Village Stories

In September 2024, local residents in Fairford Leys, Brill and Burnham were invited to take part in creating panoramic portraits of their villages. Choreographed stagings created playful images that are part fantasy, part realistic portrait. Shot through with humour and incidental detail, these images capture 21^st century villagers in a creative and collective act – to be, imagine and perform themselves.  

In December 2024, we returned to the communities to share the photographs, presenting large format prints to each village.

Choreographer Theo Clinkard and photographer Camilla Greenwell took their inspiration from Pieter Bruegel’s famous and action-filled paintings of 16^th Century Flemish village life with their elevated viewpoints and asked what village life looks like today.

Bruegel’s paintings offer us a portal-like window into the everyday lives of his local community and I hope that in years to come, the 10-day old baby that took part [in Burnham], can look back at these brilliant participants who recognised the power and joy of taking part in something collective and even find inspiration for their own creative future.” Theo Clinkard

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Over 450 participants took part in creating three Village photographs

Often adjacent to large cities, yet globally connected, modern village life is often overlooked. VILLAGE captures some of the spirit of these places, with images and stories rich with human feelings from moments of isolation to shared collective joy. Bill Morris & Julius Weinberg, Co-Chairs of Bucks Culture

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Fairford Leys is a modern village close to Aylesbury, created in the style of villages past with a square, the location for the photograph, with shops, church and community centre surrounding and a bandstand at its heart. A community not 25 years old, defending its status as a village. A dedicated parish council hosting events and activities, building community connection and identity.

When I first saw Fairford Leys, I thought it had an unreal quality, almost as if it could be a movie set. Ever since I have been a resident here, I have appreciated the convenience of Fairford Leys, as well as the parks, streams, little bridges, and all the natural surroundings. Resident

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In Brill, villagers are involved in a wide range of activities from scouting to running a community herd, hosting local events and festivals. The villagers turn out once a month to turn the sails on their iconic Windmill, surrounded by common land where the Village photograph was taken, overlooking Aylesbury Vale. Timeless, yet full of modern vibrancy and idiosyncratic character, a deep love for the landscape and understanding of what keeps a community thriving.

There is a unique sense of community in Brill, where people have a stake in village life from whatever background. Many give freely of their time to make things happen throughout the year. Resident

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Burnham at the southern border of Buckinghamshire is a village with a deep history, connected with the famous Beech woodlands and the town of Slough. A community committed to improving the lives of residents and proud winner of best kept village 2024. An intricate and interlaced tapestry of sports, social and interest groups – 45 groups took part in the photograph. The High Street is the villages’ central vein and the backdrop for our photograph.

Burnham is an extremely “liveable” village – it’s big enough to have all we need on a daily basis (shops, eateries, healthcare, library etc) but small enough to have its own identity. Resident

Read more reflections from the communities of Brill, Burnham and Fairford Leys HERE

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Village Stories

Writers Claire Fuller, Ruth Quayle and Will Burns spent time in each village, observing and using the location as a springboard for new writing.

Read Claire, Will and Ruth’s Village Stories

Please click on the links below to read

Claire Fuller explores loneliness and search for companionship in two flash-fiction vignettes.

Hand in Hand and Can’t Help Falling in Love.

Ruth Quayle proposes a wondrous creation myth of a hilltop village in her fantastical children’s story.

The Giant Who Picked Up a Village

Listen to a recording of Ruth Quayle reading The Giant Who Picked Up a Village HERE

Will Burns reveals the typology of modern village design casting his analytical eye on a location that feels so familiar, yet so strange.

Fairford Leys

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Village Stories – Community & Schools Creative Writing Workshops

Claire Fuller led flash fiction workshops in Burnham; with Men In Sheds, Slough Writers, Burnham Grammar and a Burnham Library open workshop. Claire used photographic snapshots of Burnham to inspire imaginations. A selection of flash fiction written by Burnham Community is available to download below.

Will Burns led a thought provoking introductory workshop on poetry and place at Utopia Coffee and Gifts in Fairford Leys.

