In the first of four storytelling episodes, actress Cordelia Howard reads Thomas Barlow’s tale of an unforgettable visit to the Longdendale valley via train…on a soggy June day in 1867.

Remembered by his peers as ‘the bard of Longdendale’, Barlow was a calico printer working for Edmund Potter in Dinting, a prominent member of the Co-operative societies and the first working-class magistrate of Glossop. He died in 1904 and is buried in Mottram-in-Longdendale Cemetery.

Visit LongdendaleTales.co.uk for more information about our digital map and 28 part walking podcast series.

This pilot was supported by Glossop Creates as part of their Pairings programme, matched with Matt Ross at the Peak District National Park’s Longdendale Environmental Centre in Tintwistle.

Special thanks to Holly Close (assistant producer), Harry Heart (series theme music ‘Begging’), Owain Paciuszko (videos and visuals), Lauren Riley (logos and artwork) and Kate Raine (Glossop Heritage Trust research library).