The first elegant hops

The first hops

Telling Toads poems:

the pond begins to fill

 

The first Toadwords are in. Telling Toads was set up as a slow hop to wonder but in the first month, the first poems came in. We hope you enjoy them and if you feel inspired to add your own toadwords (of frog’s tale perhaps!) look here for more information

The prints accompanying these poems are by artist Maria Strutz who had a wonderful touch for animal work….see more of Maria’s work here

Many thanks to Juliet and John for these first contributions!

Toad's Adventure

Juliet Wilson

We stopped to watch a tiny toad

struggle its way across the road.

When it found my partner's boot

it strangely chose to take that route.

It climbed the sheer black leather hill -

an effort of great strength of will

then found itself in the strangest valley

with ridges, holes and little alleys.

It gripped on tightly to the laces

then decided there were better places

for toads to find their living quarters

so off it went to find some water.

Now, 4 pieces from John Roff in South Africa

Ode to a toad
John Roff

O waddling lump of cold porridge,
bulging your way across the lawn like
you own it…

Why do you insist on invading my
barefoot garden privacy with that
lazy excuse of a hop?

At least you could have had the delicacy of
a smooth-skinned reed frog,
piping on the evening breeze like a water flute;
or even the swift, purposed elegance of
those green river frogs with the stripe down their backs.

But instead I must contend with amphibian arrogance,
wrapped in a slack skin of warts,
and entirely unsmiling.

I even found a toad in one of my gardening shoes once,
probably plotting the downfall of the human race;

I cannot stand them –

They

Freak

Me

Out.

Second ode, same toad
John Roff 

Ah, beautiful harbinger of spring rain,
when your familiar croak returns
I know the seasons
are coming round.

You remind me of the ancient cycles,
after long dry winter
comes
damp refreshing spring;
moist enough to soften your skin and
draw you out of hiding to
snaffle those annoying crickets in my lawn.

I love it when you gorge yourself on flying ants,
poetic in your punctuated hopping and
intentional
grab and
munch and
munch.

Thoughtful you look, a warted Buddha
contemplating the vast expanse of inner lawn,
round brown sack of happy toadness,
soft-bellied,
beautifully ugly,

content with the world.

Amphibotanical (South-Western Cape)
John Roff 

A frog is a frog, it lives in a bog,
A toad is a toad, in its soggy abode.
But why do they differ, and why is a frog?
Does it wonder, you think, as it sits in the bog?

And does the toad ponder, while perched in a pond,
"Why is my name toadish, and not 'Toad the Bond'?"
"I think I'd like 'Bond, yes - James Toady Bond',
special agent of termites and croaking and pond."

But up croaks the frog “Hey, I'm being left out,
my frogness ignored, and my ego put out."
"Now give me a title in keeping with Frog,
with Noble and Honoured and Valuable Frog."
"I'd like to be Emperor, Lord of the swamp,
the place where my tadpoles and bulrushes romp."

 So Bond (toad) and Emperor (frog) set a duel,
they'd wrestle and fight high above a dark pool.
Frog chose for his weapon a restio shoot,
Toad fought with a stout wachendorfia root.

 And strange, as they wrestled, they took on the look
of the weapon that each for the fighting had took.
Our toad became lumpy with growths like a root;
the frog grew as smooth as a shiny new shoot.

 So now when you see them, eyes bright in the pool,
and wonder if they are enjoying the cool,
Remember to look just a little bit longer,
and see if they've sorted out which is the stronger.

Tree frog
John Roff

They sit tight in the lit hours,
all waking as the sun gives way
to moons and bats and unseen whistling things,
then shrill their mating calls into the wind,
and awkwardly manoeuver, foot by foot
through all the tangled undergarden,
eagerly cruising trees for prey.
(What insect could escape the gaze
of that cool never-blinking eye?)
Bright day returns, and down they hunch,
a blob of wet amphibian-stuff clinging
to whichever branch seems right.
Once one gripped my fingers
just as though I was a tree,
with feet that flapped
the cool deliciousness
of living jelly on my eager skin,
then leapt ungraciously
onto the leaf-leaden forest floor below,
sat tight.

