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Tales from the Towpath

Wed, Jun 04

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Online

Walking Towards and Through Alternative Narratives of 19th Century Industrial Improvement

Tales from the Towpath
Tales from the Towpath

Time & Location

Jun 04, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM GMT+2

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About the event

Tales from the Towpath: Walking Towards and Through Alternative Narratives of 19th Century Industrial Improvement

 This presentation examines the challenges and opportunities of developing an experiential approach to 19th century rural and urban ‘improvement’. It presents a case study of the Tavistock canal, which is valorised by industrial archaeologists and heritage professionals as part of the West Devon and Cornwall Mining Landscape World Heritage Site. To (re)create people’s intellectual, emotional and sensory experiences of the canal, I use an interdisciplinary methodology combining archaeological and historical sources and approaches to the landscape. Central to this is the repeated experience of walking the canal as stimulus to the senses, questions, ideas and the imagination. I also draw on my own biography and memories of a landscape I have encountered at various times over more than fifty years. By integrating these approaches, I create a multivocal account of the canal which recognises people’s differences…

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