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The Maltings and Music at Paxton launch new partnership with family concert at Hide Hill Creative Space
The Maltings and Music at Paxton are launching a new partnership this summer, bringing live folk music into the heart of Berwick with a special family concert at the Maltings’ Hide Hill venue.
The collaboration marks the beginning of a new relationship between the two organisations, built around a shared ambition to make high-quality arts and culture more accessible to local communities and to create opportunities for new audiences to experience live performance.
As part of this partnership, Music at Paxton, an annual international chamber music festival at Paxton House, will present the first family-focused concert at Maltings at Hide Hill - introducing younger audiences and families to live music in a welcoming, relaxed and interactive environment.
The concert will also be the first live performance presented in The Maltings’ Hide Hill venue - an exciting milestone for the organisation as it continues to expand the range of arts and cultural experiences available across Berwick, creating more opportunities for local people to engage with different forms of creativity and performance beyond its main arts, engagement and cinema programmes.
Ros Lamont, CEO at The Maltings, said: “We’re delighted to be beginning this partnership with Music at Paxton. It feels like a natural fit for both organisations, with a shared commitment to bringing high-quality arts experiences to communities across the region in welcoming and accessible ways. Launching the partnership with this family concert at Hide Hill feels especially exciting, and we see it as the start of a really positive long-term relationship between The Maltings and Music at Paxton, with lots of opportunities to work together in the future.”
Music at Paxton’s family concert featuring folk duo Mairi McGillivray voice, fiddle (left) and Katie Allen guitar, fiddle (right) takes place at Maltings at Hide Hill, Berwick-upon-Tweed, as part of this year’s 20th anniversary festival programme.
Angus Smith, Music at Paxton Artistic Director, said: "We are very excited to present this year's pre-festival Family Concert in partnership with Maltings Berwick at their new Cultural Resource Hub on Hide Hill. Our common mission is to share exciting live artistic experiences designed to be accessible to all, and there can be no better way to kick off our collaboration than with a relaxed programme of beautiful traditional songs for all the family to enjoy.”
Music at Paxton: Mini Concerts for Families
Maltings at Hide Hill, 14 Hide Hill, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Sunday 21st June, 12pm & 2pm
For more information visit The Maltings
New art installation to crown everyday royalty of Berwick-upon-Tweed
Brenda Collins from The Free Trade Pub in Berwick, photographed wearing an ornate stained-glass crown by David Purvis of Condotierri Glass. Photo Credit: Charlotte Summers.
Roz Haddrill (centre) from eco-friendly store The Green Shop, wearing a crown created by Jen How from Jennie’s Wool Studio.
Photo Credit: Charlotte Summers.
Visitors to Berwick-upon-Tweed this summer will be able to crown themselves king or queen for the day as part of a new interactive art installation inspired by the town’s tradition of crowning the Tweed Salmon Queen. Taking place from Saturday 11 to Thursday 16 July, Our Wic - which takes its name from the Anglo Saxon word for ‘dwelling’ - invites people to perform their own coronation and lay claim to their territory by donning the Our Wic crown.
Created by artist Lucy Wright and produced by contemporary arts agency Arts&Heritage, Our Wic celebrates the long tradition of crowning kings and queens of industry across the North of England. It also coincides with the 80th anniversary of the Tweed Salmon Queen celebrations in the town - an annual tradition first established to celebrate the town’s rich salmon fishing heritage and to herald good catches for the year ahead.
Running alongside the installation is an exhibition of photography depicting six new ‘kings and queens’ of industry from the town; local residents who help make the town what it is today.
Artist Lucy Wright said: "I've always had an interest in the northern British tradition of crowning kings and queens of industry, like the Tweedmouth Salmon Queen, which has a long history in the town.
“For me, these ‘community crownings’ are examples of how we celebrate each other and claim our own heroes and heroines in the places where we live. Our Wic is about the people of Berwick paying tribute to their own kings and queens, from all sections of society; the people who make the town what it is today.”
The Straw Yard in Berwick will be transformed into an elaborate throne room where visitors can don a bronze Our Wic crown created by Lucy Wright, sculpted using textures and symbols from Berwick’s buildings and landscapes. An official photograph will be taken to mark each coronation and the name of the newly created territory will be displayed on digital screens inside the throne room - a nod to the town’s unique position in the Debatable Lands, an area historically disputed and subject to multiple changes of identity across time.
Next door in Holy Trinity Church, an exhibition of photography will showcase Berwickers who have been nominated by members of the community as everyday royalty of the town. Each one is photographed wearing one of six bespoke crowns created by local artists.
