The Plog (play blog) captured the joy, triumphs and frustrations of the Play Times team in their play work on housing estates from 2008 - 2011. This is a long but beautiful and poignant slideshow. We recommend you dip in, savour a few morsels and come back for more another time.

1. ocTobEr 2008
17
th doing. Quite right, too – we
taking a tortoise were in her neighborhood
taking pictures like tourists.
for a walk in tower h amlets “Looking for places where
kids can play on this estate,”
W
PL AY TIMES Penny said.
e've been busy getting started “Great,” she replied. “I've got 5 kids, and
making and sharing here at Play Times, starting there's nowhere for them. When they leave
play memories in
with a tour around the area of this gate open they'll go in there and play
london’s east end
the team (comprised of Penny, for hours. They build dens. but they always
rainer, Zoe and Morgan). We started with a come along and pull them down again and
look at flash earth (www.flashearth.com) and clear them away and then lock the gate.”
although the images were old they did allow The other 'they', of course, were the estate
us to get a feel for the area and play at giving managers, and the place she pointed to was a
each other vertigo by swooping in close and fenced-in wooded area, making Penny think
quick to specific spots. Then we left oxford of Narnia and how the entrances open and
House and jumped on the Number 8, which close unexpectedly. The woman called across
runs along roman road, which is either an to some of her friends, who joined in and
urban artery or line of severance, depending talked over each other in a chorus.
what you're looking for at the time. “These are looking for places for kids to play,”
All of us have chosen to live in this area she said.
and know it fairly well, but this time we were “There ain't nowhere.”
exploring, trying to see different things and “Well, there's that concrete. Used to be a
to see things differently. playground.”
We talked about the Situationist idea “Yes, I used to play there.”
PL AY T IME S of 'taking a tortoise for a walk', about that “Yes, but it ain't nothing now. And if you
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process of letting go of the emphasis on park there you get clamped.”
arrival and letting travel be a process, not “No play stuff there anymore.”
a product. It's about feeling the moment, “There's nowhere for them to go.”The
opening yourself to the sights, sounds, smells conversation followed its own course and
of that exact second, in that exact spot. That became a discussion of rats in the area. We
said, we knew there wasn't enough time to started to understand the layered problems
see everything on the first day, so made a faced by residents of all ages, and some of the
rough route through the places Penny and health and safety issues we'd have to consider
Morgan had previously identified as possible when thinking about play spaces. She said
Natural Play sites. that she'd want to help, and that she would
on arriving on one estate we saw this be able to help us get local residents involved.
sign posted above some supposedly 'public' We couldn't image that she'd be an easy
space saying “No Loitering”. Penny took woman to say 'no' to!
a photograph of it and a woman, standing An excellent start.
outside her front door, asked us what we were

2. ocTobEr 2008
20 W
th hen PATH did the first
mapping of play provision
within Tower Hamlets, play bald
PL AY TIMES
several 'bald Spaces' were
identified. These were areas where we had no
evidence of any play activities happening.
spots
Since this first mapping there have been The project has to be sustainable. It has to
making and sharing several momentous changes in those areas facilitate the permanent resettling of play cul-
play memories in
that have transformed these isolated bald ture within the heart of the community, and
london’s east end
spots into almost total alopecia. The stress of spread playfulness like a healthy virus. That's
the creation of the triumphal olympic site why, rather than focusing the financial ener-
and the added pressures of accompanying gies of the provision on a playwork team run-
massive new housing developments on tiny ning timetabled play sessions, we have taken
patches of land (SLoAPs, Spaces Left over another tack.
After Planning, that were the failsafe for the The thrust of this work is to avoid some of
playing child) have eradicated the last vestig- the traps that we playworkers can fall into.
es of naturally playable space. Namely, the creation of the perception that it
This is despite the area being bounded on two is only safe or possible to go our to play when
sides by the biggest parks in the borough… there are playworkers present. The myth that
and their accompanying lines of severance. only professional playworkers can manage
It is as ironic as the demolition of the ve- to create a play environment effectively de-
lodrome, which was well used by the people skills the community and the children, who
of Tower Hamlets and Hackney, to create a develop the perception that they need to have
new bike track for the olympics several years their playing validated by a special group of
into the future. After the Games are over it professionals.
PL AY T IME S will then be demolished – and it seems ab- Instead, we are using our playwork skills
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surd that a massive finite games fest is rapidly to gather play memories from community
diminishing the groups, using these to re-
spaces and oppor- a massive finite games fest member the importance and
tunities for infinite
free play.
diminishing
is rapidly the variety ofWe use the memo-
enjoyed.
playing that they
There was an ur- spaces and opportunities for ries to look at the role of the
gent need for play infinite free play outdoor environment, of the
projects in these child's discovery play, for
areas. themselves. Using peoples personal play ex-
This need was and continues to be an pertise we remind them of ways that the play
especially urgent one for children with dis- drive can be supported by them, themselves.
abilities. The recent commissioning process The playwork team will then work with
for services for children with disabilities has community groups to think afresh about the
concentrated its spending on segregated non- spaces that are available to them and look
play based respite. No thought has been given at ways that they can oversee those overseen
to finding ways for disabled children to play spaces for children, without adulterating
whenever they want to, near their homes, what the children have to do.
with their peers. Much of this work is influenced by con-
The playtimes project is designed to ad- versations that we have shared with Arthur
dress these issues. battram. Much is informed by work in the

