Inspired by...

There are two huge old barns in the grounds of East Riddlesden Hall, dating back 400 years to when it was a thriving farm estate. The Airedale Barn has been cleaned up and weatherproofed and is used for weddings and exhibitions. When I visited, there was a display of work by Barbara Greene, National Trust artist in residence. She has been inspired by fragments of china, glass, bone, fabric and nails found during the renovation of her 17th century farmhouse up the valley in Cononley. She has created small sculptures, artist books, boxes and textiles, displayed as a 'cabinet of curiosities' and tracing the connection between the objects and the lives of people who have lived and worked in the Aire valley. The exhibit shown was called 'Fibonacci sunflower' and I thought it was rather pleasing. 

The other barn, the Great Barn, remains in its rough state: dark and somewhat mysterious, despite the four sets of huge barn doors. I love just standing inside, allowing my eyes to accustom to the dark and then noticing the stone flags of the threshing floor, the old farm carts and the implements stored inside. Above it all, my gaze is always drawn to the massive oak beams, with their matching marks used when it was being put together (like a 400 year old 'flat pack'). The barn would have been used to thresh and store grain, as well as sheltering animals. It always feels very peaceful to me. I think it resonates with my links to the farmers and labourers that abound in the paternal line of my family tree.