Lost in the Adventurewoods

The Adventurewoods

The Lost Tales of Rudheath, pt 1

work with Rudheath Primary Academy

summer 2017

into the Adventurewoods

There are mysteries here,

In these dark woods,

Stories never told,

Treasures never found,

People forever lost…*

We began with characters: who should we send on an adventure. Individually we created small people for small misadventures. Collectively, we set a quest in motion

getting the story started

They woke in the morning to a missing pet.

A rabbit, much loved, much cuddled, was gone.

Its hutch empty,

Its run abandoned,

The story grew from there: each class picking up the adventure and moving it on. Some groups added details of landscapes, or extra characters who we might meet - or just hear rumour of on the wind that blew through the spaghetti trees

They had torches and towels,

A picnic, a map and a compass,

And a rope for swinging through trees.

They took lots of string for emergency things

And a bright green apple for healing.

They found sticks for campfires and shelters and sheds,

For a boat and for fishing rods.

They found twigs for drawing maps on leaves.

 

mapping details

The story wandered. We found treasure. Got lost. Found a friend. Got lost again. Felt ill. Strayed too far

you never know who you might meet

Through the darkwoods,

Through the dangerwoods,

Into the shadows and the trailing cobwebs

Of giant spiders.

We discovered strange little asides: stories that belonged to the streets of Rudheath and Witton but never told before, heard before or, let’s face it, thought of before…

The palace was wonderful, decorated with patterns of weeds and reeds and the wind on the water. The girl went in, passing halls and thrones. Everything was pink. The walls were pink. The floors were pink. The ceilings were pink. The chairs were pink. The tables were pink. The curtains were pink. The carpets were pink. She found a set of stairs that ran down, under the palace. Nothing here was pink. It was dark and gloomy and sinister in shades of grey and green. Here she found a dungeon. There was a chest right in the middle of the room.

treasures helped us add detail

As part of Creeping Toad’s Do It Together project for Rudheath and Witton Together, “The Lost Tales of Rudheath” involved all of the children at Rudheath Primary Academy. Workshops were organised as "family learning events" with parents, guardians or other involved adults invited to join us, to participate in lively sessions using activities that would transfer. We went for activities that needed easy-to-find resources and that would work again in a garden or on a wander through a park. There was a lot of interest from our grown-up contingent: getting 6 - 10 Mums, Dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other family members with each class

often i found whole stories i didn't know were developing

The full text of the Adventurewoods story can be found as a booklet to download here

The trolls chased

But it was too late for them.

The Apple Tree Man had been woken by all the noise.

He felt branches torn,

His trees being broken,

He clicked his fingers.

With every click, one tree

And then another tree

Woke.

Tree Monsters and Woodland Warriors.

Long branches reaching out.

Twigs snagging in troll hair.

Sticks catching troll arms.

Branches like pythons, like anacondas, wrapping

The trolls into wooden cages.

 

school display in development

We learned a lot:  that broombrushes are smaller but faster than broomsticks, that bottles full of dust and smoke should be handled with care, that someone out there drinks tea while dragons toast marshmallows on their own breath

With many thanks to all the artists and storytellers of Rudheath Primary Academy and to the staff who welcomed and helped us  

*the italic sections are all extracts from the main story: 

groups gave me words, phrases, action and I edited things together

 

Bones, bits and boxes

Bones, bits and boxes

Pop-up museum and activities

Summer 2017

finished tiles from the July workshop

 As part of Buxton Museum’s Collections in the Landscape project, I’ve been doing events using museum themes (local history, geology, ancient history) outside of the museum - taking the collection out into the landscapes it came from

tiles ready for firing

Summer events began a few weeks ago with a lovely Tile-making workshop at the Dove Valley Centre. Here, inspired by the patterns of 18^th and 19^th Ashford Black Marble and flowers and trees of the Upper Dove Valley, our group worked with local potter Sue Blatherwick to make their own tiles

This summer we have a pop-up museum popping up in various places

my own cabinets tend towards the natural history end of things

25^th July:

Craftbarn, Hadfield nr Glossop. Indoors here, space is limited and the event might be fully booked by now. Check in with Julia at the Barn to see. The handling collection will be there and we’ll be making Cabinets of Curiosity to take away*

