PARWICH.ORG

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING REALLY DIFFERENT THIS WEEKEND

The ancient Peak District village of Winster, near Bakewell, will be transported back in time one hundred years on Friday June 13, with the Look Sharp! re-enactment of the historic visit by pioneering folksong collector, Cecil Sharp. The event is supported by a grant of £18,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). 

Sharp, played in full Edwardian costume by professional actor Steve Tomlin, will arrive at Matlock and travel courtesy of Peak Rail’s steam train to Darley Dale, where he will alight and be taken by pony and trap to Winster to witness a performance of the unique Winster Morris dances and songs, just as he did a century ago.

At the school, Sharp will witness the work of the children who have been involved in special workshops commemorating the visit, organised by the Cotton Grass Theatre Company of Bradwell over the past couple of weeks, alongside neighbouring South Darley and Elton schools. The children will also be dressed in Edwardian costume, and their activities and displays will all relate to that period.  An evening of entertainment by Cotton Grass and the Ashbourne-based folk singer, Keith Kendrick, will follow on Friday evening at 7pm in a special marquee erected on the playing field in Winster.

On Saturday, June 14, at least eight Peak District villages will be visited by six Morris dancing teams from as far away as Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Essex. They will all converge on Winster Main Street that evening at 5pm to dance. This spectacular and colourful ‘mass morris’ is likely to involve over 100 dancers, one of the biggest gatherings ever seen in the north of England.

Chairman of the event management team David Mitchell, commented: “We are delighted at the way that local schoolchildren have become so enthusiastically involved in our commemoration of this historic event in the history of Winster. We felt it was important to involve the whole community to keep this unique cultural tradition alive for the future.”

The Look Sharp! event is sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF); the Peak District National Park’s Sustainable Development Fund; the Derbyshire Dales District Council and Peak Rail.

The above was supplied by Parwich’s own Morris Man and accordion player Rob F, who would be pleased to see any familiar faces (and indeed any new faces) in Winster on Friday or Saturday.