What a wonderful show, a little damp but a great time was had by all the group members who attended. It was a good chance to meet up with people we hadn’t seen for a while and the public were very interested in what we were all doing. The show organisers were, as usual, very helpful and accomodating in this relaxed and friendly show. We were situated just behind the main arena and got a good view of all that was happening. People took lots of flyers from the group and everyone sold a few bits and bobs to help make it all worthwhile. It would be good to keep supporting this wonderful show so look out for next years dates here on the website. For more information on the Weald and Downland Museum follow this LINK
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- Green wood workshop course
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- Beth Shepheard
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- Wonderful Weald and Downland Autumn show
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- Hurdle making Course SSCG
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- Rural businesses to benefit from £35m government fund
Fantastic I am looking forward to an amazing season, it is an honour to be affiliated with a bunch of creative people, in this time of ecological disruption it’s so important to educate people about the environment and how they can work with it, ecological anxiety is a new threat and a justified one , being a member of the Sussex and Surrey coppice group is a fantastic opportunity to teach people how to connect with nature through rural crafts and conservation.
It is humbling that in life serendipity plays its role in events, such as the opportunity we all have to work together.
I have recently started a project that I would like to share with you.
The school woodland theatre project.
The idea came in a breeze of inspiration as do so many.
I was pondering how to connect people with nature to help communities grow and work together.
The school woodland theatre project, is going to be a means of achieving this.
The nucleus is the desire to learn matched by the desire to teach.
Every school has forest school teachers and students,
The theatre is a place that is created to encourage the learning experience of all that are involved ,
The land is offered to a local school by a local landowner, to create their theatre the
Community may like to get involved .
In the first school woodland theatre project a kind elderly couple offered a small area of their land to support the idea , the area chosen was undulating so I started making a circle seventeen meters across into a level surface, the area had a lot of bracken and cut up branches from a fallen tree so after clearing that with my little digger I dug up the bracken roots ( bracken is an invasive plant which very greedy for nutrients) , after this i turfed the area and wove a loose hazel hurdle around half the area which the children will finish off. The idea is that the children will plant a tree each , which amounts to three hundred and twenty trees around the circle ,each teacher will also plant a tree , then outward a woodland will be planted,there is a certain symbolic and deep meaning connection within this action not only with nature but to the realisation that we are all one big family.
As the project evolves through the infusion of inspiration .
The children will learn from forest school teachers ,parents and other teachers an abundance of skills that will help them create the props and theatre set from natural materials to put on shows that will inspire action .
I believe that the answer to our wake up call is through the children , for they are still connected with nature through their innocence.
I hope schools will become connected with one another , sharing information about the different biodiversity in each school woodland theatre area as each one evolves in its unique environment.