Drystone

Building community and the arts throughout Derbyshire and beyond

A Stone At A Time

A not-for-profit initiative to celebrate the County through creativity, heritage and sharing

Applications to The Mick Peat Drystone Bursary, to encourage and facilitate creativity in all its forms and bring people together, are now welcome.

The Covid-19 crisis decimated our creative industries and Drystone was formed in response to that; to build and rebuild our arts. Now, one year on from the first lockdown, The Mick Peat Drystone Bursary – created in tribute to one of Drystone’s founders – is open to anyone who wants to help make that happen.

You can find out more about the bursary and how to apply on the bursary page

Our Mick

The Mick Peat Drystone Bursary was created in the name of our founding President, Mick Peat, who sadly passed away January 22nd 2021, aged 80.

We have collected some of the many kind words, stories and memories about Mick on his tribute page. We will be continuing to add them, so if you would like to share your own, please Get in touch.

See more of our Productions >

The Drystone Chronicles

Last year (2019) the arts and culture sector grew by £390 million, a record in any industry, contributing £10.8 billion to the UK economy.

Then the curtain fell. The lights went out. Coronavirus hit.

Four friends from Derbyshire set about finding what they could do to help their creative communities. Sidestepping the issue was not an option when building and re-building are so needed.

Drystone, unanimously agreed from the outset, was to be a not-for-profit initiative aimed at harnessing and encouraging creativity throughout Derbyshire and beyond. The ambition is to make Drystone as central a part of our communities as the walls themselves.

However perceived the cultural landscape has shifted with recovery best served by building from the ground up – “a stone at a time,” recognising the roles of writers, actors, musicians and all like-minded players to better our wellbeing and bring communities together.

Drystone is striving to make good those shared experiences currently in suspension.

Drystone is:

Patron
Sir Michael Morpurgo: President
Mick Peat: Co-ordinator
Bob Rushton: Artistic Director
John Tams: Music Producer, Sound Recordist and Chair
Barry Coope: Composer
Pete Bullock: Honorary Treasurer
Garry Peat MIoD, C Dir, BA (Hons), FCMA: Associates
John Leonard, Katy Coope, Janet Bostock, Fury Wildfire, Jack Shepherd, Paul Broesmith, Ben Adwick, Narthen, Wesley Mallin, Maxine Howseman

Get in touch

For all enquiries and messages, you can drop us a line using the form below:

Mailing list

Want to keep informed on what we're up to? For updates on our news and projects, you can Join our mailing list here.