner’s Song - Written by Year 9 student Toby Simeons from The Woodroffe SchoolStone is Stone - A short story based on Beer Quarry Caves and Exeter Cathedral written by renowned children’s author, Ellen Renner, specially commissioned by the Alliance for the Beer Quarry Caves projectMusical Composition - A sound track written and performed by A Level students from Holyrood AcademyColyton Compositions - A selection of work composed and devised by Year 8 Art, English and Music students from Colyton Grammar School

Prelude - Is It Day? Is It Night? Ghosts Never Found Power Just To See The Sun Frozen In Time Harder Than Stone Labyrinth Insecurity Workers Vision Smugglers Something Deep Within Us

Lost Sopranos: Gemma Hawkes, Phoebe Townsend, Courteney Yeoell, Lucy Ratcliffe Altos: Ellie Kirtley, Becky Cockram, Amalia Eva Clouts Tenors: Josh Hamblett Edwards, Tristan O’Leary Singing mentors: Jacques Verhaeren, Chloe Stratta, Ellen Roxburgh Piano/Saxophone: John K Miles Voice: Deborah Jordan Guitar: Jack Ross Bass: Dave Manington Drums: Winston Clifford Primary soloists: Aidan, Sam, Amber, Emily, Ella, Grace, Saffie, Ellie, & Ella Finale sung by Years 5 and 6 children from St Michael’s, Mrs Ethelston’s, Marshwood and StMary’s Primary Schools, Year 9 students from The Woodroffe School and a core group of B Sharp soloists

B Sharp

Professional Artists

Greta Stoddart - Greta is an Award winning poet. She grew up in Belgium and Oxford before going on to study Drama at Manchester University, then at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. There she co-founded the theatre company Brouhaha and for five years toured UK, Europe and South America. Greta published her first book of poems, At Home in the Dark (Anvil), in 2001 and her second, Salvation Jane (Anvil), in 2008.

Ellen Renner - Ellen is a renowned childrens author whose books include Castle Of Shadows, City Of Thieves and Tribute. Ellen loves to spend time in schools talking to students about books and working with them on their own writing. Ellen was delighted to be asked to write a short story based around the Beer Quarry Caves and Exeter Cathedral. Her story Stone is Stone has been included in this programme.

B SharpJohn K Miles, composer and music leader - has composed numerous scores for film and television (BBC1, BBC2, Channel 4, Channel 5 and various independent film production companies), released two solo CDs The Enchanter and Trane Ride, and written prolifically for theatre, jazz groups, world music ensembles, and the classical concert hall. Concert commissions include ‘On Golden Cap’ written for the opening of the Olympic Sailing in 2012 for 180 voices, vibraphone, strings and percussion, Carnival Suite written for The City of London Sinfonia and 19 Luton Schools - recorded for Charanga in 2014, and The Choice written to open The 2014 Bath International Music Festival for Treble Choir and Band.

As an instrumentalist he has worked with a range of artists including reggae star Maxi Priest, soulman Geno Washington, UK jazz musicians Alan Skidmore, Tim Garland and Gerard Prescencer, classical luminary Howard Moody and American trumpet virtuoso Terell Stafford at The Barbican Concert Hall, in a sextet formed for the Does It Swing? collaboration between The Barbican Creative Learning Division and Jazz at Lincoln Centre in New York.

John has also led many creative music workshop projects, facilitating composition and performance for a range of clients including The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The City of London Sinfonia, ENO Baylis, Anvil Arts, Britten Sinfonia, The Roundhouse, Sinfonia Viva and B Sharp. He is a professor at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama on The Leadership Masters course.

Deborah Jordan - Deborah had a passion for music from an early age. Her career as a lead and backing singer has led her to work with many great contemporary jazz and soul artists as both the vocalist for Robert Mitchell’s Panacea and as an artist in her own right. She has toured both nationally and internationally, performing at several illustrious events including North Sea Jazz Festival, Bucharest Jazz Festival, Jazz A Vienne and the London Jazz Festival. As a recording artist Deborah has released several solo albums and featured on many more with critically acclaimed groups and artists, Silhouette Brown, 4hero, Soundspecies and Shape Of Broad Minds to name a few, gaining a reputation as one of the leading independent artists from the UK.

