Things are starting to happen!
Beginning our environmental improvements, the community decided to add a wildflower corridor along the railings of the park, to bring a splash of colour and add biodiversity whilst keeping as much grass as possible in Peel Road Park for the dog walkers and children playing.
At the end of April, residents were joined by 48 children from All Saints Catholic Primary School at our community wildflower seed sowing event.
During our green co-design workshops, residents were mindful of introducing things that were as vandal proof as possible. Having decided that all the entrances to Poets Park needed a bit of sprucing up, they decided that the entrance to Poets Park on Moore Street lent itself to a substrate wildflower plot – wildflowers don’t really like good soil! – combining recycled crushed brick, sand, peat-free compost and biochar (for increased capture carbon).
Here’s the Mersey grit being delivered! And already there’s a bit of colour ????.
On our walkabouts and in the chats afterwards, lots of people said they’d like to do something more with the plot on the corner of Peel Road and Gray Street to brighten it up.
We checked the budget and reckoned we could find a little bit to support this additional site.
So at the end of May we planted 125 sunflower seedings with the community to bring some colour and joy to the site.
Our fantastic day out
We had an amazing day visiting the archives at Liverpool Central library where the staff were so helpful and knowledgeable.
We learnt that the two streets that used to exist where Poets Park now stands were called Keats Street and Hood Street, and that on the corner of Norton Street and Peel Road there used to be a methodist chapel and a dry cleaners!
Also the Queens pub is on the 1890 map.
Anyone remember the toy factory on the corner of Moore Street and Knowsley Road? We didn’t, but it’s on a 1950s map.
#bootle #localhistory #heritage #poetsstreets #communityresearch
Where shall we add new green features?
A massive thanks to the brave people who ignored the rain and joined us to share really insightful and well thought out opinions and dreams about what could be.
We had a great time wandering around the Poets Streets, despite the miserable weather, and we all came away feeling excited and energised!
After exploring the area with different groups on three walkabouts, two sites came out top of the list – adding something more interesting to Peel Park, and doing something to clean up and brighten up the entrances to Poets Park.
Next steps – let’s get designing!
Pilot project will create new nature-based heritage installations
We’re delighted to share that we have been awarded a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for our pilot project which will deliver a variety of activities combining local history research with the built environment and natural heritage, leading to the co-creation of two nature-based heritage installations to address climate change in the Poets Streets area.
Starting with walks around the area, residents will decide on the ‘grotspot’ sites for the project.
Visiting Liverpool Archives participants will explore the history of the Poets Streets’ neighbourhood and discover the story behind the street names and/or how the war changed the landscape. Their findings will form a starting point in the cultural heritage workshops.
Building confidence through creativity, Collective Encounters (Theatre for Social Change) will use a variety of fun, creative approaches to translate archive findings into simple drama, collaborative poetry or short stories to connect the past with the present.
Everyone will get involved in co-designing the nature-based installations to transform the two ‘grotspots’ by building and installing green features and gaining an understanding of urban biodiversity, sustainable planting and future community use as part of their learning.
Pollinator-friendly signs will be added to highlight the importance of nature’s recovery and the role that urban greening plays in climate action, and might also include a verse from the relevant poet (eg Shelley, Gray) alongside a poem/story created by residents and local heritage.
With expert advice from the University of Liverpool Groundswell project, our evaluation will assess the impact of improving urban green spaces and further our understanding of what works and what doesn’t work so well, to refine our approach.
Working with the Poets’ Streets partnership we want to engage a wide range of people in heritage and reconnect people to landscapes and nature, leaving a legacy of two beautiful green spaces for the public to continue to enjoy and engage in natural heritage.
