Lanterns in a Cheshire twilight

Twilight Walk,

Rudheath and Witton,

2nd December 2017

There was willow, and glue and children wrapped in wet tissue (accidentally!). Stained glass glowing blue in tall windows inspired echoing shapes in spired lanterns. There were arches for imagination and carvings, and presents and snowmen. There were reindeer and there was more glue and permanent pens and the delicate flicker of a tiny light


We were making lanterns. Looking for the shapes and structures of Rudheath in winter, for the excitements of Witton, for the sense of “what makes the middle of winter special for you”. Starting with an open day in St helen’s Church in Witton, we went on to work with nearly 300 people in local schools (family sessions brought parents, grandparents and carers in to join the making) and at the garden project at Grozone.

Our lantern walk day began with rain and a waterlogged field. We lost a musician to illness (just for the day, nothing permanent!). We nearly lost our route to a locked gate. But the rain stopped, the wind settled and a glorious full moon burned the clouds silver and the shadows of church, cemetery and river-side willow trees took us and at least 100 visitors out into the night

We recited poems, wandered, told stories, wandered a bit more, made up new stories (the ghostly Lantern Parade of Rudheath, the stout iron fences that hold the bramble creatures off the paths) and we had a beautiful evening of lanterns and laughter in the twilight. And at the end, Grozone received us with a burning brazier and welcome hot chocolate

Thank you! Thank you to the schools who hosted us and to St Helens Church who offered space to work in and a meeting point to gather at. Thank you to Grozone for taking us into their moonlit garden. Thank you to our artists and volunteers who smiled their way through willow-bend and tissue slap. Most of all, thank you to our makers and walkers, to the people of Rudheath and Witton who came and made their lanterns and to those who braved an uncertain evening with such enthusiasm.

This was the last major public event out the Creeping Toad Do It Together project for Rudheath and Witton Together. There might be other activities next year (we are still in discussions) but probably not in the same format as this year. Another Lantern Walk? O, yes please! We would nred to find some new funding for this but I would certainly be prepared to help organise a proejct and help the hunt for that funding, so any Rudheath or Witton people or community group who might like to be involved, let me know!  Contact Gordon on creepingtoad@btinternet.com

ready for a Twilight wander

Thanks to our friends in the lantern walk:
Grozone
Rudheath Primary Academy
St Helen’s Church, Witton
Victoria Rd Primary School
Witton Church Walk CE Primary School
and of course
Rudheath and Witton Together
who made it all happen!

Photos
All these photographs are c Simon Birdsey for Rudheath and Witton Together. People in individual shots are included in our photo permissions file but if you are one of those individuals and would like the images removed, please contact me directly: creepingtoad@btinternet.com

the company assembled

Plagues, kites and other delights!

Flying kites, festering sores and other delights!

Summer activities and winter plans

Rudheath and Witton 2017

a single stalk of grass can set an activity in motion

horrible ailments proved remarkably popular!

After a summer of liveliness, in the Rudheath and Witton Do It Together project we are turning towards autumn and thinking of winter activities

Over the summer season, we saw the completion of the first of the Lost Tales of Rudheath (with Rudheath Primary Academy) and of art and story workshops at Victoria Road Primary School. In public events we made, flew and crashed a few kites, gave people horrible diseases with associated horrible medieval cures and catastrophes. We made small fluttering windsocks and delicate mobiles of natural materials. In public events we met more than 200 local residents and through school sessions including children and visiting parents,  another 400 folk joined the ranks of the “Did It Together”!

small corners inspired small stories

Our aim is to plan and deliver creative events: inviting people to try something new, preferably something that we hope they can go away and try again. So we have used everyday materials where possible, worked in familair places that people can come back to and used technqiues that are quick to learn and easy to transfer

Now we are looking at a colder season and new ideas. We have some thoughts and hope and plans but would like to hear from our Rudheath and Witton friends about other things they would like to do.

