SAM LEE, CHRIS SALISBURY & CHARLOTTE PULVER
27 JUNE - 1 JULY 2022; 2.30PM START; 1PM FINISH
VENUE NEAR MORETONHAMPSTEAD, DARTMOOR
COST: £435 (ADULTS)

“Awake, awake sweet England, sweet England now awake
And to the land obediently, let us all partake.
For our future now, is calling, all in the skies so clear,
So resound, resound sweet England, for our history’s always near.
Let us sing,
And to this living story,
Let us sing.”

Traditional English Folk Song

As long as there have been people on this land there has been song, and as long as we dwell upon this land a timeless, uniquely human melody will sound from the confluence of culture and contour.

But what is that sound? From where did those lines of song and story emerge? In what language, to what tune, under what belief and through what gesture? What if there was an ancient indigenous Albion ‘dreamtime’ and what hope have we now in reclaiming any fragments of those tune-trails? Why should we even bother?

In old Ireland they say that we get ‘wise by asking questions’. So to access and activate ‘what lies beneath’, which might be our own deeper wisdom, a trail humming with questions may be just the place to start.

Questions such as these:

If below our feet there may be the footprints of the past, tracks sown by song and the passage of our ancestors, how do we, through recollection, reverie and recitation, invoke and map them and turn them into treasure for our times?
Have we the knowing, imagination and the trust in these invisible pathways to tune into those ancient frequencies?
What impact would divining them have upon our navigation of our collective and individual journeys through today’s shifting landscapes?
Impossible questions demand implausible action and this invitation is to step beyond the rational, evidential and quantifiable into a place of soft meditation with our homeland and forge new paths into the earth and into ourselves.

Chris Salisbury and Sam Lee met one another while both in pursuit of old Devon folk song. Their winding paths even unexpectedly converged in the Kalahari desert last year where they were humbled by some of the oldest (human) songs on planet Earth, sung by the indigenous Ju/‘Hoansi San Bushman people.

Their fascination in these timeless gems passed down through the Oral Tradition came from a similar dedication to nature connection practise and a curiosity in how our ancestors expressed their love of the land through song and story. Over the years these questions have tickled at both their chins of how folk songs and composed, even improvised songs, devotional in their appreciation of our natural world, can work to connect us deeper into the land and our senses. Likewise if nature connection skills and practices can be enhanced through songful expression and open up new patterns in our awareness and help orientate our inner compass.

This 5 days of playful, embodied experimentation and enquiry will afford us the sacred space to recalibrate how we engage with the land and converse with our brother/sister nations of plants, trees and beings. Going beyond mere naming and species identification we will surf the wood-wide-web, ‘truffle hunting’ for ‘songlines’ that may still pulse below us in the organic and cultural substrate of Dartmoor National Park.

You don’t need to be a ‘singer’, but we welcome those with big ears and big hearts for the deep listening and feeling engendered in our interactions with the land. If you have an artistic practice that’s a bonus, but if you harbour aspirations to write, sing, dance or just deepen your intimacy with the natural world, then you will be greeted with joy, by us and all the ‘Others’ who are hungry to hear your true name….

EVENT LEADERS:
Sam Lee, Chris Salisbury and Charlotte Pulver

Sam is a Mercury Prize nominated folk singer, conservationist, song collector, award winning promoter, broadcaster and activist. Read more about Sam here.

Chris: Chris Salisbury founded WildWise in 1999 after many years working as an education officer for Devon Wildlife Trust. With a background in the theatre, training in therapy, and a career in environmental education, he uses every creative means at his disposal to encourage people to enjoy and value the natural world. Chris directs the acclaimed Call of the Wild Foundation program for educators-in-training as well as Where the Wild Things Are, a rewilding adventure based at Embercombe in Devon. He is also a professional storyteller (aka ‘Spindle Wayfarer’) and is the co-founder and artistic director for the Westcountry and Oxford Storytelling Festivals.

Charlotte is a modern day alchemist and lover of the waters; being born into the Pulver lineage of apothecarians. She has a background in natural healthcare, studying and practising various medical systems of healing for 20+ years. Read more about Charlotte here.

WHAT'S INCLUDED
Breakfast & evening meals. Vegetarian/Vegan/Gluten & Dairy Free diets catererd for. You will need to bring food for lunches and any snacks or luxury foods; plus any foods for any other special diets

WHAT TO BRING
Camping gear (tent, mat, bag, torch etc); spare clothes; food for lunches. Full details on booking.