Chloe Stratta, B Sharp music mentor - Chloe graduated in July 2013, having achieved a first class degree at the University of Manchester. She studied as a soprano with Catherine Mikic, and is hoping to pursue a classical singing career.

Jacques Verhaeren, B Sharp music mentor - Jacques was a late-comer to the world of music, not playing an instrument till his last year of school at the age of 16. Once he picked up the guitar, however, he realised that he had found something worth pursuing for the rest of his life. He now plays bass for local Afro-Funk bands Papa Le Gal and Mr Jean.

Winston Clifford, drums - Winston is one of Britain’s leading jazz drummers who in 1979 studied with ex-Tubby Hayes drummer Bill Eyden. In 1985 he went on to study drums with Trevor Tomkins at the Guildhall School of Music. Since then he has played with many musicians including Courtney Pine, Bheki Mseleku, Jason Rebello, Gary Husband, Pete King, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Iain Ballamy, Leroy Osbourne, Ronnie Scott Band, Julian Joseph, Andy Sheppard, Tony Remy, Steve Williamson Band, Jean Toussaint Band, Slim Gaillard, Bobby Watson, Monty Alexander, Gary Bartz, Art Farmer, Archie Shepp, Freddie Hubbard to name but a few. He has worked and performed in New York and Bombay with Carmen Lundy and is featured on her latest album, Old Devil Moon.

Jack Ross, guitarist - Jack is a London-based guitarist and percussionist working as a session musician, workshop leader, composer and performer. He is a member of the alternative folk group Firefly Burning, and works with Scottish/Zambian singer Namvula Rennie. Jack has collaborated with artists including Cerys Matthews, Marianne Faithful and John Surman and composers Anna Meredith, Orlando Gough, and Adrian Lee.

Dave Manington, bassist - Dave completed a B.mus degree at Nottingham University focusing on composition, then went on to study jazz at the Guildhall the following year. Since leaving he has played with most of the top jazz musicians in the country, luminaries such as Mark Lockheart, Tim Garland, Iain Ballamy, Gwyneth Herbert, Michael Garrick, Julian Arguelles, Marius Neset, Pete Wareham, Gwilym Simcock, Pete King, Martin Speake, Alan Barnes, Tim Whitehead, Salena Jones, Roberto Pla, Tina May, Natacha Atlas, Martin Shaw and John Etheridge amongst many others. He is also in demand for a broad range of different ensembles, playing with musicians from everywhere from South America to the Balkans both as a performer and as a compositional collaborator.

Ellen Roxburgh, B Sharp young leader - Ellen completed a Community Music degree in Gateshead University in 2012 and is now training as a PGCE School Direct student in the Music Department at The Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis. Over the last few years Ellen’s has worked with a number of community groups focussing on voice coaching and has recently joined the B Sharp team as a Young Leader

Beer Quarry CavesThe entrance to Beer Quarry Caves leads directly into the Roman section, which now houses a small museum containing pieces of Beer stone carved centuries ago by skilled masons, the tools used by the Quarrymen, copies of ancient documents and photographs and a late medieval Beer stone window which forms the centrepiece of the museum. From this very chamber the Romans quarried the first blocks of Beer Stone to build their villas.

The sheer grandeur of the mighty halls, vaulted roofs and massive supporting pillars of natural stone are awe- inspiring and have often been likened to a vast underground cathedral.

The caves have a long and interesting history. Famed as a quarry, it was also a refuge and place of worship for Catholics during times of persecution and a hiding place for contraband in the days when Beer was home to the infamous smuggler Jack Rattenbury.

The quarry was worked from Roman times until the beginning of the 20th. century and the entire complex is a vast memorial to the people of the village of Beer, some as young as eight years old, who worked there over the centuries in flickering candlelight, providing the stone we see today in some of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in England.

The Jurassic Coast Teaching Schools’ Alliance would like to say a special thank you to the Beer Quarry Caves Custodian, John Scott, for all his knowledge, help and assistance throughout the project.

