Away with the Faeries!

and we were! on a hot, steamy day in the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, there were visitors everywhere. Picnics were eaten, streams splashed in. Dogs chased balls and balls chased ducks and ducks chased anyone who might have bread concealed about their persons

the team hard at work

This was an event in the Stone and Water Exploring with Stories project. For other events, have a look at the Explorings blog

troll picnic stuffed into someone's hat!

and among all this bedlam, who would have thought that there were still small quiet corners where the watchful watched.....

you can never be sure who is watching!

Our intrepid goblin-hinters, faerie followers and troll-huggers (more than a hundred in the day), peered and pried and found clues (tiny witch's broomsticks, stray goblin ears and troll eyebrows and even scales from a mermaid's tail!)

Under the bridge,

An old troll sits,

Fishing in the river for shoes

The wicked witch of the waters

Lives in a willow tree

Watching the water and wishing she was by the sea

Our discoveries gave us new stories, new friends to meet. Natalie always brings chips when she comes to the Gardens so she can share fish and chips with a troll. Unfortunately, Adam realised that a lot of the ducks (see above) are actually faeries, transformed by some cheating goblins who then had a party, got drunk and fell over. The fountain is, of course, a faerie bath and when the faeries are bathing, the ducks flee because a) who would want to see a naked faerie? and b) short-sighted faeries have been known to use ducks instead of sponges

musicians of all ages, called us to our tasks

BOOKLOG

References used:

The Fairies (poem) by William Allingham

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony Di Terlizzi and Holly Black

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

one of our hunters brought Natalie, the Christmas Fairy with her as a book to recommend

by the end, we couldn't tell who was human
 and who wasn't...