A local scheme which saw children craft poetry based on local heritage has won a prestigious award from Ulster Architectural Heritage.

The Heartland project involved eight Mid Ulster primary schools, with students given the opportunity to visit heritage sites, such as Bellaghy Bawn, Knockmany Passage Tomb, Lissan House, and Tirkane Sweathouse to discover the history associated with these special places and then write about their experiences. 

It was devised by the Education Officers at Hill of The O'Neill & Ranfurly House and Seamus Heaney HomePlace almost two years ago after they had examined the, then newly published Tourism Strategy for Mid Ulster which highlighted the fact that the Mid Ulster District Council area is extremely rich in heritage.

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The scheme has since been named the winner in the 'Best Contribution to a Heritage Project by Young People' category at the Ulster Architectural Heritage awards.

Deputy Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Clement Cuthbertson said: "Arguably, Mid Ulster contains the richest seam of archaeological, historic and heritage sites and facilities within the North of Ireland, stretching from the Mesolithic era and up to the Second World War. A lot of these sites are well known, such as Tullaghoge Fort and Beaghmore Stone Circle, but many are not.

"It has been wonderful to see future generations connecting with the past with the help of the Children's Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, Myra Zepf, to produce poems that are written with enthusiasm and vigour, and connect with our district's history and nature across time and space."

The schools taking part in the project were: Augher Central Primary School; Bellaghy Primary School; Carntall Primary School, Clogher; Churchtown Primary School, Cookstown; Lissan Primary School, Cookstown; St Brigid's Primary School / Bunscoil Naomh Bríd, Tirkane; St John Bosco Primary School, Ballynease; St Macartan's Primary School, Clogher.

The poetry that emerged can now be found in the recently published book, 'Heartland', available at Visitor Information Centres throughout Mid Ulster.

(CM/JG)