Nothing for LightA new work by award winning author Greta Stoddart

In 1758, the owner of the Beer stone quarry tried to ‘blast’ chalk out of the frozen ground above the quarry to make lime. The explosion caused some of the quarry roof to collapse killing 48 men including a boy who had been sent down to warn them.

We all came bawling out of our mothers into small dark rooms with nothing for lightbut a tiny window, a weak fire in the grate.

The dark was what we knew – from when we steppedinto the black dawn, down the moony lane towards the quarry, into its gaping mouth.

Hey little boy, what you doing herewith your thin little face and your eyes bright and black,why you stood like a ghost in the lane?

Mid-winter. A hard lid of a winter. The Axe a sheet of ice. Birds tip-toeing across.And the earth not giving a thing.

Above the quarry the chalk’s frozen deepin the ground – like trying to dig metal, they say.No chalk, no lime – can’t build without lime.

Hey little boy, got something to tell usabout chalk and lime and time passing and Master grim-faced in the lane?

But down in the quarry we keep cutting the stone,down in the dark where we’ve nothing for light but a taper’s thin twist of a tongue.

Down in the dark you could almost believe the sunhad gone out and the earth a hunk of rock and us here picking and hacking away at it.

Hey little boy – got something to sayabout lime and work and money not flowing and Master pacing the lane?

What does it do to a man’s heart when all he sees of the sun is the moon?But this stone can light up a room!

Lights up a quarryman’s lungs too – sows themwith sickness, a bright galaxy of dust. God’s light, they say, the way it glows.

Run, little boy, with your something to sayabout men up top hammering holesin the ground above the lane

What are they doing up there to the earth,what does the Master think we’re worth,’cause we’re here in our hundreds hunched on the scaffold,

crouched in the shadows, pressed to the stone,axing and sawing with hours to go yet, soot-smeared, exhausted and freezing with sweat

Come, little boy, with your word to get out about holes filling up with powder and black and Master no more in the lane

But none can hear for the clanging dinand none can see ’cause we’ve nothing for light,we’ve nothing for light, we’ve nothing but –

this bright blinding ringing light – brighterthan any thing – heaven blasting hell from this place to let us, darkly, in.

© Greta Stoddart 2014

Singing and music making with B SharpThe Vocal Collective offered a rich and varied programme of professional development and skill sharing for young people, music mentors, young leaders, professional musicians, teachers, and partners. This included:

How to develop musical starting points, rhythmic warm ups, music composition, lyric writing and creative music making. The vocal performances had an overarching element around music inclusion and behaviour management, working with children and young people from diverse backgrounds in a way that developed skills and built confidence. Teachers and young music leaders were offered new challenges in the development of their own techniques and styles.

Fantastic writing, performance and recording opportunities as well as progression for music and singing mentors and teachers, inspired and excited by a professional composer, instrumentalists and vocal coaches.

The sharing of good practice, particularly in the areas of: developing young people’s personal, social and leadership skills, strengthening a local workforce, building confidence and signposting to other singing opportunities.

Opportunities for the heads of music in four secondary and four primary schools to work alongside John K Miles and B Sharp young music leaders when running a series of taster sessions.

Outreach opportunities for B Sharp young music leaders to work in schools across West Dorset and East Devon

Broadening repertoire, approach and style and fine tuning excellence in singing through working with a fantastic team of professional and semi-professional vocalists.

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What the teachers say:‘After two sessions I can already see the added impact of B Sharp working in my classroom. The writing levels have gone up and there’s excitement around music … it’s not just music, it’s the total engagement.’ Class teacher, Mrs Ethelston’s Primary School

‘It has been brilliant to see my class grow in confidence, be proud of themselves and go from a shy group to a group of performers.’ Becky Rolfe, Bridport St Mary’s

‘The children gained so much. There are 12 boys to eight girls in my class and having a male role model for singing was really significant for them.’ Tracey Scott, Marshwood Primary School

What the participants say:

‘I have absorbed so much inspiration and motivation from B Sharp which will give me the drive to realise my musical ambition and not give up. The work of B Sharp is vital in such a rural town as it enables young people from surrounding towns and villages to get together to produce and perform music which helps with many different skills socially and musically, boosting confidence and providing hope. Most of all though, it’s a great time, with incredible opportunities and brilliant memories to be made.’ Phoebe Hill, soloist

