Wriggledance in Stamford

Rhiannon and Jasmine got to bed in good time last night, and were awake early chatting and even playing well before breakfast. In mercifully decent conditions, we all squeezed into the car and drove northwards to reach Stamford in Lincolnshire by lunchtime for an early afternoon performance of Wriggledance Theatre's 'Once in a Blue Moon', the last of this year's tour. We had plenty of time for a wander around and a bite to eat and some photos beforehand.

Stamford, with the river Welland running through it, is on the route of the ancient Great North Road, and at one time the rive was navigable this far, so it prospered as a mediaeval centre of commerce, with half a dozen substantial churches for a town now numbering 20,000 inhabitants, built between the 12th and 14th centuries. There are lots of 17th-18th century buildings as well, making it an attractive and still prosperous looking town.

 

Four of the six mediaeval churches are still open for worship and daily for visitors. One dedicated to St John the Baptist is in the care of the the historic churches conservation trust, and was hosting a 'Cards for Good Causes' shop. Another had been sold for redevelopment and converted into six retail units. Two thirds of the space was given over to Vision Express and Boots opticians' shops side by side, and one third to the Nationwide building society.

Stamford is a place that would be a pleasure to visit for a weekend and take time to explore properly, also Market Harborough, which we passed through on our journey. It has small but ancient arcaded market hall in the square next to the church, and was surrounded by stalls with a band playing Christmas carols. Pity we couldn't break our journey there but we had to press on, uncertain how long it would take from there.

The Wriggledance performance was wonderful, with around thirty children and even more adults. Our girls were thoroughly enchanted and joined in the playful elements enthusiastically. 

I'm so proud to have a dancing daughter and a musician son-in-law with such creative gifts and innovative drive to bring to the small team of four dancers, plus the technical crew that made up the roadshow.

 

The performance only lasted an hour, so we were back on the road to Kenilworth by four, and only the last part of the journey was in the dark. Kath and Anto were an hour behind us and we celebrated the day with a family meal, then watching the X Factor semi-final together. This felt rather artificial and bizarre after the joyous fiesta of child's play in the afternoon's performance.