SIDETRACKS AND DETOURS Sunday 5th July 2026: Coal Mines & cobbled streets & Lava Tunnels featuring The Radio Ballads Of The Miners´Strike BBC Radio John Tams, Barry Coope, Sally Ward, Rube Leonard, Julie Matthews, Jez Lowe, Ray Hearne, + Lendanear to Rochdale, Town Of Culture (?) + Lendanear to sounds from the centre of a volcano
Chris Maume, in his review of the programme for The Independent reminded us that On the Home Service in the Fifties and Sixties, Ewan MacColl (left) and Charles Parker put together a series of “Radio Ballads” in which different communities were portrayed through interviews and the songs inspired by them.
Over the past few years the formula has been repeated on Radio 2, on such subjects as the decline of shipbuilding and steel, the Troubles, fox-hunting, living with HIV, and Britain’s fairground community. Now the 25th anniversary of the end of the miners’ strike has been marked with an astonishing piece of work.
The reporter Vince Hunt conducted interviews up and down the country, with policemen – “I wonder, could they ever forgive the police for what we did to them?” – and scabs – “walking by friends, that was the hardest thing” – as well as the strikers and their wives. These were fed to folk musicians, who wove sad, beautiful songs from them. “The Ballad of the Miners’ Strike” was stuffed with fantastic lines. “It was the nearest this country has ever been to civil war since 1641 to 1649,” one miner said. “It’s just a shame we didn’t have anyone’s head to chop off at the end of it.”
Elizabeth Mahony in The Guardian on March 3rd 2010 wrote that The Ballad of the Miners’ Strike (Radio 2) is surely set to be a radio highlight of the year,
She described the programme as a blend of new folk songs, archive footage from the strike and interviews with many of the protagonists, this richly textured programme touched on every dimension of the dispute.
Everyone talked about the strike with a still raw intensity. “It was a civil war, to be quite honest,” said one former miner, “between the rich and the poor.” We heard from those who crossed picket lines, and how thoroughly “scabs” were always shunned. In one village, a man was known to have broken the earlier strike in 1926: “To this day, nobody speaks to him.”
A policeman spoke with regret about his part in the conflict, and women described how the strike changed their lives. “I were just a wife,” said one. “It woke things in me and my friends that we didn’t know were there.”
With the plaintive songs, these recollections formed an intensely moving tapestry full of passion, pride and anger. The loss of a way of life, and the tight-knit communities it sustained, was powerfully articulated.
“Sons of miners and grandsons of miners are fighting for fuel in Iraq,” said one man. “It’s a damned disgrace.”
There were eleven songs collated on the playlist of The Ballad Of The Miner´s Strike.
John Tams made two solo contributions with his compositions, Corton Wood and Orgreave, as well as Remembrance Day in collaboration with Barry Coope.
Bob Fox contributed the ironic It´ll All Be Over In A Fortnight, whilst Sally Ward and Rube Leonard delivered My Mother Said.
Julie Matthews, a much loved artist, who has featured in our sidetracks & detours blog on many occasions and who, later in the year, will be a subject of chapter three of our Songwriters and Invisible Angels series, contributed two songs to the radio ballad programme with Beyond The Picket Line, and the closing title, Coal Not Dole.
There were offerings, too, from the wonderful Jez Lowe (right) , with his pointedly titled Judas Bus, and poignant Arthur My Dear.
Another carefully thought-out piece, An Ordinary Copper, was written and performed by Ray Hearne
ALL ACROSS THE ARTS
To The Poetry Of Rochdale
With Norman Warwick
Nobody sings the praises of my home town of Rochdale’s as tunefully or loudly as my former journalistic partner, Steve Cooke. He and I worked together, producing a page a week, covering the local arts scene in The Rochdale Observer, The Heywood Advertiser and The Middleton Guardian and also worked on several major initiatives and interventions in the region until I retired at sixty to come and live here on Lanzarote. I knew Steve would carry on producing the pages and would be supported by the regular contributors and artists who had delivered content to those all across the arts pages for the previous twenty years or so.
