We Built a Railway – Claire Weetman

Twenty-four six and seven year olds at Longton Lane Primary school in Rainhill have spent three wonderful days listening to stories and making music inspired by the Liverpool to Manchester railway as part of a project by Sensory Creative Lab CIC.

Two children in a field are standing with their feet on two wooden planks, holding onto rope that is connected to the plank.

Using their playground equipment and following a pictorial map, they have traced the route of the line, solving the same engineering problems that George Stephenson faced; creating tunnels from tyres; bridges from blocks; finding out why Rainhill was chosen as the location for a fair competition; and stomping past the bog monsters of Chat Moss. Combining storytelling, imaginative play and sensory activities has given this Year 2 class an understanding of an important part of their local and nationally significant history.

With this understanding, they have created a range of artworks. David Bixter guided them to experiment with the creation of sounds inspired by the railway. Working with accessible technologies, they used the school iPads to make sound loops that are inspired by the story of Rocket and the railway. These are paired up with digital motion drawings that flash past like a landscape reflected in a train window in a short film.

Building on their physical exploration of the route, the children have printed pictorial maps, filled with shapes, words and sounds. When everyone in the class unfolded them, their maps opened out to make a drawing nearly as long as the railway.

A page with colourful prints and patterns including green and purple trees, the words 'off off'

The children have thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the project. It has been well structured and engaging and the aspects covered by both Claire and Dave have inspired the children, with some even going home and continuing what they have learned. They have been so proud of what they have produced and some of our most reluctant learners have spoken in great detail about the exciting activities that they have taken part in. We are really happy to have been involved and would like to thank Claire and Dave for providing the children with such an enjoyable couple of days.

Helen Brougham, Y2 teacher

children are climbing through a tunnel of car tyres

Longton Lane is a new school building and grounds, so the school asked if there was anything permanent that could go into their grounds. We’ve donated the two pairs of bog-stompers (wooden plank-skis) inspired by the navvies who built the line across Chat Moss to their play equipment, and on day 3 the children used all their creative skills and knowledge to make a series of clay tiles, that when fired, will return to school after the summer. The tiles feature imprints of textures they discovered in their explorations, station names and railway sounds, creating a tactile storytelling trail for the school to install in the grounds.

We’ve had a fun and imaginative time at Longton Lane Primary exploring the Liverpool to Manchester railway. We’ve read stories, created music inspired by the rhythms of the railway, unfolded maps to guide us past the Chat Moss bog monsters and created artworks along the way. The children have enjoyed exercising their imaginations and experimenting with creative processes and it’s been a joy to support them to create this wonderful work.

Claire Weetman, Sensory Creative Lab CIC

Drawing of carriage from Rocket with projected drawings in windows

5 children walk across parallel wooden planks whilst carrying rods like they are train pistons

A child touches an ipad screen that is streaked with colourful stripes

A child presses a piece of model railway track into a slab of clay

children are kneeling on the floor joining planks of wood with rope to form a railway track

A child is in a canoe on a field. Other children are running past waving sheets of hessian in the air.

‘We built a railway’ was commissioned by Manchester Histories as part of their Rocket All Aboard programme. Made possible by Heritage Lottery Fund, supported by National Lottery Players.