3. ocTobEr 2008
20
th states, re-kindling forgotten play memories pristine green grass, are now showing all the
and observing the power of them to spur signs of play deprivation. They are hiding
folks into action. Much is a natural extension weapons in the flower beds to ready them-
of our application of playwork theory into selves from visitations from rival gangs who
everyday practice. have grown up a couple of estates away in an
PL AY TIMES We are visiting estates where children are equally play deprived conditions.
living in vast numbers. From these initial vis- Interestingly both warring gangs have to
making and sharing its and the resultant play audits, we make a pass through a neutral territory, in which
play memories in
range of suggestions for the creation of com- there is green space and children can play, a
london’s east end
pensatory environments from the founding content and relatively happy place. 'We don't
have trouble here,' those residents say. 'our
We don't have trouble kids are great'.
here, those residents say. Meanwhile the elders on the other two
estates have become distant from an under-
our kids are great standing of play as the beating heart of the
community, not only a symptom of its health
of community play gardens, to community but a catalyst to improvement. The older resi-
barbeques, scrounging loose parts from local dents, just like the teenagers, sound resentful
people to planting trees and installing fairy and hurting.
lights in them so that children can play out This is what happens to people without play.
in winter. All our work must embrace all ages.
All of the spaces and initiatives we are con- We want the teenagers and the grandparents
sidering, are aiming to create shared spaces, and the mums and dads to understand that
so that elders, tiny kids, teenagers parents play is an offer for all of them.
and children can all feel that this is for them. The blocky unyielding fast moving unma-
PL AY T IME S We have been flaneurs moving through the nipulable world that children are growing
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spaces with their playability in mind. up in reminds us of the broken window syn-
What we have discovered has been shocking. drome… when one's experience of windows
Playgrounds left to go to seed, liminal is only to see them broken, then this becomes
community spaces over built or overdevel- the norm and an unbroken window cries out
oped until there is no room to mess around for a thrown brick.
near your home, no room to stop and chat The architect Le corbusier and his follow-
with your neighbours, no green areas to kick a ers, many of whom were commissioned by
ball on without the ubiquitous no ball games local authorities and enticed by central gov-
signs screaming at you that you are unclean ernment incentive grants, had a stated aim
in your to desire play. Anti-climb paint stifles of creating cities without streets. Their desire
o
more play urges. was to expunge the liminal spaces, those that
n one estate, revamped and are ill defined and ripe for play, as a factor
made far prettier about fifteen in the life of the people. What a disaster it
years ago the whole commu- would be to inflict that way of thinking upon
nity is furious with teenagers for the tight knit communities of the east end.
hanging out anywhere except the cage that The current hostility towards younger
has been provided for them, with no seats and residents, encoded in the tower blocks and
no lights. The teenagers, who have lived there unnecessary fences, amounts to play depriva-
for the 15 years since the communal land was tion by design.
built and sectioned into fenced stretches of We have a lot to do.

4. ocTobEr 2008
20
th The task seems overwhelming, but surpris- ing anything of our project he started to
D
ingly, not so depressing. rail against the tree and threatened to cut it
espite the places that we have down, then stopped himself and began to re-
seen and catalogued and geo- call the memory of the rules of the conker
tagged and photographed and games that he had enjoyed flouting.
PL AY TIMES will be sharing with you shortly, The mother of five who begged us to find a
what fills us with uncontainable excitement way to let her kids and the other local chil-
making and sharing is the bubbling enthusiasm that we meet in dren to play in a green treed space, inacces-
play memories in
every one who we share our project aims sible, yet enticing, locked away for no reason
london’s east end
with. There is an instant recognition that behind a padlocked fence…
'this is what they have been looking for'. The housing officer who wanted to show
Hazy memories of play spring with astound- us the places that make her weep, so we could
ing clarity to minds and memories, and the re-kindle their playfulness.
light comes on in the eyes of informants as This is a good project.
they are transported back to their own first Although local play providers and PATH
language of play. The power of the memories have done a fantastic job in this borough,
takes hold and they say. 'we will do whatever there is still a load of work to do… now, we
we can to make this happen. This is what we are in an excellent position to do it.
need.' Do you remember how you used to tell the
The caretaker that we walked past as a ripe time with a dandelion clock?
conker dropped on his head. Not know- Do children still do that?
PL AY T IME S
plog

5. ocTobEr 2008
th remembering when...
24
PL AY TIMES
The lovely people at the
making and sharing Tower Hamlets Local
play memories in History Library and
london’s east end
Archives have supplied
us with these wonder-
ful images of play in the
east end.
Are there any streets
here that you recognise?
Any memories of your
own to tie to these
scenes? Maybe someone
out there even knows
the children pictured!
It would be tremendous
to be hear from the peo-
ple these playful kids
grew to be.
PL AY T IME S
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6. NovEMbEr 2008
more
gorgeous
images
th
04
PL AY TIMES
making and sharing
play memories in
london’s east end
Here are some more
images from the local
history archive for you
to look at while we pull
together more notes
from recent events.
PL AY T IME S
plog
Sheba Street, 1978
Fournier Street, 1978.
Old Gun Wharf, 1930.

7. NovEMbEr 2008
th
09
A
PL AY TIMES
considerable
making and sharing
progress
report
play memories in
london’s east end
Hello all,
consider yourselves cc'ed into an internal email outlining our successes so far – and join in
our happiness!
From: Penny
To: Rainer, Zoe, Morgan and PATH HQ
Subject: Project Update
Last week we opened up a new play space, Tic Tac Park.
We were so happy and proud of ourselves because the project
was well and truly launched and we had had a success that
we had not expected to experience for a few months yet, that
is, a child space with child keyholders endorsed by the RSL
PL AY T IME S and parents.
plog
Wow.
However, a week is a long time in playwork.
On Tuesday we had our very first meeting with East End Homes
and ended up being invited to design the three playspaces on
the British Street Estate. We plan to increase this to four
play pools and a flowing playable stream. This 'greening'
will be completed by June 09.
On the previous day the possibility of using the Archibald
Road site as the Pathfinder Adventure Playground was mooted.
This will be decided for early action in the next financial
year.
On Thursday, we were told by London Play that we had been
successful in our application to develop two sites, in
Hewlett Road and Sheffield Square, as natural play spaces.
This work will be complete by the end of march.

8. NovEMbEr 2008
th
09
This morning, I just happened to gate crash a meeting with
Green Dreams and a regeneration officer from Tower Hamlets
Homes.
Sit down my friends.
PL AY TIMES
making and sharing
It would appear that the there is a large sum of section
play memories in 106 funding that has to be spent on the Malmesbury Estate,
london’s east end mostly before the end of this financial year.
Some of this is required for practical considerations like
mending broken rubbish bin doors and the REMOVAL OF ALL THE
SHIN RAILS (caps quite deliberate.)
However the remainder is for the regeneration of the
squares.
At this point I should tell you that Green Dreams are
designing and contracting this work, so do not panic.
They are very playful in the same way that we are. They
want natural solutions and insist that all spaces should
be playable for the whole community. In short I liked and
trusted them.
Trellis Square – a playable garden… the first thought was
PL AY T IME S to pull down the walls, but I pointed out that a cuddling
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wall can feel nice and mentioned the practical boundaries
as being useful as an inclusive play tool. They understood.
And the guy in charge suggested a sand-pit. (This was after
I insisted that there would be big trouble if the space
was turned into a garden that was not playable because all
the spaces identified as playspaces were damn well going to
stay playspaces while I was around. I didn't actually say
'stay away from her you bitch' in my charming Sigourney
Weaveresque way, but I think that's what they might have
heard and I think they liked that! I personally feel that
it did set a certain tone….)
Sheffield Square. Once again I think I managed to charm
them with the explanation of our hippy shit (heretoin HS),
working methods, I enchanted them with my assault on the
hostile plant! Wowed them with edible fencing and fairy
lit trees, sand-pits rolling hills and scramble slopes. I
think they even liked the idea that we could use water run
off to feed a pump to create water ways through a series of

