Kirkgate Quarter Chronicle June 2025

Welcome to the June 2025 edition of the Kirkgate Quarter Chronicle, it’s a packed newsletter this month, so much to share and also a fantastic event to look back on…

Well, the sunshine couldn’t last forever… but I bet the gardeners among you have been relieved to see the clouds in the last couple of weeks! The soggy start to our Castle Picnic certainly didn’t dampen spirits, as on the 1st of this month 190 guests spent the day enjoying live entertainment, fabulous food, and informative tours of Cockermouth castle thanks to the Civic Trust.

Our Chair, Rob Higgins, almost looks as if he’s considering a career change! Pictured alongside The Great Baldini, who entertained us with close up magic throughout the day.

There was also live music to enjoy, from The Wayfarers and The Mowdies, as well as literary inspired tours with Jessie McMeekin. Image above: Grace Woodhead (find her on instagram @phot_ographybygrace).

The picnic was the first of our 30th Anniversary celebration events, which continue throughout 2025. We’re also running a raffle, with an array of prizes on offer. Click here to find out more and to get yourself a ticket.
A DAY IN THE LIFE

This month we hear from one of volunteer projectionists, the rarely seen but essential technical team who work behind the scenes to bring us our big screen events. With over 150 screen events every year it’s no small task! The projectionists are currently gearing up for our 30th Anniversary film festival, which presents all sorts of technical challenges with the variety of formats they’ll be working with, thought thankfully the days of splicing reels together are behind us! Here’s Mike’s story…

It all began in 2003…

Who can believe is was 22 years ago? Seems like yesterday – Tony Blair was PM, George W Bush was President. It was the year that Iraq was invaded by a US-led coalition. Best picture Oscar went to “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King”. And 2003 was certainly a momentous year for me. I relocated to Cockermouth, started a new job, met my future wife, and, most importantly started volunteering at the Kirkgate!
I’d started coming to Monday’s film showings on a regular basis, getting to know a few of the other volunteers, and was soon approached to join the ranks. Due to my enthusiasm for film, becoming a projectionist seemed like the obvious choice. After a few months as a trainee, I was soon putting my new skills to the test on the idiosyncratic equipment we had at the time. It was the era of the old mechanical projector, mono sound, 35 mm film that came on several reels (15-20 minutes each) that needed splicing together – in the right order!

There’s certainly been a lot of changes over the past 22 years, from mechanical to digital projection, mono to surround sound, and the latest refurbishments. Many of these changes have made the job of projectionist significantly easier, which is one of reasons I’ve kept coming back, alongside the incredible programme of diverse films we show.
Speaking of which, I’m really looking forward to the upcoming summer film festival to celebrate the Kirkgate’s 30th anniversary. I recognize many of the films from when they were first shown, and several that I remember being on duty for! All have been carefully selected to have a connection to Cumbria and the Lake District. Some links are obvious, some obscure, and some tenuous – see if you can spot them.

It’s quite incredible that the Kirkgate is 30 years old and that I’ve been part of that journey for over two-thirds of it! It’s been an absolute pleasure.
Click on the image above to buy your 30th Anniversary Film Festival Pass! For just £30 you can book for as many of the films as you wish! Keep reading for a link to our list of titles, which will be available to book very soon…

Did you know, you can support our film festival by sponsoring a film! Whether as an individual, or a local business, perhaps to celebrate someone’s birthday or other significant event. For £100 your chosen film will be shown with a trailer which can include a personal message, you’ll also get a mention in our publicity and receive two film passes. For more information please contact enquiries@thekirkgate.com.

There are all sorts of ways to volunteer with Kirkgate Arts, from helping on the bar at events to fixing and mending with our maintenance team and everything in between. At the moment we have an exciting opportunity for the right person… Do you have an interest in marketing and promotion? Or do you know someone looking to gain experience in that area? Find out more about our Communications and Marketing Assistant volunteer role here.
@HOME @KIRKGATE

We are often host to works in progress, and artists needing some space to rehearse their shows, as members of our ‘Friends’ scheme will know- one of the perks of being a Friend is access to new productions in development.

Over the last month we’ve been home to rehearsals for a show that was first performed at Rosehill Theatre in 2017, and is currently on tour! Written by Emma Rydal, Soaked is a show ‘filled with drama and humour that seeks to unnerve’, with performances at the Kirkgate Centre on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June, 7.30pm.

