In Marie's Footsteps: a new AR trail for Dales Countryside Museum

Beth, a designer and illustrator who worked on the app, with Hardy, the trail's AR dog.

A gust of wind has scattered Marie Hartley's prints across the grounds of Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes. Visitors are challenged to help find them.

In Marie's Footsteps is a free augmented reality trail app. It celebrates the life and work of Marie Hartley, the artist and writer who spent decades recording life and landscape in the Yorkshire Dales. It's now available on the App Store and Google Play.

Following the clues

Illustrated clue cards lead visitors to six spots around the museum's outdoor space. As they get close, Bluetooth beacons tell the app a print is nearby. A rub-to-reveal interaction then uncovers one of Marie's wood engravings.

Each print opens up her own words, objects from the museum's collection, and "Did you know?" facts about Dales life. Find all six and Marie's terrier, Hardy, appears in augmented reality, ready for a photo.

The app works offline once downloaded, so no signal is needed on the trail.

Shaped by young people

We developed the trail with the museum's Young Creatives, a group of 16–30-year-olds. They shaped the content, illustration and visitor experience from the start.

Connecting people with place

Marie spent her life looking closely at the Dales. The trail asks visitors to do the same: to get outdoors, and to see how the museum's collections connect to the places they came from.

The trail launches alongside the Green Spaces, Shared Places exhibition at Dales Countryside Museum, which runs from 3 October 2026 to 3 January 2027.

Find out more about In Marie's Footsteps →

This AR trail was created through the Going Places Programme. Going Places is an Art Fund Programme made possible with major support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Julia Rausing Trust, with additional support from a generous group of trusts, foundations and individuals.