9. NovEMbEr 2008
trenches…. Etc etc it is possible we could be looking at a
th
09
contribution to the cost of this… not sure. I have to submit
plans to a T&R meeting in mid November.
Then onto the cage, which I pointed out had only one
PL AY TIMES entrance. They are going to create a second one.
making and sharing Creswisck Square, green dream suggested it could be a
play memories in community garden with playspace (at this point I became
london’s east end almost obsessed by the fact that this woman was able to
sight-read my mind out loud.) Green Dreams want to create
an orchard in one of the squares and a rambling seaty rose
garden for the elders garden. Oh and yes, an allotment
patch!
In Ambrose walk the THH guys wanted to put a toddler
playground. For about half a second. After the green Dreams
team and me telling him that this was an evil consumerist
rip-off and damaging to the whole community and doomed
to failure, (the three of us screeching this information
altogether must have taken all of three seconds, so this
was a speedy process.) he agreed to an all age play space,
he started to ask one of the maintenance staff to order
some play equipment. When the chorus of harpies sounded off
again and he agreed, rather quickly, to let Green Dreams
and PATH find alternatives that would be cheaper and offer
PL AY T IME S greater play value.
plog
We also spoke about the need to create some spaces for
older kids to play.. taking up the hostile paving and maybe
creating some contours for a sort of skating experience, and
removing No Ball Games signage in other spots to see if we
could get some informal ('Pick-up' in the states) ball games
going on.
I have sent the folks many of the documents that we
generated to this group and referred them to the Plog.
So
Obama Week Syndrome…?
Change CAN happen.
Elatedly yours,
pen

10. NovEMbEr 2008
th
An open letter af ter cr ashing
12 an estate planning
PL AY TIMES
meeting
making and sharing From:Penny Wilson
play memories in Sent:07 November 2008 16:08
london’s east end
To:(People who work for Tower Hamlets and BBCC)
Cc:All blog readers
Subject:Malmesbury Estate.
Dear People,
It was so good to share the meeting with you this morning.
This gate crashing was a level of cheekiness that I usually
don't attain, but I am glad that I did today.
Attached is a document that outlines the PlayTimes project
that we are running in LAPs 5&6. these LAPs were identified
as coming up completely bald on the mapping of play spaces
conducted by PATH and LBTH in the play strategy research.
They have similarly been identified in similar exercises by
CABE space for the Olympic Play Places Mapping. In addition
to the the weight of new build in the area will drastically
PL AY T IME S
increase the high levels of play deprivation already
experienced currently and historically by children who have
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grown and are growing in this area.
The implications of this are enormous. As Playworkers we
are concerned that a single child deprived of a free play
experience grows up to be an unintegrated, emotionally
and creatively illiterate and harming and harmful person.
Imagine a whole estate full of play deprived children.
Elements of this phenomena are evident in the ASB that is
manifesting itself on these estates where children and young
people have had their play curtailed by the prevailing ethos
that they are being a pain… they feel that they cannot
play anywhere and belong no-where. How can they respect the
space when the space has shown them no respect?
As well as that we are seeing a high incidence of children
growing up utterly divorced from the natural world. The
instinctive default setting of a child is to be enthralled
and engaged with nature, exploring it in many different ways
through every sense that they possess. Where play equipment

11. NovEMbEr 2008
is currently provided for these urban children they serve
th
12
to decrease this innate Biophilia and create a fear and
distrust of nature, biophobia. You can't dig in wetpour. You
can't find seasonal change in a fixed play structure. As I
said when we met, these are a con-trick from unscrupulous
PL AY TIMES play equipment manufacturers.
making and sharing (It should be said that there is some good stuff out there,
play memories in but it needs to be used in the right way. Please see the
london’s east end Play England Design Guidance for Playspaces.)
It is also important to re-enforce the fact that playspace
should not be divided into age groups. A brand new Toddlers
Play Ground in a space like (redacted) may arouse the local
young people, who grew up on that space with only the wind
blown crisp bags in the 'Play space' , to be jealous and
resentful and ultimately, whether they are aware of it
or not, to sabotage the teensy playspaces. These little
play areas also serve to re-enforce the urban myth that
playing is simple a gross motor activity enjoyed, purely
for mindless fun, by tiny children, pre-schoolers. in fact
we are all inclined to remember our playing experiences as
happening years earlier than they were actually lived. The
play curve stretches well into teenage years.
I would make sure that on this estate in particular a very
PL AY T IME S clear offer is made to children who are not toddlers. The
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natural playspaces will be accessible to all ages, and so
they should be. However I like the idea of a legitimate kick
about area on the periphery of the estate and the thought
that a wheeled play space could be created on the 'crazy'
paving on the Caxton Hall corner. I feel a similar offer
should be made at other appropriate junctions on the estate
to avoid the increasing East West divide that is being
reported and unfortunately is being associated with race/
colour/culture difference. These need not be a costly offer,
neither should they be all sports courts and attractive only
to boys. The 'village green' space outside the Temple could
include a small area for this purpose.
There were two spaces around (redacted 2) that I wanted
to bring to your attention. There is a raised grassy verge
running along the wall lining the walkway going towards
the ball cage . This could be a very desirable strip of
doorstep playspace. But it needs 'punctum' It needs some
.
'there there' (to borrow from Gertrude Stein.) This could be

