Surrey Docks Farm, City Farm, Rotherhithe, London
SURREY DOCKS FARM: We formed a close working partnership with Surrey Docks City Farm throughout the 1990’s. A wealth of projects and workshops related to farming, produce and local history took place here. They involved both story-tellers, poets and visual artists working in a creative and innovative way to educate and get the most out of this valuable resource.
“Very useful, the children loved the animals and found that they don’t often get to experience many animals first hand.”
Surrey Dock Farm: Poetry on the River.
Yurt Installations: Forest Tales – Stepping into a green forest where flower fairies and pixies await proved a magical experience for young children.
The Land of Narnia – Stepping into a Winter wonderland and meeting some of the characters from the CS Lewis novels thrilled and entertained children.
Chocolate Land – What child wouldn’t enjoy a visit to such a land and helping the insects there to ensure that the cacao bean was not destroyed by the evil Nut Weavils!
Tales of the Riverside: Docklands – The history of the working docks explained and visualised, using forged models of the river and ships.
Japanese Kabuki Style theatre – Tales of magical fish and river creatures from other cultures told on a river bank setting add magic and mystery.
Farmyard Trail: Solving clues to find each location and meeting the animals there and through a series of poems and stories coming to have a greater understanding and respect for them.
Making masks for Animal Poetry.
Growing Schools: Linking neighbourhood schools in growing their own produce and comparing results.
Bees and Pollination: Early Years – discover what a bee does through games and activities. Learn a song and dance like a bee before hearing the well loved story of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Bees.
Primary – Meet an amazing large scale bee and hear the tale of how the storyteller became a bee and hence knows so many interesting facts from living with them for a time. Work with wax to make candles and use willow and tissue paper to construct your own hexagonal cell and bee.
Business Links Projects: Mosaic Hens – groups of business volunteers leant a hand in creating hen mosaics using different cultural styles, from Aboriginal art to Chinese styles. These formed a paving for the large willow hen under which stories from different parts of the world would be told about hens.
London Workshop Company in the Bermondsey Carnival 2004