Photos by Valerie Best
Earlier this month, Northern Broadsides and the Cromwell Bottom Wildlife Group welcomed invited guests to celebrate the launch of Hidden in the Landscape: Stories of Cromwell Bottom – a new self-guided audio trail at Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve.
Guests gathered at the visitor centre for tea, cake and speeches before heading out into the nature reserve to explore the trail at their own pace.
Originally created as part of the 2025 CultureDale celebrations, Hidden in the Landscape was developed through a series of creative workshops with local writers, performers and community members. Working alongside professional artists, participants created original poetry, characters and stories inspired by the wildlife, histories and atmosphere of Cromwell Bottom.
This project was originally funded by CultureDale and The National Lottery Community Fund.
Now permanently available for visitors to experience, the trail invites audiences to discover the landscape in a new way through immersive audio, storytelling and soundscape. The launch event was a joyful opportunity to reconnect with the people who made the project possible and to mark the next stage of the trail’s life as a lasting public experience for visitors to enjoy all year round.
