A High Peak town just a stone’s throw from Manchester is bringing its high street to life in a magical way this Christmas, with a festive window trail focusing on the art of storytelling.
Glossop, a pretty market town with a winding, bustling high street full of indie shops and venues, is nestled into the rugged, rolling hills of the Dark Peak. This Christmas, local creative and cultural collective, Glossop Creates, has launched the twinkling, festive window trail which is dedicated to the late Dame Hilary Mantel – a celebrated, award-winning novelist who lived in the area as a young woman.
Showcasing the talents of local writers, authors, performers and poets and utilising the high street windows of shops and venues in the town centre, the sparkling Local Winter Story Trail takes participants on a literary journey around Glossop. As well as celebrating creativity, the trail is a much-needed boost to independent businesses who are all feeling the pinch due to the cost of living crisis,
24 local writers have each weaved a 150 word winter tale based on the shop or business they are paired with. The stories are displayed in the windows of the 24 local businesses, which include Dark Peak Books, George Street Community Bookshop, Decor8. The Bureau and Pepino. Writers include Mark Henderson, Michelle Collier and Keli Tomlin.. Local actors Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley in Coronation Street for many years and Isobel Middleton from Harry Potter are also taking part in the campaign.
The Winter Story Trail features a map that can be collected from local venues KIN.DER, Dark Peak Books, George Street Community Bookshop, Oxfam Books and the local libraries. Families can take part in the activity by finding all the windows and filling in a word from each which spell out a specially-commissioned 24 word poem.
The trail, which launched this week, will run throughout the festive season until 6th January 2023.
And, as an added extra, the short stories will be made into a beautiful printed book and made available to download, so participants and lovers of literature can keep the stories forever.
Claire Tymon from Local, the place making arts organisation which runs Glossop Creates, said:
“A Local Winter Story Trail is truly magical and we are excited for this campaign to roll out through December. Glossop boasts huge talent in the literary space, with writers, storytellers, authors, script writers and poets all living in our town. This year, we all mourned the loss of Dame Hilary Mantel, who hailed from Hadfield in Glossop and attended St. Charles Primary School – like myself. Hilary wrote a plethora of wonderful novels, two of which won the Booker Prize, so it seems fitting to dedicate this year’s festive creative activity to her literary genius. It is wonderful to see the high street brought to life at Christmas through storytelling and imagination.”
“The trail will also help to further showcase Glossop as an amazing and innovative destination for cultural activities, art and creativity at the gateway to the Peaks.”
