About

On the 21st of December, the longest night of 2017, people were invited to gather for sunset at Formby Point to share memories, to pause and reflect on the past and future, and to [re]connect with this special place between land and sea.

Commisionned by National Trust Formby and Sefton Libraries, artist Laurence Payot wanted to find a way to celebrate the love for this special place, and weave together a collective experience.

Together they collected stories of moments spent within this landscape, real and imagined memories, from the past and future. These were entwined together into a poem by artist Scott Farlow and local residents, and performed on the White Solstice event with the rhythmic and enchanting sound of Suzie Price’s gongs.

The white circles inscribed with stories were hung in the pinewoods like moons awaiting the absent sun, and started to glow in the deep of the night…

A huge thank you to local residents who performed the poem on White Solstice: Rob Lupton, Helen Rigby, Rachael Tynan, Eleanor Telfour, Lucia Lukic, Elisabeth Douglas, Tracy Tynan, Wendy Telford.

A huge thank you to Formby Library, St Jerome Primary School, and Formby Pool Trust for helping in collecting stories.

Project organised by: Sally Orritt, Helen Crompton, Jamie Sorensen, Maria Brewster

Lead artist Laurence Payot

Special thanks to: Sue Crosbie, Ian Edgely, Kate Martin, Anthony Falconer, Amanda Tukic.

Funded by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts Libraries and Heritage Lottery

Website design and coding: John Wai
Video filming – event: Tim Brunsden
Video filming and editing – event: Tim Brunsden and Laurence Payot
Photography – event: Robert Battersby
Photography – website: Laurence Payot