At last Wednesday’s Kid’s Art Club, we decided to explore the heritage of Broomhill, and our relationship to the area. We used the symbol of the Oak Tree, for the wider area of Greenock, to mind-map keys words related to the history of the area, branching out from the tree trunk.

Together, we came up with references such as “The Cut”, the “Bell Tower Flats” at Drumfrochar Road, the “underground railway” carrying “freight”, “coal”, “resources” and “products” up to the mills and foundries in Broomhill.

After we has built the skeleton of the tree, we decorated it with leaves, each designed and decorated by the kids, with their name and a few words about themselves.

After this, we decided to bring some more life to the tree with birds, bees and butterflies – hopefully we’ll be seeing more more of these floating about Broomhill when the Broomy’s Bees garden has been built and planted.

The tree looked so vibrant, and acted as an effective tool for learning about the local area, it’s heritage and what makes it unique. By encouraging the children to mind-map the area and write about themselves in the same task, we hope that we have made the heritage of Broomhill more relatable, and encouraged a sense of belonging within, positive ownership of, and respect for the area.