We started the day by meeting in the Mam Nick car park at 8.00 am. From there, we were to make the short climb to the summit of Mam Tor to perform our first piece.
Mam Tor is the highest point of the Lose Hill Ridge - the range of hills between the Hope and Edale valleys, at the heart of the Dark Peak. It is the tallest mountain in the Peak District, with a summit of around 1700 ft (510 m). The tendency of its gritstone and shale sides to disintegrate and fall has earnt it the nickname "The Shivering Mountain" - the most notable occurrence of this was in 1974, when a "shiver" caused the A625 (then the main road between Sheffield and Stockport, which ran over Mam Tor) to disintegrate. Several landslides later, the road was eventually closed for good in 1979.
We started our ascent at about 8.10, and the weather was fine, which was a relief as showers were forecast. However, as we climbed we noticed that the valley to the north was covered in threatening black clouds. As we started to play at about 8.30 (in front of an unexpectedly large audience - we hadn't anticipated anyone coming to see us at this time in the morning!), it was obviously getting closer, and halfway through the movement our assistants moved into place with umbrellas. By the time we finished playing, the rain was quite hard, but we were fortunate to avoid the hail which pelted us on our way back down.
We found ourselves with nearly an hour to spare, so we headed into Castleton for a cup of tea & bacon sandwich before heading to the Blue John Cavern.
Blue
John Cavern
The Blue John Cavern is one of several caverns open to the public in the Castleton area. It is named after Blue-John, a world famous fluor-spar found only in Castleton, which is very popular in jewellery. Click here to visit the official Blue John Cavern website.
The descent to Lord Mulgrave's Dining Room - the large space near the bottom of the cave, where we were to perform - was perilous with cellos, and we almost got stuck on a few occasions. However, when we finally arrived, we found the acoustics absolutely wonderful, and we could almost have stayed playing all day - if it hadn't been for the four next locations!
We are grateful to Graham Ollerenshaw, the proprietor, for allowing us to play at the Blue John Cavern, and to all the staff for giving us such a warm welcome.
Sheffield
University Arts Tower
After ascending the 221 steps back to the surface, we headed back into Sheffield for our appointment at the Sheffield University Arts Tower. The Arts Tower is one of the tallest buildings in Sheffield, standing at sixteen stories and 255 feet. Opened in 1966, it is a Grade II listed building, and contains several departments of the University, including those from the faculties of Arts, and Economic and Social Studies.
Fortunately, the weather had improved by 12.00 when we played, and the flat roof on which we played turned out to be one of the more straightforward locations. However, the views of the city of Sheffield were wonderful. We are grateful to the University of Sheffield for their permission to play there.
After this, we headed out to Grindleford in the Peak District, and had an extremely filling lunch at its famous Station Café.
Grindleford
Station
The railway station at Grindleford is notable for a number of things, including its proximity to areas of astounding beauty (including Padley Gorge, see below), its popular café, and an entrance to the 3½ mile Totley Tunnel, which leads to the outskirts of Sheffield.
At about 1.40, we played on platform 2. Again we were lucky with the weather - the heavy shower at lunchtime had given way to some warm sunshine - but our plan to greet the 13.44 to Sheffield with music was almost thwarted by its late arrival. However, having some time to spare, we kept playing until it arrived at about 13.55. which appeared to be appreciated by the driver!
We are grateful to First North Western for allowing us to play on the station.
Padley
Gorge
A highly beautiful wooded area just to the north of Grindleford, Padley Gorge is a very popular spot with walkers. Its focus is Burbage Brook, which runs to the River Derwent from its source near Stanage Edge.
We found a nice sheltered area of Padley Gorge, with some large boulders to use as chairs, where we played at about 2.30. With the sun creeping through the trees, it was possibly the most idyllic location of the day.
The
Winter Garden
Finally, we headed back into Sheffield to give our final performance of the day - at the city's new Winter Garden. Being a Saturday afternoon, there were plenty of passers by who listened to us, as well as many who had come especially to hear it.
The Winter Garden was opened in December 2002 as part of the "Heart of the City" project, a £120 million scheme to regenerate Sheffield City Centre. It is the largest temperate glasshouse to have been built in a European city centre, and contains 150 different species of plant from all corners of the earth. More information about the Winter Garden can be found here.
The 4.00 performance - which included 2 encores - was warmly welcomed by all. We are grateful to Sheffield City Centre Management for allowing us to play there, and to the on-duty City Centre ambassadors who made us so welcome.
We are very grateful to Andrew Chapman for his photography of the Extreme Cellists prior to the first event, and to Jim Shore for his photography on the day. We are also especially grateful to Jim, Angela Rees and Zoe Fiander for their assistance to the cellists throughout the day in 2003, and we are very grateful to everyone who will be helping us in 2005. We could not manage without you!