Celebrate St Bartholomew's Day at Ironbridge Gorge
St Bartholomew’s Day celebrations are being revived at Blists Hill Victorian Town in the Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire over the Bank Holiday weekend of August 23 – 25. Historically celebrations took place at Smithfield in London on 24 August between 1133 and 1855 to commemorate St Bartholomew, and in other parts of the country until the 1880s when most disappeared. Now in 2008, the Blists Hill celebrations will take the form of three days of entertainment, music, singing and traditional fun activities. Families will also be able to take a donkey ride, play with skittles, have a go at china-smashing stalls and watch street drama, courtesy of Kaleidoscope Theatre and Blists Hill’s own Prince Albert Players. The townsfolk will be out enjoying the day along with two returning ‘heroes of the empire’, Major Mordecai Manley-Harthrobbe and Professor Augustus Sidebottom-Farquar, who will be recounting tales of their exploits in the service of Queen Victoria.
St Bartholomew’s Day was also a time of celebration for printers when the master provided entertainment, known as Wayzgoose, for his workers to mark the traditional end of summer and the beginning of work by candlelight. To mark this, youngsters will be able to have a go at intaglio printing and watch demonstrations of Victorian engraving.
One of the ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Blists Hill Victorian Town is open 10am-5pm; admission is £10.50 for adults, £7.50 for children under 18 years and in full time education, and £9.50 for senior citizens, under 5s free. Some of the activities and workshops will carry a small extra charge.
A Passport to all ten of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums, valid for twelve months and multiple return visits, costs £14.95 per adult, £12.95 for the 60 plus, £9.95 for students and children and £48 for a family of two adults and three children.
For further information, log on to Ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).
