LAST Sunday, a gathering took place on Blackstone Edge in Littleborough to commemorate the Chartist revival of 1846, when 30,000 Chartists gathered under this rocky outcrop on August Bank Holiday Sunday. This time there were about 50 present and a choir.
Paul Salverson, a Labour Councillor and Northern historian spoke about the need for more regional government in the North. A lecturer from Manchester University outlined the significance of the occassion to current events and present-day politics; the decline in turnout in the voting in the recent local elections were noted. Paul Salverson pondered the timidity of all the main stream politicians which had allowed the outsider Ukip Party to triumph.
Ultimately flags were raised and songs were sung, and some of us adjourned to the White House to drink Joseph Holt's bitter and in my case to eat some Bury Black Pudding on a spread of mashed potatoes and onion. Ominously as we decended Blackstone Edge we caught sight of the stripped carcase of a fully grown sheep with its rib-cage gleeming white in the sunlight.
The next gathering is likely to be on Sunday 4th May 2014.
If you would like to contribute a song or reading, or if you are willing to lead a walk up to Blackstone Edge from one of the valley towns or railway stations, please contact
Gwyneth Morgan at: gwyneth@blackstoneedgegathering.org.uk
Wednesday 8 May 2013
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