Need somewhere interpreted

Please contact me ! You can read extracts from reviews of my published material, and of my own training in interpretation.

But before anything gets written - or photographed or drawn - you need to decide

And then there are other factors such as health and safety. And, of course, maximum budget.

Unless the project is just a simple one-off walk leaflet, it might be better to commission me to produce an interpretation strategy before any specific interpretation projects are decided. The consultation needed to produce a strategy will probably throw up all sorts of opportunities, and constraints.

Have you thought of using non-traditional methods? The thumbnail shows Peter Randall-Page's 'Granite Song' on an island in the River Dart in Devon. This was part of a Common Ground project, but nothing to do with me - except that the sculpture, and others, enrich the route of the Two Moors Way for which I wrote a guidebook. If you click on the cover you can open the book to read a short extract flagging up the 'local distinctiveness' of the area - which is what Common Ground is all about. Another interesting project was the Eden Benchmarks - a set of sculptures, which are also seats, along the River Eden in Cumbria: each is carved from the local stone.

For Staffordshire Wildlife Trust I have worked with my usual designer (Aawen Design Studio) and with artists (artist Brin Edwards, and illustrator and cartoonist Debbie Ryder) and a sculptor (Anthony Hammond). This all came out of the interpretation strategy SWT commissioned me to write for Brown End Quarry, their geological reserve (see below). Launch date was May 22, 2004 and some of the work has been made available on the Brown End Quarry website as pdfs. The project cost was £50k, which included one sign (pictured on the left) in the car-park, 8 panels (7 A0 size, 1 A1 size), a carved green oak bench with a time line (by Anthony Hammond), and a mammoth trackway all in the quarry, plus a leaflet (as ), education pack, posters, and a flyer. Some safety and access work was also carried out in the quarry. You can download the sign and panels as pdfs from the Brown End Quarry website: the first 7 panels form a trail around the quarry, with each panel ending with a question which is answered on the next panel; the final panel is by the collecting pile.

Fancy a swim...?	10 KB
What do you see ....?	277 KB
Just grey rocks ...?	400 KB
Why are the rocks on edge?	433 KB
What was the seafloor really like?	455 KB
A sudden end ....?	359 KB
What was the limestone quarried for?	358 KB
What happens when quarrying ends?	642 KB

Welcome to the collecting pile!	795 KB

For Cornwall Wildlife Trust I have completed a project for the Tresayes Quarry nature reserve, linking it to the nearby iconic Roche Rock. The Roche Rock and the Tresayes Trail leaflet is available to download it as a pdf as well as hard copy. There are 3 interpretation panels, with the one at Roche Rock mounted in a local granite - which is distinctly different to the rock of which Roche Rock is composed. [For anyone interested the granite is composed of quartz, feldspar and mica, whereas Roche Rock is quartz and tourmaline - so the granite is part of the interpretation, not merely a chunk of rock on which to display the panel].

"Welcome to the Devonian" - Interpreting Devon's geology through the Road Network. A report written for Devon County Council, funded by English Nature. (For insurance reasons I was a sub-contractor to the Earth Resources Centre of Exeter University).

NOT A GREY END! - bringing the grey rocks of Brown End Quarry back to colourful life. For Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.

The strategy was funded by English Nature and the Peak Environment Fund. Its implementation was funded by English Nature, the Heritage Lottery Fund, NE Staffs Single Regeneration Fund, and the Curry Trust, with some match funding by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. The total budget was around £50k. The formal opening was on May 22, 2005 (funded by Lafarge Cement's Cauldon Works).

ROLLING BACK THE MILLIONS OF YEARS - interpreting the geology of West Devon. For Devon County Council.

The strategy was in tandem with an audit of the geology of West Devon - undertaken by a colleague, Dr Page - to promote the geological aspect of the West Devon part of the World Heritage Site proposal for the Mining Landscape of Cornwall & West Devon.

WHITE GOLD, TORS & RIAS - interpreting the landscape and rocks of Restormel. For Cornwall County Council.

PESK, COBER ha STEAN: using the past for a sustainable future for Penwith's north coast. For Cornwall County Council.