Arts project to fire pupils’ imagination

A group of 30 children from Langtree School in Woodcote went into the woods off Greenmore Road to see tree specialist Luke Hamblyn scale a 150-year-old birch tree while fitted with a helmet camera.

He was directed from the ground by film director Brek Taylor, who allowed the pupils to choose shots as he gave them a lecture on trees, preservation and nature.

The event was the first of many activities taking place as part of the Tree of Light project, which will culminate in a musical dance performance in Henley featuring a 50ft sculpture of a tree in July next year.

The project, which has received 1million in funding, is put together by Thames Arts, a consortium made up of the Henley Festival, Oxford Inspires, the Ciao! Festival and Windsor Festival.


Mandy Beard, community projects manager for Henley Festival, said the workshops set out the vision “to teach children about trees and nature by giving them a new perspective”.

She said: “They are shown things like the tree’s root system, where the bats have nests in the trunk and the view from the very top.

“There will be a series of activities based on the theme, including creative writing workshops and dance. It’s all about firing the imagination.”

Anne Stevenson, Langtree’s extended schools co-ordinator, said: “It’s a great day for the children and good for them to be given a fresh, interesting perspective on nature in such a beautiful setting.”

Langtree is one of 10 schools and community groups selected to take part in the project. Others include Trinity Primary School and Gillotts School in Henley, Robert Piggott Junior School, the Piggott School and the Madelaine Kelly School of Dance, all in Wargrave, and Sonning-on-Thames Dance group.

At the show in July, the tree sculpture’s lights will be powered by low-energy LED lights using sustainable energy generated by cyclists and rowers.

Ten smaller trees will be made by the chosen groups.

More than 300 people will create and take part in the riverside show, which will be free to watch.

Similar performances will be given in Reading, Oxford and Windsor, all involving community groups. There will then be a grand finale at Stonor Park in which more than 1,600 people are expected to take part.

The groups have begun discussing ideas for their tree sculptures and to develop stories about them.

Stewart Collins, artistic director of the Henley Festival, said the giant tree would be “otherworldly” and he wanted the performances to be “huge community gatherings”.