This Place Speaks at Peel Tower
One tower has watched over generations.
Four schools listened for the stories held beneath it.
Then they began to write their own.
How the project was made
Peel Tower became the first landmark explored through This Place Speaks.
Having lived beneath its gaze for most of his life, Rob Dart invited children from four local primary schools to explore the stories, history and landscape surrounding this familiar landmark.
Through storytelling, poetry, music and immersive listening, the children were encouraged to notice the threads connecting them with themselves, their communities and the natural world.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
We need to learn to live in gardens of time that stretch far beyond our borders, boundaries and current citadels.
It has taken millennia for this version of society to emerge. From a weary forager who learned to cultivate and sustain themselves from the land 10,000 years ago, we have taken more and more from the world which nourishes us. Many suffer when it has the ability to provide for everyone.
We now need to cultivate seeds that sow a better future for generations 10,000 years down the line. I invite you to dig into your story mind and create the stories you wish to see grow roots over the next two hundred years. Stories that will bring about the foundations of a connected culture spanning millennia into the future.
I believe it is within our power to right the stories we currently live by, by writing the stories we want to live by.
My stories are born from a moral grounding of respect and love. This grounding then becomes action: learn and grow.
Feel free to use these as the grounding for your stories, but find the sparks of change within you that need to come out. Find the stories that have to be told.
The stories are in you and around you. You simply need to take the time to notice. Sit with all the noise and find the threads that connect with you.
Find the time. Find the voice. Learn.
This. Place. Speaks.
Working with local schools
The project worked with:
- Greenmount Primary School
- Summerseat Primary School
- Hazlehurst Primary Academy
- Woodbank Primary School
Rob spent two days with each school.
During the first session, the children explored Story History, Story Mind and Story Structures. They encountered story and poetry from new perspectives and were given the freedom to follow their own imaginations.
Silent disco headphones helped create an immersive environment. The children listened to musical stories and a specially created binaural soundscape as they developed their ideas.
During the second session, Rob transformed the school space into a portable recording studio. The children recorded their stories and poems, giving their own voices a place within the project.
The children’s stories
The recordings were returned to the studio, edited and shared through the This Place Speaks podcast.
Together, they form a collection of voices, stories and perspectives shaped by the children who live beneath Peel Tower.
Impact
The project encouraged children to grow in confidence, expand their imaginations and build a stronger connection with their local history, heritage and landscape.
It created space for children to see that their ideas mattered and that their voices deserved to be heard.
What teachers said:
This Place Speaks Live
The project culminated in the first This Place Speaks Live event at Peel Tower on Sunday 14 June 2026.
The gathering brought the work back to the landscape that inspired it and created an opportunity to share stories, sound and creativity beneath the tower.
The book
The stories and poems created by the children have been gathered into a published collection.
The book provides a permanent home for their voices and imaginations, preserving the work created through the Peel Tower project and allowing it to be shared with families and the wider community.
Partners & funding
This Place Speaks at Peel Tower was created by Rob Dart with support from Bury Council, Culture Bury, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the UK Government and Proffitts CIC.
OVERVIEW
Peel Tower was the first landmark explored through This Place Speaks.
The project used storytelling, poetry, music and recording to help children connect with a familiar local landmark in new ways. Rather than simply learning information about the tower, participants were invited to explore their own relationship with its history, landscape and continuing presence.
The project brought together creative workshops, professional recordings, digital publication and a live public gathering.
AIMS
The project aimed to:
- Help children connect with local history, heritage and landscape.
- Develop confidence in writing, storytelling and spoken expression.
- Introduce children to new ways of experiencing story and poetry.
- Use immersive sound and music to support concentration and imagination.
- Give children the experience of recording their work professionally.
- Create a lasting platform for their stories and voices.
- Bring creative work back into the landscape that inspired it.
DELIVERY
The project was delivered through two days of activity with each of four local primary schools.
The first session introduced Story History, Story Mind and Story Structures. Children listened to stories, poetry, music and binaural sound before developing their own creative responses.
The second session focused on performance and recording. A portable studio was installed in each school, allowing the children to record their stories and poems for the This Place Speaks podcast.
The recordings were edited and shared online. The wider project also included project films, teacher feedback, impact documentation, a book and the first This Place Speaks Live event at Peel Tower.
OUTPUTS
Project outputs included:
- Creative workshops with four local primary schools.
- Eight days of school delivery.
- Original stories and poems created by participating children.
- Professionally recorded contributions from the children.
- A This Place Speaks podcast collection.
- A project trailer and showreel.
- Recorded teacher feedback.
- Project photography and impact documentation.
- A planned collection of the children’s work in book form.
- The first This Place Speaks Live event at Peel Tower.
IMPACT
The project explored how creative attention can change a child’s relationship with a familiar place.
Participants were encouraged to trust their imaginations, develop their ideas and share their work in their own voices. Teachers reported on the value of the experience, while the recordings created a lasting public platform for the children’s contributions.
The project also established the foundations for future This Place Speaks work, showing how place, heritage, sound and storytelling can come together through schools and community participation.