‘Working and playing alongside all the different professional musicians and music leaders has changed the way I hear and play music. The experience I have got from this far exceeds any music course I could do; it’s better than doing a degree in music. This is real learning and it has without a doubt changed the course of my future for the better.’ Jacques Verhaeren, co-founder of B Sharp and Music Mentor on the Vocal Collective

Photography by Maisie Hill

Stone is StoneA short story based on Beer Quarry Caves and Exeter Cathedral by renowned children’s author Ellen Renner. This piece was specially commissioned by The Jurassic Coast Teaching schools Alliance for the Beery Quarry Caves project.

‘God’s Teeth!’ Master Joy scratched a flea bite on his neck and sighed. Well indeed that the verger had taken to his bed with a fever, or the narrow-backed scold would be threatening Joy with the fires of eternal damnation for daring to profane in the House of the Lord. The stone mason cast weary eyes around his work room, which was not, to be fair, in the cathedral itself, but grown alongside it, like a lamprey sucking a great fish. The light streaming into the room from the high windows had grown thin and milky. The day was dying. Suddenly, it seemed to William Joy, Master Mason of Exeter Cathedral, that his whole life had been spent in this cold stone box of a room. Yet the familiar walls, the rack of tools, even the dusty floor of stained and cracked flags, looked strangely in the twilight, as though this was a place he knew not. Four pairs of stone eyes stared back at him. Cross-legged kings, clad in drapery no breeze could shift, beards and hair chisel-curled, cold hands lying on breathless breasts and unmoving knees, white lips shut on stone words. Fine work . . . fine work. His creatures. Even though his had not been the hands holding the chisel, it had been his mind that had created them. He was the architect of the screen; to him had fallen the planning, the endless drawing. His genius had released the statues from the dumb stone as surely as our Lord had molded Adam and Eve from mud and muck. These four figures, and then a dozen more to complete before the screen was finished. And then, through the ages, long after he and all who knew him were dead, the great screen of the Western door would stand testament to the genius of William Joy. How long now in the making? Six years? The last of the day’s light fell trembling through the windows. The latest shipment of limestone from the quarry at Beer was new unpacked, the great squares of fine-grained white stone scattered about the place like playing pieces of the devil. Joy frowned. Shivered as a blast of northerly wind skirled through the open windows, sweeping stone dust before it, chasing it round and round the feet of the statues. That was a hiding for the boy on the morrow: he’d not swept up. Joy shook his head. I’m growing soft, he thought. Or I’d have noticed the lad was skiving. Our dear Lady, by your grace, send that there is enough good stone here to finish my screen and that the quarrymen at Beer have sounded the blocks true. Well, and they would pay dear if they’d dared send a single sour stone to William Joy of Exeter. Joy ran restless fingers through his dust-caked hair. He should to home, and let Trude wash his feet and hands. He would dine on cony stew, then rest before the fire as she combed his hair and hunted down the pesky fleas that had teased him all day. He had thought to stay on and complete the drawing for the last apostle. But it was too late now, in this slack time of the year. Too dark. And candles dear, and the light not sufficient for close work.

He had had to send them home even earlier today – Butts and young Sampson, whose talent for carving drapery stirred unfamiliar pangs of jealousy in Joy’s chest. ‘Twas rare for him to find a man who could master stone as well as he, let alone better his skill. But . . . talent was God’s, to give where he knew best. He stood and eased his back, arching his shoulders and stretching backwards until his spine cracked. ‘I grow old,’ he told the shadows.

‘Old?’ A voice like the crack of a punch hammer on stone. ‘You are less permanent than a drop of water. A mite. A fleck of mica in my eye.’

