Fairies In Burslem

Forever I will recall

A summer stroll in Stoke

In Blue Bell Wood beside the cut

Resided little folk

I caught a glimpse so briefly

Each one with wings of gold

Sat upon a buttercup

In sunshine bright and bold

Now many think it’s wishful

But I know that it’s true

Underneath the willow branch

Reveals a world of few

So pause and look around you

Let imagination bloom

Each and every fairy tale

May live next door to you

By Stephen Harvey

Ideas flowing in the Old Post Office

With a new exhibition being put up around us, around 15 people gathered for this first experimental meeting. 10 ideas were presented with discussion inbetween. While some were ideas that fit the category of “would be great if enough people got behind it”, many more were already active pieces of work that can inspire other people.

All the ideas will be developed into individual posts and in the meantime here’s a brief summary of the discussion. We think we’ll get together again in a month to continue the discussions.

Many thanks to Rob and the Old Post Office for hosting. This space will be open all weekend for a sales exhibition of pottery and also hosts a Social Media Surgery on September 1st – this is a chance for anybody in the community to come and get free advice about helpful ways you can use the internet. More information here.

Headlines

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust opens learning centre at Westport Lake, Longport – The Sentinel

Updates from the Local Forum

The Burslem and Middleport Local Forum meets monthly in the Burslem School of Art. Here are a few updates from last night’s meeting:

• Middleport Residents Association, Midland Heart, John Baskeyfield, RENEW, British Waterways and CAB (more? I lost track) have all been involved in some excellent work over the last few weeks to create community gardens and develop a shared allotment for older people.
• You can see all of this at the Middleport Fun Day on 14th August.
• The Forum discussed its future direction and suggested future meetings themed around the Port Project, land, future funding and Burslem town centre.
• Debbie Hope from RENEW shared latest developments from the Middleport programme. This includes refurbishments, greening projects, further clearance and street works. Email debbie.hope @ stoke.gov.uk for more detail.
• The Burslem Port Project is making good progress with further landscaping and investigation work.
• There is currently a display in the School of Art on progress and plans for Burslem Town Centre and the community are invited to give their views.

For more information about the Local Forum or to get involved email karen.dulson @ stoke.gov.uk. The next meeting will be on July 29th.