31 Days of Halloween: Day 23

Today was a bit of a busy, but absolutely lovely, day of Halloween celebrations.

Bailey’s Wood Halloween Story Walk

This morning, I led a Halloween Story Walk for Friends of Bailey's Wood. The kids who came along were so creative and imaginative, looking for clues about the identity of the creature who lives in the woods. Ultimately, they concluded that there's maybe... just maybe... something wrong with the trees. Gulp.

Campfire Tales at Castlerea Care Home

I did my regular poetry and stories session with the residents at Castlerea Care Home this afternoon. On a whim, I thought we might honour the spooky season by telling scary stories. We lit a campfire, gathered round, and started telling stories. I told some of my favourite urban legends (The Killer on the Back Seat and The Vanishing Hitchhiker), and the housemates invented a story about a ghost in the care home. We also listened to some classic Halloween songs (although we had to temporarily turn off the campfire to do that).

Uchiki Kuri Squash Curry

Squash season continues with Uchiki Kuri!

Autumn Equinox: Day 3

Day 3 of our autumn celebrations, and it was a bit of an outdoorsy day today.

Walk and Talk in the Woods

I led an Autumn Equinox Walk and Talk session for Friends of Bailey's Wood this morning. We shared some stories about the season and went mushroom spotting, before apple pies and cherry squash.

Autumn Equinox Poetry in the Park

In the afternoon, I took residents from Castlerea Care Home to Crumpsall Park for a seasonal Poetry in the Park session. We had some seasonal poetry (Keats is compulsory on this annual trip, of course), and then we went for a sensory autumn walk, finding little signs of autumn in the natural world. Me and one of the residents got pelted with acorns by some squirrels! Then we came back to the Visitors Centre for more poetry, dandelion and burdock, and some apple pies.

Cat Walk

This evening, Rob and I did another of our Roam for Cats walks for Cats Protection. It was a lovely autumnal walk with some very pretty trees, but we massively misjudged the timing and ended up having to quickly exit the park as they were locking up!

Events in September 2024

Poetry at the Pank (Heritage Open Days event)
Friday 6th September
11.00–1.00pm
Pankhurst Museum
I'll be running a creative writing workshop as part of my role at the Pankhurst Museum
Booking Link

Poetry at the Pank (Heritage Open Days event)
Thursday 12th September
6.00–8.00pm
Pankhurst Museum
I'll be running a creative writing workshop as part of my role at the Pankhurst Museum
Booking Link

Robin Hood Walk in the Woods (Heritage Open Days event)
Saturday 14th September
11.00–12.00pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a fun, creative walk in the woods with a Robin Hood theme
Booking Link

Medieval Romance Walk in the Woods (Heritage Open Days event)
Saturday 14th September
6.00–7.00pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a walk in the woods with tales taken from medieval literature
Booking Link

Virtual Writing Retreat
Sunday 15th September
10.30–5.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf
I'm hosting an online writing retreat for creative writers with writing exercises and structured writing sessions
Members Event

Autumn Equinox Walk and Talk
Wednesday 18th September
11.00–12.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a gentle, social walk in the woods to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Autumn Equinox Poetry in the Park
Wednesday 18th September
2.00–5.00pm
Castlerea House
I'll be running a seasonal poetry and storytelling workshop session in the park for residents at Castlerea care home
Private Event

Autumn Equinox Walk in the Park
Saturday 21st September
11.00–12noon
Friends of Crumpsall Park
I'll be leading a gentle, social walk in the park to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Hannah's Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special
Saturday 21st September
2.00–4.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf / North Manchester FM
I'll be hosting a special seasonal edition of my regular radio show on North Manchester FM, including Autumn Equinox-themed flash fiction
Submission Link

Autumn Equinox Walk in the Woods
Saturday 21st September
5.30–6.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a gentle, social walk in the woods to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Park Write - Autumn Writing
Saturday 28th September
2.00–5.00pm
Friends of Crumpsall Park
I'll be running a creative writing workshop in the park with a seasonal writing theme
Booking Link

Interested in booking me for an event? Click here to find out more.

Lammas: Day 6

It's the sixth day of our Lammas celebrations - the penultimate day, but as we're both at work tomorrow, it's the big one for us (the night when we have our festive dinner together).

Bury Market

Today started with a trip to Bury Market with my mother-in-law. Lammas is a harvest celebration, so it feels right to have a trip to the market.

Market Lunch

We bought lots of nice things at the market, some of which we had today. Lunch was cheese and onion pie, followed by cannoli.

Castlerea Lammas Stories

I was at Castlerea Care Home for a little seasonal celebration with the housemates. I read some seasonal poems, including 'Corn Rigs' by Robert Burns, and we listened to some seasonal music, including 'The Combine Harvester Song' by The Wurzels. We also had muffins, jammy joeys, cherry squash and lots of good conversation.

Lammas Dinner

Tonight was our big festive dinner. Rob made his signature seasonal dish, Lammas Surprise, and we had wimberry pie from Bury Market for pudding.

Children of the Corn

We watched our seasonal film of choice this evening... Children of the Corn!

