The Cloth Place

Big Wide Talk is an organisation trying to encourage different models of learning. They did the Colourbox thing we went to a while ago with lights and prisms, which was excellent. Apparently they also have a glass climbing wall, which sounds like fun, and has the aim of looking at communication. The Cloth Place is an excellent “theatre of learning” although what really makes it work so well is the setting – they’ve taken over a huge old shop building which has an open centre and glass ceiling. It’s filled with interesting things, lots made out of cloth but also lots of real artefacts as well, and the children are encouraged to use them however they like. The only rule is not to do things which might hurt themselves or one another.
Downstairs there is a tent/dome, a dark room with a sarcophagus (complete with skeleton inside), a row of washing machines and a clothes line with pegs (plus things to peg out, ours ended up washing all sorts of unlikely things rather than the clothes though!), some farmyard animals, a haystack with rakes and brooms near it. several wheelbarrows, large sized wellies and a couple of potting sheds, complete with rats, spiders, big bag of compost, lots of pots… Upstairs is a cafe area (cloth food though, unfortunately, and even the wine bottles are made of cloth), some restaurant tables and a kitchen with oven, sink, dishwasher, freezer etc and loads of pots and pans, some market stalls with cloth food for sale, a stall with lots of letters, a wall of hats, wigs and assorted dressing up things and a beauty parlour/hair salon. Add a few children and let their imaginations run riot and the result is astonishing! Mine are all desperate to go back despite having been twice already and heartbroken that we almost certainly won’t manage it.
Sadly they are only there for another 2 weeks, having been given the site to use for 3 weeks. the lease on the shop will be taken over by another company in November, but they are hoping to be allowed to use it again in August/September to erect their glass climbing wall – it would be a great place for it, as it could rise up into the space in the middle with balconies around 🙂
They are funded by the Sainsbury Foundation but only for another year 🙁 Their hope is to get funding from local government to set up permanent centres in a few places around the country, but for now everything is a bit up in the air and they need places to go!