Sweet Dreams...

In June this year, the Identity project run by Inverclyde Community Development Trust, worked with Riverside Inverclyde, James Watt Dock LLP and Inverclyde Council to secure the use of the Sugar Sheds for a one day performance of a locally produced drama. The script was written with pupils from St Columbas High School with the assistance of scriptwriter Danny McCahon (Casualty, Waterloo Road, Emmerdale). The drama retold the stories of local migrants who have passed through the area over the years and was produced as part of a project supported by Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland. I am lucky enough to be involved with this project, and the whole day was an exceptional experience, certainly amplified by the atmospherics of the Sheds. The performance will be available online and on DVD later in the year, but for now, here's a taste of the show...




Having been involved in the organisation of the Identity production, I better understand many of the difficulties of staging any event in the building - power, toilets, security, safe walking surfaces - all that doesn't magically appear; the space has none of these basic services - and none of it is cheap to hire in. But it can still be done. Likewise, the health and safety considerations of moving people in and out of the building are...challenging, with approval required from the Police and Fire services. But it can still be done. For us, it certainly helped the process that our one day event did not feature a bar - but equally, I know from talking to people over the last year, that's always one of the things most folk would like to see in there alongside live music.

A year on from the initial flurry and interest of the campaign, the marina continues to be busy, with hopes for new business development and local jobs there and The Sugar Sheds and the James Watt Dock continue to be a focus and inspiration for arts and cultural activity; Cardboard Bay based on the Russian social arts project Cardboardia, has been funded to happen in the Sheds in the near future. The life and work of sculptor George Wylie will be celebrated across the West of Scotland by The Whysman project, there's an exhibition at RIG Arts Gallery and the project culminates in a massive steel question mark being suspended from the Titan Crane at the dock. Local music, one of the things people wanted to continue to see in the Sheds most of all, is being promoted by a new website which takes it's name from the buildings; The Sugar Sheds, provides free listings to all local musicians, tutors, studios and events and is fast becoming one of the most well used local websites. And at least one other major arts project involving the Sheds is currently in development. As a space, it continues to inspire me personally - I wrote a few wee haiku the other week for my own blog Stramashed while I was walking down there and I've another wee ghost story on the go as well. For a real taste of how that inspiration can produce wonderful creative pieces, check out Alistair Cook's filmpoem The God of Sugar.

And now? In the short term, it would be nice to see more cultural opportunities down at the Sheds; with funding, time, genuine partnership working and resources, the Identity drama has shown that it can be done - in one small part of the Sugar Sheds, for one day. But what else can be done beyond these enjoyable, opportunistic events - is a long term plan for sustainability even possible now? The landscape locally and nationally for "regeneration" has changed dramatically, even in the last year. Any solution for the buildings lies, as it always did, in people, communities, agencies and organisations putting aside personal agendas, ideaologies and maybe even short term profit in favour of actually sitting down together to make things happen. That ship has yet to sail.

For now, while we wait, a shameless plug for another local project I'm involved with, The Dutch Gable House, which will be opening up on Doors Open Day on Saturday 8 / 9 September - you'll be able to get free copies of our Heritage Lottery Fund supported Graphic Novel on the day - which includes a few wee Sugar Sheds pages. Come one, come all.

And Magic Torch, the originators of the Sugar Sheds campaign have a new storytelling project starting later in September as well.

Sweet.

Candy Skeletons

Here's our piece from todays Greenock Telegraph...

The darker side of The Sugar Sheds history was explored last week when psychic medium Joan Charles took a tour around the iconic buildings with local heritage enthusiasts.

Joan has spent the last few months exploring mysterious and unusual locations across the UK and she was really glad to get the opportunity to investigate in her own area.

“The minute I walked in, I felt the atmosphere was very oppressive, just a real feeling of being trapped, not just physically, but maybe..financially. The people who worked in here had a very hard life inside and out of the Sheds. A lot of illness and disease.”

Construction on The Sugar Sheds began in 1885, with the buildings being completed 125 years ago in 1886. Thousands of people have worked in and passed through The Sheds since then, including German and Irish workers, something which Joan picked up on immediately.

“There was a real sense of multiculturalism there, not just in terms of the ships docking, but the people working, the people stuck inside. I was getting real Dutch and Canadian connections as well.”

Joan was in no doubt about one thing,

“People have died there. I was getting a man who had died in a fire there, trapped inside. Not the recent fire, before that.”

Paul Bristow is part of the Keep Greenock Sugar Sheds a Community Space campaign, and as a member of Magic Torch, has been researching and writing about local heritage and folklore for over ten years.

“With old buildings, there’s always a strange feeling, a sort of absence, spaces which were once so full of people and life, now empty and silent. The Sheds are a tremendously atmospheric space, and I was really interested to see what someone a bit more sensitively tuned to that space than myself might be able to find out! We’ve worked with Joan a few times before in exploring local spaces with a bit of dark history.”

Paul was really interested in some of the areas Joan was talking about which he had not heard before.

“Joan was particularly interested in the remains of the lift shaft in Shed A, a site which anecdotally has been the location for a number of deaths within The Sheds over the years. There were a few things which we’ll have to check up on, a number of specific family names and related events, other instances of fire within the building, and also the possibility that there were ever coffins stored within the sheds. It’s good to have a few new lines of enquiry.”

Following the success of The Tall Ships in Greenock earlier this summer, The Sugar Sheds have been the focus of a local campaign to see more events hosted there.

Two multinationals and a number of community groups are discussing potential future uses for The Sugar Sheds with the buildings owners, James Watt Dock LLP. The LLP are currently accepting expressions of interest from Events Management Organisations looking at developing commercial events in this unique location.

One of the more popular suggestions for events within the space was a Halloween event with music, horror films and ghost hunting based on Joan’s initial experiences, there’s certainly plenty there to find!

Just to keep you jangling...here's the theme tune from Clive Barker's horror film The Candyman...(the original short story was set in Liverpool, another "sugar town")