on holiday in Clifton Park

Snug & Outdoor have been working with LDA Peterborough on designs for a Play Pathfinder in Rotherham. As part of the consultation process for Clifton Park, we went into two schools with writer Chris Meade and worked with pupils on poems - here are the results:




Poem made in a morning by Chris Meade and students at
CLIFTON PERFORMING ARTS COLLEGE

I walk to the window,
Feel the warm morning air hit my face
Hear the birds as they tweet
See the sun shining down on me,
And think:
I will arise and go to Clifton Park
Take the Playfinder Path

To the watery part where
We splish splash splosh
Spend your dosh
On ice cream chocolate and crisps too
In the minimarket near you

Scoober dive
Do the jive
Under water
Come alive
Swim with dolphins
Swim with me

I walk past the graffiti wall
Only to recognize my best friend’s name
Painted small.

Chilling, chatting, Cliftonparking -
In the Chill Zone, a big round space with comfy seats,
We talk about.. well, what boys talk about:
Football, cars, women

Fresh air is like swimming
But fresh air is nothing like the thrill of rides

Rides:
Tickly stomach
Feeling the breeze

On a perfect skate park afternoon
You forget everything
Get that tense feeling –
Adrenaline rush
Sxreech
Boink
Duff
Shwoo
AAAAAAAHH
Snap crack

makes me want to do it again

girls make you try harder – your mind goes blank

As we race past Trouble Corner
Where feeling safe
is knowing there is someone you can trust to help.
Keeping it safe for ourselves
We help out, keeping it clean and that.

To feel safe in trouble corner
Not any gangs, drugs or drink
No dirty toilets stink

You keep yourselves to yourselves
You know there’s someone there

Laying back relaxing
many people reading
letting all drift away
people’s imaginations
thinking of the day

On Holiday in Clifton Park
by the side of the path
watching
the clouds and birds go past

I lay on the grass and make little faces
Out of the clouds

playing tiggy with my mates

racing round the playpath

the feeling of happiness spreading
flooding through my stream
the slow beating of my heart
the rhythm of music
relaxing me more

***

Poem made in an afternoon by Chris Meade and students at
EAST DENE PRIMARY SCHOOL


I run up the path
to Clifton Park
On my bike reeeet fast
Going GRRRRRRR

Smell that ice creamy hot doggy chocolaty smell
Of blue white silver invisible fresh fresh air

AHHHHH

I will play with my brother, my friends,
On this wavy landform
On the swings

WHEEEEE

Which tickle my belly with their thrill
Make me sick with excitement

YUKKKK

I will go to the beach to build
A car of sand, a lorry,
Get good and muddy,
Sit in the puddles making water bombs

SPLASH

Go to the science park
Where there’s numbers and everything,

12341234

And the haunted park
Where words ECHO ECHO
And ghost snakes HISSSSSSS

At Halloween
When witches and tygers and pirates
Eat melted mud, twig chips, leaf pie

…AND SPROUTS

Oh, and coloured carrot
That make you go hyper and
All jumping about.

BOING BOING

And an evil bunny underneath the swamp

Let’s start to climb…

CLAMBER CLAMBER

Up Clifton Park

Go slowly

Butterflyfeeler
Goosebumper
Icebreaker
Niki and Nikitha scarer
Getting the shakes

The ground gets
Smaller
Everything smaller
Climbing higher and higher
Feeling scared (not brave Murtaza)
Hold on tight…

GRRRRRRR

And at night build a sand theatre
In Clifton Park,
Watch a crazy show
About a park forest with colourful hair
A gorilla and a lion and a bear
About all you can imagine
About everything you know

***