‘Our Street’ is the programme of cultural and community events supporting Buxton’s Heritage Action Zone project. The aim is to bring Buxton people together, connecting communities with Spring Gardens and its surrounding streets, celebrating the heritage of the area, have fun and create lasting memories.
The High Street Heritage Action Zone is a £95 million nationwide government funded programme, which is being delivered by Historic England. The HSHAZ initiative runs until 31st March 2024 and aims to breath new life into our town centres, making the high street a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place to live, work and spend time.
What events are taking place in Buxton?
Orchestras Live!
Professional musicians from Northern Chamber Orchestra have recently been working with young members of the Peak District Music Centres and they will be performing classical pieces on Spring Gardens over two weekends on 22nd and 29th April – so come along and enjoy.
The Lost Cats of Buxton
The Lost Cats of Buxton is a joint project in partnership with Buxton Museum and Art Gallery celebrating cats, but not your average moggy! Scimitar-toothed cats were here when humans wandered into the Peaks about 30,000 years ago, while cave lions lingered here until about 12,000 years ago and lynx knew our hills in more recent days. We’re bringing these lost cats back to the town, reflecting on their lives, how climates have changed and wondering what they might make of our modern world. There’s already been several family events making pictures and puppets; families joined artists from the Babbling Vagabonds at Buxton Museum too make a life-size cave lion puppet and everyone came along to make their own cat creation, including terrifying prehistoric mice to take home!
Carnival of Cats on Sunday 23rd April
Everyone who has joined in events previously are encouraged to bring along their creations join the Carnival of Lots Cats along Spring Gardens and into Pavilion Gardens. Everyone is asked to meet at 2pm by Iceland in Spring Gardens. Prowl past the shops and smile at the shoppers – and NOT EAT ANYONE! 🙂 Then, in Pavilion Gardens, stop to watch the prehistoric mice dance, let the cats cavort and enjoy your Lost Cat picnic.
Interactive audio tour
Being launched on 22nd April, ‘Old Haunts’ is an interactive audio tour with a difference.
Follow your guide, Matt (Michael Grady-Hall) an aspiring local historian with a passion for Buxton’s history, who has returned to his hometown to record an audio walking tour. But things don’t go quite to plan with his spooky sister, Claire (Suzanne McGrail), along for the ride. Setting off from outside The Pump Room, the tour uses smartphone location technology to autoplay each stop of the tour when you reach the correct location. Matt wants to bring some of Buxton’s lesser-known history to life, but Claire is more focused on Buxton’s ghostly goings-on. Local actors from Buxton Drama League and REC Theatre provide the voices of some of Buxton’s spectral residents, who all seem to need someone to listen to them, while Matt desperately tries to keep the spirits’ silliness at bay, and everyone’s mind on the historical facts!
Written by Buxton-born writers Tom Crawshaw and Alice de Cent, Old Haunts invites locals and visitors alike to decide; will you follow the tour, and learn all about Spring Gardens through the ages, or will you get sidetracked by an apparition on a mission? It’s up to you to choose your path.
For more information on the overall project, go to: buxtonourstreet.co.uk or contact the team via email at [email protected]
Follow BuxtonOurStreet on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
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