Gordon Batty Collection – Rochdale Rushbearing 1994
Gordon Batty Collection – Saddleworth Rushbearing 1994
JMO National Day of Dance 30th March 2019
On 30th March 2019 Medlock Rapper hosted the Joint Morris Organisation’s Day of Dance in Manchester with around 50 teams of morris dancers performing throughout the city centre. Unfortunately it was a case of so many dancers, so little time.
Additional photos courtesy of Lee Reilly
Gordon Batty Collection – Shaw and Crompton Rushbearing 16th July 1994

Gordon Batty Collection – Parish Church of St. Chad, Rochdale.
There is a tradition that the Parish Church of Rochdale was intended to have been erected down by the river, but that when the foundations were being laid, overnight they mysteriously disappeared, to re-appear at the top of the hill near the present site of the church. Several attempts were made to build in the valley, but each time the same thing occurred, and the materials would mysteriously be moved over-night, so eventually it was agreed to build the church on its present site, and no further trouble was experienced. This in not an unfamiliar tale and St. Chad’s is not the only church to which it has been ascribed.
Read more »REVIEW – Mike Leigh’s Peterloo
Now Available on DVD, Blu Ray and Digital Download
at Amazon.com
On 16th August 1819, 60,000-80,000 men, women and children gathered together in St. Petersfield in Manchaster for a peaceful protest and to hear the orator and political reformer Henry Hunt.
The local magistrates concerned by the gathering issued a warrant for the arrest of Hunt (and others.) In the execution of this warrant the Yeomanry and 15th Hussars charged into the crowd, but coming from different directions left no route for the gathered throng to disperse.
In the chaos, 15 people were killed and 400-700 seriously injured.
Read more »REVIEW – The Fool and his Dancers: Tales of Dark Morris from the Wild Welsh Border by Rob Elliot
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away…
It is a time of rebellion, Morris Dancing has been brought into submission by Cecil Sharp and has been reduced to a quaint show for those too slow to run away from the sound of approaching bells.
In an area far from the bright centre of the morris universe a small group turn their back on the empire and join the dark side, engaging in a morris style from a forgotten or ignored past.
Read more »The Rainhill Trials
In 1824 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company was set up by merchants in the area in order to facilitate transport between the two major cities. The idea was heavily influenced by William James a land surveyor and property investor who had the vision of a national railway network after seeing the development of independent colliery lines and the advancement of locomotive technology.
Up until this point railways were generally run using a mixture of cables powered by stationary steam engines and horse haulage, occasionally using steam locomotives for short sections. George Stephenson, engineer for the project advocated using locomotives for the entire line to overcome the issue with cable haulage that one technical issue could paralise the entire system.
In 1829 as the construction of the line neared completion the directors of the company were still unsure how to power the railway, and so it was decided to hold a competition with a prize of £500, to find a locomotive that could prove the viability of the idea. Read more »
Stephenson’s Rocket at the Museum of Science and Industry
The original Stephenson’s Rocket is on display at the Museum Of Science and Industry in Manchester until April 2019, the first time the locomotive has been to Manchester in 180 years.
https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/