2^nd August

Castleton Visitor Centre. After a major refit, the Centre is open again and we’re there to celebrate the new with some very old bits and pieces. Castleton was also the home of one whole element within our collection: pieces from Randolf Douglas’ (Randini the escapologist) House of Wonders

The House of Wonders in Castleton featured a fascinating collection of, well, stuff. From relics of Houdini's (and Randini's) careers as escapologists to models of miniature buildings and cabinets of strange curiosities, it was a treasure trove of marvels
With that tradition of being involved with the little things and leftovers, we will be there with flint tools to hold, geological treasures, ancient metalwork, fossils and bones to handle. Again there will be the chance to make your own Cabinet of Curiosity: an opportunity to make your own portable museum to give your wanderings and rummagings new purpose and structure*

16^th August

what treasures would you choose?

Bogtastic at the National Trust’s Longshaw Estate. We’ll be there among this celebration of all things boggy: from bog-bouncing and wildlife spotting to face-painting (I really hope you can be painted as a bog body!)

We’ll be there, providing an oasis of fossilised calm with pieces from the eastern moors: fossils, flints, bones and bits. We’ll be making our own cabinets again: a chance to create miniature portable museums to assemble your own bog-collection in*

We provide materials and guidance: you have to find the treasures yourselves!

A flight of kites

A flight of kites (and other things!)

Summer events with Creeping Toad

Activities over the holidays

think, make, play, laugh

Events within our Do It Together project for Rudheath and Witton Together. These activities are designed as family events encouraging people to come and try something new. We are always keen to hear about other things Rudheath and Witton residents would like to do (we’re here to create creative activities)

Monday 31st July: Marvellous Medieval Medicines, at The Venue Sessions 10am - 12noon and 1 - 3pm
Address: The Venue, Gadbrook Rd. Northwich, CW9 7JL
“Become a plague doctor and discover the disgusting truth about treating diseases in the middle ages. Make a plague doctor mask, devise your own cures, make your own leech, write your own Pharmacopeia!”

 

Friday 4th August: kite making, Whalley Rd Playing Fields. Learn to make your own kite - and then fly it on the fields! Round kits, sled kites, diamond kites and decorations!

10am - 1pm, at Whalley Rd Playing Fields at the Grozone/cemetery end
Monday 14th July: kite making, Griffiths Park. Another chance to make your own kite - and then fly it on the fields! Round kits, sled kites, diamond kites and decorations!

10am - 1pm

These are the definite dates just now. Other events (and more details of these) will be posted on the Creeping Toad facebook page and here on the Creeping Toad blog

All events are free and materials are provided

No booking is needed, just come along and join in

Children under 7 need to bring an adult with them

Umbrella frogs and wartrees

Art, stories and creativity

exploring stories through art 

Chapel-en-le-Frith Primary School

June 2017

a walk through a work-in-progress tin forest

We travelled this week from Chapel to Africa and beyond. We walked on beaches, rescuing dolphins. We helped lonely beasts find new friends. We slipped over the edges of the world to where the Wild Things are and explored the seas of strange imaginations among Tin Forests and Lost Things.

We took some books and unfolded them, sliding in betwen the pages, expanding ideas, letting inspiration ricochet off ourselves and each other
I’m not going to do a detailed breakdown of what we did with ac class and sessions were so hectic I didn’t get all that many photos but what did gow out of it allw ere some wodnerfully tasty words, so I’ll share those

Books:

• The Greedy Zebra (we made animal models)
• Handa’s Surprise (animal masks)
• The Lost Thing (narrative poems)
• The Tin Forest (shadow puppets and a tabletop forest)
• The Lonely Beast (puppets)
• Dolphin Boy (drama, puppets)

shadow puppet tree for a wild thing

Where are the Wild Things now?
1. Across a hot and sandy desert,
Over a long, rotten wooden bridge
Past the horrible green trees
In the dark, scary woodland where the tiger owls growl,
There is a cave,
beneath a mountain where the grizzly bear snores

2. Through space and time,
Through the magical bond between the past and future,
Between the power of infinity and space and time,
Through the crystal cave where a green dragon guards a treasure of gold and diamonds and rubies and on beautiful golden horse,
There the wild things are watching through the horse’s sparkling legs.

wild thing princess

The Lost Thing
Where do you go to find a lost thing?

