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East Peak Industrial Folk Arts Schools Project

During the spring term of 2012 the East Peak Industrial Heritage Programme funded a schools based Industrial Folk Arts project, run in collaboration with the Yorkshire Garland, which worked with primary school pupils from three different schools across the East Peak to encourage pupils to explore industrial heritage and folk traditions in their local areas.

A witch! A witch! But not that kind of witch...

Skelmanthorpe, south of Huddersfield, has a rich woollen textiles heritage. The village retains several buildings relating to that heritage, including an authentic hand-loom weaver's cottage preserved complete with working loom. Pupils from Skelmanthorpe First School visited this inspiring local museum to experience the reailities of the cottage weaver's craft and to hear about innovations like the witch dobby which allowed the weavers to create complicated geometric patterns. The children then worked with tutor Bryony Griffith to write a series of songs with accompanying clog step rhythm to capture the spirit and rhythms of the weaving trade. To listen to 'The Witch' song on the Yorkshire Garland website please click here.

Hoylandswaine nailers go rat-a-tat-tat, on thin watter porridge, and no' much o' that!

Hoylandswaine lies to the west of Barnsley and is now a fairly 'sleepy' commuter village, but its present character disguises a very active industrial past. Pupils from Hoylandswaine Junior and Infants School uncovered the stories behind the nail-making industry that once employed many local people. The children visited a preserved nail forge in the village (owned by the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society) and watched a modern-day blacksmith making nails. They then worked with tutor John Hislop to create four short plays including songs and dialogue to tell the stories of the winning and smelting of iron, the rhythms and hazards of the forge and the life and craft of the nailmakers and their families. To listen to the Hoylandswaine Nailers Song on the Yorkshire Garland website please click here.

With a bang and a tap on my stiddy, I pin up the parts of a knife; the handle is horn, brass or rosewood, it'll last you the rest of your life...

Oughtibridge lies in the upper Don Valley to the north of Sheffield. It was at the centre of the iron and steel industry. Pupils from Oughtibridge Primary School explored aspects of that industry; from local ganister mining (used in the making of fire bricks for furnaces) to the making and finishing of tools. The children then worked with tutor Robin Garside to write a series of songs and dialogue about the processes involved in these industries, and the hard lives of those who lived and worked in this industrial valley. To listen to 'John the Little Mester' on the Yorkshire Garland website please click here.

The pupils performed their work in each school, and then all three groups came together for a final performance at Shepley Spring Festival on the 27th of May 2012. The final performance was well attended. Recordings from the Shepley performances are now available from the Yorkshire Garland website.

For more information about industrial heritage in Hoylandswaine click here. For more information about the Skelmanthorpe Textile Museum click here.