17 May to 18 July 2021

The Story of Schools in the Upper Dales features spectacular 4.5 metre-wide photo mosaic was unveiled to the public on Monday 17 May.

A Mosaic of Dales Youth, created by art and design studio The People’s Picture led by digital artist Helen Marshall, features nearly 2,300 photo tiles of youth and school-life in Upper Wensleydale, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale. The images were shared by local people over eight weeks in autumn 2020.

The photos come together to reveal two large images selected by Ms Marshall: portraits of David Hodgson of Askrigg School, aged 7 in 1954, and Joan Miller of Yorebridge Grammar School, aged 12 in 1946.

‘The Story of Schools in the Upper Dales’ is also told through interpretation boards, vintage and modern photographs, a short film and oral histories.

The exhibition will run to 18 July 2021 and marks the culmination of a project run by The NASH in partnership with the museum, and funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund.

The NASH Project Manager Emily Rowe Rawlence said: “Once we began delving into the history of The NASH, which is short for National School Hawes, we realised the landscape was peppered with little schools that played transformative roles, all with their own story to tell. This exhibition maps them out and explores themes such as the changing journey to school, the tension between learning and earning and the life of teachers, bus drivers and school attendance officers known as ‘Kiddy Catchers’. It’s amazing how much energy and effort goes into the making of a school.”

Fourteen oral history interviews took place with well-known local people who attended Upper Dales schools from the 1930s onwards. Clips from these interviews have been used in Series One of the Dales Countryside Museum’s Voices From The Dales podcast.

“Recording their stories has been a project highlight,” said Ms Rowe Rawlence. “The exhibition is full of anecdotes, from filling pockets with bullets in the second world war, to walking alone through brutal weather two miles to school and back at only five-years-old, to being sent down the pub to buy cigarettes for the headmaster at breaktime. Each person had a fascinating story to tell of a Dales childhood in the 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s. Together with the giant photo mosaic, they bring the past hundred years to life.”

The People’s Picture are experts in visual storytelling and bringing communities together to create, celebrate and own their unique legacy. Previous photo mosaics have ranged from ‘The Face of Suffrage’ marking the 100th anniversary of British women getting the vote to ‘The People’s Moon’, a giant lunar artwork across Times Square and the Kennedy Space Centre, and ‘Rainbows for the NHS’, an interactive ‘mosaic of hope’ made up of thousands of pictures submitted to The People’s Picture during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Artist Helen Marshall says: ‘I am proud to be creating artwork for such a special location and community. It is fantastic that our work is exploring and engaging with rural communities and I am looking forward to discovering some of the unique stories and photos that shall unfold as part of the project. I am also especially excited to be visiting and working with The NASH and Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes, and cannot wait to see all the wonderful creative imagery that is generated from the community and schools.’

In October, Education & Outreach Officer, Heather Hodgson, visited three primary school playgrounds with actor Mark Cronfield, who was in the character of a Victorian teacher, and a film crew from the Barnard Castle-based Howell Film. They re-enacted old playground games with year 5/6 pupils and talked about Victorian school life with footage captured on camera. Due to local school federations, the three sites encompassed a total of six schools: Hawes, Reeth & Gunnerside Federation and Bainbridge, Askrigg & West Burton Federation.