Lucy Wright
For more information visit www.lucywright.art or @lucy_j_wright
Photo Credit: Felicity Crawshaw.
Some of the everyday royalty of Berwick include: Eva Simpson from malt manufacturer Simpsons Malt, who is pictured wearing a crown by basket maker, Anna Corbett; Brenda Collins, who has worked at The Free Trade Pub in the town since 1971, is photographed in an ornate stained-glass crown created by David Purvis of Condotierri Glass; Roz Haddrill from The Green Shop, an independent eco-friendly store that has traded in Berwick for more than 30 years, wears a crown created by Jen How from Jennie’s Wool Studio; Lyndsey Morris from Pith Papers, a new business established in 2020 that represents Berwick’s hundreds year-old print industry, is pictured wearing a crown created by Lucy Baxandall of Tidekettle Paper; Annaluisa Wood from Berwick Infirmary wears a crown by Deborah Boyd Whyte; and John Skelly from butchers W.R. Skelly & Son, which at 266 years old holds the title of the longest-running family business in Berwick-upon-Tweed, is photographed wearing a crown by Suzanne Wright.
Other everyday royalty of the town will be featured in a special publication and on the official Our Wic instagram page (www.instagram.com/ourwicproject).
Andrea Oliver, Create Berwick Manager, said: “Our Wic is the second of three annual art commissions funded by Create Berwick that demonstrates why our small border town is one of the most distinctive cultural destinations in the country.
“As well as attracting visitors to Berwick-upon-Tweed and raising the town’s profile as a thriving hub for arts and culture, Our Wic has also created opportunities for local artists and creatives, further strengthening the cultural industries in the town.
“Our Wic has helped grow the skills of our creative economy, inspire more people to pursue careers in the arts, and galvanise our cultural and creative businesses to deliver more cultural experiences in the town that demonstrate why Berwick-upon-Tweed is a cultural and creative powerhouse.”
Our Wic takes place at The Straw Yard and Holy Trinity Church in Berwick-upon-Tweed from Saturday 11 to Thursday 16 July 2026.
The exhibition and interactive installation are both open from 11am-6pm daily. The event is free (booking required).
For more information, visit createberwick.co.uk
Our Wic is commissioned and funded by Create Berwick, Northumberland County Council, and the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
For more information about Arts&Heritage, www.artsandheritage.org.uk
The ‘Our Wic’ bronze crown by artist Lucy Wright, sculpted using textures and symbols from Berwick’s buildings and landscapes.
Photo Credit: Charlotte Summers
The Maltings and Berwick Academy Launch New Dance Artist Residency Following Success of School Partnership
The Maltings (Berwick) Trust and Berwick Academy have announced an open call for a new Dance Artist in Residence, building on the success of the school’s first-ever artist residency programme. Funded through the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority Inspire Fund, the new residency will take place during the 2026–27 academic year and will bring a professional dance artist into Berwick Academy to work directly with pupils, teachers and the wider school community.
The opportunity follows the highly successful 2025–26 visual arts residency led by artist Martha Ellis as part of the Living Barracks Berwick Shines programme, produced by The Maltings. The project marked the first time Berwick Academy had hosted an artist residency and demonstrated the positive impact creative practice can have within a school setting.
Ben Ryder, Deputy Head Teacher at Berwick Academy said:
“Martha has made a huge impact at Berwick Academy. Her work with students has provided enrichment opportunities that we would not otherwise have been able to offer. The Maltings (Berwick) Trust and funding from the Inspire Fund have enabled this partnership to continue and we are excited about the creation of a Dance Artist in Residence position for 2026–27.”
The new residency will focus on dance, movement and wellbeing, creating accessible opportunities for self-expression, creativity and connection through regular sessions in school. The appointed artist will work one day a week during term time, developing dance activity with pupils and staff, supporting curriculum development and establishing new extracurricular opportunities including a lunchtime dance club. The residency has been designed in response to challenges facing young people, including increasing anxiety, reduced engagement with school life and low self-esteem. Through creative movement and inclusive dance activity, the project aims to bring moments of joy, confidence and community back into the school day.
Lucy Vaughan, Head of Creative Engagement at The Maltings, said:
“The success of the first residency showed just how valuable long-term creative partnerships can be within schools. We’re excited to now build on that foundation through dance, creating opportunities for young people to express themselves, connect with others and experience the benefits of creativity and movement in an inclusive and supportive environment.”
For more information and application details, visit The Maltings website.
Atmospheric Sound Performance Drones and Dances Comes to Berwick
An unusual and immersive evening of music will take place at Holy Trinity Church, Berwick-upon-Tweed, on Friday 12 June at 7pm, as Berwick-based composer Martin Parker presents Drones and Dances.
