I find myself walking along the Leeds-Liverpool canal like a detective – not of crime, but of history. Burnley Wharf is a moody, shadow-filled overhang full of ghosts. Near Oswaldtwistle are beehive coke ovens, known locally as the Fairy Caves. In Accrington it’s the surviving cobbled streets that trigger Proustian shivers; the steeper the better.
On the weekend of 4-5July, a lot of people will be making an almighty effort to rekindle the flame of Blackburn’s mill town past and ignite its positive future. The annual Festival of Making, launched a decade ago, will host performances, exhibitions, film screenings, talks (on everything from Northern Soul to Johnny Vegas’s return to ceramics) and lots of workshops to get people doing hands-on crafting and making. This will be my third festival. I love the art that comes to town, especially the Art in Manufacturing strand, which pairs artists with traditional industries.