As ´progress´ has taken place at an accelerated pace since 2020, Steve has been in his element placing his news, previews, interviews and reviews on the Manchester Evening News Group site on line celebrating Manchester´s year as England City Of Culture of Culture 2025/26 and how it has excelled in all expectations.
Its legacy is very much alive across Rochdale and as Steve tells me, – our expanded AATA column of ten articles per week is proving insufficient to keep up with the activities and events emanating from the thriving and ever-expanding creative arts community.
I am delighted and excited that an EOI [expression of interest] has been submitted on behalf of Rochdale Creates and the wider creative, culture and heritage sector, to become the UK’s first Town of Culture in 2028.
While DCMS [Department for Culture Media and Sport] are still shortlisting the applications, they have now published a map of all the towns that submitted an EOI, alongside the postcards that were created by each town.
all across the arts
THE BIGGER PICTURE
by Steve Vooke
Everyone at All Across The Arts are proud to be able to shine a spotlight on Rochdale’s ambitions and on the amazing people, organisations and communities that make such fantastic work happen across the borough.
One of the inspired initiatives that came about because of Manchester´s success was that Sammy Weaver (LEFT) was appointed as Rochdale first poet laureate and throughout her year in office she proved to be both excellent and tireless. She immediately made herself available to a a stanza of excellent local poets such as Seamus Kelly, Eileen Earnshaw, & Katie Haigh, who already ran creative writing sessions, galvanising the creative writers of the town. Sammy inspired them even further and helped them create various anthologies in various formats on various subjects.
A perfect example of her work is shown below and as I read it I enjoyed vivid memories of the town I lived in for fifty years: its hospitality, its heart, and its multi ethnic tolerance and its people coming together whenever the town is unfairly criticised. (see images below).
ALL ACROSS THE ARTS
Young musicians shine at Rochdale’s Summer Sizzler music event
Review by Steve Cooke
The future of our creative arts is in safe hands as evidenced by more than 220 gifted musicians, including children as young as seven years old, impressing local audiences with their talents.
This follows our excellent Rochdale Music Service’s annual Summer Sizzler event held at Middleton Arena, where local schools and children, who have been supported by the service, came together to perform in front of the Mayor of Rochdale and their friends and family.
With the sound of guitars, violins, flutes, trumpets and trombones playing in perfect harmony among many other instruments, participants played a variety of music, from traditional rock to classical ensembles, throughout the day during three separate concerts.
For some, this was their very first live musical performance as they played in small bands and a mass orchestra alongside pupils from different schools in the borough who they may otherwise have never met.
To tie in with the upcoming season, all of the music was summer themed, with special arrangements put together so that children, who have only just started playing and know a few notes, could still join in alongside more seasoned performers. Inclusivity like this is what widens the reach of the positive effects of participation in the creative arts and inspires the elite performers of the future
This included Rochdale Music Service’s very own innovative playful take on ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, which had been reworded as ‘The 12 Days of Summer’ so participants could count down in song to items such as six inflatable dolphins and five rubber rings.
Councillor Rachel Massey, cabinet member for children’s services and education at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The annual Summer Sizzler event is an amazing opportunity for our children and young people to be a part of as they perform on stage and develop their abilities as talented musicians.
“It brings people of all ages together to show off their fantastic skills, and it is a wonderful acknowledgement of the teaching they receive from the council’s very own Rochdale Music Service.
“Our borough is incredibly gifted and on the music scene, it has been the birthplace to many famous hits including Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s (OMD), debut single “Electricity”.
“So, if anyone has been inspired to pick up an instrument or hit those high notes with their voice, I encourage you all to get in touch with Rochdale Music Service today.”
Rochdale Music Service provides a range of lessons to support people of all ages to improve their musical skills.
From teaching people how to sing and play instruments like the drums, piano or even the xylophone, there are lots of opportunities available.
The service also provides a variety of choirs and ensembles to take part in alongside music theory lessons for those wishing to elevate their understanding of music.
Anyone who would like more information on what Rochdale Music Service has to offer, can visit: www.rochdale.gov.uk/rochdale-music-service
More main stage acts announced
ROCHDALE FEEL GOOD FESTIVAL
Preview by Steve Cooke
It’s great to see local talent getting opportunities with Two new Rochdale bands playing the biggest gig of their careers this summer after being added to the line-up for Rochdale Feel Good Festival. House-pop, funk and indie disco four-piece K-ESTATE and rock band METRO will take to the main stage on Saturday 8 August.
