Darent Valley Landscape Partnership Scheme
21st June 2023
The summer so far has been a busy time for DVLPS with many events being run throughout the valley. There is still time to book onto some of the remaining events including a Chalk Grasslands and Views Walk on Friday 7th July and Drawing In Pen and Brush Art Workshop on the same day. Please go to our website (www.darent-valley.org.uk) for details of how to book.
We have been really pleased with the feedback received regarding our virtual reality film. This was produced by local artist Fiona Macdonald and follows the River Darent from source to sea and from dawn to dusk. This new immersive experience has been touring the valley in our silver airstream caravan and visited the Lullingstone Country Park open day. If you haven’t had the chance to try it out yet, do come and find us at Sevenoaks Festival, Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve on 1st July, Dartford Big Day Out, Dartford Central Park on 15th July and Shoreham Heavy Horse Show on 3rd September. For more info:
We have also been busy giving out our rail trail packs at our various events. Each pack contains 17 walks of varying lengths, which start and end at a railway station in the Darent Valley, including the River and Ruins Trail, which starts at Farningham Road and ends at Eynsford Station. Although the primary objective of these walks is to encourage visitors to come by train in order to explore the countryside, they can still be very much enjoyed by local people. We still have limited packs available (please contact me at sarah.moon@kentdowns.org.uk if you would like one), but we would encourage you to download the Darent Valley Trails app, which is available free of charge on the app store and which contains the full suite of walks as well as several others.
Finally, we are excited to announce that from January 2024 – May 2024, we will be holding a celebratory exhibition at the Kaleidoscope Gallery in Sevenoaks and the Sir Peter Blake Gallery in Dartford. The exhibition will be inspired by Samuel Palmer and his time spent in the Darent Valley. We are asking artists living in the Darent Valley to respond the theme of ‘Visionary Landscape’ with new work inspired by the local landscape and Palmer. We will be running artist-led guided trips to the V&A Print Room this summer for artists to see and respond to work by Samuel Palmer first-hand. A Call-Out with more information, including details of the artwork submission date and these visits will be released end of June 2023. For more information contact DVLPS Arts & Communications Manager, selina.levinsondrake@kentdowns.org.uk