Joy’s heart squeezed. ‘Who speaks?’ he stammered, then swore softly. ‘Twould be one of the men, out to make a fool of him. As they had surely done! For the grating voice had chilled his blood. There seemed nothing of human flesh in it. ‘I speak. I.’ Slow, clunking words. A movement, there, in the corner. Near the statue of the knight. ‘Come out, you!’ Joy set his jaw. ‘Enough tomfoolery! I’ll have you whipped and turned out an’ you do not.’ Aye, he thought. Whipped at the very least. The mason rose from his work table, took the last candle stub still alight, lifted it high and walked its light into the thickening dark. Shadows fell heavy around the statue of the knight, cloaking it in obscurity, but the mason spied the figure’s elegantly crossed legs and the carved terrier forever frolicking between its master’s feet. Candlelight gave glimpse of a mail coif and hauberk, each link etched in stone, of wide-set stone eyes and an unsmiling full-lipped mouth beneath a bushy moustache. The best of the lot, this statue. Fuming as he was, Joy indulged a moment of pride. It was not by chance that the moustache was mirror to his own, that the nose curved downward at the tip as did his own. That the blind eyes were stern; the crossed legs sharp of shin and narrow of foot. All the best work was done from life. His effigy would sit to the right of the great door and look down at the living who came through the ages to wonder at his genius. And to worship God, of course . . . ‘Come out I say!’ Step nearer, shuffle-footed. Damme, why do I sweat so?‘Out? Come out, do you say?’ hammered the voice. ‘You humans. You have cut, hacked and dragged me out indeed.’A chisel biting stone could not strike the words more harshly. Joy found his feet would no longer obey him. He stood quite still, heart racketing in his chest. ‘OUT!’ roared the voice. A voice like a landslide. Like a boulder cracking in two. ‘The men in plaited sandals and linen tunics came. They found the caves and found me, and they were the first who took me OUT. They thieved my body. They drilled and chiseled and carved and sliced and carted me away in slabs. ‘Centuries, eons, time beyond time until that moment, I had grown. Water made me. Water carried me in her bosom and trickled me into the ground like stone seed planted to grow great and mighty. ‘Until the coming of men with pickaxes and shovels I waxed. I thickened and purified and strengthened, particle by particle, growing chalky white and pure. I am of the soil and of the water. I live in the dark deep damp places. Since the earth rose from the seas, I have kept to my home, content. And then men came scratching, digging, delving like human worms. Eaters of stone. You have taken me from the dark, from the quiet, from the moist chill bed of my birth.’

In the flickering candle light, it seemed to the mason that the stone knight’s head slowly turned to face him, that the stone eyes looked into his own. I’m mad . . . or dreaming! It is stone. Only stone. The stuff I have made to be my life and my living! Joy’s mouth tasted of grit. ‘I thought to wait you out,’ the voice chipped and hammered and fell echoing into the room. ‘You animals that walk on two legs. You are born and you die in a moment. I have killed many many such. The poor slaves you send to work and die inside the earth. I kill them with my dust that turns their lungs to stone; I cause the dripping faults of blood-red clay to fail so I may crush them with my body; I deafen them with my groans as they hammer and hack. I thought you would die out and finish, you humans. But Time twists and turns and still you come. Your slaves die by the dozens, by the hundreds, from the sheer effort of lifting me, wheeling me, working me. And still you come!

