Filming has started on a new venture in which Carolyn will be using poetry to narrate the story of the god Vulcan and Sheffield steelmaking.

Cradle of Fire is a collaborative project led by multi-media artist Diana Scarborough with whom Carolyn is working as co-director on the short film, due to be completed in autumn 2024.

The team includes Australian musicologist and composer Kim Cunio, and artist and producer Mike Stubbs.

Kelham Island and Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet museums, Sheffield, and The Land of Iron Museum, Cleveland, U.K , are partners whose collections of industrial tools and archive material will be featured.

The concept for the project arose from Waudby’s curiosity over images of Roman god Vulcan on buildings around Sheffield. The icons date from the mid 19th century when Vulcan was chosen as a symbol for the city’s world-famous steel industry.

“The story of Vulcan, god of fire, furnaces and volcanoes, is so rich it’s offering incredible visual and story-telling possibilities, ” she says, “but also I’m learning about the power, skill and pride of steelmaking in my home city. It’s a joy to hear from those who worked in the steel plants or whose parents made Sheffield cutlery.”

Cradle of Fire has been made possible by a National Lottery grant from Arts Council England.