Friday, 11 December 2009
On the Common 30/10/09
Where did everyone go? The wind had picked up, it was a bit cold and the common was practically empty. Thankfully Sophie came on site today and kept me company. We had a good walk around the site, got some good photographs and had a chance to work on some of the ideas that were suggested on the previous days.
On the Common 29/10/09
Another busy day on the common, I spoke to 25 people not including the commoners that came back from the day before. The young commoners liked having something different to and really wanted to show me what they liked about the place. Unfortunately this did end up in the Great Crab Massacre of Milton Common, when a group of 6 under 12’s brought back a bucket full of crabs to show me and couldn’t be bothered to take them back to the sea, so jumped on them instead. Humm, the seagulls were happy.
This event aside the youngsters came up with more drawings for the site and showed an interest in helping with the production of work for the site in the New Year. When I went for a walk later in the day there was a group of about 7 children between 4 – 10 years old crabbing on the beach without adults, bikes rested up on a bench.
I had some interesting talks with older commoners, particularly about the site pre-common, and the houseboats on the shoreline, which is now the new housing development. One lady described in my notes as orange jumper dog lady (she had about 5 or 6) was particularly interesting. I explained my intentions and she ranted at me how children didn’t know how to play anymore…. seemingly completely unaware that there were a group of boys on bikes riding past her, and at least 50% of the people I had spoken to that day were under 12. The activities that her children got up to on the park did sound like good fun though, building rafts on the lakes and blackberry fights.
I also had a good chat with Willie Goldfinch who was building the war memorial to the north of the common and he talked to me about his nickname, working 7 days a week building the memorial and his ‘soft place to land’, being a poet.
This event aside the youngsters came up with more drawings for the site and showed an interest in helping with the production of work for the site in the New Year. When I went for a walk later in the day there was a group of about 7 children between 4 – 10 years old crabbing on the beach without adults, bikes rested up on a bench.
I had some interesting talks with older commoners, particularly about the site pre-common, and the houseboats on the shoreline, which is now the new housing development. One lady described in my notes as orange jumper dog lady (she had about 5 or 6) was particularly interesting. I explained my intentions and she ranted at me how children didn’t know how to play anymore…. seemingly completely unaware that there were a group of boys on bikes riding past her, and at least 50% of the people I had spoken to that day were under 12. The activities that her children got up to on the park did sound like good fun though, building rafts on the lakes and blackberry fights.
I also had a good chat with Willie Goldfinch who was building the war memorial to the north of the common and he talked to me about his nickname, working 7 days a week building the memorial and his ‘soft place to land’, being a poet.
On the Common 28/10/09
What a great start to the first of three days on the common. Launa (9), Matthew (7) and Jemma (11) with their grandfather were the first people I spoke to whilst I was setting up. They had all been down to the harbour painting seascapes. What a wonderfully cultured bunch.
During the first day I spoke to sixteen commoners (as they shall be known), of which ten were between 7 –11 and five were 50+.
The older commoners were mostly concerned that my presence signalled that the site was going to be used for housing development. There was a genuine passion for this green space and the commoners were very happy to talk to me about the recent history, ecology and current use of the site. Good and bad. The re surfacing of the paths had been popular and the general feeling was that they didn’t want anything much to change. One lady was very keen to volunteer over at Tamworth Fields (an adjacent play pathfinder site) and I was encouraged that despite the large area that Milton common covers there was a real sense of pride and ownership.
Two of the negative aspects that were often repeated were about it not feeling safe (particularly at night) and the litter.
The young commoners that I met were nearly all 11 years old and enjoyed riding bikes, going crabbing and just hanging out on the common. They all got really involved in coming up with ideas for ‘improved play possibilities’ and made interesting contributions to the ideas map. The ideas ranges from treasure trails to tree houses, humps and bumps for bikes to places to shelter when it rains.
During the first day I spoke to sixteen commoners (as they shall be known), of which ten were between 7 –11 and five were 50+.
The older commoners were mostly concerned that my presence signalled that the site was going to be used for housing development. There was a genuine passion for this green space and the commoners were very happy to talk to me about the recent history, ecology and current use of the site. Good and bad. The re surfacing of the paths had been popular and the general feeling was that they didn’t want anything much to change. One lady was very keen to volunteer over at Tamworth Fields (an adjacent play pathfinder site) and I was encouraged that despite the large area that Milton common covers there was a real sense of pride and ownership.
Two of the negative aspects that were often repeated were about it not feeling safe (particularly at night) and the litter.
The young commoners that I met were nearly all 11 years old and enjoyed riding bikes, going crabbing and just hanging out on the common. They all got really involved in coming up with ideas for ‘improved play possibilities’ and made interesting contributions to the ideas map. The ideas ranges from treasure trails to tree houses, humps and bumps for bikes to places to shelter when it rains.
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