K ESTATE (left), formed last year in Middleton, are described as a modern crossover between Happy Mondays and Jungle, playing euphoric, groove driven tracks that mix dance, house and electronic funk. They’ve already played a host of live shows, including support slots with Inspiral Carpets and have a busy summer ahead including slots at Kendal Calling, Lakefest and this home debut. The band were selected for the Rochdale line-up by London based international music agency Free Trade, after festival organiser Rochdale Development Agency put forward artists who appeared on the recent ‘Rochdale Music Stories presents Kenion Street’ album. Released this year, it celebrated the borough’s musical legacy, with local bands playing classic tracks by world renowned artists who recorded at the iconic studios.
Five-piece band rock band METRO will open the main stage. They also formed in 2025 but are rapidly rising. In March they made the final of the Greater Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen Music Hub Battle of the Bands Competition, representing Rochdale. Their style is influenced by a range of acts including The Foofighters and Deftones and they are heading to the recording studio in September.
K-ESTATE and METRO will be joined at Rochdale Feel Good Festival by the previously announced headliners – pop/soul icon Gabrielle, rock band Ash, and Starsailor, alongside soul and funk pioneers The Allergies, and Manchester indie artist Alex Spencer, together with live music across indoor venues, a food and drink village and other entertainment.
While early bird and phase 2 tickets are sold out, you can get discounted tickets (£30 + 7.5% booking fee) from rochdale.gov.uk/FeelGoodFestival or phone QuayTickets on 0161 876 2015. VIP upgrade packages are also available.
The bi-annual festival is organised by Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) on behalf of Rochdale Borough Council. Councillor Sue Smith, cabinet member for communities and co-operation said: “We’ve got some extraordinarily talented and creative musicians in the borough so it’s great to see more local acts on the main stage at Rochdale Feel Good Festival, which has always provided a great platform for the borough’s talent. I’m very proud and looking forward to seeing them both on stage and supporting them on their musical journey.”
The festival is supported by the council together with sponsorship from local businesses, including Premier Kia, The Royal Toby Hotel, Hopwood Hall College and Transport for Greater Manchester.
Once again, to cut single use plastic, tickets include a re-usable drink cup to be collected upon arrival at the festival site.
The night before the festival (Friday 7 August) synth-pop icons Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are performing a headline show at Rochdale Town Hall Square alongside post-punk legends Peter Hook & The Light, and Manchester’s post-punk/funk band – A Certain Ratio.
For festival updates on Facebook go to www.facebook.com/feelgoodfestival follow @RochdaleFeelGoodFestival on Instagram and connect with @FeelGoodFest on X. On all social media search #FeelGoodFest26
A Melodious TLC Concert
JASMINE AI HIGGS
Review by Dr Joe Dawson
This melodious Toad Lane Concert at St Mary in the Baum was the 1,190th since taking over from Rochdale council in 2001.
PHOTO Jasmine Ai Higgs recently completed her master’s at the RNCM, where she also completed her undergraduate studies. She is a lyric soprano who performs a range of operatic and recital repertoire and is currently preparing the role of the Shepherd Boy in Tosca, in which she will also perform as a chorus member on tour with Flat Pack Opera. She works regularly as an ensemble singer and collaborative performer and has also worked with Streetwise Opera and participated in community opera projects with Glyndebourne, where she was awarded the inaugural Bill Weston Award.
Logan Ferris is in his final year reading music at the University of Manchester reading music. He is a first-study organist, and in his second year was awarded the Procter-Gregg Prize for organ performance. Gaining a distinction in his ARSM Piano Performance Diploma whilst still at secondary school, Logan’s current work finds him in demand as a recitalist and collaborative pianist, accompanying and directing a wide range of groups from community choirs, professional soloists and ensembles and operatic and musical theatre productions. Logan is currently sub-organist at Bolton Parish Church and an organist for the BBC R4 Daily Service and to the University of Manchester.