Ruth Quayle led workshops with 150 children from Brill School taking inspiration from her story The Giant That Picked Up A Village. She invited the children to create Letters to Brill from the perspective of buildings in the village. You can download a book compiling all the writing and illustrations from the children of Brill Church of England School below.

Biographies

Theo Clinkard

Theo Clinkard is based in Devon and works internationally as a choreographer, theatre designer, performer, mentor and teacher. He launched his dance company in 2012 and has steadily built a reputation for creating affecting and visually arresting contemporary work that centres the moving body. Theo works with attention, the senses and the imagination as a way to generate and articulate a landscape of feelings, creating opportunities for memorable connection between audiences, dancers and participants. Theo is an Associate Artist at Brighton Dome, an Honorary Fellow at Plymouth University and choreographic commissions include Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba & Candoco. 

Camilla Greenwell

Camilla Greenwell is a director and photographer who grew up in Leeds and is based in London. She studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design before completing a postgraduate diploma in Photography at the London College of Communication.  Over the past decade she has worked with numerous artists and clients to create imagery that stems from an interest in people and the stories they tell, often occupying a space between reality and performance and with a focus on movement.

In 2020 she put together her first solo exhibition, Movement in Still Form, commissioned by Sadler’s Wells. Her second solo exhibition at Déda, Of Stillness and Sight included her first film In Search of Sanctuary, commissioned by James Cousins Company.

Ruth Quayle 

Ruth Quayle is the author of 15 books for children, including the much-loved Magnificent Mabel series. She grew up surrounded by sisters (she’s the middle of three) and spent a lot of her childhood writing to the tooth fairy, pretending she had a pet rabbit and stomping up to her room to read books – vital training for a children’s author. She lives in a small village near Oxford with her husband and three children. 

Will Burns

Will Burns was born in London and lives in Buckinghamshire. His first full poetry collection Country Music was published with Offord Road Books in 2020 and won the Laurel Prize for Best First Collection. His debut novel The Paper Lanternwas published in July 2021 with Weidenfeld & Nicholson for which he was named as one of The Observer’s Top 10 Debut Novelists of 2021. In 2019 he released Chalk Hill Blue, a collaborative album made with the composer Hannah Peel, which set his poems to her music.

Claire Fuller

Claire Fuller is the author of five novels. Her latest The Memory of Animals was published in April 2023. Her previous Unsettled Ground won the Costa Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages. Claire Fuller also writes flash fiction and short stories. Many have been published, and she has won the BBC Opening Lines short story competition, and the Royal Academy / Pin Drop prize. She has taught creative writing including short stories and flash fiction to a huge range of people of differing abilities, and has judged both short story and flash fiction writing competitions.

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VILLAGE was commissioned and produced by Bucks Culture as part of its season STORIES in autumn 2024

VILLAGE photography project was conceived by Theo Clinkard Dance with photography by Camilla Greenwell. VILLAGE writers were commissioned by Bucks Culture.

VILLAGE was financially supported by Arts Council England, Abderrahim Crickmay Charitable Settlement, Rothschild Foundation, Buckinghamshire Council, Aylesbury Community Board, Beeches Community Board, Haddenham and Waddesdon Community Board and Burnham Foundation, with in-kind support from Burnham Parish Council, Brill Parish Council and Coldharbour Parish Council.

With much gratitude to the participating communities, parish councils, local clubs & groups and businesses in the villages Fairford Leys, Burnham and Brill.

The Village team

Lallie Davis – Bucks Culture Director

Ursula White – Stories Producer & Engagement Producer

Eckhard Thiemann – Creative Associate

Rosalind Conlon – Producer – Theo Clinkard Dance

Production Management: Mat Ort, Dom Martin, Linsey Hall

Choreography Assistants: Alice Ortona Coles, Ana Noakes, Elisa de la Luz Irsara, Fionn Cox-Davies, Quincey Kawahara, Ruby Wenham

Photography Assistants: Damien Hockey, Bella Galliano-Hale

With special thanks to: Reverend Gemma Beesley, Cllr Andrew Cole, Andy Fisher, Keith Gray, Cllr Marie Hammon, Adam Killeya , Viv Nicholas, Shirley Shaw, Cllr Liz Springs, Cllr Steve Wadlow, Imaan Yasin