Our plans include the following: if you have other thoughts - or particularly like the look of any of these (or don’t like the look…) please let us know! Either leave a comment here or through our facebook page or by email: creepingtoad@btinternet.com

the richness of autumn

Celebrating the seasons and the special qualities of Rudheath and Witton

•     outdoor art with natural objects at Grozone
•     a wintry storywalk
•     lantern making: the lights of Rudheath: capturing buildings, shapes, people, activities, the sculptures in Griffiths Park
•     small lights for houses: join us to hold onto miniature moments of Rudheath in tiny lanterns for table tops and corners, small treasures for the dark evenings
•     an evening walk with lanterns and maybe some carol-singing in December
•     Rudheath stories 2: collecting memories, writing poems and stories, working with artefacts from Weaver Hall Museum to remind of activities, games, dreams and promises
•     maybe finding the next of the Lost Tales

last lights of autumn

Who to work with

• anyone!
  everyone! 
• older residents
• new friends: Witton Church Walk C of E Primary School
• Victoria Road and Rudheath Academy Primary Schools - who feel like old friends
• families
• nursery age children either in groups or with parents

Where to do things!

•     outside? Roker Park, Griffiths Park, the smaller green spaces among streets
•     The Venue
•     Social Club
•     in the schools
•     any other suggestions?

First activities will start in October and run through October, November and December - so get in touch soon!

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

 

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

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...

Dragonflies and printed beetles

Dragonflies and printed beetles

activities in Rudheath and Witton

A week of heat and stories in Rudheath this week with workshop in Victoria Rd Primary School and at Grozone

At Victoria Rd, we’re doing a series of family learning sessions, inviting parents and carers to join our artists as we work with each class in the school. This has been very successful so far: lots of laughter and fun (see this entry) and a good turn out from the grown-ups.

I was there this week, working with the Year 2 class making up adventure stories about the school’s eco-area. Inevitably, stories became complicated: we heard about a sinister house full of traps for the unwary, there were pet woodlice, a houseful of fairies, a boy who went adventuring with his dog and some very mysterious animals….

distracting flora

Then on Saturday, as part of the Big Get Together Weekend (and also the Big Lunch Weekend) we joined a picnic day at Grozone. This wonderful community garden project in Northwich kept distracting us with sunshine, ponds (I am very easily distracted by ponds specially ones with such an array of dragonflies and where newts hang delicately suspended in the water). We worked with visitors to make books about the garden: what they had seen, what they liked best, what they had had for their picnic lunches….

distracting dragonflies!

Our next sessions

The Family Learning sessions at Victoria Rd continue and a similar project starts at Rudheath Primary

Next public sessions:

• 30^th July; drop-in art sessions as part of the community fun day at Vickery Park
• 31^st July: Marvellous Medieval Medicines at The Venue – make your own leech and other delights!
• August: there will be several kite-making workshops and other tasty wriggles of creativity 

DETAILS FOR EVENTS WILL FOLLOW SOON!

Our Do It Together project is part of the much bigger Rudheath and Witton Together  (RWT) programme (a Big Local project for the Lottery), my colleague and fellow-adventurer Sarah Males and I are coordinate a programme of creative public events - and are happy to hear suggestions for events, themes, people and places! 

A Blade of Grass

A blade of grass

art workshops in Rudheath and Witton

Victoria Road Primary School

Jo, poised and reaady for making!

As part of the Do It Together Project, for Rudheath and Witton Togather, two of our artists, Jo Thilwind and Sarah Males, are working with the families of Victoria Road Primary School. Over this term they will see each class for half a day of creativity with natural materials, with parents and carers invited to join in

The following is a personal comment from Jo. I’m not going to add anything - I think this stands as a wonderful description of a session…

One of the tools of my trade. A blade of grass.
Having wept all morning over the Manchester bomb, going to hell and back wondering if my Son was ok, (he is), and feeling tearful and sick to my belly, I had to do an environmental art workshop at a school this afternoon.
I considered even writing this post given the circumstances today, but life must go on and it's turned out to be a beautiful and inspiring day.

