An old fashioned story
We all like a good story, especially one involving food, the excitement of race, just enough creative space for a contemporary twist and a happy ending.
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What is Sense of Place?
There are many definitions of this widely used term, including for example how stories are told, how links are made in a landscape, place making, attachments to a particular setting, the use of images and of course people.
This is a topic close to my heart. I am interested because it can set a destination or business apart from its competitors, giving it a compelling voice and market position.
I thought I’d share an example of sense of place in action that I experienced yesterday when out on a visit to watch 21 ladies race down a high street.
What are the ingredients?
This is the story of how a modern market town embraced what is truly local and special and has quite literally dined out on this for 74 years! Of if you prefer, 550 years.
Olney is a reasonably sized market town and civil parish of approx 6,500 residents in the county of Buckinghamshire in the South East of England. It has everything a modern English town needs and more: it lays claim to be the custodian of the oldest annual pancake race in the world, dating to 1445. Celebrated on Shrove Tuesday marking the start of Lent, it is still widely celebrated across many Christian nations.
Over a distance of 450 yards from the market square to the church door, a maximum of 25 women with their frying pans and pancakes (all must either be residents or workers in Olney), dash to the finish line to secure victory in what is now an international competition with the town of Liberty in Kansas USA. I believe Olney is leading the scoreboard!
Claim an historical event, bring it to life each year, add a dash of fun and a modern twist, and make it accessible and easy to share.
Olney is also home to the “Amazing Grace” hymn, but that’s a story for another day.
Why is this successful?
That this is home to an ancient tradition is not challenged, but celebrated with various stories on how it all began. My favourite version is that the Sexton was bribed with pancakes to ring the church bell sooner to signal an earlier start to the day’s holiday and fun. Not before the people attended the service where they would be shriven of their sins, before the long Lenten fast.
The essence of the story is true, but you choose which version you prefer.
We all like a good story
Once you start to look, you can peel back the layers of history and tradition that form part of this town’s identity because it is visible everywhere. You can look along the high street, in the museum, at the church, in the archive, online or ask a resident or business owner. They know what to say!
They are proud of their heritage and their town.
This event brings visitors and much-needed spend at a time of year quieter than the peak summer months.
You can’t fail to hear about the pancake race because it is everywhere. Almost all the businesses lay claim in some way or the other; including the story on their websites, in social media, displayed in their shop windows, hosting events, sponsoring the event itself, offering skills and platforms to demonstrate cooking skills and new recipe ideas.
This is well communicated on Visit Olney which is full of high quality colour photographs of the town, its people, stories and the information you need before and during your visit. 10/10.
It’s accessible and pancakes are popular, easy to prepare and familiar to many.
The local school was baking for visitors.
On the day, #Olney had 95,2K twitter posts, national and international broadcast and online media carrying the story. Great annual awareness and a reason to visit.
There was a good mix of visitors that I could see that included residents, lots of visitors from near and far who were part of it.
Well organised and welcoming.
Clear messages, genuine community and business involvement, lots of compelling images and a good story make for perfect positioning in a crowded tourism market.
Any examples to share here?
What if your destination or product doesn’t have such a powerful story? Or perhaps it does, and you are not familiar with it? How can you start looking, listening, writing?
Talk to me if you are unsure where to start?
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