12. NovEMbEr 2008
something as simple as creating a buttercup lawn on it. The
th
12
other space is squeezed between two blocks east of the space
that Juliah sees as an orchard. Again, this could be made
lovely and playable with wildflower planting. Remember what
I was saying about the natural elements providing seasonal
PL AY TIMES 'loose parts' (In playwork terms these are bits and pieces
of stuff that can be anything) .
making and sharing
play memories in Two final thoughts.
london’s east end One from a play consultant called Tim Gill, he speaks of
'playable spaces' By this he means spaces which hold a
.
variety of play offers. A small child can play with mates/
sibs without an adult, but on the doorstep, close enough
to be seen from a kitchen window.. for slightly older
children, there is a little pool of a place nearby that
they can playing a little bit more adventurously, but still
overlooked, 'held' by the watching eyes. The older children
can roam to a space where they can play independently, the
ball court or adventure playground or nearby park-like space
(very conveniently you have one at each end of this estate.
It should be said that all of these playable spaces should
be welcoming for play by elders and young parents etc. They
should enhance the space for the whole community.
The final thought is that all playspaces should be compensat-
ory environments. in an urban setting this means finding
PL AY T IME S quirky ingredients, no branding, natural elements,
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attractive points of reference, a flexibility of use, curves
and difference in texture and design, lighting that is
beautiful in fact a great aesthetic all round, planting
that can be pilfered for play, touched , smelt or eaten, as
in the edible fence plan. Kids should be able to find quiet
space shade and shelter, an perhaps most important of all,
they should feel that they are in a permissive welcoming
space that is part of their home-life experience.
It should be noted that the architect of the Malmesbury
Estate was, in the eyes of the playworker at least, a
genius. Does anyone know who he/she was? I want to award a
medal.
With best wishes and a huge amount of excitement.

13. NovEMbEr 2008
clever criticism,
14
th
because without
how will we improve?
PL AY TIMES
below is an email from Ian at Glamis, outlining some questions and concerns about the
making and sharing project.
play memories in
london’s east end From: Glamis Adventure
Sent: 12 November 2008 15:53
To: Penny Wilson
Subject: Play q / rant from Ian
Hi Penny,
I welcome and support the Play Memories project.
It is a terrible inditment of society and the playwork
profession that the last place that we can imagine the
Playwork Principles working is in public.
I agree that reclaiming the streets and other public
areas to make playable spaces is a far more valuable task
for playwork than the current focus on contained ghettos.
Ghettos where the needs of adults especially employed
playworkers will always prevail.
But whilst play memories can be a very powerful tool for
PL AY T IME S promoting play there are other realities:
plog
• Memory is wonderfully subjective. Ask about a play memory
and like a memory of school it's the exciting, naughty
rather than the dull or conformist that we feel like
promoting. A lot of children were not having such a good
time, (what are they doing in the Osborn Street window?).
A lot of children were excluded A lot of things are
not remembered or wont be told. Photos, like memories are
chosen.
• I hope we don't spend too much time revering a mythical
arcadia. Like any missionaries the key is to insure that
the message fits the local reality. Tower Hamlets suffers
from many things including misty eyed missionaries
and a view of the good-old-days. Check the jacket
cover of Family and Kinship in East London by Michael
Young <http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000035796,00.
html> and Co. for a lovely image of play AND their latter
book The “New East End” for a blistering critic of the
disruptive effect of interfering do-gooders.

14. NovEMbEr 2008
• There are still children who can't play out. I like
14
th to think of GAP being like a seed bank keeping an
alternative alive in hostile environment. Yes I had
a smile of recognition at the tribe of free playing
boys / tooled up rebel fighters roaming the estate on
PL AY TIMES Bonfire Night. But I also know that some of the reasons
that this tiny minority were out and other children were
making and sharing indoors are linked to fear of crime, drugs and violence.
play memories in These fears are legitimate. And there was more space,
london’s east end less cars and a more homogenous community. Childhood has
as Sue Parmer describes become a toxic mix of fear and
consumerism.
• What went wrong with the dream of the social engineers,
philanthropists, playworkers? (see “The New East End”).
Some of the reasons for this lie in a miss understanding
of the realities of power. We are where we are
architecturally and socially – there are very real deep
roots that effect the current state of play. In our
current climate this means making subtle professional
judgments. Playworkers need to recognise where power
lies if we are to affect change in a real word owned,
segregated and controlled by powerful interest groups.
• For playworkers in our little ghettos papering over the
chasms in provision and trying to compensate for the
sad lack of playable spaces, we can see our projects
PL AY T IME S as oasis's in a hostile environment so children can
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experiment with things like digging holes, playing
with fire, having arguments and 'just' hanging out. This
might sound easy but this is not:
• Playworkers are badly paid, terribly managed and often
totally confused as to what their role is as they attempt
to deal with the effects of a society that places so
little value on children. Some playworkers are faced with
really aggressive behaviour from children and adults.
• Who's needs? Real play opportunities for children need
to be bases on a thorough understanding of the Play
Principles current fixation with the new and innovative
and following funding that is not holistically play based
has not helped) But we are were we are lets be carful
.
not to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Am I jaded or naive to worry about the play that would go
on with the fairy lights after Tinkerbelle has left? No the
Play Memories project is managed by idealists with their

15. NovEMbEr 2008
feet on the ground and a real understanding of the where we
14
th have come from, where we are now and where we want to be.
Childhood memories can be an incredibly motivating force
– I loved your description of the eureka moment with
PL AY TIMES the planning officer. I hope that Play Memories stirs the
imagination and pulls the heart and financial strings
making and sharing of people in power so that playgrounds eventually
play memories in become irrelevant.
london’s east end
Lets make the future playful for the children of Sylhet
farmers, labours from Eastern Europe and cockneys.
Ian
Glamis Adventure Playground
And here is Penny's response. Feel free to contribute your own thoughts on this, and any
questions you might have. Like obama, we will listen, especially when we disagree.
From: Penny Wilson
Sent: 12 November 2008 18:05
To: Penny Wilson
Subject: RE: Play q / rant from Ian
Ian. I agree with every word you say. These thoughts were an
important part of my thinking when the project was in its
PL AY T IME S very long gestation period.
plog
A playworker who I really value and respect made similar
clear criticisms of the project when I discussed it with
her.
She said that play memories can be very 'misty coloured'
and encourage us to remember not the way we actually were,
but the sepia tinted version of a world edited right through
selective publication-the telling process.
I have shared memories of play with folks from all over the
world. Many times, in each group, one becomes accutely aware
that there are deep, hurting, private memories which are
not for publication. These unspoken thoughts also feed the
memory of the sentieny child. The thinking person, whole,
because of scale, is easier to treat as without emmotional
intelligence-as so often happens with children with
disabilities. What I never do is probe this moment. Not
appropriate that.

