Wisdom of Water: Making Space at Whitfield Well

On a bright August afternoon, the community of Whitfield in Glossop came together for Wisdom of Water - a MAKE Room pop-up event exploring history, ecology, creativity, and connection at one of the area’s most significant but little-used landmarks: Whitfield Well.

MAKE Room is a roaming arts programme developed by Local in collaboration with Glassball studio, as part of Derbyshire Makes, creating opportunities to reimagine overlooked or underused spaces, or spaces inviting conversation, as “rooms” for creative making, curiosity, and reflection. For this iteration, Glassball Studio worked with local partners including Friends of Whitfield Rec, Wilder Whitfield, Move More Glossop, and local residents to test what a MAKE Room could look like in this historic site.

Whitfield Well has long served generations of local residents, yet in recent decades it had slipped out of everyday memory and use. By building a temporary MAKE Room with reclaimed pallets - which became seating, planters, and conversation spaces - we reimagined the Well as a focal point for creativity and exchange. Interlocking cardboard panels from other MAKE Room events were reused to gather feedback and reflections, later to be repurposed by local allotments.

Alongside the making activity, a series of talks and walks drew out the Well’s wider meanings. A soundscape amplified the gurgling tones of the water itself, projections lit up the north wall with images from Whitfest and local archives, and guided walks explored pollinator pit stops, plants, and insects in the surrounding landscape.

“It is a spring fed perpetual well, meaning that flows in even the most severe droughts. Indeed, its heavy flow once supplied the houses hereabouts with their drinking water, even after most other houses were plumbed into the mains. Because of its importance, it was, for a long time, the focus of a well dressing.” Extract from https://glossopcuriosities.co.uk/2017/07/12/whitfieldwells/ 

Tim, is an archaeologist and local resident, shared insights into the Well’s heritage and waterways, reminding us of the role water has played in shaping everyday life in Glossop across centuries.

Creative writing activities invited participants to imagine what the water “sees” and “holds,” and to give voice to its stories. These were warmly received, and a highlight of the afternoon was hearing a few poems read aloud by Jane Doyle, local resident and member of Wilder Whitfield.

Water I am by Jane Doyle

Drip, drop

Falling from the sky

Caught by a blade of grass

Funnelled to the peaty earth

Where I slowly seep deeper and deeper

Meeting other drops

Gathering until we are a perpetual bubbling spring

Travelling downhill our path is mapped beneath houses, roads and gardens.

Emerging in stone troughs

Open to being scooped up by a birds beak, a dogs tongue or a watering can

Spared! I swirl on from view down culverts and pipes 

Onwards with my journey 

As water, I am

Her words captured the Well not only as a physical site but also as a mirror of human care, memory, and resilience.

The event was truly intergenerational. Children as young as five worked alongside older residents in their eighties, making, listening, and talking together. As one partner reflected:

“It was fantastic, well done. Loved it and think it was a real success. Whitfield community are difficult to engage with because it’s a diverse community from an economical and social point of view, so it was great to see young people as young as 5 being engaged alongside the older generation reaching 80s at one event to understand the importance of the Well’s history. Thank you to all involved, MAKE Room has well and truly made its stamp on Whitfield.”
- Helen Thornhill, Move More Glossop

At the heart of Wisdom of Water was a question: what does the water want to tell us? By listening to the amplified sound of the Well, by walking the landscape, by making together with reclaimed materials, we were reminded that water is not just a resource but a collaborator - holding stories of climate, community, and continuity.

The event was also an opportunity for Wilder Whitfield to celebrate their Derbyshire Wildlife Trust–funded project, highlighting how ecological care, community action, and creativity are deeply interconnected.

Wisdom of Water would not have been possible without the generosity and support of the Whitfield community. Our thanks go to Friends of Whitfield, Wilder Whitfield, and the Whitfield Community Centre for hosting the residency, and to all those who attended, made, listened, and shared their voices.

MAKE Room will return to Whitfield later this year for the Well Dressing in September, carrying forward the conversations, poems, and ideas sparked at this gathering.

Together, we are learning that resilience flows when we make room - for water, for creativity, and for one another.