A Bit Of Research For Delivering Learning Activities Related To The NHM London's Exhibition...

Sydenham Wood - had a lovely walk in the wood with the London Wildlife Trust - I'm a big fan of The Great North Wood so it was fantastic to not only hear and learn about the natural environment - but also to think about the no longer present victorian houses and gardens - see above the folly and the Lebanon cedar that appeared as a shrub in a picture from 150 years ago -  & the train track that once went through to the now bat inhabited tunnel - & the interconnected-ness of it all... enjoyed the rain though of course I treated myself to some cake and tea upon return.

psychogeography? a starting point for my community audio trail and other such stuff...

So, I am poised to go; overloaded with to do lists and notes of threads of thoughts to follow. I am hoping that along with my excel workbook, that this blog will help me develop my thoughts and research.

First priority is to order some audio equipment. Having sought advice and watched this video: I have decided that the Tascam DR 40 is the one for me to try! I was toying with the Zoom hm4, which has a good reputation, however, it is a bit pricier and I don’t need the extra features it boasts.  We shall see how it goes! As well as asking for advice about recording equipment, I have asked advice about audio trails from the GEM (Group for Education in Museums) mailing list. I can recommend doing this to anyone who is looking for similar support. I received some very helpful advice and tips of trails to try out for myself. I am sure this will be an invaluable part of my research.

I have also approached a few people tentatively about being recorded for the audio trail that I want to make of Crystal Palace Park. I have received positive responses, which is great. I am though aware of the responsibility I feel towards recording and presenting this all properly. At the moment, my main aim is to record the oral history of the park at this point in time, which was inspired but my time with my friend’s daughter O, as well as talking with one of the park rangers. I am using ‘psychogeography’ as a starting point theory-wise. I am a beginner in this field, just as I am with recording oral history and creating an audio trail, which makes me slightly anxious, yet inspired to try and develop my skills and understanding. Luckily, a few other people have said they have never heard of the term and so at least I know I am not starting on a topic that everyone already knows everything about!

I am quite a nostalgic person myself and so I begin with an awareness of this fact! I’ve a great love of all things Crystal Palace, but am by no means an expert on the area. I love all things community minded and Crystal Palace is a place that thrives on community spirit. I also begin this project with a desire to explore the variety of options open when creating an audio trail. I have inevitably many questions! Is a trail a good way to help people engage in the park? Can I make an audio trail that locals (and perhaps visitors from further afield) will want to listen to?

A days work

So today I have mostly been spending the whole day writing emails to people about community trails they have made and also a call out for contributors to my audio trail!! All steps but also need to do some reading... :)

#southlondon #blueskies #autumn #autumnsun Love it! (at London, United Kingdom)

Victoria Park Memoryscape Trail

Victoria park - and the journey there…. some extracts of my thoughts….

I see an appropriately named pub, which lets me know I am at least in the right area…

I passed lots of green spaces on the way

An interesting looking church, of a style I don’t recall seeing before…

It’s muggy

It feels like another zone of London from where I live and I link it with Leytonstone, not too far away, where a friend lives, something about the open green spaces and the natural association I make.

A larger building - Victorian in style but higher than I am used to in Crystal Palace.

Wow Victoria (Park) has an impressive lead up - roundabout and impressive gates.

Trendy cake and coffee type cafe (which looks like it does proper food too) with a vibrant atmosphere - I enjoy a conversation I overhear by the people working there - it helps add to the happy atmosphere there! I also liked the fact a bottle of water cost £1 and not more as it often does in cafes!

The sun shines on the lake as if on time to see the sculptures and the pretty fountain in the lake looking splendid. It reminds me of what I think Crystal Palace Park (CPP)nneeds - a fountain as a reminder of Paxton and those he had installed in the park – I have not thought about before, which surprises me, but I hadn’t thought before that there are no fountains in CPP.

I see the long park roads – a cyclists paradise and my thought turns to Hyde park or even Prater in Vienna - which in the summer I quite often cycled through to work, as well as over the Danube – all in a half an hour cycle…

The audio trail is really enjoyable and I like the talk about the myths of the dogs and hearing the different opinions – leaving it open to interpretation with us.

The narrator is someone who has lived in the area of Victoria park for nine years I think it was – and this draws you in by knowing that the person clearly has a relationship with the park.

No one person speaking for a long time – it’s nicely broken up with different voices. It’s a good clear recording and the speaking is calm and nice to listen to.

It’s am amazingly surprising beautiful evening, having set out with it being much duller – it’s a beautiful route – and the canal an added bonus for me.