I had the usual comments 5 minutes in about "am I a Witch?" , (what do they see?) And an incredible fascination with my jewellery. A conversation about my silver Pentacle.... 'Did I know it was a spiritual symbol?' , and the look on her face when I showed her the tattooed one on my wrist.
We made natural frames, with 3d pictures of nature, created with what they had collected outside. There was some initial huffing and puffing from these 10/11 yr olds, but actually they embraced it with passionate gusto and made some wonderful work. One lad got so into it he exclaimed, " I was wrong when I said I hate nature, it's brilliant!!".... The whole class laughed, and my heart quietly smiled. Another girl called me over to say I was a brilliant teacher because I'd given them something so exciting to do. They absolutely loved it.

I wandered around the class with a piece of lemon balm and got each and every one of them to smell it, and watched their faces light up in pleasure and amazement.
The whole session was once again sprinkled with magick. But my absolute favourite bit, was when I pulled a handful of grass out of my basket. The type with a big fluffy seed head on it, a couple of blades of grass attached. A bouquet if you will, grasped this morning from the field. "would anyone like a piece of lovely grass for their artwork?" says I, offering it like the the most glorious blossoms ever beheld, and suddenly I was surrounded by kids, carefully choosing their particular piece of treasure, a single blade of grass, gently removing it from my hand with such care, and taking it back to their desk to weave it with love and thought into their frame. I was blown away. Such reverence, such respect, such a new and unexpected view of the natural world for youngsters who previously hadn't given it the slightest thought. What a wonderful day. Humbled.
I love my work.
Bright Blessings x

Flowers, art and leeches

Activities in Northwich

Summer 2017

 

the forgotten castles of Nortwhich perhaps?

As the Do It Together project gets going, we have some events coming up in the Rudheath and Witton area of Northwich

we are still at the "anything could happen" stage

Over 2017, Creeping Toad will be organising events in Rudheath and Witton in Northwich, Cheshire. As part of the much bigger Rudheath and Witton Together  (RWT) programme (a Big Local project for the Lottery), my colleague and fellow-adventurer Sarah Males and I are coordinating a programme of creative public events.

In May and June, most of our work will revolve around Family Learning Sessions in Victoria Rd and Rudheath Primary Schools. These aren’t open to the public but if you are a parent, carer or guardian of a child at one of those schools, the school itself will let you know when your child’s class will be up and creating! We are joining forces with lovely artist JoThilwind on these sessions.

Elsewhere, we’re still pinning down dates and venues but it looks like

The summer will include (and more details will follow as we finalise plans!)

·      a day of picnics and art in June

·      July will see the Creeping Toad team at the weekend festival in Vickery Park

·      August will include

·      a wonderfully mysterious Marvellous Medicines day in partnership with Weaver Hall Museum where we’ll be looking at medieval medicines, inventing potions and sending people home with their own Plague Doctor beaky masks and quite possibly a handmade leech or two

·      Memories: again with Weaver Hall Museum: looking at the stories objects wake in all of us: whether reminiscence, remembering stories told or inventing new ones, a day for holding, talking and thinking

·      Two art and story walks: relaxing wanders: telling stories, making up new stories and creating artworks out of found materials

 Our events will be free and generally open to anyone ( a few might need to have booked places depedning upon the activity). Events are aimed at residents of Rudheath and Witton in Nortwich. We recognise that people from other places might sidle in but our targets are local residents and we hope toe cnoruage anyone who is itnerested to come and join in

or if we aren't offering the events that you are interested in - let us know, or make a suggestion and we'll see what else we can do

Looking for artists:

We are still looking for more partners here: either organisations who might like to host a workshop or two and artists who feel they could contribute to a theme. Especially looking for people who might weave quick baskets – either out of willow or by plaiting rushes – or makers of corn dollies. And we’d like to hear from creative folk who would simply like to pitch in and help. We cannot guarantee expenses for volunteers but will see what we can do!

Contact: Gordon at creepingtoad@btinternet.com