A river in a classroom

 Unfolding rivers

Moorlands Wild Weeks 2026

Endon  Hall's kingfisher

In June, Creeping Toad visited three schools in the Staffordshire Moorlands as part of Moorlands Climate Action's Wild Weeks initiative

These were three days of laughter, excitement and some wonderful creativity. As a quick follow up, here are some words and images from those days....with another river of words after the gallery below

The River

I am the river that whispers,

Slow and deep, 

Cold and murky,

This pool is calm

But then I run wild

Rough, choppy,

Mumbling, muttering

Tumbling, 

Bubbling,

Troubling.

Leek First School

We stand on the riverbank, watching

Water for tea!

Water for feeding,

Water for fishing,

Water for drinking,

Water for drowning,

Water for sinking,

Water for boating,

Water for skiing,

Water for skating,

Water for baptising.

 

This river offers us all that we need

And can take all that we are….

(Endon Hall Primary School)

With many thanks to all the young artists of All Saints CE First School, 

Endon Hall Primary School and Leek First School

Endon Hall Primary School

Endon Hall Primary School

Endon Hall Primary School

Endon Hall Primary School

Leek First School

Leek First School

All Saints CE First School

All Saints CE First School

All Saints CE First School

and Leek First School explored their own river....

OUR RIVER

 

Calm water,

Runs deep and warm and friendly

With pools to hold you

And ripples that play with you.

 

But there are rapids in this river,

Running, racing, raging, 

Rushing, thrashing.

Wild.

No friendship here.

No hope for the swimmer caught in the current.

 

But this river is special,

Unique,

With its mysterious blue fish,

The fish that come to you if you step into the water.

This river is

Shaped with love and imagination, 

With pools and rapids and long, flowing, sweeping stretches.

Spooky corners under old stones,

Bridges with dripping shadows,

Mysterious pools,

Mystical, magical moments,

When mist gathers at dawn,

All these make this river,

Our river,

Delightful.

The Last Wolf

 GHOSTS IN THE WOOD

the story of the last wolf in Moray

The First Lament

Who will chant the WolfWords now?

Who will speak the Wolf's Words?

Who will tell the Wolf's own story

Now the woods no longer sing?

There are “last wolf” accounts found all over the UK. From full scale dramatic descriptions to single sentnce in a history book, we have noted the departure of this iconic predator. Accounts are almost always congratulatory which might reflect the impact wolves had - or were blamed for having – or might have had - on local communities. Rarely is there any thought of what the bigger consequences of losing wolves might mean.

see note at end about pics!

19th Century accounts  (follow the link for a useful description of the situation) describe the killing of the last wolf in Moray in 1743. Somewhere on the banks of the Findhorn in current Darnaway Forest, MacQueen of Pollochoch claimed to have " buckled wi' him and dirkit him, and syne whuttled his craig and brought awa' his countenance". There is, however, a sense that, perhaps, the description is wrapped in later melodrama and the need for that romanticism of the highlands. (we have been using Jim Crumley's book The Last Wolf as a starting point)


But the story, however much the description of the events may be exaggerated, is intriguing, engaging and inspiring. With The Last Wolf project, we are using that account as a springboard for conversations about loss and extinction, about landscape change and our human responsibility. More powerfully, we hope the project will invite a deeper, personal, spiritual exploration of our relationship with the world around us. Hoping not to get too tangled up in rewilding, reintroduction and completely hysterical conversations, we want people to think about what all this: species loss, species change, and landscape changes, might mean for them on a deeper level.

Creatively, we will find ways of expressing those relationships: drawing, printing, model-making, writing and more. Starting as a collaboration between artists Caroline Bury and Gordon MacLellan, this work will grow into both physical and digital exhibitions, the former hosted by Løre Gallery in Forres as part of its Into the Wildwood Year in 2026 (see below for more on the partners here)

some of Caroline's artdolls

The Last Wolf is firmly anchored in landscapes. We can still walk the riverbanks and woodlands the Wolf visited. We can see the homes identified in that 18th Century account. We can meet trees standing now that were growing then, and we can linger by river pools mentioned so long ago. Wolf offers a wonderful opportunity to link past and present experiences and encourage people to look ahead, to build a vision of the future. From rewilded landscapes to new ways of living with and within our landscapes, Wolf can help people imagine the world they want to live in.