Emma also stars in the show, alongside Toby Gaffney and Stephanie Bradshaw under the expert direction of Peter Macqueen. Emma and Toby are no strangers to the Kirkgate, as both have volunteered with us over the years, Emma serving in our bar and Toby as a projectionist for cinema. Toby is of course also our ‘Great Big Kirkgate Quiz’ quizmaster, look out for the next quiz later in the year.

Here’s Emma to tell us more about the show.
‘Soaked’ examines our over drinking culture in a lighthearted way as we follow our protagonists Imogen and Rich through their busy, stressy lives with their good, solid friend ‘wine’. Then gorgeous Maddie enters their lives and things start to change with each of them experiencing their own wake up call. Expect a lot of relatable scenes, some good laughs, a cool soundtrack and three actors flinging themselves with abandon on stage.

Revisiting ’Soaked’ has been really good for us and I thank everyone who has made this possible. Our sponsor Judith Johnstone, Ray Blackburn of Freshkeg for the van, Nick Jones our technician, Stuart Grant for admin and the awesome Kirkgate Centre! It’s been seven years since we last performed this show. We had a sell out run at Theatre By The Lake in their studio and I thought that was it, but I kept the set, so I must have thought, ‘maybe one day’. It’s a hard show. Exhausting, with many props to juggle, costume changes, it’s like a half marathon in theatre land, but the pay off is worth it and peoples responses to the show making it all worthwhile. We often play to full audiences so we are obviously tapping into a subject that people are interested in or maybe locally grown theatre is what people want?
Getting a group of people to work with particularly on a profit share basis is tricky, but we don’t do this for the money, good job! Luckily, I’ve hit the jackpot with Toby Gaffney and Steph Bradshaw. Always positive, always having a laugh, its’ been a real treat and I hope this is the start of many projects together. We’ve had Peter Macqueen step into his directors shoes again and that has been marvellous. When he wasn’t there we worked on our own just going over and over it and it’s been a joy to be able to use the Kirkgate Centre.

Why do we do this? I ask myself this often. Especially when I am so nervous back stage my heart feels like it is going to jump out of my chest, I’m sweating, I feel achey from lugging the set and I think at the age of 55 I should possibly be taking life a tad more seriously and get a proper job. Yet hearing the audience response, that first laugh, the joy of people sitting in a theatre and not at home, the camaraderie of acting, the fun we have, the sense of achievement at the end, and that well deserved glass of wine. Doh! Did I say that!!??

We hope you enjoy ’Soaked’

Emma Rydal
www.laalmarra.co.uk
You can also see Emma on the big screen as part of our 30th Anniversary Film Festival, Emma stars in ‘East is East’ which we will be showing on
Monday 11th of August.
Working on the technical side of the performance has given our volunteer Nick the perfect opportunity to experiment with the new LED lighting, as a number of the effects used would simply not have been possible with the previous lighting rig. No spoilers though, you’ll have to come along and see the show!
Book tickets for ‘Soaked’ here
KIRKGATE QUARTER

Not long now until the annual Cockermouth LIVE! festival will be filling the town with live performances and more, here’s Tom Speight to tell us more…
It’s hard to believe, but Cockermouth LIVE!, our very own local not for profit music festival, is in its sixteenth year. A team of 9 volunteers pull it all together, and I’ve found myself leading it all for the first time. I’ve lived in Cockermouth for 5 years and already think of this weekend as one its finest ! And yes – this year looks like being bigger and better than ever.. So. We start on Thursday July 3rd at the Kirkgate and run through to Sunday July 6th at Christ Church, with events all over the town throughout the weekend. And the vast majority of events are completely free for everyone !
Thursday night is a two part spoken word event featuring punchy poetry and cracking comedy from two talented West Cumbrians, Emma McGordon and comedian Steph Bradshaw. More info and bookings here.
Friday night features young master musician and Glastonbury emerging talent winner, N’famady Kouyaté with his 5-piece band. Click here to book.
Saturday afternoon at the Kirkgate sees versatile jazz collective Oppgard make a welcome return (click here to find out more) as well as an electrifying night in store with Manchester based 9 piece Stax of Soul. (You know what to do…)

Saturday evening’s picnic concert in Cockermouth Castle is again by Cockermouth Mechanics Brass Band and the Cockermouth Community Orchestra’s annual festival finale concert is at Christ Church on Sunday evening. Billy Bowman’s will also hold a few paper tickets for both of these gigs. But of course, throughout the weekend, what makes Cockermouth Live! so special is the hundreds of local performers putting on free shows in over 20 pubs, shops and cafes. From solo to big band, from music to poetry and drama, it’s all there. The Castle will again host a varied daytime programme on both Saturday and Sunday, and there are four new venues taking part too. And look out for strolling minstrels, a lost bus, Boom Bikes, a dance flash mob from The Knotted Project and an instrument trail right around the town centre – so fun for all ages.

