The Water Rail (2014) is a filmic response to the landscape across Northamptonshire's Stanwick Lakes nature reserve, and the rail is a fiercely territorial ground-nesting bird that dwells in wetland. The film was created and shot along the reclaimed railway route that runs from Stanwick to Ringstead's canal lock. In the middle of the 19th Century, up to 1000 people descended upon the Nene Valley to build one of the first railway tracks to London, many families lived and worked along the line in temporary and often difficult conditions. The two characters in the film are nomadic, and wander like apparitions through the archaeological remnants of the landscape's industrial past. 

Credits:

Choreography and direction: Lisa Risdale

Filmmaker: Gareth Risdale

Production assistant: Theresa Haworth

Dancers: Darrel Aldridge and Laura Gibson

Sound design: Lisa Risdale and Gareth Risdale

Produced in partnership with Nene Valley Festival, the Castle Theatre and University of Northampton.

Shot on location at Stanwick Lakes Nature reserve (2014)