The Last Wolf relates to the landscapes of Moray and the eastern Highlands of Scotland – around the towns of Nairn and Forres and the Findhorn and Nairn rivers. If you are interested in hosting a workshop in that area please get in touch: we can tell stories, work with groups (schools, community groups, open public events) to create strange and wonderful creatures and characters, find the words that tell personal stories as tales and poems

As we get started, this post becomes another invitation…Caroline’s exhibition at Løre Gallery is set to run between 30th October – 1st January 2027. Creeping Toad(i.e.me!) is involved as a poet and storyteller, adding words to accompany Caroline’s visual storytelling. Like the leaves on the trees and the toadstools in the leaf mould, everything evolves slowly, at its own pace and in unpredictable directions.

Here, we encourage people to explore those reflections for themselves: thinking about species loss and landscape change, reflections upon those species that have gone, those who are in peril now and those who are returning (planned or not!)…or simply turning up…beavers, boars and dragonflies!

We would love to share images and links to other people’s posts and blogs (and, sorry, but we will exercise our own critical judgement on what we share). When we can, we will post snippets from those posts or add images to the galleries that will start developing as material comes in

Themes you might turn to:

• · Species loss
• · Landscape change
• · Climate change
• · Reintroduced species
• ·New species arriving in their own right
• · The consequences for an environment of the loss oof a single species
• · Keystone species: https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/why-rewild/reintroductions-key-species/keystone-species-and-trophic-cascades
• we ourselves, as people in a changing world: how do we feel, how do you feel...get out there, sit beneath a tree and feel the world living around you....

And where do the Ghosts come in?

Caroline and I are both exploring the idea of those others who witnessed that last hunt. Not always human, not even often human, the woodland watched its last wolf run. Their voices are inspiring us both: with characters and sculpture from Caroline and poems and chants and prayers and charms from me. Here are voices and people that linger in the quiet corners of woods along the Findhorn, whispers in the shadows: ghosts in the wood


The Team
Caroline Bury: an artdoll-maker and dancer, Caroline describes her work: "Living in our human world with such cruelty, terror and despair, I balance my art with wonder and delight...I love feeling inspired by nature and creating from that feeling. Much of my art work happens this way but sometimes a continuation of a dream, a poem or a bird call is enough."

Løre Gallery: "the carved Tree of Life is at the heart of the Gallery’s identity. Like the tree itself, we are grounded in the past while reaching toward an unknowable future. Our work is a tribute to the enduring beauty of nature and the shared threads of humanity, seen through the artistic legacy of three ancient cultures: Pictish, Norse, and Celtic.
This is more than a gallery. It is a celebration of heritage, sustainability, and the living bond between art and nature."

Gordon MacLellan: and I come into this work as a storyteller and poet. I am an ecologist and a teacher and a shaper of celebrations, but mostly I am a storyteller, using stories and creativity to inspire relationships with the world around us. Helping people find their own creative connection to the world we live in is central to my work in the belief that we will work hardest to protect and enhance the things we love and watching people remember they love the places around them and respect and value the everyday plants and animals is what gives me hope for positive environmental change.

Next Steps

This project is now gathering speed (our wolves are starting to run!) and we are keen to talk to interested people: other artists, venue managers, exhibition hosts or simply keen and helpful people! Contact Gordon at creepingtoad@btinternet.com

Who will chant the WolfWords now?

Who will speak the Wolf's Words?

Who will tell the Wolf's own story

Now the woods no longer sing?

from Lament, Gordon MacLellan

Pictures and other images: no! these are not from the Findhorn River and Darnaway Forest. these are places and ideas that resonate with me as I get started on my contribution to all of this...so, from the top

• the Blackwater below Rogie Falls at Contin,
• a old, old Scots Pine in Glenmor, Cairngorms
• some of Caroline's work from her website
• the Blackwater below Rogie Falls at Contin
• a visiting boar - an illustration for my book Sacred Animals
• an ancient Oak in Richmond Park, Surrey
• Tree of Life carving from the Løre Gallery website

The Cupboard door opens....

