NORTHSIDE
TRAINING
Journeying into the Landscape: Exploring our Place in Time
Shipley Country Park
A Landscape of Industry, Community and Renewal
(Heanor, Derbyshire)
21 April 2026
Eco-TA Discovery Day
Photo by Paul Brentall - Gate Lodge - Geograph.org.uk CC BY-SA
Join us for a day of immersion into Eco-TA in the historic landscape of Shipley Country Park, on the edge of Eastwood near Nottingham — birthplace of D. H. Lawrence.
​​​Lawrence grew up here, the son of a Nottinghamshire coal miner. The tensions between land, labour, class and aspiration run through his writing. He captured both the vitality and the suffocation of mining life — the intimacy of community and the cost of industrialisation. ​In Sons and Lovers, he writes:
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“The earth was red, the brick-earth of the district.
The green of the meadows was a little diminished by the drifting smoke from the mines.”
In one sentence, the collision is clear — land and industry, life and extraction, beauty and damage.
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Beneath our feet lie the seams that fuelled the Industrial Revolution. Around us are landscapes reclaimed from spoil heaps and railway lines. This is not untouched countryside. It is land that has been worked hard.
Osbornes Pond
As we join together for the day, our connections will be:
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The mining history of Eastwood and Shipley
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The psychological and ecological imprint of extraction
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The shaping of identity through labour and class
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The intergenerational scripts embedded in industrial communities
This is not nostalgia. Nor is it romanticisation. We hope for an honest encounter with a landscape shaped by human need, ambition and cost.
Our Route
We will begin at Coppiceside Car Park and move at a slow, reflective pace through woodland, open water and former industrial terrain.
As we walk, we will encounter:
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Reclaimed spoil heaps now returned to green
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The legacy of railway lines and pit structures
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Sites shaped by working-class life and collective endurance
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The quiet resilience of land regenerating itself
We will pause, reflect and work experientially with the environment around us.
Shipley Country Park is a 700-acre green space located in Derbyshire, East Midlands, specifically between the towns of Heanor and Ilkeston. It is situated near Derby and Nottingham, and a few miles up the road from the UKATA National TA Conference, Nottingham 2026.
Our Activities Together:
Ecological Inquiry
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Exploration of Eco-TA principles in a post-industrial landscape
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Reflection on privilege, extraction and ecological responsibility
Experiential Personal Outdoor Work
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Ecological exercises rooted in embodied awareness
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Working relationally with the “more-than-human” in a setting marked by industry
Developmental Opportunities with Eco-TA
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Opportunities for questions and theoretical discussion
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Reflections on how to apply our learning to our own practice
​​Activity Level
The country park is made up of mostly level paths with some uneven and potentially muddy ground. There are also lakeside circular paths and routes across fields. Appropriate footwear and weather-ready clothing are essential.
Please get in touch with us should you need to discuss your individual needs and abilities. We will be walking for no more than 30 minutes at a time. The site offers mobility scooter hire on a pre-booking scheme.
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Times etc.
We meet at 10am Shipley Country Park Visitor Centre, DE75 7GX
Coppiceside Car Park (next to the Visitor Centre), Heanor, Derbyshire DE75 7GX. We anticipate finishing around 4pm.
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​Tickets
The day costs £60 per person.
There is also a charge for parking (£8 for the day) and may wish to purchase lunch and refreshments.
To book, click on the link below to go to the booking site.
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The park has several places to access refreshments, food and drink. We will stop for lunch which will be on a self-pay basis. The visitor centre offers toilets and a souvenir nature shop.
Who Is This Day For?
The Discovery Day is open to:
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Psychotherapists and counsellors
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Students curious about Eco-TA
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Supervisors and trainers
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Practitioners interested in ecological and relational practice
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Those wanting to explore the psychological life of landscape
No prior knowledge of Eco-TA is required!
Faciliators
Sarah Devine PTSTA(P)
Sarah lives & works in Burton upon Trent with an interest in supporting people to develop their own ecological practices and is particularly interested in working seasonally, with spirituality & ritual.
Mary Dees PTSTA(P)
Mary is an ecological psychotherapist and runs a private practice from Stockport/High Peak Border. She also runs learning programmes, including Climate Change Programmes for NHS leaders. She has a particular interest in ecological grief and working with deep adaptation to the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis.
Helen Blackburn PTSTA
Helen lives and works in rural West Wales, and has developed her ecological practice in partnership with Ffynnon Dawel woodland. She offers therapy, supervision and training in this setting, based on her long term fascination with our reciprocal relationship with the land.
Rebecca Elston PTSTA (P)
Rebecca lives on the outskirts of Nottingham and works with an intersectional and ecological lens. She is interested in working with people within systems and ecosystems, working alongside the land to facilitate this. She also has a small supervision and growing teaching practice.
Andy Williams TSTA(P)
Andy has a psychotherapy and supervision practice in West Yorkshire. He is currently undergoing a doctorate exploring the supervision of practitioners working with risk. Currently he is passionate about labyrinths and creating them in the landscape.