Following on from last year’s launch of the Duck Bills Story Trail, we worked with partners Stoke Reads, B Arts and Stoke Library to put on a family event in July to bring Duck Bills “to life” through an interactive performance trail. Attendees followed tour guide, Duck Bills, from Stoke Library to Stoke-on-Trent Train Station, finding out about the history of Stoke Town and the train station. They met a range of characters along the way including a fictional paintress and aspiring potter working at the Spode factory in 1923 who invited them to help use slip to decorate two collaborative pots; a fictional Spitfire Pilot from 1944; a goose from 823 AD at Stoke Minster who told them about the pilgrimage routes and taught a tongue twister; Duckbills taught the group some Northern Soul dance moves at the Kings Hall and finally they met a train enthusiast from 1848 at the train station who talked about the opening of Stoke train station and invited attendees to play station bingo.
There were also a range of family friendly activities available at Stoke Library including Travelling by Train Rocks pebble painting, storytelling, drawing workshops and every child received a free book from Stoke Reads. Over 60 children attended the library event and 22 adults and 38 children took part in the guided story trail.
Many thanks to our funding partners Avanti West Coast, Community Rail Network, Department for Transport and Historic England for supporting this project.
