Stories From the garden
We are brick makers
Flow Bracey who is one of our Earth Build Trainee’s reflects on her first involvement with GG as a Brick Project Assistant for the making of our first permanent garden, the Triangle site.
Bumps, Wrinkles and Breakthroughs
Sitting on the other side of the world in Aotearoa New Zealand, where I now live, I received a piece of ‘looking back, looking forward writing from Nicole’ . It was a response to the idea that we might co-write a blog post in recognition of Global Generation’s 20 year history.
Diving into the Voices of the Water Exhibition
Two years ago I joined an exploratory wandering along the river Fleet, with the newly launched Voices of the Water project. We followed the secret river from its source, bubbling up from the ochre clay nursery springs beneath Kenwood, where it nourishes the happy bathers of the ponds just beyond - before dipping down again and winding, largely concealed, toward the city and the Thames.
GG turns 20: A life story, through Kathryn’s eyes
How time flies.
We first met when you were 13 and I was 18. You had just started exploring Canada Water and made yourself known to the community pretty quickly, in my eyes.
VOW: A JOURNEY IN MY DREAM
In London, where the hustle and bustle of the city never seems to pause, winding their way through history and modernity alike, flow the canals. I love walking around London canals as they create hidden pockets of calm amidst the urban frenzy and beneath these waters lies a secret world, full of life and mystery.
Vow: Stories in action
Salina Khatun, a dedicated primary teacher and the CEO of Kindle Corner, is making waves in her local community of Somers Town through a unique initiative called "Stories in Action." These engaging storytelling afternoons are a part of the Voices of the Water project, where Salina and her team of passionate storytellers ignite the imaginations of young children and their families by immersing them in the world of water-themed tales.
Story Garden as a space for Islington primary care staff to gather and connect
I would like to extend a huge heart-felt thank you to the Story Garden for hosting the Islington Wellbeing Community of Practice's monthly in-person gatherings. We, the Islington Wellbeing Community of Practice, are a group of primary care staff; we used the time in the garden to self-nourish, connect with others, and to learn, support and inspire each other to make wellbeing changes within our workplaces
Connecting with Water Through Imagination, Myth, and Art
The barge art session hosted by Sarah Pimenta and Pia Jones was reviving.
A day to simply say thank you
On the morning of 12th March, the day of our planned event to bring supporters, funders and friends of Global Generation together for a visit to our new triangle site and a thank you lunch, I open the curtains and see torrential downpour, I check my phone and the forecast says double rain for the whole day, I check my messages to see ‘do we need to cancel?’ and ‘is it going ahead?’
Celebrating Siw Thomas, wonderful friend and colleague at Global Generation
Since hearing of Siw’s illness and passing, I have felt her everywhere; in the warming spring soil, in scraps of wood I see on the street, in enamel cups stored in a box in the kitchen ready for instant coffee. I have felt her continue to guide me to be playful in motherhood through my memories of her steadfast support and encouragement as I worked alongside her for the past 8 years.
Skipping around King’s Cross: Remembering 10 years of urban gardening.
My name is Paul Richens and I was the Global Generation’s gardens’ manager for about 10 years. My background was a lifelong family interest and practice in growing vegetables and natural history but due to mostly living in small flats I developed an interest in growing organic vegetables in containers of one shape or another.
Voices of the Water Fellows visit Raybel Charters
Last Monday I went with Silvia, and voices of the water fellows Cassie, Lucy, Ellie and Maedeh on a trip to Sittingbourne to visit Raybel Charters, an old Thames barge sitting on the water at the top of Milton Creek, where the river borne emerges out of the ground and flows into the Thames. After a winding bus ride on a rail replacement service, we arrived, slightly car sick, half an hour late and freezing cold into the Sittingbourne train station carpark.
the first generation: stories from Yvonne Riddiford, a volunteer
My last visit to London was ten years later in 2016 when I was 91. The last Skip Garden had just been created. I was given the job of sorting seeds by Paul Richens, the Gardens Manager. The site looked extraordinary. At first glance it looked like quite a mess but when I looked closer I could see what a creative mess it was...
Weaving ‘Wassail’ and ‘Finding the Mother Tree’ at the Story Garden
On January 18th, we were honoured to celebrate the tradition of Wassail at the Story Garden with new friends and members of the weekly Gardening Club. ‘Washeil’, is an Old Norse salutation meaning 'be in good health' or 'be fortunate'. The earliest mention of wassail dates back over 1000 years, to the English Middle Ages (500 to 1400–1500 AD).
After School Club Makes a big splash!
Water is a very attractive thing for children – ok maybe less so in the dead of winter. But the words ‘pond repair’ had been on our gardening to do list for some time and we were looking for a fun activity for the after-school club children to bond, have fun and stay relatively warm. Of course, let’s reinstate the old pond!
Trip down canal’s lane
I grew up always finding the power of the sea a mystery and enchanting. I remembered a trip to the seaside when I was nine years old, imagining myself standing on the wide shore of a beach (Southport) near Yorkshire, while feeling in awe of the vastness of the sea and the sand.
Planting a floating island
It was during a cold snap in December, when the gardening club assembled at the Floating Garden Barge to assemble and plant a floating island. Starting after lunch, we had a small window of winter light in which to do the planting.
Looking back on 2023
As I walk into the Story Garden, I notice that the garden has now truly gone to sleep. It seems to have taken longer than usual as the weather has stayed mild. Like the plants around me, I am feeling ready for a mid winter pause, to rest and replenish myself for the year ahead. And so in these last short days of the year, as darkness falls upon us during the winter solstice, I finally stop and take a moment to look back on the year.
The starfish, the river and the churchyard
As a contribution to the Somerstown Day Of the Dead Festival and as part of the Voices of the Water Project, on the 23rd October 2023, young people went to St Pancras Old Churchyard taking photos where once ran free and sacred the subterranean River Fleet.
Green Mentor
In June 2023, I joined the story garden in Kings Cross. Our mission is to grow food, people and community for a just world. It has been such a wonderful experience to get to know the community and to see the abundance of opportunities that Global Generation offers. So far, I have attended two trips with the garden, one to Chelsea Physics Garden, which was very fun and educational - it was lovely to see the children curious about wildlife, especially the frogs in the glasshouses.