This week, startlingly resplendent in bright yellow jacket, Michael Portillo took a little detour from his Great Railway Journeys to visit Kersal Moor. Where is the railway?, you may ask...
During the series, the ex-MP usually takes a look at historical places and interesting people around and about the area, so he was on the Moor to chat to Sid Calderbank, the Lancashire dialect poet, who is also an expert on Edwin Waugh, the famous Lancashire Victorian dialect poet.
Edwin Waugh hailed from Rochdale, but moved to Kersal Moor for his health and because of its clean air. Before his death in 1890, he wrote this wish...
'Oh lay me down in moorland ground
And make it my last bed
With the heathery wildness around
And the bonny lark o'erhead...'
...So St Paul's Church, on the Moor, is where he is buried.
Sid read one of Edwin's poems and sang one of his songs, all in dialect. Then, to Michael's surprise, asked him to join him in the singing. What could have been a bizarre incident was saved by the arrival of the Red Rose String Quartet, which, with cello, viola and violins brought magic to this odd duet. The music drifted across the Moor, passing dog walkers clapped and the film crew was happy.
Edwin Waugh may have been amused but possibly pleased too, that his words were spoken once more in this peaceful and beautiful place that he loved.
This segment will be in the 7th series of Great Railway Journeys, to start in January 2016.
Words and photos by Alice Searle. For details of Alice's two books on Kersal Moor – click here
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