I felt a bit out of place to begin with - but now I feel at home as if I am walking near me in the evening - doesn’t feel like a Sunday evening in some ways to be so far away from home but it others it does with the calm atmosphere

I made some more sound recordings and have decided to do at least one on every project related trip out.

Background sounds create an atmosphere. It’s hard to differentiate some times between the sounds on the recording and the sounds in real life! I looked around when I heard the sound of the loud canal boat on the mp3 file while walking down the canal. I wondered if this kind of thing would annoy me, but I love the playfulness of this, I think it makes me more aware ….

I’m inspired to listen to some of my own favourite tracks in between listening to the trail mp3’s and this as well as making the sound recordings and listening to the trail really helps me listen to the sounds around me.

The trail map is easy to use and follow.

The trail encourages you to interact in the sense of inviting you go and get a drink and find somewhere to sit and listen to the trail.

Cafe owners talking on the trail too – it seems they are talking about what they wanted to achieve and also about the visitors they have.

I wonder what happens when trails get really out of date. They are still a memory of the point in time when they were made, but maybe something needs to change?

I did about half but not half of the distance. Will happily return to do the rest….

I like the feeling of travelling when navigating streets and journeys alone. There is some level of fear of being far from home, but also a feeling of freedom and anticipation. Sounds obvious I know, but true!

Pretty big meteor! #museumhack

Good morning Stratford and Olympic Park. ... Here for the re thinking parks Nesta day....

Such a lovely day in nature today and witnessing the pure joy of my friends' four year olds who wanted me to take photos of all the flowers and plants we passed! They spent ages being 'keepers of the ponds' and more along with very keen ten year old. In my books nature always wins for children and I appreciate time with children as it helps me take the time to appreciate nature too :)

Botany on Your Plate at The South London Botanical Institute

June 2017

I recently developed and led three afternoon workshops for adults with learning disabilities at the South London Botanical Institute as part of their current Botany on Your Plate series of workshops and events. As far as I am aware, the workshops are the first to be developed there specifically for people with learning disabilities. However, there is already a rich educational programme in place for children and adults.

Founded in 1910, by Allan Octavian Hume, The South London Botanical Institute (SLBI) in Tulse Hill is situated in a Victorian house and garden and though smaller than the likes of the Natural History Museum, is a fascinating centre for heritage and botany alike. It holds a herbarium, library, education spaces and a botanical garden. I really wanted to develop these sessions in order to help make it more accessible for local people with learning disabilities.

I developed the workshops to cater for a variety of skills and interests. The first session was art based, the second cooking based and the final session used music and storytelling to explore the theme of botany on your plate.

The group that came are based just up the road in West Norwood and are members of the L'Arche London community. L'Arche is a local Charity with its roots in France where it was started by the philosopher, theologian and humanitarian Jean Vanier. L’Arche is very present in the local community and is about to celebrate 40 years of being in West Norwood.

I began planning these sessions with thoughts on what it would be about the theme Botany on Your Plate that could resonate with people. The obvious thing is that of food and my experience of most people's enjoyment of shared meal times together in the homes - where good food and conversation is often present! L'Arche has its own garden project and so the link between growing and eating food is a a connection that people will already make. However, I was keen to develop this further and help people get to know the layout of the house and garden.

In the first session I developed an activity where people could eat specific fruit and then find the corresponding plants in the SLBI garden. These plants were not necessarily bearing fruit, so I put photos of the fruit near to the plants and made the activity into a treasure hunt. We then searched for vegetables in the house to then use for printing to create our own plate designs. The second session saw us exploring herbs using out senses and working out what they were. This was good because we could use some herbs from the L’Arche garden as well as some from the SLBI garden and some extras from elsewhere! We made herbal teas from different recipes that I got from Rachel De Thample. The final session used a sensory story from Coralie Oddy (Remini-Sense) about gardening. This in concentrate on the seasons and the growing cycle and we also sung songs on this topic to complement it. We also had a search in the garden and brought things in to tell and/or show the rest of the group what we found on our search.

It will be interesting to learn what people took away from the session and what they remember of it. I hope that it is the beginning of a connection between the SLBI and L’Arche and will also pave the way for other local connections.

Sarah Glover is a freelance education practitioner who particularly works in the area of heritage, music, storytelling and accessibility. 

‘Emergency” lesson plan, which included making a collage of places where people work... This was three classes work put together :) Topic was ‘jobs’.. we also played bingo, memory and charades... Native English Speaker in a Vienna Primary School...