CANCELLATIONS:
Sorry, no refunds for cancellations < 28 days of the event. HOW TO BOOK: 1. info@wildwise.co.uk Email us here: please provide your contact details and how you would like to pay i.e. BACS or card (no additional fees apply for payment by BACS or card) 2. By phone: call 01803 868269 (message service when office unattended) to make a card payment. 3. Online booking via Eventbrite: instant booking with immediate confirmation (eventbrite booking fees apply). Select tickets below: https://wildwise.co.uk/adult-family-details/songdreaming-for-albion-songlines-2021/74/0/0

"Folk Holidays" Náměšť nad Oslavou is an extraordinary music Festival. These 8 days many visitors spend as their real music, art and dancing holidays, of which they can be either active or passive participants. They are surrounded by the charming environment of the Naměšť Renaissance chateau, chateau park, and adjacent environs of the Oslava river in the town as well as outside the town.

Every evening music programme of the Festival has its theme, it's set up, with no genre borders - world, ethnic and folklore music, jazz, rock, folk, classical music. For the coming musicians, the Festival often is an inspiration for an untraditional special concert - it is not unusual that they stay for several days, even just as spectators in the audience or as workshop participants.

The Festival is not just the evening concerts at the chateau courtyard. During the Festival days, a number of workshops take place - you can e.g. learn to play the basics of some interesting musical instrument, jam and talk with musicians, who the previous evening enthused the courtyard, create your own drawings, paintings, silkscreen printings, objects, write your own text and poetry. Several hours in the afternoon belong regularly to the so-called "Open Scene", where interesting, less known, music groups perform on a small stage behind the Baroque Hospital in the town by the Oslava river. And at night not only does the Festival camp come alive with music, but also the chapel of the Baroque Hospital.

The Festival is also unusual thanks to the number of international guests. The Folk Holidays Festival is a festival of outstanding music as well as non-music experiences and inspirations.

Folk singer and nature lover Sam Lee invites you on a three-night Pilgrimage to ‘re-wild’ one of Britain’s ancient traditional songs back to the very birds that inspired the folk song.
Tracing the songlines of Sussex, seekers of the old ways are invited to share this path connecting the ancient traditional song ‘Turtle Dove’, collected in 1903 by Vaughan Williams, and carry it from its source to one of the last remaining populations of Turtle Doves in the UK.
Sam will lead guests on a unique and intimate passage along the sacred ways of Sussex to the Knepp Estate, the most ambitious rewilding oasis in the UK.
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When does a song need to be rewilded? What does the rare and almost-disappeared Turtle Dove have to do with British folk song tradition? These are questions we will be exploring as we chart the song-line connecting the Turtle Dove’s song source to Sussex’ last colony of this species. This journey will explore the relationship our disappearing ancient songs have with the rapid ecological decline happening right now in the UK.
We will walk amongst herds of deer, longhorn cattle and many rare species that have found sanctuary in this land that time forgot, eventually meeting the small colony of Turtle Doves purring their mystical song in the old oak trees.
We will carry most of our own gear, camp on the land and spend our nights round the fire singing and telling stories.
This journey includes wild-swimming, foraging, drinking spring water, local history, nature connection activities, tree climbing, and singing this stunning song, sharing it with those we encounter on our journey.
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We will be carrying and cooking (over a fire) all of our own food.
Your place includes all food and drink (from Friday morning onwards) and two or three nights of camping in a mixture of churches (Thursday) and tents (Friday & Saturday).
This 20+ mile journey will be on foot and is for competent walkers only but for singers of any ability.
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Please see here for more information:
https://thenestcollective.co.uk/.../turtle-dove.../
#TurtleDovePilgrimage

16th June to 19th June 2022 • Cairngorms, Scotland

A journey to re-wild the ancient ballads of the Cairngorms and call back the Salmon.

Join folk singer and nature guide Sam Lee on a four-day midsummer Pilgrimage.

In honour of the salmon, our small party is invited to traverse the rewilded valley and mountain sides of the Feshie Estate in one of Scotland’s most celebrated landscapes.

Experience hiking through breathtaking countryside, beautiful songs, campfires, fascinating folklore and natural history in a unique adventure of nature connection.

Our purpose is to both deepen our knowledge of this precious ecosystem and, through playful, songful ceremony, re-wild the area’s ancient songs back to the waters they rise from, and call back the fast-disappearing Salmon.

The Scottish Highlands and the Cairngorms National Park contain possibly the most dramatic and ancient ecosystems in the country. Crystal clear rivers once teemed with Atlantic salmon living in symbiosis with equally sought-after freshwater pearl mussels. Their local song and story flowed through this land but as the oral culture and traditional practices became forgotten so perhaps did the stewardship for maintaining these pristine environments.

