Pete Castle: Songs & Stories for Belper 250
It is 250 years since Jedediah Strutt built the first cotton mill in Belper and changed the whole character and look of the town.
Pete Castle will add his two-penn’orth to the celebrations with a programme of traditional songs and stories—songs about mills and factories, about the hardships of Georgian life, poaching, being transported to Australia… At the same time England was at war with Napoleon so that and Nelson will get a mention along with pressgangs, life in the navy and smuggling. It was probably impossible to be in the cotton industry without having some contact with slavery although the Strutts didn’t have any slaves or plantations themselves. It would be like us trying to avoid having any contact with Trump’s USA—you can stop buying Coca Cola but it’s almost impossible to avoid Microsoft and Google and such like. On a very local level Pete will dedicate a few songs to Abraham Jennison, a Belper nailer, who was transported to Australia for stealing a pig from Heage! All this plus a few local stories.
It’s at Queens Head on Friday 24th April.
