Spider Webzine – October
Photography
We held the launch for our photography group’s exhibition, ‘Now Will Soon Be Then’ at FACT as part of their ‘Healthy Spaces’ initiative on Thursday 6th October. The collection of black and white documentary images was originally due to be on display until 30th October but FACT have asked us to extend this for a few more weeks. The exhibition showcases one of the projects that our groups – on both sides of the Mersey – have been working on. Here are some of the comments made by members of the public regarding the exhibition…
“Enjoyed Spider Project photography group exhibition – interesting and will be looking at their website”
20/10/11
The photo’s were amazing.”
13/10/11
“Spider photographic exhibition – impressed by creativity and mood of the pictures”
6/10/11
“A great little gem – more power to your elbow”
13/10/11
We have also launched two seperate blogs on different projects. ‘Hope Street Peeps’ is linked to our Making History Group’s ongoing Hope Street Chronicles project and features random people interviewed and photographed by our group in and around Hope Street. See the bottom of this post for some examples and here’s a link to the main site….
http://hopestreetpeeps.wordpress.com/
Our Birkenhead Media project is exploring different elements of the town’s history and landscape. Here are some photos of the ‘edgelands’ around the docks and Cammel Lairds shipyards….
http://birkenheadmedia.wordpress.com/
Thanks to our photography tutor, John Lafferty for working so hard on this exhibition and all the members of our photography groups in Liverpool and Wirral for all their work. Thanks also to Joan, Kat, Ang and everyone at FACT for being so helpful and providing such a great space to display the work. Here’s a link to FACT’s ‘Healthy Spaces’ site
http://www.fact.co.uk/news/blog/2011/06/17/healthy-spaces
Making History – Liverpool’s ‘Knowledge Quarter’
The group has been looking at the development of various ‘quarters’ in and around the city centre. How many quarters can a city have? There are atleast six that we know of or are being proposed, which is not only mathematically impossible but also raises questions about what the purpose of these zones are. Here’s an excerpt from the blog which looks at the new ‘Knowledge Quarter’
What is Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter? According to the prospectus which you can get as a pdf here :
Liverpool Knowledge Quarter stretches from the City’s Anglican Cathedral to the South, through the core facilities of Liverpool John
Moores University and University of Liverpool, taking in the Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool Science Park, Hope Street‘s cultural
offering and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine at its Northern fringe. The
Knowledge Quarter also reaches out to and includes John Moores University’s City campus on Byrom Street, an important gateway
to the city centre from north Liverpool where much of their science and technology research is based. The Quarter’s role as a centre
of learning is further enhanced by Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool Community College and Liverpool Institute for Performing
Arts (LIPA). Together these institutions house a concentration of expertise, knowledge and wealth creating potential, which we
believe is unrivalled in the UK.
We can add to those locations Copperas Hill, the old mail sorting office which is now to be developed by John Moores University.
The image above taken from the top of Hope Street shows how the new road surfaces and pavements have been continued towards the knowledge quarter. It’s well worth looking at the prospectus as it shows images of Hope Street itself, even street signs, certainly restauarants and bistros. The ambience of Hope Street being marketed here is seen as an important part of the perceived ambience of the Knowledge Quarter as a whole.
http://aspidering.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/the-knowledge-quarter/
Contemporary Dance
We’ve started a new evening session in October which is aimed at any of our members who are interested in ‘contemporary dance’ or who don’t really understand what it involves but are willing to give it a go. We’ve been particularly pleased that the majority of service users who have started this group have been male as we really want to push dance as something both men and women can experience and participate in. The sessions take place at the Merseyside Dance Initiative on Hope Street between 6.30 and 8.30pm where Andrea from MDI leads the group in a series of improvised moves aimed at telling a story through movement. We hope this session will become a popular addition to our programme and that we can utilise dance in our upcoming theatrical productions.