The ‘Old Ways’ have implicitly entwined song, story and environmental stewardship, so could the silencing of the old songs and the thinning out of cultural and oral diversity be connected to the species loss in Scotland?

And so our great challenge arises in this radical experiment: To re-wild the songs of these mountains, waterways, banks and braes carried by the people, notably the Scottish Travellers, who once inhabited this land.

As we walk these ancient routes, us pilgrims will be offering the songs back to the Feshie, one of the great rivers and rewilded valleys, a bounty of songs learned as we go and shared along our journey. This is not a scientific experiment, it is an act of soulful intention. To pay gratitude to this magnificent land and pay homage to our ancestors who cared for it and offer our non-denominational prayers and praise to an environment calling for our help and protection.

We will sleep out for three nights over midsummer when darkness never quite succeeds amongst the regenerating Caledonian pine forest of the Feshie Estate. We will be walking with much of our kit so this is for experienced and strong walkers only.

All food will be provided.

Accommodation will be in tents (you will need to bring your own).

For further information and a list of required kit see: https://thenestcollective.co.uk/song-for-the-salmon-further-information/

A full Covid-19 risk assessment will take place for this event nearer to the time, reflecting the current Government guidelines. We anticipate that this event will be able to go ahead, however we will keep ticket holders updated with any changes, and should cancellations be necessary then ticket transfers or full refunds will be available.

10th June to 13th June 2021 • West Sussex
A re-wilding journey to the heart of Sussex.

Folk singer and nature lover Sam Lee invites you on a three-night Pilgrimage to ‘re-wild’ one of Britain’s ancient traditional songs back to the very birds that inspired the folk song.

Tracing the songlines of Sussex, seekers of the old ways are welcome to share this path connecting the ancient traditional song ‘Turtle Dove’, collected in 1903 by Vaughan Williams, and carry it from its source to one of the last remaining populations of Turtle Doves in the UK.

When does a song need to be rewilded? What does the rare and almost-disappeared Turtle Dove have to do with British folk song tradition? These are questions we will be exploring as we chart the song-line connecting the Turtle Dove’s song source to Sussex’s last colony of this species. This journey will explore the relationship our disappearing ancient songs have with the rapid ecological decline happening right now in the UK. Sam will lead guests on a unique and intimate passage along the sacred ways of Sussex to the Knepp Estate, the most ambitious rewilding oasis in the UK and a premier site for ecological research.

We will walk amongst herds of deer, longhorn cattle and many rare species that have found sanctuary in this land that time forgot, eventually meeting the small colony of Turtle Doves purring their mystical song in the old oak trees.

We will carry most of our own gear, camp on the land and spend our nights round the fire singing and telling stories.

This journey includes wild swimming, foraging, drinking spring water, local history, nature connection activities, tree climbing, and singing this stunning song, sharing it with those we encounter on our journey.

We will be carrying and cooking (over a fire) all of our own food.

Your place includes all food and drink (from Friday morning onwards) and two or three nights of camping in a mixture of churches (Thursday) and tents (Friday & Saturday).

We will meet on Thursday evening 10 June informally at the very pub where it all began, The Plough in Rusper, with last arrivals joining us at St Mary Magdalene, Rusper to depart on Friday 11 June at 10am.

We will complete our journey on the Sunday morning at Knepp Castle Estate, with a minibus taking us back to St Mary’s in Rusper.

This 20+ mile journey will be on foot and is for competent walkers only but for singers of any ability.

For further information and a list of required kit see: https://thenestcollective.co.uk/turtle-dove-further-information/

A full Covid-19 risk assessment will take place for this event nearer to the time, reflecting the current Government guidelines. We anticipate that this event will be able to go ahead, however we will keep ticket holders updated with any changes, and should cancellations be necessary then ticket transfers or full refunds will be available.

Join folk singer Sam Lee and three special guest musicians on a rare and thrilling journey as darkness falls upon the woodlands of Sussex.

Enjoy an afternoon of workshops, nature experiences, and a campfire concert, followed by the after-dark safari itself. Experience a festival like no other as our guest musicians join the nightingales in an improvised duet with their brilliant nightsong.

Each year, for a short period mid-April, a few thousand nightingales fly to southern UK from Africa. They can be heard in just a small number of special locations, taking up songful residence after dusk. The territorial males serenade loyally each night for no more than six weeks among the blackthorn and forest margins, giving unbelievable privilege to those who know where to go.

