New Mills Festival 2021 - It's Here!

This newsletter brings you news of changes, late additions and activities which caught my eye but didn’t fit neatly into categories of music, art etc. 
 
Some handy links for festival related information – for many of this year’s ticketed events there is a one stop shop to find and buy tickets.
 
For more information on all things festival visit our website. Last minute changes to events are most likely to appear on Facebook or Twitter, so keep an eye out!
 
One change to notify – Saturday 18th September the event outside Sainsburys will now be Rat Chop Chip replacing the Victorian Jukeboxes. We think this funny walkabout performance will be huge fun for the youngsters (and maybe oldsters too, who knows).
 
 
One World on the Prom                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
One World on The Prom‘ brings some of your favourite stalls from the One World Festival to The Prom on Market Street over the first three weekends of September. The One World Festival is an annual open air festival in New Mills, which celebrates the themes of peace, the environment, cultural diversity, community and world development. In partnership with New Mills Festival, in 2021 we have created ‘One World on The Prom’. Come along and find out more, or visit our website.
 
The stalls:
 
  • 11th September: Standing Up to Racism, Transition New Mills, High Peak Extinction Rebellion
  • 18th September: Youth Matters and Community Vision, Repair Café, High Peak Green New Deal

 

A Walk on the Wild Side with Mark Cocker                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Thursday 16th September 10am to 12pm, Sunart Farm, Eccles Road, Whaley Bridge

A fascinating opportunity to walk with highly acclaimed naturalist and author, Mark Cocker, around highlights and hidden parts of the Sunart Fields rewilding project, at these crucial early stages as the land changes. Exploring nature’s inner processes as as looking at a wide range of plants, insects, birds and fungi. Covering the practical realities of taking a rewilding approach and how this creates different forms of habitat. Wear boots and bring waterproofs, and if you have them bring binoculars, but above all, bring a sense of wonder…
 
All profits from ticket sales will be put directly into tangible initiatives on the land to improve biodiversity (e.g bird and bat boxes, species reintroductions).
 
Ticket and/or Admission details: The event is limited to 20 participants. Ticket price = £20. Book tickets here.
 
Parking is limited, so please consider parking in Whaley Bridge and walking up via the footpath. A serious note here, good people of New Mills – this is the furthest event we’ve had to date as part of the Festival and we’d like very much to challenge you to travel there by train, by bus, by bicycle or on foot and to leave the car at home.
 
It’s around a 4 mile walk mostly along the towpath. We’ve consulted with Walkers are Welcome, and we’d say allow two hours to walk it which if you’re a faster walker means you’ll have enough time for a brew in Whaley before heading off up the hill.
 
Want to cycle it? This is a superb guide especially for New Mills Festival on how to get there along the towpath and then up to Sunart, complete with photos, instructions, GPX, and maps.
 
Check timetables before leaving:
The 09:00 train from New Mills Newtown gets you to Whaley Bridge for 09:06, with time to walk to Sunart Fields.
 
The No 60 bus 09:04 from New Mills Bus station gets you to Whaley Bridge Railway Station for 09:16, with time to walk to Sunart Fields.
 
Also on at Sunart Fields are Dry Stone Walling workshops – check out their website for details of dates, duration and cost.
 
 
Corn Dolly Making
Wednesday, 22 Sept 1pm to 5pm, Thursday 23rd Sept 9am to 1pm, Workshop (Opposite 13), Wood Street SK22 3HN.
Tickets £15 per session. Buy yours here.
 
Come and give our harvest spirit a home! This is an introduction to the craft of corn dolly making. Participants will have the opportunity to make several dolls in the session as well as to learn about the history of the craft. All materials provided – but if you have grown your own straw please bring some with you!
 
 
Fleece to Bowl Workshop                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
On the 21st of September at Archies Bar, New Mills from 6pm to 8:30pm there is a felt bowl making workshop hosted by Joanne Wood, a hill farmer and shepherd based in Chinley, Derbyshire. Creating a bowl using this years wool, sheared from a flock of sheep in the High Peak.
These workshops aim to promote the Campaign For Wool and Fair Price For Farmers and to encourage creating direct relationships between farmers and makers, sharing skills and utilising waste by-products of the agricultural industry.
Check out Joanne’s website to learn more.
Tickets are £20 per person, and you will create a beautiful felt bowl to take home!
 
 
Adventures in Retro Fittings                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Want to learn more about how how to make a home more carbon neutral, energy efficient, eco friendly but don’t know where to start? 
 
Thursday 23rd September 7pm to 9pm join Transition New Mills for their first ‘Café Transition in the Wild‘ with the wonderful Richard Amos talking to us about his adventures in retrofitting! This event is outdoors at Richard’s house on Watford Road, where you can learn more about the work he has completed on his home, including:
  • Air tightness, why it matters, and how it’s pretty easy if you actually care about it – and the techniques you can use
  • Wood fibre insulation and why ‘thermal mass’ insulation is so effective, as well as showing how and why vapour control is so important

​This event is free. Please contact cafetransitionnewmills@gmail.com for more details, and check out the website.

 

Everything Else!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  • Spinning on the Prom 19th September (free to go along to)
  • New Mills History Society Festival Lecture 22nd September 7.30pm to 9.30pm at the Town Hall (free). These lectures are always of a suberb standard and massively popular
  • Curry and Go at the Millers Bar Friday 24th September 5pm to 8pm (Foodie Friday running as usual every Friday of the Festival)
  • Rusty Rackets - fancy giving tennis another try and seeing what the local club is like? 26th September 10am to 11am at the Church Road tennis club
  • New Mills Volunteer Centre Photographic Competition: inviting people to share a photograph of their vision of home, as part of the New Mills Festival
  • Laudable Pus - three performances at the Shrub Club, 17th September 8pm, 19th September 4pm, and 25th September 6.30pm. The award-winning Buxton theatre company ocmes to New Mills Festival for the first time with a light hearted meander through the annals of medical history. Tickets £7 in advance or on the door, concessions £5
  • Two nights of comedy at the Pride of the Peaks, September 11th

And we've just spotted a cake sale at the Goytside Farm this Saturday 11th at 11am , and don't miss the bird house at the New Mills Community Orchard.

Enjoy your Festival, New Mills!

 
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