Bringing the beauty of blossoms to Minehead
Why working creatively with the community is important to us
Throughout July and August, Maya from Minehead Bay Festival and James from the National Trust visited various local groups and worked with families to create 100s of paper and crochet blossoms.
These blossoms were carefully attached to branches gathered from the forest floor in Lorna Doone Valley and assembled into a beautiful collaborative art installation that was showcased at the Minehead Bay Festival this August.
This installation not only celebrates the beauty and abundance of nature but also reflects the collaborative nature of our community, where working together to create the artwork has joyfully woven connections between one another and the natural world.
As a small charity, Minehead and Coast Development Trust works to enrich the people, place, and nature of Minehead. Working collaboratively and creatively in this way is at the heart of what we do—coming together in interesting and unexpected ways helps us to connect more deeply with each other and the natural world to which we belong.
The installation will now be reinstated in the National Trust greenhouses at Lorna Doone Valley, where visitors will be able to enjoy it again from spring 2026 as part of the National Trust’s nationwide Festival of Blossom.
A big thank you to:
- The National Trust team and volunteers at the stunning Lorna Doone Valley for partnering with us on this work, and the team from the Fyne Court for delivering blossom-inspired arts activities at the festival
- The Minehead Eye for having us run a making session with the children at their Summer Holiday Club
- The Little Fishes Toddler Groups in Porlock and Minehead for allowing us to come and make a whole load of mess with our spin art flower-making activity
- Minehead Women’s Institute and the wonderful Lorna for making so many beautiful crochet blossoms to add to the artwork
