Anne and Rachel have been out and about again!
This time building and installing the lovely woodblock seating and planters outside The Wallace Centre in Abbey Hulton on two of the hottest days of the year.
We were assisted by very hard working Jane, James and two fabulous women on their way out of the gym!
Once built we filled them with soil and planted with drought resistant plants
Finished off today painting with wood preserver.
All part of a bigger project installing a sensory garden in the grounds.
Wallace Sport And Education Centre
#community #gardening

​Nature Connect Club: Marvellous Moths.
We set the moth trap overnight in the allotment. In the morning we were excited to find more than 15 moths inside, including such species as - Buff Ermine moth, Cinnabar moth, Tawny Marbled Minor moth, Heart and Dart moths and Beautiful Plume moths.
The children enjoyed identifying the moths and transferring them to jars for observation. The Buff Ermine sat on a young girl’s hand. There were moth models to make, Lino cut print moths and a nature notebook to draw pictures of the moths too.
We learnt that there are 2,500 varieties of moths in the UK.
All moths were returned to the wild.
Many thanks to everyone who came along, it was a lovely interesting session on our allotment Plot 33.

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.

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.

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.

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
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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!

​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!

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.
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