The new exhibition at Dumfries Museum is “Coastwise – Where every name tells a story”. It reveals the history and stories behind the origins of coastal place-names by exploring the language used to describe features between Redkirk Point and Southerness.
This exhibition was created by the Solway Firth partnership. Using the first Ordnance Survey maps as a starting point, meetings and events were held in coastal communities to gather knowledge about local landmarks. This exhibition looks at how place names have evolved and explains the meaning of words that have disappeared from our everyday language. Activities for families accompany the exhibition including a coastal “feely box” challenge, museum trails, colouring sheets and quizzes. Over the school holidays there are also drop in family days on Tuesday 15 and 22 October between 10am to 12noon and 2pm to 4pm.
Councillor John Martin who is Vice Chair of the Council’s Communities Committee said;
“The Solway Coast is a beautiful area of Scotland appreciated by local people and visitors. It is fascinating to find out more about some of the well-known and hidden places along the coastline and how they got their names. It is good to see local people taking pride in their own area and doing something to help counteract the terrible problems caused by plastic pollution of our seas and coasts. The For Enjoyment art work highlights the problem and also the work done by the D&G Eco Warriors to clean up beaches in our region.”
Nic Coombey of Solway Firth Partnership said;
“The Coastwise project has been a great opportunity to involve local people by using place names as a catalyst to discover more about our amazing coastline. From stones spat out by the Devil to salt production, ancient boundary markers to a lost church there are many stories that lie behind the names marked on maps.”
The exhibition also includes an art installation highlighting the effect of plastic pollution on our coastline by the For Enjoyment group. Dumfries and Galloway Eco Warriors commissioned For Enjoyment, an inclusive community of creative minds of all ages from around the region to produce the piece. The resulting art work invites debate about the human impact on our natural world and at the same time highlights the importance of the work of the Eco Warriors in attempting to clean up our precious beaches.
Frank Hayes, Director of For Enjoyment Community Interest Company explains;
“The work was created using waste collected during Eco Warriors beach cleans and inspired by the layout of an interpretation panel. For Enjoyment are featured alongside the Eco Warriors in a film made by Facebook “What we find at the Beach”, part of the Beyond the Screen series. The project was hugely rewarding and nearly 40 participants from the For Enjoyment community volunteered their time to create this beautiful impactful piece.”
If you would like to organise your own beach clean or join in with those organised by D&G Eco Warriors you can find out more by joining the D&G Eco Warriors beach cleans Facebook group.
The exhibition runs until 23 November and admission is Free.
