Reading alumni carve poems into the Yorkshire moors

Pip Hall and Wayne Hart carving letters on the Yorkshire moors

A series of seven poems by Simon Armitage are being carved into stones on the moors along the Pennine Watershed in Yorkshire by Reading Typography alumni Pip Hall and Wayne Hart. This short film shows Pip at work.

The Stanza Stones project is a collaboration between Mr Armitage, the Ilkley Literary Festival and imove, Yorkshire’s cultural project for the London 2012 Olympics.

The poems will be designed by lettercarver Pip Hall and carved by her and her apprentice, Wayne Hart, with some of the work taking place on location.

The first verses to be completed, on Pule Hill, were done on location and took a month to complete, with each of the 360 characters taking between seven and 10 minutes to carve.

Pip Hall carving

Pip Hall said: ‘It feels quite a responsibility to try and make something which I feel very happy with and something which is hopefully going to enhance the landscape and people’s enjoyment of those areas.’

Pip is training Wayne Hart with the support of a two-year Apprenticeship Scheme run by the Memorial Arts Charity.

Read more and watch the video at BBC Leeds & West Yorkshire. (Top picture: BBC; lower picture: Ilkley Literature Festival)