Canal trekkers reach next stage
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
AWALKING group who aim to walk the entire length of the Rochdale Canal have completed the second stage of their challenge.
HMR Circle, which supports over 50s in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, is aiming to walk the 35 miles from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester as part of their ‘Walk and Talk’ initiative.
Ten members completed the second stage, walking two-and-a half hours from Hebden Bridge to Todmorden.
Mark Wynn, director of HMR Circle, who led the walk, said some members attended the walk after seeing the story of the first stage in the Observer.
He said: “It was a really good walk, very picturesque. The weather wasn’t the best but it wasn’t pouring down. That area is quite forested, there’s a lot of shade from the trees.
“Some of those who didn’t come this week are on next month’s walk so we’ve got a good solid cohort who are keen to finish the seven sections. The canals are really good, they’re fairly flat and have got a nice walking surface.
“We all caught the train to Hebden Bridge, which is next to the canal, and at Todmorden we went to a local cafe and had coffee and cake to relax. There was really good feedback about the event.”
Mark added that some members of the group have gained confidence from the walks to take their friends and replicate the walks.
He also said the group are looking for help to identify two birds they came across beside the canal.
“It looked to be some sort of duck, there was a flamboyant one and a plain-ish one. Nobody knew what type of bird it was,” said Mark, who has also been handing out information on smart meters to help residents with the cost of living crisis.
The third stage of the walk from Todmorden to Littleborough takes place on June 30.
To join the next walk call 0800 112 3440 or email hello@hmrcircle.org.uk.
THE Rise and Fall of Little Voice should have been presented in June 2019 at The Curtain Theatre.
What great news that this local beacon of creativity is still alive and well post lockdowns but that all the original cast and crew reunited for this production under the careful eye of Phil Mccarthy.
Jim Cartwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is a play written in 1992 which in 1998 became a much-loved British musical film written and directed by Mark Herman and made in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
This amateur production coming up in June promises to be a highlight of what is rapidly becoming an outstanding year for our creative community.
Jim Cartwright’s powerful play sees the diminutive heroine frequently plunging the dilapidated house she shares with her alcoholic mother into darkness by playing her dead father’s records at a volume matched only by the soulful power of her vocal impressions.
Little Voice has a hidden talent: she can emulate every chanteuse from Judy Garland to Edith Piaf.
She hides in her room, crooning and dreaming of love, while her dishevelled mother mistakes a seedy agent’s interest as affection rather than enthusiasm for the gold mine buried in her daughter’s throat.
This is an engaging fairytale of despair, love and finally hope as LV finds a voice of her own.
Saturday, June 18Saturday, June 25, 2022
The Curtain Theatre, Milkstone Road, Rochdale, OL11 1EB. Phone: 01706 642 008 Visit: www. curtaintheatrerochdale. co.uk
The theatre took its name from the Elizabethan ‘Curtyn Theatre’, in London, at which Shakespearean plays were first performed (even before The Globe Theatre’s existence).
The Curtain Theatre celebrated in 2015, ninety years of putting on productions, without a break, even during the war years.
After enduring some difficulties putting on productions first at the Drill Hall, near the old fire station, and then in a school hall in Deeplish, The Curtain Theatre moved into its present premises in 1933.
They are proud to say that ‘many of the customs that were used throughout our humble beginnings, still exist today.
For example, because cast members were often required to help front of house, a gown with a hood, or domino, was introduced to help to conceal their identities before they appeared on stage.
The Curtain Theatre has no committees, just a Business Director and a Drama Director, nominated annually by the members.