Creative Intervention: Sanquhar

What’s Happening in Sanquhar?

The ambition is to work with the youth film and photography group at A’ the Airts to co-create a series of short media works that capture Sanquhar’s vibrant culture of movement. Through a youth lens, the project will highlight the friendships, routines, landscapes, personal stories and shared rituals that make walking, wheeling and cycling meaningful in this community.

The project aims to:

• Celebrate active and sustainable travel as social, inclusive, multi-generational and deeply connected to place
• Challenge exclusionary narratives by showing that greener travel is for everyone — not only athletes or hobbyists
• Encourage greater participation by showcasing relatable local stories
• Strengthen the identity of Sanquhar and the Southern Upland Way as places of cultural and environmental significance
• Contribute to regional momentum around sustainable, community-led travel
• Build skills, confidence and creative capacity among young people at A’ the Airts

This is a project about seeing the town anew through its movement and inviting others to join in.

Planned Creative Outputs

The project will produce a cohesive set of digital media works. Creative outputs may include:

• Audio- or story-led content such as short films, reels, interviews and YouTube segments
• Portraits of people who walk, wheel, cycle and explore the surrounding landscapes
• Features on walking groups, cycling visitors and local accessibility innovations (including work at the Adult Resource Centre)
• Stories capturing the multi-generational nature of movement in Sanquhar
• Themed pieces exploring wellbeing, mindfulness and communal joy tied to moving through the landscape
• Reflections on historic and contemporary perspectives — from ancient routes to modern everyday journeys
• Contributions to occasional micro-events or screenings to bring the topic into public conversation