Thursday, 26 July 2012

Once there was a girl who...

We are in the middle of a number of workshops for small groups, rather than our big public events now. Today, I was in Buxton Library making up stories with visitors. Together we designed our a hero, sent her off through our town and up the hill towards Solomon's Temple. There our ideas diverged and people went off to find clues as to just what might have happened....The notes that follow came from just a few of our new tales
Gordon, Creeping Toad - storyteller for the session


A girl went for a walk on a sunny summer afternoon. She had rolled her trousers up to her knees and was wearing a wide-brimmed sunhat, sandals, and a T-shirt. She had binoculars round her neck, a basket in one hand, a fishing net in the other and a rucsac on her back.

As she walked up the hill to Solomon's Temple……

the woods on Grin Low

Story 1:            she saw a giant standing in the trees in front of her. She was so terrified she couldn't move and the giant reached out a huge hand to grab her. Then Sarah swung her fist and hit the giant in the face so hard his head fell off!  She picked up the head to put in her basket and take it home. But realised that the giant wasn't dead and was very scared because his head and body weren't joined together any more.  Sarah helped the giant put his head back on his shoulders. It was very wobbly so she got lots of sticks and stuck them in round the join so that the giant's head didn't wobble any more. Then she discovered that this was a very important giant because every day he took one of the shining golden yellow flowers that grew on the bushes along the path and threw it high into the sky. The flowers would stick to the sky and shine down on everyone all day, but by the evening the flower would have shrivelled up and night would swallow the world. Sarah became the only person who knows the secret of sunshine and the only friend the Sunshine Giant every had

a flower of the sun

Story 2            she met a witch looking for the last ingredient for the most difficult potion she had ever made. The girl offered to help and learned that the missing ingredient was a lock of hair from an adventurer's head. She offered some of her own hair but wasn't sure if she was adventurous enough. The witch stirred the girl's hair into the potion and they both waited to see what would happen. Nothing changed. The girl took a sip of the potion and at once disappeared from the Grin Low woods. She found herself far from home, in the middle of a jungle and felt the power of the potion inside her and knew that she could wish herself home again any time she wanted. She was an adventurer after all!

Story 3            she slipped in some mud, fell in a stream and rolled all the way down the stream, down a river, out to sea where a boat rescued her. But a storm came and waves as big as mountains threw the boat all over the place and the girl fell out and into the shark-filled sea. At once the sharks started chasing her and the girl swam away. She swam so fast her shoes slipped off (and the sharks munched them up). She swam so fast her hat flew off (and the sharks munched it up). She swam as fast as a dolphin (shark teeth were snapping), as fast as barracuda (shark jaws were open wide) but the sharks got closer and closer with their sharp, snapping teeth. But just as they were going to pounce, a wonderful golden fish slipped through the waves beside the girl and grabbing hold of its fins, she was pulled through the water and away to safety. They left the sharks far behind and beautiful green turtles kept them company until they reached the river. Then the fish swam the girl up the river, up the stream and flicked her back onto the mud where her adventure started. She went home, covered with mud and no-one ever believed her!

Then there were
 the girl who found a mouse's party bits all wrapped up in a leaf
the girl who just went for a lovely walk, finding beautiful flowers on the way
the girl who found a wild horse on the hills

and of course
the boy who eaten by the sharks and came home as a ghost and never had to go to school again
Grin Low woods and Solomon's Temple are great places for adventures!
Thanks to storytellers Andrew, Holly, Angus and Iona

(these aren't our own photos, so apologies to people who've posted these images on the web and thanks for putting these images out there where the rest of us can appreciate them!)


Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Away with the Faeries!

and we were! on a hot, steamy day in the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, there were visitors everywhere. Picnics were eaten, streams splashed in. Dogs chased balls and balls chased ducks and ducks chased anyone who might have bread concealed about their persons
you never know just who might be watching
or what something might do with your hat! a troll picnic


and among all this bedlam, who would have thought that there were still small quiet corners where the watchful watched.....

Our intrepid goblin-hinters, faerie followers and troll-huggers (more than a hundred in the day), peered and pried and found clues (tiny witch's broomsticks, stray goblin ears and troll eyebrows and even scales from a mermaid's tail!)

Under the bridge,
An old troll sits,
Fishing in the river for shoes












The wicked witch of the waters
Lives in a willow tree
Watching the water and wishing she was by the sea


Faerie team in determined action
Our discoveries gave us new stories, new friends to meet. Natalie always brings chips when she comes to the Gardens so she can share fish and chips with a troll. Unfortunately, Adam realised that a lot of the ducks (see above) are actually faeries, transformed by some cheating goblins who then had a party, got drunk and fell over. The fountain is, of course, a faerie bath and when the faeries are bathing, the ducks flee because a) who would want to see a naked faerie? and b) short-sighted faeries have been known to use ducks instead of sponges
musicians of all ages helped charm the monsters from our imaginations


by the end of it all, it felt hard to tell the difference between human and non-human.....
BOOKLOG
References used:
The Fairies (poem) by William Allingham
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony Di Terlizzi and Holly Black
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
one of our hunters brought Natalie, the Christmas Fairy with her as a book to recommend

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

The Exploring with Stories poster

Our magnificent Exploring poster programme is now out filtering its way across the Peaks. This would seem to be a good opportunity to introduce you to our wonderful artist, Martin Olsson

"Martin, here is Everyone. Everyone, here is Martin."

OK. Done that. Now go visit Martin's website

And enjoy both the full Exploring poster



and then why not download the line-drawing version and colour it in yourself? Maybe send us a copy and we'll start a gallery of poster variations!


Tiny! Faeries, goblins and trolls

We are having a bit of a month of faerie-tales this July.  Stone and Water have just finished two damp days as part of the Buxton Festival Fringe making Tiny! Faerie Tale characters

Thanks to everyone who braved the drizzle and squelched in to join us!

sheltering under our familiar, friendly oak tree - the scene of all our Tiny! adventures!
a cheerful, Tiny! person

a Tiny! pirate ship

The Golden Wizard
The Wicked Witch of the Water
Lives under a Willow Tree
And spends each day
Wishing she was beside the sea
The Witch dances


Monday, 9 July 2012

Away with the faeries, goblins and trolls!


Away with the faeries, goblins and trolls
magical storywalks through Buxton's Pavilion Gardens



join the Stone and Water storytellers and artists to look for the secret people of the Gardens. We'll listen to stories and look for the place where the troll sits fishing for shoes, look for faerie palaces and goblin holes, find clues and tell tall and terrible tales
And if we don't find anything, then we'll just invent it!

Tuesday 24th July
2 sessions: 10.30 - 12.30 and 1.30 - 3.30 (you only need to come to one of them!)
Meet by the Bandstand in front of the Pavilion, Buxton  (SK17 6BE)

Activities are free and any materials needed will be provided

Can young goblin hunters and troll-seekers (under 10) bring a grown-up with them (as bait?)

For more information, contact stoneandwater@btinternet.com
Or call 01298 77964