 Opening the Door

The Cabinet of Treasures grows

The Cabinet of Treasures is growing…windows are filling up, people are standing on balconies to watch the world wander by. People are perched precariously in castle windows. There are robins, fish, a bold fox, a haunted graveyard

These are the treasures that touch people’s lives: places, people, wildlife, stories: all the things that build a sense of place, a sense of belonging, of being part of the communities around us…treasures shared

This weekend - TOMORROW! - Derbyshire Makes is in celebration in Glossop. Details: Derbyshire Makes in Glossop

There will be lots to do stories to listen too, talks to challenge you, music to enjoy, art to be part of and the wonderful Lady of the Loom may be receiving guests. Thius day is being coordinated by the Valiant Folks of High Peak Community Arts who deserve medals for Courage (tackling the streets of Glossop), Confidence (trusting the High Peak weather) and Patience (dealing with all of us artists!)

The Lady of the Loom (and sidekick-cum-bodyguard)

And you can add your own ideas about local treasures to our cabinet…and make your own tiny Cabinet to take home

During this project we have been using pictures from the collections of the Glossop Heritage Trust and the Picture the Past archives. These resources are rich, rewarding and wonderful: treasures in their own right!

With many thanks to the artists whose work is featured below from St Andrews CofE Primary School in Hadfield.

Creeping Toad are delighted to have been awarded a Derbyshire Makes Creative and Community Grant by Derbyshire County Council to support the creative work we are doing in the county. Derbyshire Makes is a three-year programme to celebrate the past present and future of making in Derbyshire.   

See: www.derbyshiremakes.co.uk 

St Andrews CofE Junior School....

St Andrews: butterflies

St Andrews: heading out on adventures

St Andrews: artist at work

Cabinet 1: the Mill

Cabinet 2: sort of a Castle

Treasure-hunter trips up

 A Tricky Week for Treasure-hunters

This has been an interesting few days for our Cabinet of Treasures activity. Some ups, some downs, some just puzzling moments!

But as we are hunting Treasures, I thought I should document our various misadventures...the snares and snarls set in the path of determined Treasure-hunters....

To be clear, we are looking for personal treasures. No,  not your gold teeth or the family silver (although we probably wouldn't say 'no!'...). We're looking for, and listening to, stories: what are the treasures of Glossop and the High peak for you? You might see  your house and home as treasure. Or a treasure might the people around you: your family (with or without precious silver), your friends. It might places where you walk, play, find peace and quiet. It might be the animals you see, the trees you meet....Our treasures are your stories, built into tiny dioramas and hidden in matchboxes and slowly being built into our Cabinet: a sort of crazy Advent Calendar of doors to open and scenes to encounter

But this week...

• dates went wrong. sorted, that day went well and no-one apparently noticed that we had promoted a day that no-one came to! But lots came to the next one...says a lot about where people find their information!
• Then the weather hit. 
• And today...
• started wet: put people off
• sun came out...and went away again. A cold wind blew.
• but we set up in Manor Park in Glossop and hoped
• few folk around and most of them with dogs (very friendly and talkative...both dogs and people)
• chatting, talking, watching the clouds....
• and the gate is locked...it wasn't when we came in (or we couldn't have...)
• it's locked now
• but the lovely man at the Miniature Railway has a key and can let us out...
• only he's not here for long....
• ...flee.

Treasure hunting will resume next week with exciting sessions with Space2Explore in Hayfield and at St Andrews Primary School in Glossop. Then look out for, and please join us, at the Derbyshire Makes Glossop Celebration on Saturday 8th May...

Filling a Cabinet of Treasures

 Cabinet of Treasures

treasures in progress!

We have started gathering images, gathering stories, finding the treasures of Glossop. there are fish-headed families, an owl within an owl, ghosts, houses, a show-wrapped tree.....

there are more workshops coming up over the easter holidays: details on this link:

https://creepingtoad.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-cabinet-of-treasures.html

The images below are from a session with our wonderful friends at the Glossop Arts Project

Spring storytelling 2026

pop-up landscape

Spring stories, 2026

Stories in school and other excitements
with Creeping Toad,

celebrating the richness of the changing year with story-telling, puppet-making, story-building, pop-up landscapes and boxes of treasures. Outdoors or indoors, the natural world will give us stories and offer inspiration for child-led creativity!

