Buxton Fringe Festival Weekend
On 16th - 18th July 2004
Well, you missed a good weekend if you didn't make it to this weekend organised by Ray Calverley.
The frivolities began with people meeting up at 4.00 pm on the Friday afternoon near Buxton Opera House. I wasn't there for the Friday but I am told that they all met up for a drink and natter to choose which performances they wanted to see and then drifted off for something to eat beforehand. Favourite eating places chosen from the substantial selection in Buxton were Pizza Express and The Old Club House pub. John Adams went to see Il Turco in Italia at the Opera House, which he seemed to have enjoyed greatly and Barbara Whitbread went off to see the B File by Deborah Levy, which she described as "interesting".
On Saturday morning, I was up bright an early and left Hemel Hempstead at 6.30 am to meet up at 10.00 am. There's dedication for you! Seven of us set off for a walk round Deep Dale and Miller's Dale, through some lovely flower filled meadows. Unfortunately, soon after the start it began to pour with rain and when we reached the A6, just after midday, the attraction of warm dry clothes back at Buxton became too much for Iain, Mark and myself so we hopped onto one of the frequent buses. Ray, Anne, Richard, John and Barbara valiantly trudged on through the downpour to complete the walk to where they had left the car earlier.
Back at Buxton, we saw the end of the Fun Run (personally I wouldn't naturally juxtapose those two words!), passed the extensive fun fair and watched the carnival go by. After enjoying a hot chocolate and admiring the well dressings, we met up back at the Opera House at 4.00 pm. Never having been to a full opera, I decided to join Barbara and John to see Hercules by Handel at the Opera House. I enjoyed it much more than I had expected. I thought that the performance, costumes and singing was impressive but I felt like I wanted to put an axe through that droning harpsichord by the end!
Some of us stayed over on Saturday night with Ray and Anne and we set off to meet up at the Opera House at 10.00 am for the Sunday walk. We had a lovely walk which turned out to be much longer than originally anticipated. Carol, Geoff, Maxine, Andy, Helen, Alan and Sarah joined the previous day's crowd and 18 of us set off for Combs. We enjoyed the lovely and varied scenery and took in some open moorland, Errwood reservoir, fields and hills and a short forested section. Lunch was at the Beehive pub in Combs at around 3.00 pm and then we walked the short distance to Chapel-en-le-Frith station to catch the train back to Buxton. It was a surprise to me on both days that such pleasant walks were so easily accessible from the centre of Buxton and that the local public transport was so good.
Some of us then retired to Ray and Anne's for a quick cuppa, where everyone insisted on having a mug that matched their respective outfits and Ray obliged with good humour! We then all set off on our respective journeys, having had an excellent but tiring weekend. I have only touched the tip of the iceberg when mentioning the many and varied activities and venues available throughout the day and evening.
Most important of all, I know that my companions would want to join me in a big thank you to Ray and Anne for their hospitality and hard work that went into the excellent organisation.
Carol Prested