THE Allotment Soup community project continues on Walney in 2017, with Art Gene's programme getting back under way this January.

A series of free events entitled Walney Loaf takes an unusual look at the island's bread-making past.

The Cistercian Monks at Furness Abbey referred to Walney Island as "the bread basket of Furness", where wheat, oats and barley grew extremely well, and grain grown on Walney was also milled on the island.

From January to April, cooking events, film nights and practical planting days feature in the programme, and Art Gene will be planting its very own grains on the project field, in the style of a medieval planting strip.

The first event, Bakestones and Clapcake, is an outdoor cooking session on Saturday January 28, from 2pm to 4pm, where participants will learn to make Cumbrian bannocks and Lancashire clap bread.

A bread-themed film night takes place at Art Gene on Friday February 10, and the growing strips will be created at a special workshop on Walney on Sunday 12.

Aside from the bread theme, Walking Walney's Green Spots is a series of six artist-led public walks exploring Walney Island and its fields, medieval tracks, parks, allotments, gardens and nature reserves. The first is on Saturday February 25, and meets at Biggar village.

March's events feature plenty of movement on the growing space site, with a workday on Friday 10, sewing the grain strip and learning planting techniques on Sunday 12, and a weekend-long archaeology dig on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26.

All events are free, and all take place at the field on Mill Lane, opposite Walney Fire Station. For more information, contact Hannah Brackston on 0797 267 5095.