Dreamsmith

Behind an ordinary busy road in Leek, you can step back to the altogether more peaceful world of 1752, where the power of the Churnet still turns local wheat into flour, which is then used to feed chickens on nearby farms.  Until a complaint was made about some unidentified “black bits”, the flour was sold for human consumption; understandably health and safety concerns have now vetoed this.

Brindley Mill is a museum, but not as we usually know it.  The above mentioned health and safety worries have not extended to an obsessive sanitising of the building, and visitors still need to climb ladders like the millers did, and dodge huge low beams.  You also get to stand extremely close to the massive wheels as they dovetail against each other with surprising speed.

I was shown around by an enthusiastic guide, who kindly gave me two books about the mill at the end of the visit.  The whole experience was unexpectedly exciting – I really did feel I was standing and looking at the prototype designs for canals, locks, and all of modern engineering.  James Brindley was clearly a crucial figure in the development of the Industrial Revolution, and I found myself reflecting on how little we seem to champion our local heritage in North Staffordshire.  The museum is staffed by volunteers and funded from a variety of sources;  I had the sense that it would not exist without the commitment of the enthusiasts who clearly work for love, not money.

But ultimately, I think this enthusiasm is what made the experience so satisfying; the building is idiosyncratic, inaccessible and even lacks a toilet, which I’m sure breaks all sorts of regulations – but it feels completely authentic, and that cannot be said of many more corporate attractions.

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Learn more about the mill at www.brindleymill.net

The Nicholson Instutute, built in 1884, is an amazing building which I have often walked or driven past, but never paid any particular attention to.  Apparently Oscar Wilde and John Betjeman appeared here when it was a thriving centre for art and music.

The art gallery, or “South Cabinet Picture Gallery” as it is titled above the door, is still a beautiful room.  It is at the top of the high building with much of the sloping ceiling made of glass, so that light floods in.  The ecclesiastical feel is enhanced by the sound of Church music, composed by Thomas Wardle, playing on a loop.  The Exhibition, which is part of the Three Shires Textile festival, celebrates the life and work of Thomas Wardle, who died one hundred years ago.  He is best known for his work in the textile industry, but as the exhibition shows, he was also a chemist, geologist, writer, and a leading figure, along with his friend and colleague William Morris, in the Arts and Crafts movement.

Thomas Wardle was born in Macclesfield and spent most of his life in the Leek area.  His home at Swainsley Hall had one room furnished completely with drawings and prints by Rossetti. He clearly had a life of great privilege, which contrasted fairly sharply with the lives of working class people of the Leek during the same period; he lived into his seventies, whilst, as the exhibition informs us, the average life expectancy was 31.5 years.  Many children did not live beyond the age of 5.

The exhibition also features information about Thomas’s wife,  Elizabeth Wardle, who founded the Leek Embroidery Society.  Much of the embroidery on display is very obviously inspired by Indian designs, and despite much of it dating from the 1880s, it seems strangely contemporary.  The Bayeux Tapestry reproduction, also created locally the 1880s, appears to have been perfectly preserved.

This is an interesting exhibition and left me inspired to go home and attempt, once again,  some creative needlework.  It’s also positive to see the contribution that  local people have made to art and design throughout the century.

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Learn more about Thomas wardle at www.wardlecentenary.com

I was expecting four poets to stand up and recite their poetry in the usual style; low key, referring to their notes, perhaps a little reticent and shy in a poetic kind of way.  What I wasn’t expecting was a full on dramatic experience, with poems creatively strung together in a performance that had more in common with theatre, or in fact, a circus, than with other poetry performances I have seen.

The set was transformed by a washing line and other simple props into a cross between a Big Top and an intimate domestic space. I can’t tell you exactly how this was achieved, but this is how it looked to me.  The poems on offer were magical, tender, slightly bizarre and heartbreakingly sad by turns.  All four poets wore circus-inspired outfits, and there wasn’t a crib sheet in sight.  They were all impressive performers, and the evening included understated songs, music and movement.

The whole effect was to keep the action progressing at a brisk pace; I couldn’t believe how quickly the night passed, and the constant switching between the different poets and their various styles contributed to keeping the audience spellbound.  John Lindley’s poems have a wistful quality; Jo Bell’s are often funny and send up relationships and sex quite a lot; Joy Winkler’s are full of magical, witchy old women; and Andrew Rudd’s are just beautiful, as is his singing and guitar playing.

It is difficult to adequately describe what an unusual experience this was in relation to listening to poetry; if you get the chance, it is definitely worth seeing.

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Learn more about Fourpenny circus at www.fourpennycircus.co.uk

Learn more about Jo Bell at www.bell-jar.co.uk

Learn more about John Lindley at www.johnlindley.co.uk

Learn more about Andrew Rudd at http://freespace.virgin.net/sound.houses

Learn more about Joy Winkler at www.joywinkler.co.uk