16. NovEMbEr 2008
What I do do is mention annecdotes about children working
14
th out their problems through their play.. Using it as a self
analytical tool, a way to understand the harshness of their
world/life experience.
Play as a philosphical language of childhood. If there were
PL AY TIMES eureka moments before, they appear again at this point.
making and sharing Yes, playing does/did do that! Add to this the traumatic
play memories in interventions of war and architecture splitting that
london’s east end cohesive community….
Pen
PL AY T IME S
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17. DEcEMbEr 2008
th
09
PL AY TIMES
&
making and sharing
play memories in
Ge nder,
Play
london’s east end
corporate
consumerism
I
have posted on my personal blog about a battle currently underway in
Sweden between Sweden's Trade Ethical council Against Sexism in
PL AY T IME S Advertising (ErK) and Lego that encompasses issues of gender in toy
plog
manufacturing and marketing.
You can read it here http://playeverything.wordpress.com/

18. DEcEMbEr 2008
liminal
th
16
spaces
PL AY TIMES
making and sharing
play memories in
london’s east end
Penny has a pet theory that is close to both her heart and working practice – that
of liminal spaces. She's often asked to describe, define or just explain what she
means by the term, but this is difficult when the term itself is trying to capture
the elusive and articulate a sense of the indefinable, the changeable and the fluid.
below is a piece she's written to elucidate the term and to suggest application of this idea to
one place in particular. Feel free to use it, so long as you give her credit!
A liminal space is a space that has no one places where playing is possible. Like a loose
fixed purpose. part, these space can be anything/where that
Like the sea shore it is sometimes watery the children need them to be for their play-
T
to swim, paddle or fish in, and sometimes ing.
dry to walk on and discover shells and build wo areas of Mile End Park have
castles. been identified for an experi-
Traditionally liminal spaces are associated ment with this concept. These
PL AY T IME S with mystery, ritual and a certain sense of are very natural, wooded spaces.
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the poetic. Translated into playwork terms one is on the corner of the park adjoining
this phrase captures for me that spaces where the canal tow-path (as near as we have to a
children are drawn to play. Let’s return to sea shore), and the other is land that runs
the shore. Nicholson cites this as the ideal beside a raised section of railway track – a
playspace because of the loose parts to be place usually passed by at great speed and
discovered. could it be that the sense of completely overlooked. From conversations
fluctuation and transition is also powerful we understand that most people are utterly
and appealing to us? I frequently find that unaware of these two spaces.
it is the “spaces between” that are most fas- The concept is simple: to use the space as
cinating to children. one little corner or a a player, and lure the child into play with
school playground, between the kitchen and a series of artifacts which act as play cues.
the bike shed, or under the fire escape. The These artifacts will contain references to en-
space behind the structures of an Adventure tering and leaving the spaces, or will mirror
Playground where the kids build small fan- an overlooked or unexpected aspect of the
tasy islands from scraps of moss and twigs spaces, literally in some instances, the urban
and stones. child will be offered a mirrored surface to see
In an over-crowded urban setting where themselves reflected in nature rather than a
space is defined by concrete, by permiss- shop-front or a car wing mirror.. In mark-
able and impermissable use and access, both ing these, the artifacts offer new ways for the
playworker and child are on the lookout for child to be there, and to feel themselves to be

19. DEcEMbEr 2008
present. All of the play cues are intended not opposite of the new ‘Adizone’ at another loca-
th
16
to become play equipment, but as to re-frame tion in the park, with its bright colours and
the natural surroundings and invite the chil- bold location it is highly visible and depends
dren to engage with them through play. for its function on moving from one piece of
Examples include: equipment to the next.
PL AY TIMES • A ruined archway at one entrance to the The liminal space is contrived to create a
space. trail of breadcrumbs to an unknown stretch
making and sharing • Seasonal floral plantings to articulate of forest, as much suggested as imagined. As
play memories in the non-existant edges of a non-existant you experience being in the forest you dis-
london’s east end pathway. cover for yourself another breadcrumb that
• Stepping stones leading into a thicket leads to a tree to climb or a log to balance on
with a half-hidden clearing. or a den to build.
• bells or small mirrors stringing through All the artifacts have a fairy tale flavour
the branches of a tree. to them that is more brothers Grimm than
To these, add the swivelling railings on a free- Walt Disney.
standing piece of fence, apropos of nothing,
or a gate leading to no-where, and we can
begin to imagine the site. It is the complete PennyWilson© December 2008
PL AY T IME S
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20. jANUArY2009
W
th
07
e've been talking and thinking a lot about playgrounds in Amsterdam,
not least because Penny is freshly returned from a trip over there and
very enthusiastic. However, as is usually the case, once we started making
connections to and through Amsterdam's playspaces they seemed to be
everywhere!
PL AY TIMES We've had this book on the project's bookshelf since the beginning:
a mster da m
and it's a remarkably interesting
making and sharing
play memories in
london’s east end
playgrounds collection of images, interviews and
writing that starts with a generous
notion of play that includes playgrounds,
public art and urban golf.
The authors – a theorist and an
architecture firm – then go on to address
how places for play enable connections
between people, and consider how
this understanding might develop new
models for design practice.
Some of the playgrounds in this book
are in Amsterdam and designed by Aldo
van Eyck, who in his career starting at
Amsterdam Public Works provided the
designs for some 700 playgrounds across the city, and the inspiration
for many more across the world. I grew up in Southern california,
scrambling around the metal tumbling bars that he'd designed some
40 years and 10,000 miles away.
PL AY T IME S central to his design strategy was an understanding of how
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these often small locations tied together to create a network of
play opportunities throughout the city, places where 'the seeds
of community were sewn, where the city was not to be viewed or
consumed but experienced.' Archis No. 3,2002 (where this article comes from) also offers a
'psychogeographic cycle tour of Amsterdam playgrounds by Aldo van Eyck', encompassing
the sites of about 40 playgrounds within the city's ring road.
For those seeking a more armchair-
based exploration, Sara Winter has a
lovely set of images up on Flickr, and
more on her blog.