We’re still looking for a handful more volunteers to offer a few hours to help stewarding too – have a look at our website www.cockermouthfestival.org Enjoy the weekend!
Our very own Kirkgate Youth Theatre are joining in the weekend, with their take on Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s fantastical and nightmarish tale ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ on Thursday 4th July at 6.30pm. You can book for the show here.
KIRKGATE HISTORY AND HERITAGE

Music has always been an essential part of a town’s celebrations, whether it be parades or commemorations of various kinds, and Cockermouth is no exception to this. Even back in Georgian times, a parade around town in 1777 had a ‘grand band of music’. The Cumberland Pacquet (4.2.1777) reported on the parade of the Wool-Combers and Shalloon Weavers of Cockermouth to honour their patron Bishop Blaize: the ‘grand band of music’ was followed by 70 workers in the wool trade in the town:

… walking two and two, elegantly dressed in white, having large high caps and sashes, made of blue and red wool, neatly plaited, each cap having the figure of the Golden Fleece on the front …

I wonder whether William Wordsworth (then 7 years old) might have been watching with his brothers and sister from their house on Main Street?

Moving forward less than a century and the town welcomed the Mechanics’ Band, a body of musicians who have become a much-loved and familiar part of any Cockermouth celebrations. Bernard Bradbury tells us that the Band was established in 1875 but it may well be older than that. The Mechanics Band is still going strong and will be performing at Cockermouth Castle as part of Cockermouth Live in July, if you want to hear them play.

Images below: The Mechanics Band c.1953, and a rehearsal in the 50’s.
There were other bands in Cockermouth too, including the Borough Band, and the Industrial School band – comprised of boys who were pupils at the school.

Gloria Edwards

Images below: Cockermouth Borough Band WWI period, and the Industrial School Band.
We also have some wonderful news to share in theis months Heritage update- from Helen, our community projects officer…

We have been chosen to participate in a nationwide arts and creative programme reflecting what freedom means to people, linked to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Our Freedom: Then and Now is a new programme of community-based events in arts centres and libraries across the UK highlighting what ‘Our Freedom’ means to local people and their communities, to mark the 80th anniversary.

We will be working with two local artists, storyteller Jessie McMeekin and musician JP Worsfold, to create a musical that will be performed by local people at The Kirkgate Centre and in the town in November 2025.

Jessie McMeekin and JP Worsfold will create a community musical inspired by stories from Cockermouth at the end of the Second World War and in the post-war period, using research from the Cockermouth Heritage Collection, alongside reflections from the people living in the town today on what freedom means to them.

Kirkgate Arts and Heritage is a member of the Future Arts Centres organisation, which will lead the programme, working with 60 arts centres and libraries, their communities and artists to create special cultural events, exhibitions and performances that are meaningful to people living in these places and across the UK.

Community-facing activities will run from May 2025, with most public events from July to November. The programme is delivered in partnership with Libraries Connected and Open Eye Gallery, supported using public funding by UK Government through Arts Council England.

For more information, or to find out how you can get involved with the Kirkgate project, contact Kirkgate Community Projects Officer Helen Johnston on 01900 829966 or helen@thekirkgate.com.
EMMA’S LETTER
It was such a pleasure to spend the day at Cockermouth castle for our anniversary picnic. After spending the morning setting up in the rain I was relieved to see the sun come out, as were some friends and family, who all enjoyed the tours and entertainment, not to mention the delicious picnics. Gareth, The High Tea Guy, surpassed all our expectations with those luxury picnic boxes!

Enormous thanks to all those who helped make the event such a success, our volunteers and performers, the Civic Trust for the informative tours, and of course Lord and Lady Egremont and their helpful and accommodating staff.

We’re now gearing up for the next big 30th anniversary event, our film festival starts in July and runs through into August this summer. It’s been quite a task selecting films, and an even bigger challenge to track down all those film distributors. With titles dating back to the mid 90’s not all of them were easy to find. Our film volunteers have been super sleuths over the last few weeks but we’re delighted to say all the pieces have now fallen into place and we’re beavering away behind the scenes to get them all online ready for booking, but if you just can’t wait to see what’s coming up there is a ‘sneaky peek’ list on our website here. You can also purchase a film pass for just £30 which enables you to book a seat for as many films as you like, or if it’s just one or two that take your fancy we’re also offering our usual ticket prices for the screenings.

Emma Heys
Chief Executive