Stories & Memories

St Anne’s well: “as long as waters run”

4th July 2017 by

As one of the “Collection of the Artists” (CotA) team, my role was to write about aspects of the collection, especially looking at the connection between artefacts and places and that sense of “belonging” and “home”. Arnemetia, the Roman Goddess of the Waters at Buxton was here long before the Romans arrived and stayed long after they left.

CotA was an Arts Council funded project during the bigger “Collections in the Landscape” project to bring together a team of artists who were asked to respond to different aspects of the Collection in their different styles of work

AS LONG AS WATERS RUN

Long skirts rustling on cobbles

A hat tipping, a cane tapping,

The bath-chair creaking,

A wheel squeaks.

Cross my palm with silver, lady,

Cross my palm with copper,

Cross my heart with happiness

And I’ll share this water with you.

The world sighed into warmth,

Old memories waking grass and flowers,

Remembering trees.

The hills relaxed long shoulders as the weight lifted.

And She woke as the ice melted,

As the water

Seeped, dripped, dribbled,

Nibbled itself a hollow,

A bedchamber for a fairytale,

In the darkness under the hills.

Story: Liff’s Low burial

3rd July 2017 by

We know a lot about the man who was buried in Liff’s Low but nothing about himself as a person.

Digital reconstruction of the face of the Liff’s Low man

As one of the artists in the “Collection of the Artists” project, I worked with children from Biggin School: the school in the village below the hill where Liff’s Low lies. Two pieces of writing came out of our session: this one: a sort of Neolithic lullaby (Liff’s Low Night Charm, separate entry) and this story of who it is that is buried in the Low

Liff’s Low Night Charm

3rd July 2017 by

We know a lot about the man who was buried in Liff’s Low but nothing about himself as a person.

As one of the artists in the “Collection of the Artists” project, I worked with children from Biggin School: the school in the village below the hill where Liff’s Low lies. Two pieces of writing came out of your session: this one: a sort of Neolithic lullaby and the story of why he was buried in the Low (that is in a separate entry)

Buxton Opera House Memories

1st June 2017 by

Colin Rodgers reminisces on the times he has visited the Buxton Opera House with his family in the audio below.

Hosting live performances from it’s opening, until 1927, the theatre then was used mostly as a cinema until 1976, when it was briefly (although thought to have indefinitely) closed down. Three years later, in 1979, it was refurbished and reopened as a venue for live performance once again. Since then it has been a 902-seat opera house that hosts approximately 450 entertaining acts all year-round.

Matcham also designed some of the UK’s most famous attractions in the late 19th century to the early 20th century, such as the London opera house, the Victoria Palace, the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, the Richmond Theatre, and the London Palladium.

Click ‘Tell Me More…’ to view images of the opera house’s interior.

The Trials of Fairfield Brass Band Members on a Christmas Afternoon

26th April 2017 by

Like most brass bands, Fairfield Brass band runs on good will and donations to fund its upkeep. On a Christmas afternoon, band members often play music around several Fairfield locations in the hope of encouraging band donations and, perhaps, of making a little extra towards a Christmas pint or two. Press to hear how hard this was in years gone by.