Alison Kershaw
Creative Writing Quiet Spaces

Writer Nigel Wood is working with us on MMQS, leading creative writing sessions during our Tuesday Art Studio In TLC-St Lukes Art Project. Anyone is welcome to come along 6-7pm every Tuesday (please see our whats on page for dates) The writing group will be based on some of the themes that arise from the project - how noise affects our mental health
Here are some of the first poems from some of our participants
On Highfield Meadow
Adele Fowles
Feeling the wind on my face and tasting the rain Squelching through the slippery mud and calling my dog to come to me
Resting among the dense trees counting my breaths mindfully and being being being here now
Loving blossom leaves, berries, grasses and trees Cherishing the changing moments, hours and months
Discovering spiders’ webs that seem lit up by magic
Lying down in the green green grass With the dogs lead against my feet
In Orford Park
Carl Peploe
Sitting one evening in Orford Park
Watching the sun set in a big red ball
Then there came an army of quad bikes
With little Nigel Mansells riding them
They didn’t half make a noise With their engines They made a dog yelp and run off
What an interruption
The sun had gone again So off I went home To listen to Black Sabbath Or maybe Alice Cooper
Listen to the Birds
Muriel
Listen to the magpies
Listen to the starlings
Listen to the tits while eating sandwiches
Eating cakes and sharing it with the birds
while eating the crumbs out of the wrapping papers from the bins left in spots for the other users for their needs
Platt Fields
Margaret Kershaw
In Platt Fields you can get away from the traffic
In Platt Fields you can sit round the lake In Platt Fields you can listen to the birds In Platt Fields you can visit pet’s corner
In Platt Fields you can go to the funfair
In Platt Fields you can watch the bonfire
Piccadilly
Elton Darlo
In Piccadilly, Manchester there is a lot of activity
In Piccadilly Gardens there is homelessness
In Piccadilly Gardens there are political demos
In Piccadilly Gardens there are musicians
In Piccadilly Gardens there are playing areas
In Piccadilly Gardens there are water fountains
In Piccadilly Gardens there are lots of wood pigeons
In Piccadilly Gardens there are evangelical preachers
In Piccadilly Gardens there are various eating and drinking venues
Highfield County Park
Bernadette O’Hanrahan
In Highfield County Park,
it’s fresh and pure air In Highfield County Park you can walk for hours
In Highfield County Park you can feed carrots to the horses In Highfield County Park you can ride the horses
In Highfield County Park you can visit the farm In Highfield County Park you see lots of nice people and lovely dogs
In Highfield County Park you see lots of birds and listen to them singing – magpies, sparrows, robins
In Highfield County Park entering from Highfield Road you pass the wonderful allotments
Prestwich Clough
Carl Peploe
In the spring it is fresh and green
In the summer shady and cool In autumn full of wondrous colours
In the winter it is dead and cold
You can walk there and feel at peace
And hear the birds chirp And see the squirrels eat their nuts
And the doggies having walks
I first visited it when I was 7 To escape the summer heat I had a paddle in the brook – O what a joy that was!
I’ve visited it most years since
And it always brings me peace –
The sound of the babbling brook
And everything is love.