Through the bluebell woods,
Past the spooky houses,
Behind the Blue John Cavern ,
And over the creepy bridge…
Dangerous rocks will come tumbling down.
Dark crystals glitter,
Under steep cliffs
Where roses grow,
Roses as blue as the darkest sea.

There is an abandoned warehouse there,
Haunted,
Broken glass catching the light
Cries echoing through the cracked windows,
Lights flicker,
Shadows move.
There!

Venom leaker,
Baby carrier,
Creepy crawler,
Glass staining,
Mysterious object
Someone’s.
Someone else’s,
Lost Thing.

In a Tin Forest there are egg and bacon trees with frying pan birds and spatula squirrels whose flat tails can flip the fruit off a tree in no time. Umbrella trees and lollipop trees, that grow in a shimmer of pipes and tubes. There is a bicycle tree whose wheels turn gently in the breeze and a frying pan tree catching food from the air.

Other sifters of the breeze include the scavenger trees, netting trophies from the storm winds: a shopping trolley, a ladder, a wheel, a bike chain and a crutch. A rubber glove tree grows nail varnish bottles as fruit.

Umbrella frogs open their wide mouths as they hang from the branches of a trees. They catch food on their long hooked tongues and then snap their folding mouths shut around their prey.

A Rollercoaster Tree sprouts spring swings while a Wartree grows spearhead leaves but when it is cut in its turn it will bleed, rusting slowly into dust.

with many thanks to all the staff and young artists 

of Chapel-en-le-Frith Primary School

From leeches to kites

From leeches to kites:

Creeping Toad events this July

image c/o Weaver Hall Museum

Where can you find this Toad doing colourful, creative and  downright strange things this summer?

July
Saturday 8th: Venetian carnival masks: Hucknall Library, NG 15 7BS, sessions 10 -12 and 1 - 3
Inspired by the old masks of Venice, you might make your own elegant bird, big-nosed hero, fine-featured princess or even invent a strange character no-one has ever met before…
Free, drop-in. Link: Venetian Masks

Sunday 9th: Credenhill Park Wood Fete with the Woodland Trust, Hereford. A free event with lots going on across this spectacular hill: watch horse logging and saw mill demonstrations, dare to stroke a reptile, join in with traditional crafts, enjoy face painting, crafts and forest fun.. From 11am. I am there telling stories and helping people draw little books about their adventures on the day!Link: Credenhill Park Wood

Sunday 16th: Tiny! Beasts, birds and butterflies: another delightful day of Tiny! things: join us in the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton (find us by the younger children’s playground). We’ll be making tiny puppets, no bigger than a hand (more or less). Activities are free, materials provided, just wander by and join in. Sessons 11 - 1 and 2 - 4. A Stone and Water event as part of Buxton Festival Fringe
 

Saturday 22nd: Buxton Pride Picnic: 3 - 6pm: Celebrating Queer Buxton* ( or LGBT+ and all our friends) with an afternoon of gracefulness silliness and frivolous strength. Bring your own exquisite nibbles, an umbrella or parasol if appropriate, and join us on the lawn for a picnic. Add a poem to read from our queer history, an elegant dress or simply your own wonderful self to the mix for a relaxed celebration of Queer Buxton. A Stone and Water event as part of Buxton Festival Fringe

Friday 28th: I’ll be at Druid Camp with all you lovely folk  on a hillside in the Forest of Dean - doing a session on landscape, inspiration and animal spirits

Sunday 30th: Northwich: I’ll be there as part of the Do It Together project for Rudheath and Witton Together…Vickers Park, all day - making minikites and windsocks: more details to follow

Monday 31st: Marvellous Medieval Medicines: at The Venue, Gadbrook Rd, Northwich, CW9 7JL. In partnership with Weaver Hall Museum. Become a plague doctor and discover the disgusting truth about treating diseases in the middle ages. Make a plague doctor mask, learn about horrible ancient ailments and devise your own cures, make your own leech, write your own Pharmacopeia!
This event is free and no booking is needed: just drop-by and join in. Children under 7 years need to be accompanied by an adult
Another event in the Do It Together project for Rudheath and Witton Together

we'll make tiny animals...