‘OUT? Dare you demand it? Yes, I am out. I have come to find the master, not the slave. I have come to punish you for tearing me from the earth and making me your plaything . . . a toy and fancy.’ Madness! The voice dissolved to silence. Had he heard it? Had the statue spoken? Could he have imagined that sound - hard as life and death? A scraping noise. A noise so familiar: the drag of stone over stone. And it seemed that the statue twisted its shoulders stiffly, awkwardly, towards him. ‘But I make you beautiful!’ Joy shouted at the knight, at the blank, carved face so like his own. The mason’s bowels were water. ‘I take you from the earth, yes. B-but only so that we may admire your purity, your beauty. None can see you in deep the earth . . . We take you out so that all may know how great you are!’ Still, the knight’s eyes stared. Still the scrape of a stone spine uncurling.It spoke: ‘I began so long ago that your weak wits can not encompass the span of that time. Know this, mason. All must end, even I. Like all humans, your time is upon you almost from the moment you are born. But my time is that of the earth itself. What use to me, the admiration of such as you? Prepare, Joy. Your end is here.’ The knight straightened one stone leg. Thudded it to to earth with a puff of dust and a crash that shook the floor. The small dog at the knight’s feet stretched, sprang up and bared teeth sharp as pointed chisels. ‘Huh!’ All breath left Joy’s lungs. The candle slipped from his fingers and fell into the dust.The knight’s face vanished with the light. Gone was the sight of the dog’s white hackles slowly raising as it stalked towards him. Freed of those horrors, Joy found he could move. He backed away on shambling legs. Turned and fled falling over unseen stones, cracking his shins, smashing his toes. William Joy ran towards the door, its shape outlined in the last of the day’s light. Something pounded after him, as though ten tonnes of stone walked the earth. Heavy, ponderous, implacable. Smashing all before it as it came. Joy was screaming now. He listened to the sound of his voice wailing for help as though it belonged to someone else. And groped for the door’s latch. As his fingers fought the dust-grimed wood, needle-sharp teeth gripped his ankle. The dog! Fearsome cold spread up his leg. And then the latch twisted beneath his fingers and the door pushed inwards, sending him sprawling.Master Joy lay on his back on the cold, stone floor, staring back at the astonished face of the Dean, who stood in the doorway framed by the setting sun. ‘God save you, Master Joy! What on this earth?’Why did the man stand there? Staring at him and not the horror following . . . Joy turned his head, looked behind. And, in the light from the door, saw his dusty workroom, the higgledy-piggledly blocks of Beer stone newly uncrated, the statues of the kings. And there, in the dark shadows, the figure of the knight, seated, cross-legged still, his dog frolicking motionless between his feet. ‘Are you ill, Joy? Master?’ The Dean’s voice grew solicitous. He knelt beside the mason. Helped him stagger to his feet.

‘I . . .’ Joy turned his head and spat grit from his mouth. Bent and rubbed his leg. His ankle stung as though from a rash of nettle stings. He examined his hose. No tooth marks. There had been no dog. Was he mad? Or cursed?

‘Master Joy?’ The Dean’s voice sharpened. ‘I heard you calling. Crying out.’

Joy took breath. Reputation was a fragile thing. A man’s standing, his livelihood rested on it.‘I dropped my candle. Fell in the dark and twisted my foot. It is nothing. But thank you, Dean. I must to home now. My wife will be fret-ting.’ It was a lie. Trude had long ago learnt his work was his first and only mistress. ‘Thank you,’ he said firmly as the churchman lingered, studying him narrow-eyed. But Joy smiled – a painful, chill smile – and the Dean shrugged and bid him good morrow. And left at last.

Joy stood, the open doorway at his back, and stared into the shadows of his workroom. Had he slept? Aye, that must be it. A dream sent by the Devil himself! A nightmare. All was well, all familiar. Stone was stone, and man was man. And the one could not talk to the other.

An itching. The stonemason clapped a hand to his neck, felt the flea and caught it between calloused fingertips. Quick as a thought, he cracked it between his two thumbnails, and saw, in the last of that day’s light, his own blood stain his thumbs a dull, earthy red – the col-our of the clay that runs like living veins through the limestone of the great quarry caves of Beer.

Exeter Cathedral’s image screen is one of the city’s greatest treasures. Its vast array of medieval sculpture is of national importance and it contains England’s biggest facade of 14th century statuary. In 1348 work on the screen was abruptly halted as the Black Death reached the city. It is likely that the cathedral’s master mason, William Joy, original architect of the screen, was one of the plague’s victims. Of the twenty-five planned second tier figures perhaps only eleven or twelve had been completed.

Source: http://demolition-exeter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/exeter-cathedral-image-screen.html

Beer Quarry Caves ProjectsDuring the last 12 months a number of training workshops for teachers, across The Jurassic Coast Teaching schools Alliance, have taken place. These workshops inspired teachers to plan lessons and activities around Beer Quarry Caves, from which the poems, renditions and compositions for this evening’s concert were produced.

Primary Art Day with Darrell Wakeman and Alison BowskillTeachers were shown how to create amazingly effective masks using simple cardboard construction and collage techniques. They learnt some great hands on 3D art skills that they were able to adapt to all age groups and across a variety of different themes.

