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...

Creativity, London

Creativity Conference,  London

 27th June 2025 
 Vue Cinema, Piccadilly, 

The Raindance Film Festival….and in one cinema we gather to talk about creativity, inspiration, passion and delight: what inspires us, how do we keep creativity flowing, how do we nurture our imaginations…. 

 I’m involved in two presentations at this first UK flowering of the Creativity Conference *

Wonder, Enchantment and Landscape: essentially, saying to people: let things go, abandon preconceptions and go for a walk: wherever: urban park, inner city street and plane tree square, mountain glen or roadside verge: just go and look and listen and breathe yourself into the richness of moss and stone and water and an excitement of dandelions….1 way of keeping creativity going: let the world have a conversation with you (presentations are only 9 minute long!)

 Then there is a panel on storytelling: 

Our starting point might be a few questions….but who knows where this will go! 

"why do we/you tell stories and maybe how do you use them?"    

"what sort of stories do you use?"   

"what do you hope the stories you use will do for the people who read/listen/experience them", which isn't necessarily the same as #1 above   

The answers to these are not likely to be discrete and starting at any one of them will bring in the others. I happily work across the spectrum of stories from ancient myth to 'just 5 minutes ago' craziness....maybe overall, for me there is the thought 

 "don't just say we use stories, it is good to think about why we use them and what we hope they can do." 

 Following up the conference 

 if it seems appropriate, I’ll post my powerpoint on google drive and add a link here

finding my books: 3 main books around just now 

Baba Yaga: tales of an old witch - a small booklet 

Waiting for the Snow: my latest collection of poems 

Old Stone and Ancient Bones: an earlier collection of poems (get through my website)

Sacred Animals: a manual for building a creative, personal spiritual relationship with the world around us

(links will take you to ebay pages for books...you could also visit my website's shop page)

The Creativity Conference is a global meeting of minds to explore the essence of creativity. We invite incredible creative speakers to share the wisdom they have gained from successful projects - and our definition for 'Creativity' is very particular: 'Any intentional decision'.

The Creativity Conference