Creativity in Outdoor Working

Part of The Forge is the Whirligig Woods, four acres of woodland in Cheshire which acts as both a outdoor office space and place where artists and practitioners can come and stay whilst developing new work.

We have a selection of caravans, a treehouse, a roundhouse, an outdoor kitchen space and compost toilets. Each springtime, bluebells blossom and the ground is awash with the beautiful voilet flowers for a month.

Before the Wild Rumpus team grew, we used to work out of a horsebox - named Fleur. We would organise our events whilst hosting meetings on walks around the surrounding countryside. Now Fleur is semi-residential space - pictured here is Daniel, our Woodland Caretaker.

When the weather is good, we can drop down the tail-lift of the horsebox and work outside more comfortably.

Sarah Bird, one of the Directors of Wild Rumpus

In the summer of 2018 our old roundhouse collapsed whilst we were away on one of our events, so Tom Fenwick, our incredible woodworker/stage-builder, began crafting a new and improved roundhouse for us.

Our roundhouse, located in the Whirligig Woods, acts as a open-air space that can be used for workshops, yoga classes, meetings, networking (and even some light acrobatics). Featured here is a botanical dyes workshops that took place in summer of 2020.

Botanical dyes workshop at the Whirligig Woods

Each summer we try and get our volunteer teams together to meet at the woods - here they can be seen gathered round the campfire in the roundhouse.

Next to the woods is small meadow with thick grass - it's beautiful to relax in the sun. We sometimes host some small gigs and events there too, here is singer-harpist Anna McLuckie performing one summer evening.