21. jANUArY2009
th
20 We went for another walkabout last week, and talked to a couple of teenagers
(Asian-british males) who had been born and raised on the estate about local
play opportunities. They were perched against a railing in between a torn-up
PL AY TIMES playground and a parking lot. Their responses are as follow to my questions.
making and sharing
an
play memories in
What happened to over there now and it's dirty as
london’s east end
the playground over hell, man.”
there?
“The council came and And for the teenagers?
tore all that (equipment)
up. About five, maybe
ten years ago? They were
interview “There's a youth club. It's
supposed to be open 6-9, but you
know. The workers are all old, it's
with
going to build flat there, so funny. They're all smoking all
tear up those buildings the time, before they arrive, you
behind as well. Didn't know? They're all getting sacked
take those though. but now, because of that but because
two
there used to be loads of they're old so none of them went
kids playing there. Every to school, no degrees or nothing.
summer there'd be bare Some of them play mad pool
kids, just running and though!”
teenagers
that. They had parties
there and everything, Maybe it was the run-up to
PL AY T IME S man.” yesterday's blue Monday, but all
plog
of this got me to thinking. We
Where do kids play now? wandered around that torn-up playspace,
“In the stairwells. The hallways in those now yet another dog toilet, and read the scars
buildings there, and there. It's a bad place on the tarmac for original design in the way
though, the walls are covered in piss. Even we do every time. on this project we have
the police don't like coming in. His little been to place after place, once designated
brother nearly died, man. He climbs stuff, playgrounds in the centre of housing estates,
and so he was climbing up that scaffolding but now vacant lots. We see places where
there and fell off.” equipment has been torn up, where it's
cracked or shredded from people training
Where else might kids go? their dogs to attack the seats, and we see
“There's some playgrounds that way, but it's peeling safety surface that's become a Petri
across the road. besides, that's the E3/E14 dish for varieties of mould. That mould is the
boundary right? So even if the kids could go only growing thing that seems at home there.
over there, they wouldn't. That's why they're
indoors all the time.” Each time we see the sign of the thing – the
thing being play, a place for children outdoors
Who uses that former playspace? – but we do not see the thing itself. We see
“It's for dogs now. They just come in, drop the shape of its absence, conjure up the ghosts
the dogs in and shut the gates. They run all of games, laughter, the testing of growing

22. jANUArY2009
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20
selves that must have happened there. on the same time, it feels culturally deliberate.
that last grey wandering, the repetitive sense It feels like the erasure of children from the
of loss and emptiness reminded me of trips public realm, and I think it is. Why and how
to old European cities and all those signs were children's places, children's tangible
that say “This used to be the ghetto”. This rights as citizens, eradicated from the centre
PL AY TIMES sounds like an extreme comparison (perhaps of public housing? From the centre of public
especially when made by a jew), but when I life? And why would the people looking out
making and sharing go to all these different places and find that their window prefer a socially sterile and
play memories in
people in power have attempted to remove abandoned-looking dog toilet to a thriving
london’s east end
play from the public sphere, all at roughly play space?
PL AY T IME S
plog

23. jANUArY2009
th
Progress frustrated by
28 change?
PL AY TIMES Below is penny's sheffield square, following a numBer of
update on
team Brainstorming sessions, of making lovely drawings and costing
making and sharing
play memories in elements and warming ourselves through this cold January on the toasty
london’s east end possiBilities of this space .
So… I turn up at Sheffield Square in a warm The site has been turned into a building site
jacket, brand new sticks of chalk in the pock- office with port-a-cabins and port-a-loos and
et, christmas tape measure on its maiden blokes in hard hats and lots of 'scaff'and tea
voyage. I am putting the last strokes to the and mud and no room for children at all. No
designs we have whipped up to make a mag- room for twinkling fairy lights in the trees
ic playspace with a tiny budget of £2K, on or wildflower seed planting, no village pump
this bleak stretch of tarmac the details of the feeding the stream designed to meander
project scamper around in my head as I walk around the dip in the tarmac near the surface
towards the space. drain, no marine ply throne shapes to trans-
We are planning to hold play sessions form the seatless benches of forty years ago…
while weave willow into the fences We are This work is a constant series of setbacks
meeting with residents to and re-inventions, of
gather stories about their extreme hope and pro-
play memories and offer found disappointment;
PL AY T IME S them training to support of visionary, dynamic
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their children's play. We and dedicated employees
have useful bits and pieces of the council and reg-
of reclaimed wood,stone and istered Social landlords
fence squirreled away in a and voluntary sector peo-
scrap yard. We have plans to ple and of complete jobs-
plant a living climbing tree. worth duffers who are
I am working out how to without passion or pride
do some of the construction in their work, who hin-
work that is needed myself der, halt and make stale
and still fit in office and de- the work of others.
velopment work… So, through enept plan-
Anyway this is the last of my preparatory ning and efficient bungling I am forced to
visits. Next time I have planned to glue tis- break the promise to turn Sheffield Square
sue paper letters to the tarmac (PLAY!), dis- into a playground by the end of March. The
tribute the flyers, , three on each photocopied children have less room and freedom to play
sheet. and chalk arrows and information ad- than they did before I made that promise.
vertising the session on the walkways all over The funding is lost. The willows missing
the estate. The school will know and estates their season. The goodwill and trust betrayed.
officers have been informed. “Them do-gooders, they come in here from the
Then I round the corner and find this: outside, making their promises and then they

