One for the Rook

A welcome from King Harry, Diddleton Frank, Gowk, Gled, Frenchman, Kitty Coot, Cob, Doo, Billy Wix, Jenny Wren, Betsy, Bob Robin, Mavis, Jeremy Joy, Tot o’er the Seas and Bumbarrels.

The out of the ordinary is under your nose.

​One for the Rook, a collaboration with Charlotte Arculus, Mary Lovett, Hugh Lupton and Liz McGowan will be a trail like none other. It takes place over ten days in September – 8th-12th and 22nd-26th.

​Tickets are now on sale and available from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/one-for-the-rook-tickets-154528632299. Be sure to book early as tickets are strictly limited.

Full details can be found on BACAT’s website here: https://bacat2021.wixsite.com/bacat/one-for-the-rook

​This ancient land is a palimpsest of tracks written by paw, claw and hoof. Swallows and swifts weave the clear air into pathways as they swoop and soar as intricate as Celtic knots and larks gild it with song. We have stitched a new track trodden by shoe and boot and conjured from song and story, music and memory, film and thought,  it is marked by runes. Walk it in silence, listen with the ears of an owl, see with hawk sharp eyes. Walk it as a charm, a summoning to fox, owl, snail and wild flower, all those outlawed by a human fear of the wild. ‘One for the Rook ‘ is a call to arms to remember we humans are but a part of life on Earth.

‘One for the Rook’ is an acknowledgement and celebration of the wild world around us, the creatures, plants and insects which are our ‘neighbours’. We follow in the footsteps of those beautiful and influential books, ‘Lost Words’ and ‘Lost Spells’ written by Robert Macfarlane and illustrated by Jackie Morris. Although ‘following’ it is very much our own pathway we have created.  

​The event is a ‘trail’ of about 1 ½ miles in the countryside around the village of Bergh Apton. There are a dozen ‘stop, look and listen’ places, some with music and words to enjoy. The ‘trail’ opens in the church porch which becomes a tiny theatre and then, the intrepid ‘travellers’ go off to be interested, intrigued and inspired and, to keep wits sharp, there is a puzzle full of trickery to solve. The trail finishes in the body of the church where there is music and readings to listen to, lanterns to admire and a CD to buy!  This is no ordinary CD, it has been made by one of us and the covers designed, painted and printed by us.

The ‘One for the Rook’ trail is quiet, contemplative and can be walked as a meditation. Do come.