Blending multi-channel electronics, brass instruments, church organ and even mobile phones, the work makes full use of the church’s resonant acoustic and will be presented in quadrophonic sound, surrounding the audience on all sides. Structured as a sequence of eight short movements, the piece moves from slow-moving, drone-like textures into more intricate, shifting soundscapes. The result is an evocative and quietly absorbing listening experience, in which the space itself becomes part of the performance.
Martin Parker, who lives in Berwick-upon-Tweed, is a lecturer in sound and composition at the University of Edinburgh. His current research focuses on responsible and creative approaches to the use of artificial intelligence in music.
Martin said, ‘I’m excited to be able to share this research in Berwick, my home for the last ten years, and to work with Berwick musicians in the special interior of Holy Trinity Church. There is, rightly, deep concern in the arts at the moment around the exploitation of creative work for artificial intelligence. I hope this event will show some ways in which AI can be incorporated into our creative traditions rather than replacing them, helping us to craft and enrich new musical experiences.’
The event is free to attend, with advance booking recommended via Eventbrite:dronesanddances.eventbrite.co.uk
Drones and Dances by Martin Parker
Friday 12 June, 7pm (duration approx. 1 hr)
Holy Trinity Church, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick Academy students take over the big screen as Maltings launches youth-led cinema programme
A new generation of film programmers is stepping into the spotlight at the Maltings Cinema, as local students take full creative control of a brand-new youth-led cinema initiative, already building momentum, with audience numbers doubling at its second screening just weeks after launch.
Created in partnership with Berwick Academy, the Young Film Programmers Club puts decision-making firmly in the hands of young people aged 13-18. From selecting films to marketing and running live events, students are shaping a cinema experience designed entirely for their peers.
Originally launched earlier this spring, the initiative has now been rebranded by the students themselves as Teen Screen, helping create a clearer identity focused on teenage audiences and a social cinema experience designed specifically for young people.
The second Teen Screen event saw ticket sales double compared to the launch screening, marking a strong early sign of growth and engagement from local teenagers.
Students involved in the programme continue to take an active role across all aspects of delivery, including film programming, promotional activity, audience outreach and front-of-house operations on the night.
Ben Ryder, Deputy Headteacher at Berwick Academy said: “We are incredibly proud of our students for the enthusiasm, creativity and professionalism they have shown through the Teen Screen initiative. This partnership with the Maltings gives young people a genuine voice and the opportunity to develop valuable real-world skills in leadership, teamwork, communication and event management. It has been wonderful to see students take such ownership of the project and create something that is clearly resonating with young audiences across the community. We look forward to seeing the programme continue to grow and inspire even more young people in Berwick.”
Daniel Cox, Programme Manager at Maltings Cinema, said: “The Young Film Programmers Club is about giving young people real ownership of cultural experiences in their town. Teen Screen showings create a vital ‘third space’: somewhere independent from school and home, where young people can connect, socialise, build skills and confidence in a safe environment.”
Beyond the cinema experience, the programme equips the Young Programmer students with practical, transferable skills in event management, marketing, teamwork and critical thinking – supporting future education and career pathways.
Following the success of its debut screenings, Maltings Cinema is now inviting other local schools and academies, opening the network of young people aged 13-18, to attend future screenings – creating a shared social space where more teenagers can come together to enjoy cinema in an environment designed specifically for them.
The next Teen Screen film has already been confirmed, with Michael set to show at 6pm on Tuesday 26th May (doors open 5:15pm). Tickets are priced at £6, and screenings remain exclusively for 13-18 years old, preserving the club’s unique peer-led atmosphere.
For tickets and more information, visit: Michael (TEEN SCREEN) – The Maltings
Our Wic - celebrating Berwick-upon-Tweed’s everyday royalty
Our Wic is a new exhibition and interactive installation by artist Lucy Wright and Arts&Heritage, celebrating Berwick-upon-Tweed’s everyday royalty. Taking inspiration from the crowning of the Tweed Salmon Queen in Berwick (a tradition that marks its 80th anniversary in 2026).
Our Wic features a new photography exhibition celebrating six nominated ‘kings and queens’ from the town - each wearing one of six bespoke crowns created by local artists.
It also includes an immersive installation that gives local people and visitors to Berwick the chance to crown themselves for the day. An elaborate throne room, complete with a bronze Our Wic crown sculpted using the town's buildings and landscapes, is where residents and visitors can perform their own coronation and lay claim to their territory.
