Beatrice Searle (13:30)

A memoir, travelogue, and meditation on stone and the transformative power of craft

In 2017 a young woman decides to cross the North Sea and undertake a 500 mile walk on a medieval pilgrim path to Nidaros Cathedral in Norway – dragging behind her a 40-kilo stone from the west coast of Orkney.

Fascinated by the mysterious footprint stones of Scandinavia, closely associated with travellers, saints and the inauguration of Kings, stone mason Beatrice Searle follows in their footsteps with her stone as a talisman of sorts.

Stone will Answer is as much about letting go as holding fast, it asks what lessons might be learned from stone, what we choose to carry with us and what we return to put down or pick up again.

Beatrice is an artist and stone mason who completed her masonry training at Lincoln Cathedral and now lives in Scotland.

In conversation with Anna Somers Cocks

This talk was recorded and can be watched here.

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