Brown Wardle Hill

David Chatton Barker & The Whitworth and Healey Vale Brass Band perform ‘Brown Wardle Hill’

With support from Sam McLoughlin

David spent several years exploring the windswept South Pennine moors surrounding Brown Wardle Hill, Lancashire, collecting the abundance of folklore, myths and legends found emanating from such a small aspect of the landscape. The lore and legends became bespoke arrangements written for the Whitworth and Healey Vale brass band, who rehearse close by to Brown Wardle Hill. In 2023 an LP featuring the recordings was released through Folklore Tapes which included an extensive booklet containing the research. The eleven compositions will be played live by six players from the band for the first time, with David reading aloud from the booklet featuring; naiad’s, vengeful witches, spectral rabbits, fell runners, Bronze Age burial mounds and what was once the most haunted house in the north.

David’s hand made 16mm film ‘…