This accomplished pair of musicians, on the first steps of their promising careers, gave an enthusiastic and varied recital. With her exuberant personality, Jasmine quickly captured the hearts of the audience. She revelled in her theme, ‘Love me from Head to Toe’.
Starting with the head meant Rodgers and Hammerstein – I’m gonna wash that man right outta my hair, from South Pacific. This set the mood well.
Some of the songs were more serious ‘Art songs’ where she could demonstrate her technical and musical polish such as Vaughan Williams – Silent Noon. She also sang successfully in French and Italian.
To finish her theme, we had a beautiful setting of How Beautiful Are The Feet by Julia Perry.
Logan’s accompaniments were excellent … and then we had a terrific encore by contemporary composer Jonathan Dove. Wow! That really set the place alight.
The Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts every Wednesday at 12.30pm at the Grade 1 listed church of St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ. Entrance fee is £6. Contact 01706 648872 for further information.
St. Chad’s Church Rochdale
KELL WIND TRIO CONCERT
Preview by Steve Cooke
The next in the wonderful Saturday Lunchtime concert series in the stunning St Chad’s Church features The Kell Wind Trio.
Since it was founded in 2015, The Kell Wind Trio has gained a reputation for giving lively and informative concerts which include accessible music of many different styles and genres – from music of the Baroque to accessible music from the 20th and 21st centuries. Based in South Manchester, it has performed over 100 concerts throughout the North and the Midlands at venues including Shrewsbury, Doncaster, Preston, Chesterfield and Southport.
The Kell Wind Trio is named after the pioneering English instrumentalist Reginald Kell, who was the first clarinettist to use vibrato in orchestral concerts.
Kell Wind Trio are Alastair Roberts (flute), Penelope Bisby (clarinet) standing in for this concert and Ian Harvey (bassoon).(see photograph below)
Alastair Roberts plays principal flute with a number of orchestras in the Manchester area including the Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra and the Cheshire Sinfonia. He is a member of several chamber groups that perform regularly throughout the North West of England including the Telemann Baroque Ensemble.
Penelope Bisby studied at the RNCM and has worked freelance, teaching woodwind instruments and playing with such orchestras as Manchester Camerata, English National Ballet, Orchestra da Camera and various shows and musicals in Manchester and elsewhere. She has also performed in solo and chamber music recitals in the north and toured for the dementia charity Lost Chord, giving concerts in care homes. More recently she has become more active as a viola player, in, amongst others, Cheshire Sinfonia, the Silhouette Band, Morecambe Promenade Orchestra, and Academy of St Peters. She also enjoys choral singing and aims to sing at every English Cathedral(25 /42 so far!).
Ian Harvey was a Junior Exhibitioner at London’s Royal Academy of Music. His musical commitments include the position of principal bassoon with the Stockport Symphony Orchestra. He runs his own business repairing woodwind instruments.
Divertimento in Bb (“St. Anthony”) Hob11:46 Haydn (Allegro con spirito – Andante – Menuetto – Allegretto)
Le Petit Ane Blanc Ibert Suite for Wind Trio
Shostakovich (Moderato – Romance – Waltz – Galop)
Three Scottish Dances Op.59 Arnold (Vivace – Allegretto – Pesante)
Wind and Sea Parry Jones (Allegro giocoso – Andante – Vivace)
Concert starts 12 noon – £6, pay on the door
Light refreshments available from 11.30 am.
Further info: phone 01706 639162 Email jm_stchadschurch@outlook.com
12 noon on Saturday 11 July in St. Chad’s Church Rochdale
LENDANEAR to sounds from a geodynamic laboratory
take sidetracks & detours To The Centre Of A Volcano
with Norman Warwic
Welcome to the launch of a new series, LENDANEAR, beginning officially in September, of all the songwriters, cover versions and sounds of a life in music. As this episode, although all about sounds, is not properly musical, we offer this as a stand alone and hope that you will enjoy the new series later in the year.
They are one of Lanzarote´s most visited sites, and when stepping inside The Cueva de los Verdes (right) feels more like being a time traveller.
