(see also « mother walks with child » page)

||: it’s a one-step, two-step, off we go

following the path to the forest :||

In the middle of the winter of 2025 emailed a callout to mother house members and other creative friends and parents for a new creative walking collective for grown-ups with their little ones.

Several people replied and we went on our first walk on February the 9th. I led this one, it was themed around quantum listening underfoot into the mud and kulning into the air with voices.

It’s been a really exciting year – new and unexpected creative experiences involving the focus, care and chaos of sensitive bodies walking in a shared more-than-human space to explore attunement, creative play, listening, singing, improvising, splashing, running, resting. We have taken it in turns to curate and guide creative walks and we have practiced how to move into the land creatively in parallel play with our naturally free-rhythm little ones.

The time has come to start an archival process of these walks, as we entered into the second wave of walks during the autumn of 2025.

To begin, below is a list of the walks so far – with a developing, ongoing archive of sounds, images, and generated works to follow.

:: walks so far ::

FIRST WAVE:

walk i
february 9th 2025
portia winters
cox’s walk and sydenham hill ancient woods
quantum listening with ear and soles of feet and kulning
cold wet heavy grey very late winter

walk ii
march 9th 2025
max dovey
ladywell fields
dousing and mark-making
as above so below for energetic scores and grounding
bright and sunny with bare trees very early spring

walk iii
march 30th 2025
rosalind fowler
foraging and connecting to spirit of earth/air/spring
offerings and tea ceremonies
early green and fresh sunny spring warmth

walk iv
april 27th 2025
ninon ardisson
bermondsey beach
mudlarking and assemblage
making stories new and agency between connections for new realities
sunny and warm, not-quite-low tide and a boat birthday

walk v
may 18th 2025
cat melvin
paper and pencil/charcoal/crayon/chalk rubbings and well-being
lewisham hospital garden, ladywell fields (stream-jumping) and Parish Church of St Margaret of Antioch community garden for reflections
light grey sky duvet and reliable warmth

SECOND WAVE:

walk vi
september 7th 2025
portia winters
stones / listening scores / spell-casting / rivertime timelines
Shoreham Village and the River Darent, Kent
warm sunshine and occasional breezes, light glimmers on water

walk vii
september 28th 2025
portia winters
tending a shrine for sorrow with found leaves / woodland running chaos, the forest holding everything
Sydenham Hill Ancient Woodland / heavy grey skies

“I feel that Portia has a natural gift for facilitating spaces of wonder. I remember sitting by the river in Shoreham and drawing and singing with the children and the other adults and it was so magical. We were invited to respond to the sounds around us, the vibrations of wind, water, children’s voices; and I felt like singing and drawing were a continuum. Portia is so balanced in the way she offers guidance and structures and gives enough space for exploration. I felt held and set free.” – Anca, artist, mother, participant

When I am guiding collective voicemaps – each voice separate and together – the quantum listening experience is a dialogue between the more-than-human sound world and the carer-voice, poised in awareness of child, self and other… exploring these ways of listening to each other, our world, and ourselves is a creative and therefore nourishing attempt at presence.