West Wight People and Place: Abi Price, Little Muddy Boots.
What gives an area its sense of place? The answer to this question might lie in the landscape or in the distinctive buildings of the place. Community interaction may also be important, as well as a sense of wellbeing and culture or the knowledge that people may hold for their immediate surroundings.
The strength and diversity of the local economy may also feature as well as any attachment that people hold for the area, be they visitors, recent newcomers or born and bred residents who can trace their family ties back generations.
In an attempt to answer this question, Pete Johnstone set himself a challenge and that was to find the sense of place of West Wight through photographing people living and working in the area and asking them about their connection to this largely rural area. This is Pete’s second West Wight People and Place challenge with this time having an emphasis on the Island’s Biosphere Reserve status acquired in 2019.
Walking up to the oak woodland at Calbourne Mill.
I met with Abi Price at Calbourne Mill, when she was preparing for one of her weekly outdoor sessions for children and whilst setting up, she explained a little of her background and business and why she found herself at Calbourne Mill.
After almost 10 years of moving around the mainland, my husband and I, says Abi, finally decided to move back to the Island after the birth of our son. “Although I had grown up on the Island and my parents still live here, my husband is from the mainland, so it’s been lovely being able to show him all that the Island has to offer. Whilst living on the mainland, I trained as a teacher and worked in different areas of education and childcare. I’ve always loved being outdoors and it was a key area of my childhood.
I have fond memories of being in my grandparents’ gardens, helping to pick homegrown tomatoes, beans, and rhubarb as well as wandering through the woodlands. When I was working as a teaching assistant, I saw how brilliant outdoor education was, especially for those students who struggled with the classroom environment. When I was teaching, I helped to run a forest school week and saw how engaged the whole class was and how they were learning new skills through play, it made me realise that the job I was meant to be doing was a career in outdoor education.
Practising fire lighting skills.
Outdoor learning can teach skills and boost confidence.
Marshmallows over a fire.
In April 2022, Abi came across the opportunity to set up her own outdoor education business as part of Little Muddy Boots franchise and after several months of searching for a site, Calbourne Water Mill offered a space to create the garden needed for her outdoor classes. Over two weeks in August, along with help from family, the garden site was created with a log circle, raised beds, a polytunnel and a mud kitchen. Calbourne Mill is a lovely site to work in, says Abi, the staff at the Mill are so welcoming, friendly, and supportive and the location is incredibly picturesque.
Since Little Muddy Boots Isle of Wight started in September 2022, Abi has welcomed over 100 different families along to classes, including the regular term time classes, pop-up events or half-term events. Abi explained “It’s been great to see such a positive response and over the next few years, I hope to grow the business and have more children and families along to classes. Outdoor education is so important for children and families; it teaches key life skills whilst boosting immune systems and well-being for everyone.”
Running up for the next adventure.
“It's been lovely watching the children grow throughout the past 6 months. Whilst it’s wonderful when they leave with new knowledge about the world around them said Abi, “it’s also been lovely to see how their confidence has developed. I’ve seen children go from not feeling comfortable leaving their parents’ side, to running up to me ready to go on the next adventure. I’ve also watched as friendships have formed, not only between the children but also between the parents.
Playing in the outdoors.
“Creating a friendly space where everyone feels welcome was vital for me as I found that a lot of new parents, especially those like me who had children in lockdown, have sometimes found it tricky to build friendships with other parents due to the lack of classes and playdates we were able to have over lockdown. The parents that come to my class now meet outside of class for lunches and their own outdoor adventures.”
After the session had finished and the children had gone, we walked back up the hill to the Mill’s old woodland and Abi explained, “As the Island is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, I am very mindful of ensuring that we teach children and families how to be sustainable. In classes, I teach children about the native flora and fauna around us and how to care for both. We have had red squirrel experts visit our class to teach about the local red squirrel population and I am keen to have more experts join us. We have also been gradually adding areas to the garden to provide spaces for local wildlife and have added a hedgehog house and a ‘bug hotel’ for insects and the like. Over the year, we will gradually add more including native hedging as well as creating areas of native wildflowers to encourage pollinating insects into the garden.”
This morning's topic is wind.
Being a small part of the outdoor education community is a joy says Abi, “On the Island, we have such a wealth of outdoor spaces, especially in West Wight and I’ve been very impressed with the number of schools on the Island that embrace outdoor education. Moving forwards, I would love to see more Island families learning about nature from a younger age. The younger children are when they start learning about the world around them, the more chance they have of developing an understanding of how to care for their environments in a sustainable and responsible way.”
Being part of the outdoor education community is a joy, says Abi.
“By teaching children now, we can be part of a movement to create a better, more ecologically sustainable way of living in the future.”
The Little Muddy Boots session finished for the day.
