CHANCE encounter on a London-bound
train 40 years ago triggered a chain of events
that has had a dramatic impact on the White
Peak village of Youlgrave.
Young Jan Wilson fell into conversation with a fellow
passenger who told her about its annual pantomime.
A few days later the event cropped up again, in a
national newspaper story she was reading, and fate
really took a hand when Jan's mother visited the Peak
District the following week and picked up two tickets
for the show.
They travelled up from their home 40 miles away
and bumped into the producer as they arrived.Within
five months Jan was engaged to the man, Norman
Wilson. By the end of the year she was married to him
and when the next Youlgrave pantomime took to the
stage she was appearing as part of the cast!
It was a happy twist of fate for the village because
Jan took over as producer in 1977, and has literally
been running the show ever since.
The panto is a focal point of village life from the time
tourists drift back home in late summer.Auditions are
held in September for both adults and children, then
rehearsals get under way while the sewing group
begins making costumes and the men take charge of
scenery, props and electronics. Up to 100 locals are
involved in all, and the village hall is packed each night
of its two-week run.
'It's changed a lot over the years, but everyone
works really hard and it's lovely during the winter
months,' said Jan. 'A lot of friendships are formed and
it's very much at the heart of village life.'
The Youlgrave pantomime has been a regular date
on the local calendar since 1962, when a show was
staged to raise funds to restore the village hall.Thanks
to the annual productions, the hall is still going strong,
serving as a hub for modern village life.
In medieval times, Youlgrave was a
prosperous market town and later a
lead mining area. Farming has always
played a part in everyday life, but
nowadays it is tourism that shapes the
local economy.
The pantomime, naturally, draws in
visitors by the score - around 200 see
each of the 12 annual performances -
but there are other events too,
including a horticultural show, a music
festival and the annual well dressing in
June.
Youlgrave is one of the best-known
exponents of this ancient Derbyshire
tradition, which is perhaps no surprise,
given its history. The village is noted
for having its own private water
company, founded 175 years ago and
still supplying local residents.
The focus of this service was 'the
fountain', a large, round stone
reservoir in the centre of the market
place with a 1500-gallon capacity. It
was built in 1829, following a local
campaign for clean water supplies, and
fed from Mawstone Spring via more
than half-a-mile of iron piping. Until
then people had to struggle up the hill
from the River Bradford with their
buckets.
Villagers began decorating the
fountain with petals to give thanks for
the water supply, and these days they
erect well dressings at five other 'tap
spots' too.
Another dominant landmark is the
impressive parish church of All Saints,
said to date back to Saxon times. One
of the largest churches in the area, its
medieval tower can be seen for miles
around, and it boasts numerous points
of interest.
A painted glass window behind the
altar was designed by Edward Burne-
Jones and created in the William
Morris workshops, partly by the
master himself. Monuments include an
elaborate miniature alabaster tomb
bearing an effigy of Thomas Cockayne,
who was killed in a brawl in 1488, and
a 12th century carving of a pilgrim,
reputedly crafted by a travelling friar in
return for hospitality.
The Norman sandstone font is the
only one of its kind in England, bearing
a sculpted bowl held in the mouth of a
salamander. It was originally from a
church in nearby Elton, but had been
relegated to the graveyard during
rebuilding and languished there until
the vicar of Youlgrave rescued it as a
garden ornament.When his successor
had it moved to the church in 1838, it
caused uproar in Elton and the
ensuing rift was solved only when a
local landowner presented Elton
church with a replica.
Just down the road, next to the post
office, is a somewhat smaller
landmark:Thimble Hall is listed in the
Guinness Book of Records as the
smallest detached house in the world.
The Grade II listed cottage has just
two rooms, one above the other,
measuring 11 feet 10 inches by 10 feet
3 inches and 12 feet 2 inches high.
Amazingly, this tiny building was
once home to a family of eight, and has
served as a butcher's, a cobbler's and
an antiques shop over the years. It last
changed hands in 1999 for £39,500,
nearly three times the guide price,
when local ice-cream makers, the
Frederick family, outbid prospective
buyers from Hong Kong, New York
and even psychic Uri Geller.They are
now restoring the place, and plan to
open it as a thimble museum and
gallery of high-quality local crafts.
Youlgrave has no shortage of
interesting buildings. Near the
fountain, on the site of the original
village school, is the imposing threearched
frontage of the local youth
hostel, although signs of its previous
identity as the local co-op store are
still much in evidence. Look out for
the stone beehive, symbol of the cooperative
movement, towering arched
windows advertising 'groceries' and
'draperies', and rooms named after
various store departments.
Church Street is lined with a
sprawling assortment of quaint, stonebuilt
shops and houses. One of the
oldest is the Old Hall, built around
1640, said to be haunted by the ghosts
of a Roundhead and a Cavalier who
duelled to their deaths during the
English Civil War.There are also three
pubs: the Farmyard, the Bull's Head
and the George.
From the main street, cottages spill
down the hillside to picturesque
Bradford Dale - a glittering ribbon
fringed with lush vegetation that
stretches from neighbouring Alport in
one direction to Middleton in the
other. A tranquil, leafy haven, it is the
perfect setting for a riverside walk at
the end of a long day.
Youlgrave, with a population of
1,500, is the largest village in the Peak,
yet manages to maintain a close-knit
community feel. That's nurtured, no
doubt, by the dozens of clubs, events
and activities that give the place its
identity: the football and cricket
teams, the WI and toddler groups, the
bingo, yoga and painting classes, the
local Bugle newsletter and, of course,
the pantomime.
Rehearsals are already well
underway for next year's production,
Cinderella, with Jan Wilson firmly at
the helm of her 30th annual
production. 'I'm probably a national
treasure by now,' she mused. She
probably is.
Youlgrave yarns