During May and June artist and sculptor Anthony Hammond has bee creating an amazing 'All creatures great and small' bench in the grounds of Stoke Minster.  He has carved it out of a (fallen) oak tree trunk using a chainsaw.  The bench features many of the creatures you can see in the grounds of the Minster, including squirrels, foxes and a toad.  
The bench is at the heart of the Woodland Walk and Labyrinth within which pupils from Stoke Minster School helped us to plant wild flowers.  
If you’re passing by, take a look at the carving and the work taking place to create a greener and more welcoming space for people and wildlife. It's another step along the way to making the city more bee-friendly.
The work forms part of Pockets of Paradise, a project funded through the Stoke High Street Accelerator programme, through which several small gardens and nature pockets have been identified or created in the town.

Artist Lisa Nash is working with us on the Wallace Centre community garden project to create decorated panels for the surrounding fences.  We cant wait to see the finished panels, she's so talented!
We also hosted a Nature Connect Club in the garden at which lots of children and families came along and joined in nature-themed activities.  

What a fab day we had at Bradeley Community Centre on Friday 10 April.  The weather held out and the people came. The day had a great feel to it and it was good to see so many local families who enjoyed exploring the site following the bird trail, running around freely, chilling in the hammock or on the bean bags listening to live music, eating Cher’s fab pizza. Both adults and children persevered and constructed bird boxes to install in their garden/ back yard. There was a constant hive of activity making bird feeders, decorating and planting up tin can planters with marigold seeds and creating moths on sticks. Great to see all generations enjoying the space. A great success. 

Spring has got off to a great start on Plot 33.  
The first Wednesday in March was a super sunny, bright day to be up on Plot 33 with Wonder Women ‘playing’ (safely of course) with fire.🔥 
Using a flint to get the fire going, whittling sticks to try out making charcoal, sawing up scrap wood to feed the fire and then planting onions and shallots! 🧅 
A lovely, busy day sustained with soup and rolls and campfire coffee sitting in the sunshine. 
A couple of weeks later we were planting out broadbeans and potatoes, turning the compost heap, strimming the grass, potting on tomatoes and picking the first rhubarb of the season.
Then we ready for Anne’s delicious soup at lunch time! 
A great start to the growing season.
Wonder Women is a peer-support group for women that meets on Wednesdays at Richmond Street allotments (or Art Stop if it is really awful weather).  

Wow what a wonderful session we had at Nature Connect Club on Saturday 7th February. At 10.30 it was raining cats and dogs and not looking hopeful but within 10 mins a family all kitted out for rain appeared and gradually others joined them. Did they love playing in the muddy puddles?… oh yes!! They painted with mud, identified and found out how old some of the trees are, made tree spirits from clay ( & used clay to slip and slide about on), drew with charcoal and warmed up with hot chocolate drinks!  What a brilliant time we all had and it was great to get creative in the outdoors in winter.

What a great time we had at our wild winter Nature Connect Sessions in the grounds of Stoke Minster.  
With a firepit lit we toasted marshmallows, and made charcoal which the children used to draw with.  Amazing!
We went on a trail to spot wildlife and hung out in the hammock.  It was great to bring fun, creativity and light into the darker winter days.

​Wonder Women have been very busy during November and December planting Snowdrops, Crocus and Cyclamen in Stoke Minster grounds as part of our Pockets of Paradise project.
They also helped with the tidying up at plot 33 after a bit of storm damage
They have been getting festive making wreaths and having a Christmas celebration down at the Artstop
It is now time for a well earned break and Wonder Women will be back with Anne and Rachel in the new year for lots more adventures

We're excited to be hosting another series of Nature Connect Club during autumn throught to spring 2026.
Hosted by environmental artist Francesca and our own artists Anne and Rachel, the sessions will take place in the nature-rich grounds of Stoke Minster. 
Each session has a different theme and Francesca will bring some fun and interesting activities suitable for adults and children to enjoy.  On Saturday 15th November the theme was Paint and plant, where the group helped to plant lots of spring bulbs around the Minster grounds, they also got the opportunity to paint a bean-can planter and plant a spring bulb to take home and watch it grow.  Keep your eye on our socials for more dates.  

Pupils from Carmountside school have kindly helped Anne and Rachel plant a playful grass border in the new garden at the Wallace centre in Abbey Hulton.  New summer houses have been installed and on Friday 31st Oct 10:30-1pm they returned to finish off the planting and members of the public were invited to join in.

Anne and Rachel have been working at the Wallace Centre in Abbey Hulton for a couple of months starting to create a sensory and play garden to go alongside the new Family Hub.  With help from people in the community they have built raised beds, garden seats with bedding. This involved shifting a LOT of top soil.