Here are stories from the edge of summer, of new life and growth, of the green under old trees and the thrills of cold water in a mountain glen. and activities to enchant and inspire.

Gordon MacLellan – Creeping Toad –is back in northern Scotland in 2026. (Generally working around Inverness, reaching east to Forres and Elgin, west towards Ullapool, south to Strathdearn and north of Dornoch

Putting together a set of new stories and some new activities (with a few old favourites), Gordon will be in Scotland in May and again in the autumn.

Dates: 13 - 27th May 2026

24 -28th August 2026

For a sense of what else is going in Toadworld, take a look at this blog or visit the Toad Instagram 

Mammoths in Buxton snow!

Drawing on 30 years of professional experience, Gordon’s work blends environmental experience with creativity. “Much of my work uses storytelling and story making but I also make small masks, giant masks, flags, lanterns, pop-up landscapes and create wild and wonderful occasions. We might work outdoors and take ideas from the world around us and our discoveries there. Indoors, herds of model mammoths combine with boxes of treasures to give children material to work from”



A day’s visit to your school might include: 

storytelling performances: lasting up to 60 minutes for up to 90 children at a time

a storybox

story boxes! outdoors or in, we'll use leaves and pine cones, twigs and stones and shells to inspire words, create poems and shape a set of stories never told before and finish with each child's new story built into a box of wonders.(allow 60 minutes for a class session)

pop-up storyscapes: allow an hour for a class: gathering ideas, images and words we’ll make quick 3-d landscapes holding the essence of a story in a setting, key characters and the words that set the adventure running depending upon age and theme we might make pop-up landscapes, storytowers or even foldedrivers that can run across a classroomfloor!

pop-up landscape

story characters: using found objects to inspire descriptions, we'll create a set of dramatic new characters and draw them or write them or make them as puppets



outdoor stories:(good for younger groups) ] starting with a traditional story we can head out into school grounds find the twigs, stones, feathers. leaves, grass, whatever, that will help us extend and complete the tale



simply treasure: picking up those boxes again; this time we could simply look at the world around us as a world where everything is precious and anything can be treasure: we'll forage, collect, map and maybe add a treasure-hunter or two

we can always spend time unpacking treasures!

Orchards and apples: we could pick up on the promise of richness with some orchard stories, tales of bilberries and brambles, unpredictable apple puppets (fake apples!), treasures hidden and jams made; who knows what stories wait among the fruit trees?

From across lands and times: I can select stories to suit times and places: so we have had days of Native American stories, or Egyptian or Greek or Roman, there have been Chinese tales and African animal stories….lots of exciting resources to draw on here, to make new writing vibrant and lively. Castles are popular, too, with boxes of treasures to inspire a new adventure and release a bold princess or courageous dragon

storytower

tales of old Scotland: a collection of stories of Highland folklore and Scottish histories, of heroes and sorrows, bravery and the magics of sea, mountain and moor. These can be steered in various directions and we might listen to stories from Viking days or medieval and Stuart stories and even add some Scottish explorers and their adventures and disasters…we can even build our own tiny castles, towerhouses and longships!

your own themes and ideas: or are you exploring a particular theme that you would like to involve some stories in? In recent projects, we have also made talking stone puppets, a giant eagle to hang from a classroom ceiling, prehistoric rockpools, a swarm of shadow dragons, pop-up castles

Charges: usually £280 a day. Fee includes storyteller’s fee, travel and materials. Can be paid on the day or I can invoice you. If I need to do a long journey for a single visit, I may have to charge more

a river pop-up unfolding into sunshine

Activities can be adapted to suit groups from P1 through to Secondary

For further information: visit the Creeping Toad website at

http://creepingtoad.blogspot.co.uk/

To book: contact Gordon directly at

creepingtoad@btinternet.com

or by telephone: mobile: 07791 096857