ARCHIVES IN ACTION – ASTBURY BOUND — Cheshire's archives: a story shared

A summer of creativity inspired by our collections began with Astbury Bound. Our ambition - to celebrate a local green space and its resident wildlife with a new take on the ancient tradition of beating the bounds.

Before local boundaries were mapped communities would share a mental map of the area they were responsible for by walking the perimeter of the settlement, sometimes beating memories into the younger boys with branches! Later generations made beating the bounds more ceremonial - and our version would certainly aim to create only joyous memories of Astbury Mere.

We worked alongside Wild Rumpus, who use art and play to deepen nature connectedness with their projects and events. They visited Cheshire Archives to learn more about the work we do and our collections. It was also an opportunity to showcase some of the records that we hold on the Congleton landscape and local wildlife.

Mandy Beck-McKim is a textile artist and puppeteer who joined us on the research visit to get inspiration for craft activities we could do on the day. Decorative elements from some of our oldest maps inspired the artist to add cartouches, coats of arms and compasses to a ‘Map of Me’ activity. Mandy created a Cheshire map template for young people to decorate with illustrations of places, people and things that meant a lot to them.

Mandy also developed simple animated bird and butterfly puppets on sticks to make. These were inspired by the nature notebooks of George Ellison, a local naturalist born in Warrington, and kindly loaned to us from the Archives collection at Warrington Museum. They record local wildlife that George encountered in the 1900s and include stunning illustrations of all manner of birds, butterflies and insects.

On the day of the event, we arrived to find the colourful marquee set up, and chalkboards detailing all the exciting activities on offer, children could also make a musical instrument to carry on the parade around Astbury Mere. The creatures were held high and musical instruments shaken with gusto, as a parade of parents and children started off led by drummers and performers. This was followed by a clog dance, with some of the audience getting up and having a go themselves.

A brilliant event with people who had never encountered archives before, some sharing their memorable moments such as ‘children running around playing with their flying creatures (love)’. Friendly, happy, creative, engaging, fun, informative - just some of the words used to sum up the day.

A demonstration of how we cherish our local green spaces in the 21st century with a reinterpretation of an ancient tradition delivered a fun-filled mini festival enjoyed by all - including us!