“Who’s Crooker Now? The Rivers and Us” - Derbyshire Makes
Adverse Camber has been commissioned to work with local young people in the Matlock, Cromford and Wirksworth area and a team of artists to make and share stories at Cromford’s festival weekend, on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 April 2025.
We’ve taken as our inspiration the Derbyshire folktale Crooker – a tale of a journey in the dead of night from Lea and Holloway to Cromford, with a mysterious figure, an ash tree, the moon, a bridge, magical women in green, and a rising river.
Young people from Level Centre and Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth are helping us reimagine the story in the lead up to the weekend.
They are working with spoken word artist and BBC Radio presenter Sile Sibanda to create a new poem, and a new song, composed by musician Ann Jones, and making different versions of the story to be shared over the weekend by storytellers Cath Heinemeyer, Rachel Murray and Pyn Stockman.
And there’s chances for you to get involved too! Drop into the Mill over the 12-13 April weekend, tell us your take on the story, or get making puppets with Babbling Vagabonds, sample different arts and crafts and make the story come alive. There are story walks and performances throughout the weekend.
Cromford Mill’s events are inspired by water and local folklore, just as Cromford Mill itself is home to the world’s first water-powered mill, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Derwent Valley site.
