This episode was recorded over a series of workshops with young people attending the Yes Hub centre in Nelson in February 2025.
After receiving training on narrative writing, interviewing and sound recording from Rob, the group planned, wrote and recorded this podcast together. Working around the broad theme of ‘home and the hills’, the group built on their shared love of cold case podcasts to explore a series of ‘hidden histories’ of Pendle and Bowland.
Four stories were researched and recorded by the group: the Quernmore Dark Ages bog burial in Bowland; CLR James’ time in Nelson in the early 1930s; the 1612 Pendle Witch Trials; and the unsolved 1980 murder of Mohammed Arif in Nelson.
Each story sparked discussion amongst the group, including contemporary issues around equality, persecution, safety and nature connectedness in society. Together, the young people offer an empathetic and thought-provoking lens on everyday life in East Lancashire, and how the relationship between the town and the hills has shaped this place over time.
Despite the rich stories they tell, if anything, it is these young people who are Pendle’s hidden gems.
This podcast was written, narrated and recorded by Dua, Zainab, Callum, Suli, Shaun, Aaron, Mehvish and Saud. The theme tune was written, performed and recorded by Aaron.
Yes Hub offers support, training and activities for people aged 16–24 who are out of work in the Pendle area.
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Ep.4 – Bowland’s radical histories and prehistoric archaeologies
Rob meets walking guide and historian Nick Burton on the Nick of Pendle, and then archaeologist Dr Rick Peterson at the Fairy Holes Cave above Whitewell in the Forest of Bowland. Their chats cover Pendle Hill’s radical histories, rights of access movements, Quaker revelations, the founding of the Pennine Way, folklore, cairns, ruins, caves, death…
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Ep.2 – Connections – A Bowland Conversation with OneDa
In the second episode of the Are You Lost? podcast, artist Rob St John talks to Nature Calling writer and rapper OneDa. Speaking in Thompson Park, Burnley, OneDa takes us through her explorations of Bowland, and her public workshops with young people around Pendle. We hear from a series of young people from Burnley and Nelson telling us about…
The Are You Lost? podcast is hosted by Bowland artist and writer Rob St. John. Its offers glimpses into the Are You Lost? project as it develops through 2025, inviting a range of guests to partake in conversations about art, nature, community and countryside access.
Are You Lost? will be a series of film, sound and textile installations across Bowland which highlight the diverse voices and perspectives of the communities that live around the area. A festival series of temporary installations will be created across the National Landscape, both in accessible public spaces and in more remote, largely-unused spaces in 2025. Rob will be working with producers Lancaster Arts & Blaze Arts.
Rob is an artist and writer based in Lancashire. His practice is focused on the blurring of nature and culture in contemporary landscapes. He works across sound, moving image, text and installation. His work has been shown and heard at Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, The Barbican, The British Museum and many others. Rob will be working with young people from around Burnley and its surrounding towns.
Are You Lost? is part of Nature Calling, a national programme, run by the National Landscapes Association, in partnership with Activate and supported by the Poetry School and funded by Arts Council England and Defra.
https://www.naturecalling.org.uk/rob-st-john
UK