Rushbearing tradition continues to thrive

The Rushcart is paraded from the Canal Wharf to Littleborough town square

9 More Image(s) In Gallery

The 17th Littleborough Rushbearing Festival since it was revived in 1990 was a roaring success with hundreds gathered in Littleborough town square enjoying a tai-chi demonstration and listening to the brass band play, whilst they awaited the arrival of the Rushcart and morris dancers. The dancers performed their rousing routines, literally, with bells on!

The sun shone and the music played and the fact that the festival had to be cut down to one day due to a lack of Morris troops simply made the Sunday event more popular. With only four Morris troops attending, the organisers got their thinking caps on to provide a wide range of entertainment in Littleborough town centre. Whilst the rushcart was taken from Rochdalians Rugby Club at Rakewood to Hollingworth Lake Visitor, where dancers performed, those that had gathered early in Littleborough were treated to Taiko drumming and Tai Chi demonstrations.

The rushcart was at The Wine Press for more morris dancing when the band was struck up in Littleborough with the Todmorden Community Brass Band performing a wide range of tunes, from Tom Jones' 'Delila', to 'Singin in the Rain', which, thankfully, was something that the listeners did not have to do.

Members of the public had time to peruse the various stalls in the town centre whilst they waited for the rushcart to arrive with the Littleborough Lions, Littleborough Civic Trust, Rochdale amp; Littleborough Peace Group and Littleborough in Bloom, amongst others, all hosting their own tombolas and common fairground games.

There must have been two hundred people gathered by the time the Rushcart arrived following a short parade from the Canal Wharf. They were treated to dances from all of the morris troops and everyone joined in, including police officers as a thank-you for their assistance in organising the event, in a grand finale.

Rochdale Morris kicked off the dancing in the traditional fashion, performing the 'Littleborough Morris' dance in their distinctive black and white outfits, trimmed with red, gold and green ribbons. Next up were the Milltown Cloggies, so called because their dancers all come from the area's milltowns. Without doubt the most extravagant of the dances was that of the Flagcrackers of Craven with their blacked up faces and colourful rag jackets. Thier traditional dance from the borders of England and Wales involved the clashing of large sticks and energetic dancing. The flowing dance of The Hebden Bridge Hill Millies completed the Morris dancing performances but the entertainment was by no means over.

The Curtain Theatre Group took the stage and the crowds were entranced by their hilarious performance of the Pace Egg Play, which told the tale of Saint George and his various slaying antics. George took on some, to say the least, interesting characters before coming a cropper at the hands of the Devil.

All of the morris dancers performed once before the rushbearing closed for another year. The Rochdale Morris troop collectively said afterwards: quot;This has been one of the most successful rushbearings since we restarted the festival; even though we had to reduce it to one day the combination of activities in the town centre whilst the rushcart was all over town worked really well. We would like to thank all the organisers for a superb afternoon, the Littleborough Civic Trust, the Littleborough Lions, the Littleborough Business Association, all the Pennines Township councillors and not least all the people who came out to watch."