24. jANUArY2009
th
28
go away and you never hear or see 'em again…' In what other profession would equip me
people here have learned to expect to be let to expect the unexpected, prepare me for the
down. Its going to do folks no favours if I constant devaluation of the work that I do
mope about this. So I put on my High reso- and the experience that I have and still let me
lution (Hi res) playwork warm jacket, pick love my work so much that I am enthusiastic
PL AY TIMES myself up, dust myself off and plan all over and optimistic again by the end of a day like
again. this one.
making and sharing back to the team with an optimistic plan. I think it helped that this was the day that
play memories in
back to the funder with a justification for President obama was inaugurated. If he can
london’s east end
non-delivery of sessions that does not look become president of the United States of
like a fumbling excuse. America (I hear Hendrix spitting out the star
I am so glad that I am a Playworker... No strangled, (sic) banner), then we can make
seriously. Tower Hamlets playful, (I hear Aretha.)
PL AY T IME S
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25. FEbrUArY2009
A
th
04
couple of weeks ago we went empty room at the other end, I grew more and
walking through our patch, more angry. The question of whether or not
coming across a little playground, playspaces should be fenced is an old one. We
marked out with fixed equipment tend to fall on the side of gates and fences for a
and brightly coloured safety surface. It was number of reasons – to increase inclusivity by
PL AY TIMES fenced in, central to the estate and reached making provision for children with disabilities
by sets of staggered who can be considered
look, but
making and sharing pathways. ‘flight risks’, to separate
play memories in
It wasn’t terrible. the space for those
london’s east end
Lots of fixed exercizing their pets
equipment which and to state clearly that
don't play
we’re not particularly this place is different
disposed towards, from others, that this
and someone had place is for children’s
been training their play.
dog on the rubber seats and wooden benches, Implied in this argument, however, are two
but there are lush plantings around the edge points:
and some thought had been given to the • That specified provision such as playgrounds
demarcation of spaces. The housing estate are not to be viewed as the ‘only’ places where
made for a pleasing courtyard effect and most play is appropriate, but instead located in a
importantly it was clearly a part of the public considered and playable public realm.
realm set aside for play. The opening hours • That these gates are opened so that children
were clearly signposted and we were there can come in!
when it was supposed to be unlocked. only on a far happier note, however, the amazing
one problem. weather we’ve been having has supplied
PL AY T IME S It wasn’t. the whole city with high value natural play
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The anti-climb paint and padlocked gate material – snow! With traffic at a standstill
turned the playspace into a fortress – and in and schools and offices closed, people emptied
prime midweek afterschool hours too. The out into the streets and the parks to build,
sign also had a number to ring in case of fight, scuffle and explore. Adults and children
emergency, so I rang it. The call was not free, played out together, as the ‘adverse weather
and once I’d waited through interminable conditions’ for daily routines proved to be the
automated messages, it wasn’t answered either. perfect weather conditions for play.
As the phone rang and rang in the presumably

26. FEbrUArY2009
th
13 s at u r d ay bbQ
PL AY TIMES
making and sharing
play memories in
london’s east end on Saturday we set up camp from 12 – 3 in the post-playground
tarmac space that forms a courtyard for an estate in our area.
PL AY T IME S
plog
We wanted to play through information There will be another post that looks more
on some of the changes that we’ve proposed specifically at the ‘consultation’ aspect of this
for this space, talk with them about their day, but I wanted one just to celebrate the
needs and desires for their doorstep play fun that was had – because play is the point,
opportunities and share some of our ideas. after all.
but this was a play session, not consultation, It was the brightest of winter bar-be-ques,
and like every good play session it developed and a pleasure and privilege to meet the
into something richer, more vibrant and wonderful children who live there. There are
fantastic than we could have imagined. many more pictures hosted on our Flickr page

27. FEbrUArY2009
th
15 Tenants & residents Association
response to saturday
PL AY TIMES The local Tenants and residents Association sent us a lovely email following
Saturday’s bbQ, and some quotes follow here:
making and sharing
play memories in
I am glad to hear the event went well. I had no doubt
london’s east end
you would be able to attract children as most of the
play spaces on the estate are similar to that play
space. The play spaces are in a square shape enclosed
around the residents’ buildings (some having their
front gardens opposite the play space while others with
their back garden opposite the play space) I expect
.
most of these children are those that live in the
buildings surrounded by the play space.
The play spaces are underutilised, because there isn’t
any play equipment in any of the play areas on the
estate. This is why it is essential that LBTH rebuilds
these spaces with proper play equipment for the
children.
In terms of understanding the needs of the estate and
engaging the estate, we (the Residents Assocation) have
also carried out questionnaires in the past to ask what
PL AY T IME S people want on the estate. In relation to this project,
plog
we have had a large number of requests for play spaces
to be properly equipped with play equipment from
people (mainly parents with youngchildren) all over the
Estate.
I
t’s wonderful to see that the Tenants and their parents chatting to one another all
residents Association understand the the while. Public space would accomodate
need for vibrant play spaces in the estate, everyone, and in so doing help create a sense
and understandable that the residents of cultural cohesion, of social belonging, and
are vocal about the need for them considering of possibility.
how many children are currently living there. That’s why we’re hoping not just to run a
Play equipment helps to advertise that a space few exciting play sessions for the children,
is set aside for children, that their needs have but to demonstrate how much can be done
been provided for by those in power. with how little, to engage the local residents
The thing is, play is about more than in a dialogue about play and the public
equipment and children’s needs ought to be realm, and to change people’s perceptions
considered in all the decisions of design in of the open spaces between their houses into
the public realm. In an ideal world children something more colourful, more fluid, more
would be playing out all over the place, playful for everyone.

28. FEbrUArY2009
th
17
We’ve started running
twice-weekly sessions on an-
other local site, a high flat
windy spot surrounded by es-
tate houses. There’s a massive
PL AY TIMES grassy slope and a flat tarmac
section with the scars left
Tuesday
making and sharing from long-gone play equip-
play memories in
ment. one boy we spoke
london’s east end
to told it was called “The
Dump” by local children,
but some others said that
they’d had a difficult time
finding it, after seeing the
Session
over the tree and construct-
play session advertisement ing it. He gave himself diffi-
distributed by the housing culties and challenges which
association. was really interesting to see.
Here are some of rainer’s He finally made a flying fox
notes from the session: through getting the hoop
We had 6 children, not bad down from the tree with the
for beginning. It was cold, a rope and then hanging the
o
bit of an icy wind. hoop as a swing. Sliding the
ne mum came hoop along the rope didn’t
with her girl quite work of course but
and baby. She he hung on the rope upside
PL AY T IME S was enthusias- down and he looked like an
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tic about the idea of offering acrobat. I think he had lots of
play sessions. She said there fun and his friend was more
is nothing around and she the hair designer type con-
is very frustrated. Another stantly talking on his phone
mum brought her 2 sons and with his other mates and
daughter. The older daughter bossing a bit around. Sorry
was waiting for us for weeks no offence, he was hilarious.
and was so happy that we fi- The rope is such a good
nally made it. thing for older children but
Two older boys came along as well the younger once be-
and of course they weren’t up came interested and played
for making things out of tis- with it.
sue paper. but the rope was I loved the snow fight with
interesting and they basically the rest of the snow!
played for an hour with that.
Especially one of them was Location - Ollerton Green
Children - Girls: 2, Boys: 0
immersed in how to get it Total = 2

