Local Colour was a four year artist residency commissioned by The Super Slow Way and based at Elmfield Hall, Church near Accrington working collaboratively with participants at Community Solutions North West. Elmfield Hall was the family home of Frederick Albert Gatty (1819-1888) a French chemical manufacturer and textile dye innovator and was later given to the local community for its benefit by the Gatty family in 1920. The project used a slow methodology developed by the artist - whole process working where a group of local people met weekly and worked on seed-to fabric projects. In the first year the focus was on establishing a textile dye garden in one of the polytunnels at the back of the site. The project grew the traditional dye plants connected to the industries that thrived in the area during the nineteenth century. The focus was on madder production, a plant with many historical connections to the local area, not least the creation of ‘Gatty Red’ a dye recipe patented by Gatty and his business partner Frederick Steiner in 1843. The group then worked with the dyes they grew, producing swatches of locally grown colour  and block prints inspired by walks in the environs around Gatty Park. Over the period of the residency, which ended with online sessions due to the Covid pandemic, community stories connected to local industries were explored through a programme of research, conversation and making activities. A series of blog posts written for The Super Slow Way about the project is available here.