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Nature Connect Club: Batty Bats

31/5/2025

 
We had a lovely evening in Stoke Minster grounds Bat watching on Friday 30th May.
Lots of people came along, families, couples and individuals!
Lots of fun was had making bat puppets, following trail, sharing stories and finally as dark came on, detecting and observing bats around the church.
We distributed bat detectors to hear them through the frequency and echo location.
It was a great session and very exciting!
Many thanks to everyone who came along.

Plated Raku Firing & Seed Swap

8/5/2025

 
We held our annual plant swap event at Plot 33 on Saturday 3 May.​
we combined with event with our Plated project.  Ceramic artist Cath Ralph brought pots and tiles that were made in a previous workshop session having prepared them by biscuit firing beforehand. 
People who came along on Saturday had the opportunity to decorate a pot or tile. These were then fired on the allotment in a raku kiln before they were dramatically plunged into dustbins of sawdust and hay. 
Once quenched in cold water the items were cleaned off to reveal stunning colours.
We all enjoyed the drama of the event, and people were able to take their ceramic object away, once it had cooled down.
In addition to the plants and pots we had live music from James and Rachel's uncle Francis who came to sing sea-shanties.  It was a great day.

Tidy up my Town Parade

5/5/2025

 
We had an absolutely fabulous time on Friday afternoon with the children of Stoke Minster school celebrating the Tidy Up My Town project with a parade around Stoke and inside Stoke Market.
They carried the banners and flags that they have made during the last few months.
We gave out badges to the public that the children made too.
Martin Gooding was in charge of the chants ‘We love Stoke’ ‘Tidy up my Town’ etc. The children did him proud!
There was a lot of support from shoppers, passers by, shop workers and drivers tooting in support!
And of course market stall holders loved it too.
It was so good to see everyone getting on board.
Many thanks to all the helpers, Wonder Women volunteers, teachers and market stall holders and staff.

Plated - clay workshop

17/4/2025

 
We had a lovely, creative productive first session to start our Plated project on Wednesday this week
Artist Cath Ralph supported by Eva ran two workshops, the first with our Wonder Women, the second open to the public.
They played with clay creating decorative platters that will be fired and used in our Plated feast on 14th May and also had a go at throwing small bowls ( for use at Plated feast too) from raku clay that will be fired at our Raku firing led by Cath at our annual Plant Swap on Saturday 3rd May.
As always, we had a shared lunch up at Plot 33 between workshops!
Thank you to everyone who came along.
A great start to an enjoyable project
Funded by UK Government
Keep an eye on our socials for updates.

Two Saints Way Day

25/3/2025

 
What a great day we had on Saturday 22 March to celebrate the renewal of the Two Saints Way through Stoke-on-Trent.  A group of walkers followed the newly-signed route from Middleport through to the Museum, arriving in time for the talks and workshop.  St Werburgh made an appearance to tell her story from 1,400 years ago, we heard about the origins of the Staffordshire Hoard and also about how the route inspired people to walk and bring along their friends.  Children could make a wild goose to take home at our artist-led workshops.  It was a fantastic turnout and a really fun day. This has been a great project to work on!

Wonder Women Working!

7/3/2025

 
The amazing Wonder Women group helped to make the replacement signs for the Two Saints Way route through the city.  Using upcycled pallets they prepared the wood and helped to paint the signs.  
They also made some new banners for outside the museum.  Wonderful!

Seed Swap and Allotment Pottery

26/2/2025

 
​We had a wonderful day on Saturday up at plot 33 for the annual Seed Swap and Blythe’s Allotment Gallery ‘Lutum’ exhibit.
Alongside the beautiful art displayed, there was lovely live music from James and Marg, a clay making workshop with Blythe and lots of hot drinks and homemade treats. The weather was kind to us once again too!
Thanks to everyone who came along!

Two Saints Way enthusiasm

19/2/2025

 
We were delighted to read this article by journalist Hannah Hiles, written for the online news The Knot (positive stories from Staffordshire).
There's a growing enthusiasm for the Two Saints Way and our project in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent supports a greater awareness both with local people and further afield.
​
Picture

Brilliant Birds - an early start for Nature Connect Club

6/2/2025

 
Our Brilliant Birds session started at 7.30am in the morning!  
We had a fabulous time up at plot 33 on Saturday at the Nature Connect Club event, ‘Brilliant Birds’.
Francesca led us in some brilliant bird related and bird spotting activities.  We had lots of fun identifying the different varieties of our feathered friends, some right up close including a Robin who came to eat from one of the bird feeders we made!
The younger visitors made their own bird masks and searched for Francesca’s woolly worms (worms made from wool in case you thought it was a type of worm!) and we cooked toast for breakfast on the fire which was delicious with Anne and Rachel’s home made jam and as always, we enjoyed a hot cuppa
Thanks to everyone who came along.
Funded by UK Government
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
#greenspace #nature #birdwatching

December 16th, 2024

16/12/2024

 

Children taking action!

​We had a fabulous Tidy Up My Town session on Friday with year 4 children from Stoke Minster school.
We were at Stoke Indoor Market joined by Martin Gooding making badges and placards with slogans to help make Stoke a nicer place to live in. 
We did some litter picking around the market and library too. 
Then we did a practice March back to the school with the placards chanting some of the slogans and got lots of support from passing motorists beeping their horns at us! 🚗 👋🏼 
It was a great day 🙌🏼 
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  • Home
  • What's on
  • News
  • Tidy up my Town
  • Nature Connect Club
  • Two Saints Way
  • Plated
  • Projects
    • Allotment Gallery
    • Greening Stoke >
      • Greening Ford Green
      • Greening St Marks
    • Hospitals projects
    • Festival Echoes >
      • Mysterious Moth
      • Scarred
      • Lost Moments
      • Soundscapes of our Landscapes
      • Undergrowth
      • Continue to Burn
      • The Tiny Folk of Stoke
      • Sonic Conditions
      • Black Life Monologues
      • Ludchurch Channel
      • Bird Rave Landscape
      • Transcend:Connection
      • Stoke Creative Olympics
      • Heroicus Rex - A Film
      • Lockdown Stories
    • Essence 12 Secret Stars
    • Hidden Gem Trail
    • Werburgh & the Wild Goose
    • The Tourist Guides
    • Surfaces Banners
    • Spring Events 2020
    • Big Weekend 2019
    • Arts Advocate
    • Art Street 2017
    • Festival Echoes Edition 1
    • Big Weekend 2017
    • London Road Festival
  • About
    • Meet the Team
    • Creative People
    • Art Stop
    • Policies
    • Events for All
    • Festival Designs
    • Visit & Contact