Buxton
- Festival Street Theatre
Only twelve miles from Macclesfield,
Buxton is a convenient place to experience a changed ambience.
Like Macclesfield, it can be very busy at times but it's easy
to escape into the green of the Slopes and the Pavilion Gardens
...
... and the architecture
is something else - the austere neo-classical east facade of the
parish church of St John the Baptist ...
... and The Crescent developed
by the Duke of Devonshire in the 18th Century when the town was
in its heyday.
Today Buxton was in carnival
mood as the 25th Buxton
Festival was drawing to its close. Billed as "a feast
of opera, music and literature in the Peak District" ...
... and claimed to be the
largest festival in England it has its Fringe and ancillary events.
If I called these guys Morris-dancers
they would be quite upset as they are members of the Black
Dog Molly from Stoke-on-Trent following a tradition established
centuries ago in East Anglia.
Here they are enjoying a
stick dance with the Ganger and the Molly (in women's clothes)
in the centre ...
... and off to the side
their musicians.
There were a number of folk-dancing
groups in town, arguably all variations on a theme but here comes
something different ...
... the New Orleans Fatties
Parade Band part of the 22nd Buxton Jazz Festival. The only dancing
being done to their music, however, was by the charismatic John
Burnett and his prancing parasol.
I think I just caught them
off the ground! A local troupe of Morris Dancers in mid-prance.
This lively all-girl troupe
from Nottingham were substantially different to the other groups
in that their footwork was audibly reinforced by the synchronous
clatter of their clogs on the pavement.
Not only that, but their
musicians played exclusively French folk tunes and consciously
looked like supernumeraries from the Blues Brothers Band.
This colourful group with
swirling ribbons and blackened faces comes, I believe, from Whaley
Bridge ...
... with their substantial
sole musician here augmented by friendly neighbours from the Buxton
troupe.
Continued
in Part II
Return
to Top
Collections
.