Step into nature, learn about these majestic birds, and marvel at the incredible human-avian musical collaboration.

We are very pleased to announce our special guest musicians are:

Bernard Butler – English musician and record producer. One of Britain’s most original and influential guitarists.
Millicent Chapanda – Traditional mbira player and proud cultural artist with a vibrant mission.
Byron Wallen – A true jazz spirit. Byron’s always-absorbing music genuinely draws in disparate elements of African and Eastern cultures.

The festival includes:
• Songs, storytelling and folklore with your host Sam Lee and musical guests around the campfire
• Promenade walks through the woods in small groups to hear our guest musicians in improvised collaborations with the nightingales
• Nature immersion, camp craft skills and foraging workshops from 4pm
• A delicious vegan dinner
• Optional overnight camping

Discover stories of nature, learn and sing songs of the land and partake in timeless passage with the old ways.

Join renowned writer, musician and broadcaster David Bramwell on a one-day pilgrimage deep into some of Southern England’s most stunning landscapes.

In our merry group of walkers we will gently ramble down footpaths, amongst ancient oak, beech & hornbeam woodland, across rivers and through seasoned meadows. Our day-long adventure will be peppered with rests for shared stories under sweet chestnut bows, songs learned and sung at the edge of streams, foraging for wild fruits and fungi, listening quietly to the sounds of autumn and feeling into the turning season. Our time will be spent tuned deep into that timeless conversation between human beings and nature, enquiring into that colour-change and gathering-in that nature performs as she closes up shop for the year.

Stewarded by Sam and his guests, the day will be a harvest of lifelong-acquired nature tales, and reflections on the deep wisdom of the land and her adaptations over our lifetimes, millennia past and uncertain times ahead. What can the land teach us in our own shifting and shedding as we leave behind a year never to be forgotten? We will explore and learn about the ecology of the area and hear of the magical and medicinal properties of the plants, fungi and trees we meet on our path.

On returning to camp we will recharge around the fire, feast on delicious food and take time to share our songs, reflections and connections gathered over the day.

Our day will encompass around 5-7 miles with frequent stops for rest, recollections and sustenance. We’ll make sure to allow time to engage a little deeper into some of the ‘sweet spots’ we find and not just pass by or ignore a call from the land to pay deeper attention.

This journey is for competent walkers only but for singers of any ability (singing is not compulsory). Walking will mostly be on footpaths with stiles with some road walking necessary.

Further information about kit and timings will be sent to ticket holders. This event is subject to any changes in regulations to outdoor events. In the unlikely circumstance that this event is not able to go ahead, full refunds will be available.

Discover stories of nature, learn and sing songs of the land, and partake in timeless passage with the old ways.

Join Sam Lee and special guests, the leading campaigner and celebrated author Guy Shrubsole (Who Owns England?), and singer Blythe Pepino on a one-day pilgrimage deep into some of Southern England’s most stunning landscapes.

In our merry group of walkers we will gently ramble down footpaths, amongst ancient oak, beech & hornbeam woodland, across rivers and through seasoned meadows. Our day-long adventure will be peppered with rests for shared stories under sweet chestnut bows, songs learned and sung at the edge of streams, foraging for wild fruits and fungi, listening quietly to the sounds of autumn and feeling into the turning season. Our time will be spent tuned deep into that timeless conversation between human beings and nature, enquiring into that colour-change and gathering-in that nature performs as she closes up shop for the year.

Stewarded by Sam and his guests, the day will be a harvest of lifelong-acquired nature tales, and reflections on the deep wisdom of the land and her adaptations over our lifetimes, millennia past and uncertain times ahead. What can the land teach us in our own shifting and shedding as we leave behind a year never to be forgotten? We will explore and learn about the ecology of the area and hear of the magical and medicinal properties of the plants, fungi and trees we meet on our path.

On returning to camp we will recharge around the fire, feast on delicious food and take time to share our songs, reflections and connections gathered over the day.

Our day will encompass around 5-7 miles with frequent stops for rest, recollections and sustenance. We’ll make sure to allow time to engage a little deeper into some of the ‘sweet spots’ we find and not just pass by or ignore a call from the land to pay deeper attention.

This journey is for competent walkers only but for singers of any ability (singing is not compulsory). Walking will mostly be on footpaths with stiles with some road walking necessary.

Further information about kit and timings will be sent to ticket holders. This event is subject to any changes in regulations to outdoor events. In the unlikely circumstance that this event is not able to go ahead, full refunds will be available.