You will make a Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.(left) Your tour guide might sound like the book´s author, Jules Verne, as he or she reels off some incredible facts and statistics. As you walk into the planet´s interior, you will be surrounded by vast, solidified lava flows that, around 23,000 years ago, were rivers of fire carving through an apocalyptic landscape.. Part of an eight kilometre gallery, the cave opens to reveal soaring vaults up to fifty metres high, and subterranean lagoons alongside the narrow passages descending to forty metres.
The area is recognised for its enormous geological value but only one kilometre is accessible to the public. In 1964 Jesus Sot (right), a close collaborator with the artist and visionary, Cesar Manrique, designed the lighting and ambient sound, ensuring the natural environment remained undisturbed.
When visitors walk through, the rock´s molten textures appear as almost sculpted, and the walls reveal a vibrant mineral palette. deep reds from iron oxide, yellows from phosphates, whites from calcium carbonate, and the stark black of lava and basa
The cave´s name is said to have come from a local family, the Verdes, who once used it to shelter livestock. Long before that the place served as a refuge for islanders fleeing from Barbary Pirate raids in the 16th and 17th centuries. It lies within the same volcanic tube that extends down to the Jameos Del Agua, a similarly spectacular spot but perhaps with even more grandeur. Both sites are in the municipality of Haria abd are designated as Centres for Arts, Culture and Tourism (CACT),
Beyond its enormous geological value, Cueva de Verdes is a world-class cultural venue, with a natural ventilatation and extraordinary acoustics. This creates an intimate auditorium which hosts international artists as part of the CACT and governmental cultural programmes.
Tucked away beside the auditorium, hidden from view, sits one of the three modules of the Lanzarote Geodynamic Laboratory.
The other modules are located on Timanfaya, the island´s eerie, but beautiful, shadow-shifting volcanic mountain range. (see left, a crater on Tienfaya, where the last eruptions occurred in the 18th century)
Another module is at Jameos Del Agua, which also features a magnificent theatre , designed and built by the island´s favourite artist, the late Cesar Manrique. For more information, and photographs, about Jameos Del Agua you can turn to our easy to navigate srchives tapping the date of 28th June 2026 to find that episode of sidetracks & detours.
Watching an event from a seat in a lava tube, deep underground is surreal. The roaming lights that illuminate the rock roof, and the natural acoustics that enhance music and even spoken word are incredible. In the article we have recommended we review a civic awards ceremony sandwiched between two wonderful music acts, just one of a score and more concerts we have seen in this unique venue.
And yet this is the place in which sensitive instruments monitor the island´s subterranean life (24 / 7 / 365), tracking ground deformation, tremors, gravity shifts and changes in pressure and temperature that could signal seismic activity.
Jameos Del Agua marks the end of the system´s overland section, but the tube continues a further 1.6 kilometres beneath the sea at a depth of 65 metres, forming The Tunel de la Atlantida. This geological and bioligal treasure offers scientific research a rare, and clear, window into an undisturbed eco-system that is home to at least 38 endemic species.
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY JULY 12th 2026
Lendanear to Songs Of Old King Coal
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY JULY 19th 2026
Working In A Coal Mine with Lee Dorsey
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY JULY 26th 2026
jazz and classical music explore themes of unity and social progress
featurng
Wynton Marsalis
SIDETRACKS& DETOURS SUNDAY AUGUST 2nd 2026
Songwriters & Invisible Angels chapter 3
by Peter Pearson and Norman Warwick
featuring
Kate Wolf and Julie Matthews
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 9th AUGUST
a year as poet laureate
featuring
´´Sammy Weaver
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 16th AUGUST 2nd 2026
Michael: a film about art for arts´sake ?
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 23rd august 2026
Buddy Mondlock is a songwriter !
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 30th AUGUST 2026
Too Darn Hot: live jazz
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 6th SEPTEMBER 2026
Canary Cruising,…cool
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 13th SEPTEMBER 2026
secretly recorded live gigs legitimised on line?
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 20th SEPTEMBER 2026
Waiting For Godot and Music At Lunchtomes
SIDETRACKS & DETOURS SUNDAY 27th SEPTEMBER 2026
r.i.p. David Alan Coe, songwriter and unreliable narrator
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