On Saturday 17 October, Cambridge Deaf Club members visited Cambridge University Library for a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted tour of Living Water: Poetry, Art and the Fight for Clean Rivers, led by curator Dr Mark Wormald.
Highlights from the tour, with captions, are in the video above.
Poets, painters and rivers
Living Water tells the story of a circle of friends who shared a love of rivers and fishing: the painter Barrie Cooke and the poets Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney, along with Sylvia Plath and others around them.
Members followed the friendships on a large hand painted map showing who met whom and when, looked at handwritten poems and letters in the display cases, and saw a map of the Irish rivers where Cooke and Hughes fished together. The final room has the words “Everything flows” across a river scene.
A BSL interpreter worked alongside Dr Wormald throughout, so members could follow the talk and ask their own questions as they went. The tour finished with a BSL round of applause for the Library team.
Thank you to Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library has worked with Cambridgeshire Deaf Association for several years. The Library puts on a BSL tour for our members once or twice a year and provides the BSL interpreter. Past visits include the Endless Stories exhibition in February 2025 and a tour in June 2025, each arranged for a Cambridge Deaf Club Saturday.
Tours like this open up the Library’s exhibitions to deaf people, so members can enjoy them in their own language and explore them together.
Andrew Palmer, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Deaf Association, said:
“We’re so grateful to Cambridge University Library. They’ve been brilliant partners to Cambridgeshire Deaf Association for years now, and every time they welcome our members with a curator and a BSL interpreter, it means people can enjoy the exhibitions in their own language. Thank you to Dr Mark Wormald, the interpreter and the whole team for a fantastic morning. We’re already looking forward to the next one.”
A big thank you to everyone at Cambridge University Library for hosting us, and to our Community team for organising the day. Thank you also to Truyen for the photos and video.
Join Cambridge Deaf Club
Cambridge Deaf Club meets on the third Saturday of the month, with a mix of socials, trips and talks. All our Community events are BSL accessible, and you can find every date in our Quarterly Programme.
If you know someone who would enjoy days like this, please pass this on. Not everyone sees social media or local posters.