The day also explored simple printmaking techniques, suitable for all age groups. Using cheap and recycled materials the group designed and created attractive printing blocks.

“Thank you so much for such a wonderful and informative day. I enjoyed being immersed in creative practice throughout the day and headed back from the day feeling inspired and motivated. Already I have had positive comments made on the mask and the prints that were created with the guidance of the visiting professionals and staff at school are keen to learn the techniques for themselves and incorporate the ideas into their own professional practice. Once again, thank you for a fantastic day. I look forward to more days like these in the future.”Mrs Ethelston’s Primary, Uplyme, Dorset

“Thank you for a really useful day today. We have all come back inspired with ideas and now feel confident to teach the children mask making, printing and even some animation. Darrell and Alison provided us with lots of opportunities to explore new techniques as well as help us to think of ways to apply them back in our classrooms. It was a joy to spend the day making art and thinking about art.”Marshwood Primary, Dorset

Poetry WorkshopThe Poetry Workshop focused on Empowering Teachers to inspire students using exciting and effective ways of using the Beer Quarry Caves as a stimulus for Creative Writing.

Key speakers included two of the UK’s most prestigious Poets, Mandy Coe and Paul Hyland, who each brought a different and exciting element to their specific workshop.

Following the workshop, a number of cave visits took place.

“I thought the workshop was a great experience. I came away from the afternoon with lots of ideas for teaching creative writing and poetry. I have already tried out one of the techniques for writing poetry! I also felt that the techniques we experimented with were useful across both Key Stage 3 and 4. Many thanks for a great afternoon.”The King’s School, Ottery St. Mary, Devon

“A constructive and enjoyable afternoon. Paul Hyland and Mandy Coe had prepared material, useful for a range of teaching situations. They struck the right note between pragmatic approach and encouraging creative thinking. In addition, the course provided a rare and welcome opportunity to share ideas with other teachers on teaching creative writing. Thank you. “Colyton Grammar School, Devon

Music Composition with John K MilesLegendary composer John K Miles hosted two sessions focused on the composition of a piece of music inspired by Beer Quarry Caves. The sessions were designed to help generate and develop collaborative musical ideas in the classroom and consisted of: composing music with large groups; generating and developing material; composing for bespoke instruments; creating homogenous aesthetics and structures; cultivating group ownership and authorship; finding roles for students to succeed whilst being challenged; expanding student reference points and connecting compositions to successful performance.

“What a fantastic workshop. Following our session I met with the English, Art and Drama departments to produce some exciting material in a cross-curricular fashion.” Colyton Grammar School, Devon

Stone Carving Workshop with Designer and Stone Carver Zoe CullThe workshop covered a variety of techniques, stone types, tools, terminology and principles in a very hands-on, practical way.

The teachers who attended the workshop had the opportunity to try basic masonry, carving and letter cutting. Everyone was provided with a block of stone which they were able to take away at the end of the day to practise on further or complete at their leisure.

“Working on the stone carving course opened up a new and exciting medium for me. The Maltese Limestone we worked with was a revelation. It was resistant and yet malleable enough to make an impression on quite quickly; it was consistent throughout and so enabled a good deal of experimentation. The tuition and the quality of the tools and materials were first class allowing rapid progress in what I always presumed was a slow medium. Help throughout the day enabled refinement of the skills learnt while working the stone. In all it opened up a world of art that had previously been locked away, it enabled a re-evaluation of the past achievements of our culture and possibilities for the present. It was a creative and informative day; education at its best.” Axe Valley Community College, Devon

“Stone carving gave me the opportunity to get to grips with the materials, tools and techniques I need to support my students when they take on ambitious projects!

It is fun and far less intimidating than I previously imagined. I would thoroughly recommend the workshop to any teacher keen to develop their own or their students’ potential to work in 3D.” The Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis, Dorset

THEWOODROFFESCHOOLLyme Regis Dorset

The Jurassic Coast Teaching Schools’ Alliancewww.jctsa.org.ukinfo@jctsa.org.uk

FROM CAVES TO CATHEDRAL JANUARY 2015

JURASSIC COASTTEACHING SCHOOLS’ ALLIANCE