Willow Workshop

We have had another busy willow week working outdoors in the rain and wind suffering for our art with sore throats. Luckily we always travel with a couple of changes of outdoor gear so that we can continue working outside even when the toughest builders have retrated to their vans. We made a new domes at Dolphinholme (lovely name) C of E Primary school and Faith R C School in Liverpool. Next month we will creating a willow area with local volunteers and The National Wildflower Centre at a park in Everton. This is to make a cosy area for families to relax in.
On Wednesday we ran a willow workshop for Wigan Groundwork Trust. This was for local people to have a go at willow work and it was nice that we had 2 lots of father and sons as well as other students. We were relieved that this workshop was held indoors at a local sports centre.

Then it was 2 days at Bootle, Liverpool doing repairs to willow structures that we had built about 4 years ago. we reduced the height of one dome to make it easier for ongoing maintenance. The last day was dreadful - hail, torrential rain and dark, dark skies.

Willow in North Yorkshire

Last week we worked at Sowerby Primary School, Thirsk. We were at the school for 4 days doing some living willow repairs and making a woven wishing tree for their new sensory garden.
The ground was frozen for 2 days so we needed to make planting holes with a hammer and stake. We repaired 3 tunnels and a dome that we had built with the children about 3 years ago. Then we made a snakey tunnel for the reception playground. All the children from reception planted a willow rod and tried out the finished tunnel.
The we moved indoors, working in the school hall to make a tree with the older children. We made the trunk and branches separately for assembly outside so that we were able to get the sculpture out of the school doors.

Of course it rained when we were outside putting the woven tree together!

more living willow projects

The week we were working in the south of the country so managed to avoid all of the bad weather that our home county of Cumbria suffered.
we worked at Graveley Primary School near Stevenage for one day. the weather was sunny but cold and very windy. the children helped to create a large living willow dome and had great fun making the planting holes and selecting the willow. we stayed in a nice Travelodge nearby.

on thursday we started work at Tyssen Community Primary School in Hackney, London. we first met the school when a class came to the Countryside Live event in Lea Valley Park. the site was in the nursery garden in a tight space so we designed a lovely small dome with tunnels to fit in with the existing layout of the garden. the ground was bone hard and required a hammer and bar to make planting holes.  the children got involved by helping to plant the willow rods. because of the hard dry ground the children will have great fun watering in the newly planted play structure.
simone made stars for each child as christmas presents.

Willow Maze Project, South Bank Primary School, Middlesbrough

we spent 4 days in Middlesbrough building a willow maze with the children of the school. the school wanted an area that would be fun for the kids to play in and also would provide a sheltered and relaxing space for outdoor lessons. the school field is big with no shelter from the wind and the sea is pretty close so it can be very cold and draughty. we were lucky and didn't have any rain but the wind was very strong.

the design we came up with was a large dome with an encircling willow tunnel to provide quiet internal area. we made a lot of entrances and exits so that it would be fun to play in. all of the kids loved the design.

willow project ulverston

we are building a willow play area at croftlands junior school

Hothersall Lodge Outdoors Centre, nr Preston

We worked with children from a local primary school to make a large willow den at Hothersall http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/?siteid=3953&pageid=16864. The weather was unseasonally warm and the children were able to use the centre's new climbing wall as well as help to weave a willow structure. a great time was had by all.

First Living Willow Project of the season, Dent C of E Primary

Today we finished our first living willow project of the 2011/12 season. We worked with the children of Dent C of E Primary School to create a Living Willow Dome and Tunnel, known as a Twigloo! Luckily the weather was kind to us so there was no rain and the ground was soft but not muddy. We worked with all of the children in the school (there are under 40 children in total) in rotation to dig and plant and then weave the structure. Great fun was had by all!