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

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

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