Rossendale - The Arts in Rossendale

The Arts in Rossendale

Rossendale is the home to a large community of artists with several painters' studios, many of which are centred on the area around Waterfoot. Rossendale's only traditional Theatre is in Bacup. The theatre is owned by Bacup Operatic & Dramatic Society and not only stage their own shows but professional acts such as Joe Longthorne and Freddie Starr. The Royal Court Theatre also has a thriving Youth Theatre called Paasc and Bytes. A theatre and arts centre known as 'The Boo' is the home of the international touring Horse and Bamboo Theatre Company who specialise in visual theatre, often using distinctive masks. The painters and other artists who make up the major studios within the valley - Globe Arts, Prospect Studio, Valley Artists, the Slipper Studio - along with the Boo, and the See Gallery in Crawshawbooth, now work together to open their studios and premises each year at the Reveal Open Studios weekend.

The Littoral Arts Trust, dedicated to arts, social and environmental research is based in the Rossendale Valley. The first part of the Irwell Sculpture Trail runs from Deerplay, above Bacup, to Stubbins. The actress Jane Horrocks was born in Rawtenstall, Rossendale, and the composer Alan Rawsthorne was born in Haslingden. Betty Jackson, the fashion designer, is a native of Bacup.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the Larks of Dean were an unusual group of working class musicians whose music-making at the Baptist Chapel in Goodshaw Fold became an important local feature. There is also a brass band tradition as well as an amateur theatre scene. There was once over 40 bands in and around Rossendale, including the Irwell Springs Band whose fame was at a peak at the turn of the 19th century. There are currently the Haslingden and Helmshore Band, Goodshaw Band, Stacksteads Band, Water Band, 2nd Rossendale Scout Group Band, Whitworth Vale & Healey Band, Whitworth Youth Band and the Whitworth Veterans' Band.

There has been a long tradition of dialect poetry and writing in Rossendale. Local poets have included Andrew Houston (The Rossendale Bard), Walter Hargreaves (Shepster) and Clifford Heyworth (Bill o' Bows). Waugh's Well, above Edenfield and Cowpe, marks the spot where Edwin Waugh wrote many of his poems, and is a favourite spot for walkers - a popular activity in Rossendale that does not appear to be in decline.

The Halo is an artwork in the form of an 18m-diameter steel lattice structure supported on a tripod overlooking Haslingden in Rossendale, positioned to be clearly visible from the M66 and A56 approach to Lancashire. It is lit after dark using low-energy LEDs powered by an adjacent wind turbine. It is the fourth Panopticon in Lancashire. It, and the adjacent landscaped area at Top o'Slate, was opened to the public in September 2007, and was designed by John Kennedy of LandLab and engineered by Booth King Partnership.