29. FEbrUArY2009
th
20
PL AY TIMES Thursday
Session
making and sharing
play memories in
london’s east end on Thursdays we’ve been After creative experimen-
returning to the high windy tation with the rope that had
spot from Tuesday, and be- happened within our first
low are some of Zoe’s notes session there, the two boys
from a session: now knew how exactly they
Thursday was a rainy (and could create their swing. As
almost snowy) day. We were they repeated this model,
at the site on time. We pre- the swing was ready in a few
pared the site by ‘decorat- minutes. After this, it was
ing’ it as we aimed to leave just pure fun.
our marks on the landscape The boys, and then us (the
(such as paper flowers on the playworkers), we all experi-
bushes-trees) for people to enced the swing-event. We
find. We emptied our bags in were loudly laughing and
which we had tissue papers, this attracted other children’s
scissors, rope and a variety of curiosity. both children and
A
other material. their parents were coming
PL AY T IME S fter 20 minutes out in their balconies ob-
plog
we saw the two serving what we were doing.
teenager boys As a result, three younger
(they are cous- children came out to play
ins) that had played in our with the swing. children
first session at this spot. They were clearly very excited and
were then very excited experi- wanted to make sure when
menting with making a rope- we are going back.
swing. They passed us and
re-assured us that they are Location - Ollerton Green
Children - Girl: 5, Boys: 5
going to bring a tire for the Total = 10
rope-swing. After a while, we
saw them wheeling the tire,
anticipating attaching it to
the rope.

30. MArcH2009
02
nd
M a k i n g
PL AY TIMES connec-
making and sharing
play memories in
london’s east end tions
I took some notes during Thursday’s session, with the intention of
creating a sort of snapshot of play.
Here it is: Some children, of course, are bolder in this
They are arriving now, eager and out of than others, more boisterous. A couple of
breath, in twos and threes and fours. They weeks ago a girl of about 8 stood next to me
are climbing up brick walls to reach the and watched the others play a mad racing
green and sighing, throwing their shoulders game of pretending to drown in the tarmac
in frustration if they can’t make the climb square, and of being eaten by sharks. She
and are forced to walk around. once there seemed a little old for this game, a little too
the older boys rig up a rope swing, stuffing the self-conscious to go ahead and play it anyway.
wet tire with bright wads of tissue paper, while Furthermore, the others all had siblings there
two girls spread out the tarpaulin and begin and she had come alone. She’d told me before
making paper flowers. one small boy, seen that on the days we weren’t there she tended
PL AY T IME S for once without his older sister, flits between to read novels on the sofa. She seemed more
plog
them and the swing. Smaller boys arrive, aged comfortable at times with playworkers than
5 or 6, and congregate from different corners with peers, and was almost always the last
around a small red ball. child to leave. once rainer and I had run
The amazing thing for me is how few of with her, carrying the tarp between us as an
them knew one another before we started enormous billowing flag, and she turned to
coming. me then and mentioned this, saying “maybe
We bring very little with us but by being the other children would want to play that
there we change the dynamic of the place. with us?”
on more than one occasion we have arrived Apart from the ideas we bring, the small
to see little faces pressed up against kitchen pieces of equipment and the encouragement
windows, the children waiting for us to arrive we offer, we are a handy excuse. For children
before they are allowed out. The children we whose parents don’t normally let them
have met (and their friends whom we haven’t) play out, and for children seeking to make
are kept indoors for a variety of reasons – extra introductions. We picked up the tarp and
studies, fear of strangers, dogs or traffic, even ran with it, the loud cracks of it snapping in
I
something as common as the rain. the wind drawing the other children over to
’ve watched the children make subtle investigate. S. had made her introductions,
negotiations towards friendship, seen shown them that she had ideas for play and
them unite in the common purpose of engaged with them on her own terms. by the
making a rope swing or playing football. time we left they were all playing hide and

31. MArcH2009
nd
02
seek together, big children looking after small their lives more out of doors than they do
across family lines. today, chatting over fences and all keeping
It was a strong indication to us of how an eye on children collectively, rather than
much children’s social links have dissolved individually. just as a person with a number
over the years. If children don’t play out they of friends is more likely to go out, more likely
PL AY TIMES don’t know one another – even if they were to make new social connections through old
all born on a small estate, lived there all their ones, so the reverse is true. Isolation breeds
making and sharing lives and attend local schools. If a child has isolation, in children and adults. Parents
play memories in
few friends nearby, they are even less likely who tell children not to talk to strangers
london’s east end
to be allowed out to play, and less likely to find themselves stuck, now that everyone is a
want to. The thing is, their parents are in the stranger. That is the cycle we mean to change,
same position. one boy said that his mother, through working with children and adults to
who has lived on the estate for years, “doesn’t reinvigorate doorstep play, and to help adults
know anyone really.” recollect their experiences and perhaps form
Part of the reason why children used to new connections.
be allowed out to play is because adults lived
PL AY T IME S
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32. MArcH2009
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26
We’ve been thinking lately about small are glass universes that joins others in games.
worlds in play. In our estates-based work, In so doing they powerfully transform the
small worlds play offer different ways to think public realm. Marbles turn pavement cracks
about play and space than our usual concerns into obstacles, holes into goals, other children
of public and private places, of the permeabil- into play partners,and the outside world into
PL AY TIMES ity of the site and play frame, of observation a place for children’s play.
and alteration. on a recent visit to one site,
small
making and sharing we brought bags of miniature
play memories in
trains, figurines, cars and ani-
london’s east end
mals and while the drawing ma-
Worlds
terials, balloons and so on that
we also brought proved popular
enough, it was these little items
that the children engaged with
particularly. by the end they had
nearly all disappeared into hot
S
hands and pockets.
mall objects are potent. There is
something compelling in the abrupt
changes of scale that make a train
fit in the palm of your hand, that
render the player both enormous as a deity
and small enough to peer into the windows
of tiny houses. There is something intimate
about them, something absorbing in their
PL AY T IME S detail. The possibilities of small worlds are
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enormous within estates-based work, because
they offer portable universes of play that can
be hidden in a pocket. In playing with that
scale, that intimacy, small worlds are located
within the individual mind and can thus be
everywhere, anywhere, at any time. They are
places that are owned and managed by the
child but can be shared, their rules expressed,
discussed and evolved through argument.
They are treasures, and treasured.
The classic example is the humble and
nostalgic marble. Exquisitely beautiful, these