The Straw Yard and Holy Trinity Church, Berwick upon Tweed 11-16 July 2026, 11:00-18:00 Free - booking required
Our Wic is commissioned and funded by Create Berwick, Northumberland County Council, and the North East Combined Authority.
Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline. The Granary Gallery
This summer, The Granary Gallery in Berwick presents Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline, a major exhibition developed in partnership with The Fleming Collection, exploring the powerful seascapes created by one of the most distinctive British artists of the 20th century. Regarded as one of the most original and admired artists of her generation, Joan Eardley (1921–1963) is widely known for her tender, yet unsentimental, portraits of street children in Glasgow. Alongside this celebrated body of work, however, she produced an extraordinary series of landscapes and seascapes inspired by the small fishing village of Catterline, south of Aberdeen, where she spent the latter part of her life. The exhibition is part of the RSA Celebrating Together Project across the UK, marking 200 years of the Royal Scottish Academy.
Eardley first visited Catterline in 1951 and was immediately captivated by its dramatic coastline and wild environment. Dividing her time between her Glasgow studio in Townhead and the remote coastal village, she eventually settled there, working from cottages overlooking the North Sea. Perched on the edge of a cliff above the village’s crescent-shaped bay, Eardley found endless inspiration in the surrounding landscape – from the buildings and farmland to the rugged shoreline. Yet it was the sea itself that became her most compelling subject. The constantly shifting waves, crashing against the shore, offered a way for Eardley to capture both the raw power of the natural world and the emotional intensity that characterises her work.
Initially finding the sea difficult to paint, Eardley’s approach evolved with the influence of abstract expressionism. The ever-changing movement of the water allowed her to push her practice in new directions, producing works of striking energy and texture. Often painting outdoors in challenging conditions, she experimented with a range of materials, incorporating artist’s paint, boat paint, newspaper, sand and grasses layered onto hardboard to convey the physical force of wind and sea.
The exhibition focuses on works made between mid-1950s and 1963, a period widely considered the peak of Eardley’s creative powers. Loans from the Royal Scottish Academy, The Fleming Collection, Aberdeen Art Gallery and private collections bring together a remarkable group of paintings and works on paper created in response to Catterline’s dramatic coastline.
Highlights of the exhibition include Summer Sea (c.1960-63) from the Royal Scottish Academy, Field of Barley by the Sea from The Fleming Collection and The Sea II (1963) from Huddersfield Art Gallery, which demonstrate the extraordinary vitality and emotional intensity of Eardley’s late seascapes.
The exhibition also includes works by artists who had a significant impact on her life and creative practice, including Margot Sandeman and her lover Lil Neilson, who she had an intense relationship with towards the end of her life.
James Lowther, Head of Visual Arts at The Maltings, said: “Joan Eardley’s paintings of Catterline are among the most powerful responses to landscape in twentieth-century British art. Standing on the cliff edge above the North Sea, she developed a way of painting that captured not just the appearance of the waves, but their extraordinary force and emotional intensity. This exhibition brings together a remarkable group of works from the final years of her life, when she was working with real confidence and freedom.”
Theodore Albano, Director, Fleming Collection, said: “The Fleming Collection is so excited to work with the Granary Gallery and the RSA for their bicentenary. This particular show is one we are very excited for, as it includes some of Eardley’s finest works form the last years of her life, while also delving into her interpersonal relationships, as well as her deep love of Catterline. In my eyes, these Catterline pictures by Eardley are some of the most powerful paintings put to canvas in the Scottish Art Historical Canon of the last 75 years.”
Joan Eardley died in August 1963 at the age of 42. Her ashes were scattered along the shoreline at Catterline, where she had long been a familiar figure to local villagers, often seen painting in her characteristic RAF flying suit and heavy boots as she faced the restless North Sea.
Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline has been curated by The Maltings (Berwick) Trust in partnership with The Fleming Collection and forms part of RSA 200: Celebrating Together, a nationwide programme marking the bicentenary of the Royal Scottish Academy.
The Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed 6 June – 11 October 2026
See Joan Eardley: The Sea at Catterline: Exhibition Day Entry – The Maltings for further information and booking.
Image credit: Joan Eardley, Summer Sea, Oil on board. (c1960-c1963). Royal Scottish Academy © 2026 Estate of Joan Eardley. All Rights Reserved, DACS.
Something is coming ashore in Berwick and Spittal this May
A new piece of live performance will unfold across Berwick and Spittal at the end of May, as artist Lewis Hetherington presents The Visitors - a striking and unexpected work inspired by Berwick’s ecology and heritage, set in the public realm.
