The Heritage Festival

“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” (Winston Churchill)

As we walk over the tarmac roads and tread along the pavements, most of us will spare little thought to the forgotten cobbled surfaces buried beneath our feet, or the buildings about us that have been reshaped and transformed over time into nondescript businesses and stores that seem overfamiliar to us today. Yet, if we paused for a moment from all that consumes us and distracts us from where we are going, we might just consider that we are treading over similar steps that people have taken over the generations, from decades of cultural developments to social transitions of community life. People who once lived in different times, dressed differently, looked differently, yet lived and breathed the culture we have inherited today. If we paused long enough, we might imagine their journeys, begin to hear their voices and their conversations, to sense the hustle and bustle of people going about their business. Sometimes it’s not always about where we are going to, but less we forget where we have come from.

Someone once said the profound words “If you want to know your history, look up.”

It’s a kindly reminder that many of our streets are banked on either side by terrains of undulating architecture, historical constructions that have stood resolute over the years. They seem to purposely hold fast to timeless observations of what mattered in their day. Matters of struggles and rigours of daily life that have soaked the walls without and within these overlooked buildings, were voices and faces are crystallised in detailed records, framed in still moments, and fermented in the fables of folklore. Let us pause then in our journey for all that is apparent and pertinent and just take the time to lookup. Look up and see for a moment the monuments of bygone times that invite us into their history, their stories, their tears, their laughter, their hardships that have shaped and formed our local heritage that we often take for granted.

But all is not lost in the neglect of time, thanks to the determined efforts of the team in Burnley, who had provided plenty of opportunities over last year as part of the heritage open days. At various locations around the areas of Burnley, people have flocked to special sites and buildings to commemorate these significant and historical landmarks. One such important and celebrated building, the Burnley Mechanics Theatre, opened its doors to the public with numerous presentations: a collage of vintage film footage of Burnley over the decades, a solo performance of the caretaker story of William Goom, wonderfully portrayed by Gav Cross, a tangible display of relics and plenty of space to gather and share stories and personal memories in the warmth of company. It was here that Charlotte Steels, Head of Culture for Burnley Leisure & Culture, and leading on the Year of Culture 2027, and Sue Robinson, Director of Cultrapedia, assembled their thoughts and reasons on why these happenings held such paramount importance.

They essentially wanted to bring people together by utilising these invaluable and varied spaces as they were initially intended for. They also shared their concerns about the growing trend of how and where people meetup in these modern times, and the way that social media and the internet has influenced and shaped these alternative social gatherings. Charlotte said “There is such a myriad of access to all kinds of information that you tend to get lost in it all. It’s hard to find what’s real and what’s fake, and the impact this has on young people who have to wrestle with what’s fake and what’s real, are bombarded with so much misinformation that you wonder where it’s all going to go.”

Sue agrees. “The easy access to so many online meeting rooms and platforms for discussion provides plenty of opportunities for people to meet up, however, it doesn’t bring people together in real time, face to face in the same physical place. It doesn’t enable you to feel part of a community. The danger is that the internet isolates people, and people are losing confidence in going out. All they can consume is what has been given to them.”

These comments aren’t meant to criticise the use of social media but is a fair reflection of reality and how things are rapidly developing. Charlotte captures the essence of the shifting culture, “Everything used to be based around the community with so many things going on and so many groups that formed around the sciences, literature and the arts. There is so much online these days, that you can’t capture that same information as you would, for instance, if you were sat in a room on your own than sat with a group of people sparking conversation and sharing viewpoints in a collective discussion. It’s becoming a very different interaction, stilted and quite artificial.”

Hence, when we look up and wonder what relevance these once critical buildings were designed for and how they benefited the community, the heritage open days invited us from wondering of their purpose to wandering into the heart of these time capsules, ever closer to the tangible impressions of yesteryear, to call them out of their shadowy past and tell us what life was really like.

Charlotte mused, “When you think about the history of this particular building (Burnley Mechanics), it was built and set up for educational purposes, built as a library as its primary function, a central hub of information with periodicals and journals people could access. Everything was in the paper, people met together, talked about recent happenings and learnt from each other as well as through the available information at hand.”

The scope of these local places was that they had been built and designed for folk to come together. Sue advocates that “These places can be relaxed, familiar places that feel like your front room, like sitting by an open fire were people can engage with one another through various forms of study and learning and social interaction. It is a fantastic opportunity to get our workers into small places where small groups of people can gather and have a special experience, and personal shared relationship through the event.” She also acknowledges that sometimes specifically appointed places, like galleries and theatres, tend to isolate the arts and culture to a specific audience, and often people feel that these buildings were built for someone else and not for them – ‘not my cup of tea’. Sue wants to challenge that thought, ‘Yes, it is your cup of tea’. Without doubt, that within these more intimate spaces there is likely to be a closer and physical connection with the event, the presentation and even the performer, that you wouldn’t get in a bigger venue. “We like doing things in small spaces. More open to conversation and more friendly.”

Charlotte’s passion is to bring more of the past back into the building in terms of how we do things, what we offer and how we can engage people back into those conversations around astrology, sciences, technology, the things that people find fascinating. She reflects, “You don’t even see these things on TV anymore with more scripted reality TV and celebrity influencers growing in popularity. People are willing to follow and believe in people’s online content that comes from limited understanding, no education, no experiences, no actual opinions that can be validated, or even have the willingness to research what is being said actually holds some truths.”

“To know your future, you must know your past.” (George Santayana)

The fabulously combined efforts of Sue, Charlotte and Stephie Thelwell (Creative producer and Developing Volunteer and The Mechanics Present programme), have worked tremendously hard over the months. They experimented with alternative venues and different events to provide a wide-ranging programme focused on reaching out to capture the interest of whole communities, from intergenerational gatherings, face to face vibrant conversations, dramatic story telling, studio-based shows and video footage of bygone times. Sue put the success into perspective by the measure of the audience’s response, who entered the room uncertain and left with a certain measure of intrigue, entertainment and enthusiasm. “The vibe in the room at the end of the event or show, what people talked about, seeing it on their faces, it’s always the response afterwards that makes it all worthwhile.”

It was felt that the biggest challenge to bringing people together, was convincing people there was something here for them, and that the virtual realities of the internet can never replicate the experience of just being together in the same space in real time. Sue stated that “Connecting helps you feel better, to immerse yourself in humanness is good for the soul, to be in a physical space makes you feel more grounded.”

For Charlotte, the key component is the ‘realness’, she says, “Technology connects people and gathers people together into a form of individual experience, but you can’t have an open chat and discussion about shared experiences that are valued and broadened.”

As the Burnley Mechanics celebrated its 170^thanniversary last year, having played a central and instrumental role for the community since its development in 1855, it’s an exciting and hopeful prospect that the old and familiar building, like those other significant buildings around us, can still be a benevolence that welcomes us all beyond the intriguing beauty of the architecture, into the spatial warmth that dwells within. The future might seem uncertain, but it seems there will always be a place to gather, you just have to look up, see our forming heritage and have the desire and interest to say ‘yes, this is my cup of tea.’

The team acknowledge that none of this would be possible without the devotion of the volunteers (more volunteers needed!), and the public funding from Leisure Trust Department, and the Arts Counsel (major funders / Mechanics relate programme).

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