Lammas Gifts

After dinner, we swapped Lammas cards and gifts. As is tradition, we bought each other seasonally inspired whiskies that we'll add to the tasting sets to enjoy in December.

Events in July 2024

Park Write - Nature Writing
Saturday 20th July
2.00–5.00pm
Friends of Crumpsall Park
I'll be running a creative writing workshop in the park with a nature writing theme
Booking Link

Virtual Writing Retreat
Sunday 21st July
10.30–5.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf
I'm hosting an online writing retreat for creative writers with writing exercises and structured writing sessions
Members Event

Hannah's Bookshelf Lammas Special
Saturday 27th July
2.00–4.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf / North Manchester FM
I'm hosting a special seasonal edition of my regular radio show on North Manchester FM, including Summer Solstice-themed flash fiction
Submission Link

Late Summer Walk in the Park
Monday 29th July
6.00–7.00pm
Friends of Crumpsall Park
I'll be leading a sociable walk in the park to enjoy nature and the changing seasons
Booking Link

Lammas Walk in the Woods
Tuesday 30th July
6.30–7.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a sociable walk in the woods to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Lammas Stories
Wednesday 31st July
2.00–4.00pm
Castlerea House
I'm running a seasonal poetry and storytelling workshop session for residents at Castlerea care home
Private Event

Interested in booking me for an event? Click here to find out more.

Midsummer: Day 2

It's the second day of our Midsummer celebrations, and I've got a few events on today! The weather this morning looked a little bit unpredictable, so I wasn't sure if it was all going to be a bit cloudy. I shouldn't have doubted though!

Bailey’s Wood Walk and Talk

This morning was the regular Friends of Bailey's Wood Walk and Talk session, and it had a Summer Solstice theme this week. I led the walk with some folklore and stories about the changing seasons, and we had cupcakes and cherry squash afterwards!

Summer Solstice Poetry in the Park

I took the residents of Castlerea Care Home to Crumpsall Park this afternoon for our Summer Solstice Poetry in the Park session. We had seasonal poetry, a gentle walk around the park looking at signs of summer, daisy chains and dandelion clocks, plus refreshments in the Visitors Centre. It was a resident's birthday, so we had birthday cake too.

Bailey’s Wood Summer Solstice Walk in the Wood

And then it was back to the Friends of Bailey's Wood for the early evening Summer Soltice walk, enjoying the changing season in the forest with tales of nature and folklore from yours truly. I was worried it was going to be a bit overcast, but oh boy, did the sun get his hat on for us! Welcome to Summer!

Midsummer Mugs

When I got home, Rob and I got out our new Midsummer mugs that we bought while we were on holiday in Whitby.

Events in June 2024

Summer Solstice Walk and Talk in the Woods
Wednesday 19th June
11.00–12.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a gentle, sociable walk in the woods to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Summer Solstice Poetry in the Park
Wednesday 19th June
1.00–4.00pm
Castlerea House
I'm running a seasonal poetry and storytelling workshop session in the park for residents at Castlerea care home
Private Event

Summer Solstice Walk in the Woods
Wednesday 19th June
6.30–7.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a sociable walk in the woods to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Summer Solstice Walk in the Park
Saturday 22nd June
11.00–12noon
Friends of Crumpsall Park
I'll be leading a sociable walk in the park to enjoy nature and the changing seasons
Booking Link

Hannah's Bookshelf Midsummer Special
Saturday 22nd June
2.00–4.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf / North Manchester FM
I'm hosting a special seasonal edition of my regular radio show on North Manchester FM, including Summer Solstice-themed flash fiction
Submission Link

Virtual Writing Retreat
Sunday 30th June
10.30–5.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf
I'm hosting an online writing retreat for creative writers with writing exercises and structured writing sessions
Members Event

Interested in booking me for an event? Click here to find out more.

Spring Equinox: Day 7

It's the big day! The culmination of our week of Spring Equinox celebrations (and the equinox itself, of course)! And I had lots of things planned for today.

Bailey’s Wood Walk and Talk

First up, I led a Spring Equinox Walk and Talk session for Friends of Bailey's Wood, spotting all the signs that spring has sprung in the woods (with cake and Vimto afterwards).

Castlerea Poetry in the Park

After the woods, I took the housemates from Castlerea Care Home to Crumpsall Park for a Spring Equinox Poetry in the Park session. We had a lovely time, with seasonal poetry and snacks, and a wander round the park looking for daffodils, blossom and buds.

Gingerbread Popcorn

A little late afternoon seasonal snack (it's got a rabbit on the packet so I'm counting it)... Gingerbread Popcorn from Joe and Seph's!

Spring Equinox Dinner

This evening, Rob cooked us the traditional Spring Equinox dinner of Vegetable Paella.

Spring Equinox Gifts

And we exchanged our traditional Spring Equinox gifts and cards. These whiskies will go into our tasting sets to be enjoyed in December.

Night of the Lepus

We watched our (now) traditional Ostara film tonight... Night of the Lepus!


And so the wheel of the year turns. We'll be celebrating again at Beltane.