Women’s Group
The Women’s group meet every Tuesday from 12-2pm. Over the last few weeks we have had Zumba sessions. Mandi from Ambition For All comes in and teaches the group how to Zumba. We all enjoy her sessions, it’s a fun way to keep fit also you don’t need to be a dancer to join in. The music keeps us all going, you don’t realise how hard you’re actually working. Zumba is an improvised dance and aerobics exercise. Much better than going to a boring old gym…
Drama – Film Shoot ‘No Distance Left To Run’
After a few months of intensive rehearsals, we began our film based on a James Kelman short story on 17th October. This was a great opportunity for our drama group to perform infront of a camera crew and participate in a real film shoot that places greater demands on actors. Everyone got into the spirit of the project and remained professional and patient as scenes were shot time after time from different angles as directed by the brutal task master, Paula Currie (the Stanley Kubrick of Pilgrim Street). The three day shoot took place in a very wet and windy New Brighton with most of the action taking place in the far from glamorous ‘Phoenix Club’ (no Peter Kay jokes please!) with some of the cast and our faithful greyhound, Ellie also shooting more scenes outside and during the evening. The film is now being edited and should be ready for a screening in a few months time. Thanks to everyone who took part and to James Kelman (a long-standing friend of the project) for allowing us to base our film on his story in the first place.
Outward Bound Residential 28th-30th September by Jamie Barton
Wednesday
As I stood at the bottom of the TreeTop Adventure jump in Snowdonia on our way to Anglesey, I watched Joe, Jane, Emma, Ged and Paul do the jump and I was feeling rather cocky as they made it look easy. I must say a big ‘well done’ to everyone but especially Emma as she absolutely conquered her fear of heights. Ged was class. If you’ve never seen anyone trying to run in the air whilst falling, all I can say is, it’s funny. It was just like a cartoon.
When I started the ascent I was still quite sure it was easy. Half way up, I wasn’t so sure. Third of the way up it was ‘don’t look down’ time. I really thought I couldn’t do it but I did with encouragement from everyone and what a feeling!
When we arrived we were all very happy with the place. It was perfect and the little attic bedrooms were boss. We all went for a night time walk on the beach while the lovely Andrea from Mobex prepared supper, which was lovely. She is a diamond lady. On the way to the beach we bumped into Spider’s very own Peter who was wandering the dark lanes like the lost ghost of a lonely hiker. It was a lovely night.
Thursday
We were up early but not too early, for a nicely cooked breakfast by Andrea. As we were tucking in, we realized Ged was still in bed, which was lucky because it’s possible he could have slept all day. First on the agenda today was sea kayaking with Andy from Outdoor Alternative and Carl from Mobex, who is a ‘swear down on me life lad, honest lad, no honest, spit down, I swear, sound fella, honest!’
First half of the day we stayed in the bay. It was really good with the waves and rocks to maneuver around and Joe must really like it in the water because he threw himself out the boat any chance he got. Ha Ha. We had a break for lunch, which was ready and waiting for us, then went back out. This time we went further out and round the coastline. It was loads of fun and we saw seals popping their heads out of the water to see what we were up to. As we headed back to shore we stopped for a game of water polo, which got a little bit competitive but it was great.
Later on, we drove out to the lighthouse to watch the sunset and what a sight it was. I got some great photos and so did Paul. He is a poser. That night we had curry for tea, then watched the amazing night sky. I played my guitar a bit and thankfully no one threw a cup at my head but actually said it relaxed them. Thanks. A little game of ‘snap piggy whistler’ which Paul and Andrea excelled at and off to bed, Everyone was SHATTERED (apart from Peter because he hadn’t done anything).
Friday
Up for another cooked brekky and a quick tidy up, in which everyone helped. Today was leaving day and I was nearly gonna let the tyres down on the van so we could stay a bit longer. We packed our stuff, threw the ball one last time for Smudge (Andy’s dog) and hit the road on our way to Caernarvon for a glorious walk in the hills and valleys. The views were spectacular and the scenery changes were really interesting. It took us four hours but it was worth it and the river was amazing.
We got back to the van, had butties and set off for Liverpool. We all had tired feet and Jane even asked me to massage her feet to which I politely declined. Ha Ha. Jane had really enjoyed the trip and said how it had filled her with spirituality. I think we all felt the same, I know I did.
So, to cap it off, Ged learned he couldn’t fly (although watching him try was great), I learned how some things look easy until you’re staring them in the face, Emma showed real courage and didn’t give up, Jane filled up on Spirit Food. She really is Mother Nature’s daughter. Paul nearly got puked on by Emma when climbing the free fall but had a great time anyway and Joe will insist that every time you hear a jet that it’s an RAF Tornado and I mean INSIST.
Thanks to all that made this possible, which is everyone who was there and the guys from Spider and Mobex. ‘Honest lad, seriously, spit down on me life lad, no serious, swear lad, spit down, yeah safe!’
Jamie B
Hope Street Peeps – some photos from our project
