Made in the South

Did you ever play the game Consequences, perhaps at school? You start with a boy's name, fold the paper and pass it on. Someone else adds a girl's name. The next person writes a location and so it continues with what he said and she said. It ends with a consequence... an outcome. Nobody sees the whole story until the end and it's usually nonsense but often very funny.

During April and May 2009 a writing project took place in the spirit of the game but on a much bigger scale. Created by the BBC and Arts Council England in partnership, Consequences was part of a national project called Made in England, looking at how the English landscape, both rural and urban, enables creativity and exchange of ideas.

Four writers with international reputations for short form storytelling and poetry were invited to work in different locations across the BBC South region.

Based in Salisbury, Oxford, Brighton and Weymouth, they explored the areas and chatted to the locals, collecting memories and anecdotes.

Drawing from those conversations on the streets, plus appeals on BBC local radio stations and suggestions sent by email they created micro-stories, a celebration of the hidden gems worth sharing with a wider public. Sixty personal stories which had never been told.

Read all the stories here

Now the fun part! Each story is written in four short paragraphs so that sections of different stories can be jumbled up, just like the consequences game - only this time it's not nonsense because each section is a fragment of a true story, a snapshots of somebody's life.

Try it for yourself - generate your own random Consequences story here.

Out there and up there

On St George's Day 2009, words and pictures from the Consequences project were projected onto the roof of England's most iconic buildings, Salisbury Cathedral.

Crowds passed through the Cathedral Close to see the spectacle. BBC South broadcast from the event live throughout the evening, as the writers read aloud from their work and the roof and walls of the Cathedral were illuminated.

"Salisbury Cathedral is one of England's iconic buildings so it was very appropriate to have England's stories and images projected on the roof of the building. The Made in England/Consequences project was such an exciting event to host and brought a real sense of celebration to the Cathedral Close throughout the evening. It was particularly wonderful to blend the history and tradition of this building with the innovative and creative energy that the writers brought out of the stories of everyday people."
The Very Revd June Osborne, Dean of Salisbury.

Published and in The Bodleian Library

The sixty stories written for the Consequences project have been published in a book, a copy of which has been placed in the Bodleian Library.

One of Oxford University's main resource facilities, the Bodleian is the oldest library in Europe. Stories from the south which were untold until the Consequences project now occupy a space in one of the most respected collections in the world.

Arts Council England

Arts Council England recognises the value of broadcast and digital platforms for achieving its ambition to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people's lives.

As the national development agency for the arts, Arts Council England supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts.

Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better.

Between 2008 and 2011, Arts Council England will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.

Made in England is a national partnership between BBC English Regions and Arts Council England.