A new exhibition at the Silk Museum looks to blend art, science, nature and history.

Scientific Rambles, a team of four artist-antiquarians, are returning for their second show at the museum on Park Lane.

The Wild Between comprises a collection of visual art, sound and poetry and is based upon the group's exploration of the three shires of Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

Iain Davidson, Ailsa Holland, Becca Smith, and Martyn Stonehouse meet in the hills and valleys of the Peaks, walking where OS maps promise a tumulus or standing stone, intuitively following alignments of old path and distant peak, circles of hawthorn or view points of moonrise.

Indoors, they gather to re-discover antiquarian books, old maps and follow threads of folklore and vanished history.

They set up Scientific Rambles, named after the Victorian antiquarian text by Macclesfield doctor J.D Sainter, in late 2024 and exhibited their discoveries the following year the Silk Museum.

Their second exhibition, The Wild Between, opens at the Silk Museum's Upstairs Gallery this Saturday, March 21, with a launch event from 5pm to 8pm.

Below you can find out a bit more about each of the artists involved in Scientific Rambles.

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The Wild Between opens at the Silk Museum's Upstairs Gallery on Saturday, March 21 (Credit: Nub News)

Iain Davidson

Iain Davidson is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice includes printmaking, ceramics, and mixed-media installations. His work combines a love of archaeology, an affinity for the spirit of places, and a fascination with pathways and journeys.

As well as the current Scientific Rambles exhibition, he currently has a display at Nantwich Museum on Cheshire's Saltways, and is part of an exhibition 'Taith Ardudwy' starting this month at Oriel Tŷ Meirion in Wales. 

"I love the influence that working with Becca, Ailsa, and Martyn has on the way I perceive our landscapes," he said.

"On our Rambles, I like to imagine the people who have inhabited the places we visit, the layers of history that have gone before us, and think about what stories and memories they have left behind."

Ailsa Holland 

Ailsa Holland is an award-winning poet and artist with a varied practice, always looking for new ways to create work which vibrates with our physical lives and the history of the places we call home.

She loves to spend time outside with old stones, big trees and cold water. She is also a letterpress printer and Director of Moormaid Press. Her latest poetry collection is Lungs (2025). 

Ailsa said: "I love working with the Scientific Rambles collective. It's a wonderful motivation to create writing which expresses my passion for landscape and history.

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"It's a privilege to be able to put together exhibitions with like-minded folk who work with different media."

Poster for The Wild Between (Credit: Supplied)

Becca Smith

Becca Smith, originally from Congleton but now living in Macclesfield, is a visual artist, antiquarian and director of the New Macclesfield School of Art.

Her work explores the esoteric and emotional responses to the wild and ancient landscape.

"Scientific Rambles is a collaboration of artists and friends who share a love for the hidden stories of our land and heritage," Becca said.

"This exhibition is another part of the journey from book and map to moor and clough.

"We are very excited to be back where it all began a year ago, in the Silk Museum, and hope that everyone who visits then goes off into the hills to see old stones and ancient paths"

Martyn Stonehouse

Martyn Stonehouse is a composer and heritage sound artist based in Derbyshire.

His Megalithic Transport Network is an ongoing research project using the sound of modular synthesis, audio processing and tape recording as a medium of exploring ancient sites and the interconnected landscape in the Peak District and further afield.'

He said: "Our work really highlights a collective love of the landscape and a desire to connect with our heritage through shared creative experience, finding comfort and belonging in the complicated history of the places we call home."