Northern Saints Project, Jan-July 2020

People are already – perhaps – aware of Northeast England’s titanic history: of Durham Cathedral, resting place of St Cuthbert and Bede the Venerable, and of Lindisfarne, the beautiful island birthplace of Christianity within England. The Northern Saints project, launched in March 2020, aims to fill in the gaps – both geographically and culturally – of awareness of this mesmeric region and its seminal place within history and especially religious history. With the creation of six new long-distance hiking trails interconnecting key destinations and attractions across the Northeast, the role of the Northern Saints project was to showcase these routes and thereby the huge historic legacy of the region.

My responsibilities:

• For each of the six new hiking trails, creating eye-catching content for use in striking fold-out map brochures on key attractions, out-of-the-way diversions and essential places to eat and drink in fluid narrative content that also places each trail’s historic and cultural importance in a global context for travellers.
• Creating more in-depth content for a print guidebook to Northeast England focussing on all six routes and their merits.
• Creating online content on key places mentioned in the print to make the user experience truly interactive and user-friendly for app/mobile users.

Client: Visit County Durham

Result  (plus six detailed, annotated visitor maps and pamphlets plus an accompanying guide providing an overview of the routes)

*

Liechtenstein Trail Project, May 2019-Mar 2020

It is not every year a country celebrates a major anniversary. For the 300th birthday celebrations of the nation and principality of Liechtenstein, a major new cross-country hiking trail was created with the aim of introducing visitors to the many sides of the destination. The result and reception across Europe and beyond was spectacular.

My responsibilities:

• Promoting this trail to an English-speaking audience
• Writing an evocative day-by-day account of what it is like to hike the Liechtenstein Trail, and thereby what it is like to hike across Liechtenstein.
• Writing inspirational content on the history, geography and culture of Liechtenstein to help create an instantly and universally recognisable ‘identity’ for the country.

Client: Liechtenstein Tourism

Result (see links at bottom for days 2, 3 and 4)