The Walking Youth Theatre, working with the pupils and teachers at Kilmodan Primary School, located in the Clachan of Glendaruel, have been working on this inter-generational heritage project exploring and recording local stories, collating and recording the history of the Glen and neighbouring community Colintraive, through the creation of a web portal to hold the research, record the project and provide an on-line ‘heritage centre’ and visitor experience. Our vision is to use the history and heritage of the area to focus such a fabulous location as a destination.
Throughout 2013, The Walking Youth Theatre have hosted a variety of workshops for the pupils at Kilmodan Primary School, ranging in topics such as gathering research, creating a logo, writing blogs, interviewing, and visiting historical sites. Working with the local youth and members of the community a real sense of exploration, sharing and connection was found. We also created an ‘outreach team’ interviewing folk who were farther away, or unable to come to the school. Connection with the Colintraive Heritage Centre, drew together several projects that have formed over the years and we have permission to collate these projects under the ‘Glen of the Red River’ website, creating a central community portal for our community heritage.
The information gathered and experiences gained from the Glen of the Red River workshops have illustrated the importance of investing and preserving our history and heritage. The research conducted as part of the project has highlighted the historical importance of Glendaruel, and the intriguing people and happenings that occurred in days gone by in this wild and wonderful Glen.
The Glen of the Red River project has encouraged people of all ages who currently reside in Glendaruel and Colintraive, as well as past residents and new visitors, to purposely engage and enjoy the area – it’s rich past, vibrant present, and exciting future. A new enjoyment of heritage has been sparked in the Red River Communities, thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of their youngest residents. The project has brought community heritage directly to new generations, and will continue to do so in the future