Audiences are invited to encounter The Visitors on Saturday 30 May in Berwick Town Centre from 12pm, and Sunday 31 May on Spittal Promenade from 12pm, where a procession will appear and move through the landscape, playfully interrupting the everyday.
Developed as part of the Living Barracks engagement programme, Berwick Shines, and produced by The Maltings (Berwick) Trust, The Visitors is rooted in research into Berwick’s heritage, landscape and natural environment. The programme invites artists to spend time in the town, responding to its stories, surroundings and ecological character through new work.
In the lead-up to the performance weekend, the commission has been developed in close collaboration with the local community, including the Maltings Youth Theatre, community groups at Maltings Hide Hill, and schools across Berwick, Spittal and Tweedmouth. Through these sessions, participants have played an active role in shaping the work, contributing ideas, materials and creative responses woven into the final piece.
Lewis Hetherington said: “The Visitors asks what happens when we think about all the other creatures who share this place with us - what might they be thinking or feeling as they watch us from the river or the sea? Berwick has this incredible location where you’re so often looking outwards. I’m excited by what happens when we shift that perspective - when we begin to imagine being looked back at - and gain a renewed sense of this extraordinary and beautiful world that we live in.”
Lucy Vaughan, Head of Creative Engagement at The Maltings (Berwick) Trust, said: “We are delighted to bring Lewis Hetherington to Berwick, along with his creative team, and the involvement of the Maltings Youth Theatre, local schools and members of the community who have collectively contributed to such an original and exciting project for everyone to enjoy. Berwick Shines is about creating opportunities for people to connect with artists and ideas in a way that feels meaningful and rooted in place. With The Visitors, our third major commission for Berwick Shines, local people have again enthusiastically joined in the opportunity to work with artists, as they did with our previous commissions: Berwick Parade and Litany for the Border. That sense of shared ownership is at the heart of our Creative Engagement programme at The Maltings.”
For this commission, Lewis Hetherington has been exploring ideas of observation, presence and the relationship between people and place, particularly Berwick’s extraordinary natural environment and the waters that shape it. From the River Tweed to the North Sea, these waters have carried generations of life, stories and industry, while remaining home to countless unseen creatures and delicate ecosystems.
The Visitors invites us to look again at these familiar landscapes, not just as backdrops to daily life, but as living, shifting environments that we are deeply connected to. Rooted in curiosity, wonder and care, the work encourages audiences to consider the many forms of life that share this place with us, and the importance of looking after the environments that sustain us all.
Known for creating bold, socially engaged performance, Lewis Hetherington’s work often brings together humour, spectacle and thoughtful provocation. His projects invite audiences into shared experiences that are as playful as they are reflective, often unfolding beyond traditional theatre spaces.
Appearing in various locations across Berwick Town Centre on 30 May and Spittal Promenade on 31 May, The Visitors invites audiences to pause, look again, and experience something just out of the ordinary, reconnecting with the landscapes, waters and hidden lives that surround us.
- Saturday 30 May – Berwick Town Centre – from 12pm
- Sunday 31 May – Spittal Promenade – from 12pm
- Free outdoor performance
Introducing Baby Cinema at The Maltings: Big Screen Moments for New Parents
Maltings Cinema at Berwick Barracks First Screening: Friday 1st May – 10am
The Maltings, Berwick, is launching a brand-new Baby Cinema strand this spring - welcoming parents and carers to enjoy the big screen in a relaxed, baby-friendly environment. The first screening will take place this Friday morning, as part of the cinema’s stylish celebration of The Devil Wears Prada 2, offering a perfect opportunity for new parents to step out, switch off, and share a cultural moment - without needing childcare.
Designed with both adults and little ones in mind, Baby Cinema screenings will feature softer lighting and reduced sound levels, alongside a relaxed, judgement-free atmosphere, with space for prams and easy movement in and out of the screen. Screenings are specifically designed for parents and carers with babies under 12 months. Whether it’s a first outing with a newborn or a chance to reconnect with the cinema-going experience, Baby Cinema aims to make culture more accessible during the early months of parenthood.
Daniel Cox, Programme Manager at the Maltings said “Baby Cinema is about making space for people who often feel they have to step away from cultural experiences for a while. We want parents and carers to feel completely comfortable coming along - babies, bags and all - and still enjoy that shared experience of film. Baby Cinema screenings will continue with monthly screenings, as part of The Maltings’ ongoing commitment to accessible, inclusive programming.
Details of upcoming dates can be found at: https://www.maltingsberwick.co.uk/whats-on/baby-cinema/
Tickets for the first Baby Cinema screening this Friday are available now.