General Information
During the year 2000 D J Clark built a visual record of the Lancaster &
Morecambe district using photographs and information submitted by those that
feature in the pictures. The project was conducted in association with Lancaster
Museum and has been archived for future generations to look back at the district
at the turn of the new Millennium. For more information on the project visit
the information page. If you find a caption is
wrong or there is a fault with the page please e-mail D
J Clark.
Date:
May 29th 2000
Location: Abbeystead
Photographer's Diary
3rd June - Abbeystead Pageant
After the farm day at Bowland I was looking forward to this event. The tales that preceded it spoke of a disaster ready to happen, but in a fun and "but it's OK kind of way". The predominant farming community had set themselves up to dress up in medieval costume and spend a day parading, feasting, dancing, racing and acting Shakespeare. I was not disappointed.
The day started with a last minute dash to the village where I found a growing group of people dressed up and feeling a bit stupid. The drink had not been consumed at this stage and the slight embarrassment of the adults at least meant getting candid pictures hard. The procession turned into a walk up the road, followed by marching round a wet field. There had been huge amounts of rain over the past few days and a bad forecast for the day. We all thanked God for the dry weather that was fighting to stay with us. I shot a lot of film, and found myself drawn to one encampment on the field. This turned out to be a historical society that travels the land to such events. I am glad I discovered this later as it may have stopped me being so pushy with my camera.
I shot the usual fair of children dancing, singing and looking cute. A fish and chips dinner with an old friend helped break up the day, but the weather was getting worse. I was hoping it would stay until the may pole dance, a picture I had been wanting from the start, but it rained and was called off. The organiser offered to set the picture up for me, but it seemed like cheating. The highlight of the day for most the participants was the youth's performance of Mid summer nights dream. A cut down version of the play had been split into three, performed by the school, the youth and the women's institute. The youth turned out to be people of my age which made me feel good. It was hilarious and doubly appreciated by the community crowd who knew the players inside out.
During the day all talk was of the evening. I was getting used to spending an hour or so at an event, getting my pictures and moving on, but this seemed worth the wait. The rain was starting, the field was flooding and the medieval costumes were looking muddy and well worn. I returned for the Hog Roast and found more old friends. I talked and shot, but noticed the rain outside was getting worse. The tent started to get soggy and at this point I noticed the wellington boots adorned by many of the partygoers underneath their costume. It was a good night.