Forward Footing - Test Walk 1 - Desborough

Through our contacts at The Green Patch in Kettering we were able to link in with a Health Walk Group that meets every Wednesday morning in Desborough and walks for about an hour and a half. The previous day we had scoped the walk and planned a route, seen an upturned car, walked through a field of ponies, explored a derelict farmhouse and had be halted but not stopped by a closed off right of way.

We planned a number of test interventions, including a mini protest, however once we met the group our route was guided by their knowledge of the area and as time was short we only conducted two of the test interventions - "Befriend" and "Platform".

Befriend - make friends with, make a friend of; look after, keep an eye on; be of service to, lend a helping hand to, help, protect; side with, stand by, encourage.

The group chose a stopping point where they worked in pairs, shared skills, made and altered arrangements. One participant said "I've never spent so long looking at an ash tree before".

Platform - stage, dais, rostrum, podium, soapbox.

On the second stage of the walk the group had really warmed into it so once we introduced the idea for Platform they spontaneously split off to work in two groups and then compared their creations.

The walk ended with a feeling that we had all discovered and created something, Carole and Jo were encouraged by the enthusiasm with which the group responded to the ideas and their genuine interest in the project.

There will be a gallery of the artworks created after all our Intervention walks have been completed in 2015.

Forward Footing - Experimentation

We began thinking about our new project Forward Footing during a walk in Northampton

We looked at details

thought about platforms

and staging posts for interventions.

We discussed where people might make

 a temporary intervention during a walk.

In Kettering we spent more time exploring urban, everyday spaces

ledges, windowsills, greenery, disregarded areas and signage.

We also explored a range of easily obtainable items that held 'making on the move' potential as we want to create a kit that is portable, fun, easy to use, inspirational and accessible.

We met local people during both walks and shared some of our thoughts and observations to gauge whether we were on the right track with the contents of our kit and how it might benefit a wide range of ages and interests.

We came away from these two walks with a library of ideas for the kit.

We planned that our next three walks would be trial walks to test out some of these ideas. We'll be blogging about these walks and our progress in weekly posts over the next few months - so check in with us again soon!