Derbyshire Makes at Cromford Mill

Adverse Camber has been commissioned by The Arkwright Society to work with local young people in the Matlock, Cromford and Wirksworth area and a team of artists to make and share stories with roots in local folklore 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 in Rowsley 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 folklore around water, just as Cromford Mill itself is home to the world’s first water-powered mill.

Many thanks to Arkwright Society and the Institute for Social Justice at York St John University for their support for this project.