Sneinton patches

Sneinton tour map

After finishing our tour in Sneinton, I popped into a bus with two things on my mind – first, I have never learned more about a neighbourhood in three hours (thank you Sneinton Alchemy!), and second – I feel like I went traveling for a whole season with Dr Who. I am impressed by the variety of people and places that parallelly exist in Sneinton. Some of them have a very long history (Salvation Army), some reflect the range of innovative aims of contemporary world (The Greenway Centre), some are aliens (Steven Doig) – doing things that seem impossible.

In front of WIlliam Booth Birthplace Museum - The Salvation Army

On the one hand, Sneinton is facing the same challenges as many other places – not enough green spaces (only Green’s Mill Park), lack of resources for maintenance of old buildings (Old School Hall, TRACK), being unable to make informed changes in conservation areas (Dale Terrace; click on 'Old Sneinton'), property “trapped” in conspiracy acts, uncontrolled meanwhile use of derelict buildings (empty Burrows Court tower block), coordination of different local stakeholders. But on the other hand, Sneinton is full of “heroes” that are constantly improving its civic life. HEROES is this year’s theme of the Sneinton festival – collection of 26 free events organised by a variety of community groups in July.

Old School Hall

Self-maintained planters in front of the Old School Hall

Dale Terrace - maintenance issues

Disconnection between 'upper' and 'lower' Sneinton

Burrows Court tower block

Even though Old School Hall seems empty, it hosts enormous positive local energy through the initiatives such as Secret Kitchen Café (see Marsha’s TEDx Talk). Five years ago, it managed to gather the whole community in a dancing event on a Windmill car park. The signposting at the car park, which is the only entrance to the Windmill, doesn’t exist at all. If I was living in the area, it would probably take me ages to get to know what goes on behind the walls. Especially because most of the events are happening once in a week, and the information about them is spread on different websites that are not regularly updated. Sneinton Alchemy is therefore doing amazing job in connecting these actions, and making them visible and accessible.

Green's Windmill

Listening and observing

Mila has spotted a blind wall at the Windmill car park

Steven Doig, a chairman and founder of Growing Spaces is growing different fruits and vegetables on allotments that are connecting upper and lower Sneinton – two different social structures of the area. Since April 2013 Steve is engaging unemployed people to work on gardening and building, with the strong belief that “everybody’s got a talent” and that we should use that to “lift the spirit against Jeremy Kyle syndrome”. Everything grown is than either sold in vegetable boxes, or used in community kitchen in St Christopher’s Church Hall where Steve cooks every Thursday from 5 to 7pm. Talking with Steve D in one of the gardens seemed as a movie scene: he was sitting on a plastic chair, retelling how his leg got hurt while the fire was making us warm. The smoke of Steve’s fire left traces not only in the smell of my coat. 

Steven Doig

One of the Growing Spaces gardens

Strawberries @ Growing Spaces

Who would say that this exists in the city?

Food is cooked every Thursday in Super Kitchen 

Super Kitchen @ St Christopher's Church Hall

Another Sneinton’s hero, Stacey Keay, is a community volunteer coordinator. She is finalizing her project as part of Support Sneinton – combining timetables of four different community centres in the area, so the information becomes more accessible to the public. Thus, she is also exploring niches for future collaboration: “Funded by the People's Health Trust, the project is facilitated by the SEND Project working with representatives from 3 local centres: Greenway Centre, TRACS Neighbourhood Centre and Hermitage Centre. The centres are also working together (and in collaboration with Sneinton Alchemy) to establish a collaborative model of working together. They aim to work more effectively and efficiently, sharing facilities and ensuring that each complements the work of the others. If successful, it is hoped that more centres from across the area will enter into a partnership arrangement” (read more here). Stacey successfully activates a lot of young children (5-18 years old) in The Greenway Centre activities. For example, their musical project started six years ago, and it gathers 5-6 people during the day, and more than 30 in the evenings!

Notification board at Greenway Centre

Stacey is telling us about their work in Sneinton

What left maybe the greatest impression on me is the mixed use (something that is so difficult to achieve), that spontaneously exists in Sneinton. One example is the Windmill that is at the same time a Science Centre, memorial place for father and a son – one a miller and the other one self-taught mathematician. Wow! And the mill is actually working: selling flour and organising arts and crafts events. Sometimes people neglect how extraordinary the ‘usual’ life is. Another example is a proposal of merging Sneinton library with a Police Station, a refurbishment that should be finished by spring 2017. Not only the communities and cultures combine in Sneinton, but different uses too. Another interesting thing about this location is its historical development; it used to be ‘the end of Sneinton’, a place where the bridge marked the boundary. One more mix, that is slowly disappearing, is the combination of residential and business functions. Along Sneinton Dale, many local businesses occupied the extensions at the back of houses.

The 'ordinary' life

Small business at the back of a house

Future Joint Service Centre

Sneinton tour ended at Hermitage Square, in front of the TRACS building where many social enterprises are located. Even though this square is in the intersection of seven roads, it seems that it calls for some kind of articulation that would enhance its social potential. Definitely a food for thought!

Sneinton Hermitage Community Centre @ Hermitage Square

TRACS building @ Hermitage Square

New club (?) @ Hermitage Square

My impression was that Sneinton is comprised of many different patches, each one having its own patterns and nods. They are making things better, fixing some bits. It seems to me that these patches can grow further and form various shapes through mutual connections. Finding common resources which several organisations can use together seems as a way forward. What is the thing that they can all benefit from, that they can all share and use? What would be a ‘good mix’?

What motivates people from Sneinton?