Barrowford - Stephen Pickles, street musician

[rossylass]

Maria Martin..that would have been interesting! Is " Died & never called me mother" a line from that play?

Stephen - I visited Lancashire Archives yesterday & had a look through the birth / baptism records for Bridge Chapel & Salterforth Chapel while I was waiting for my documents. Sadly, I couldn't find any mention of any other Richard Pickles. I had a look at the Craven Muster Rolls too, but started to nod off! There was only the one Richard in Barnoldswick & he was a weaver.

Sorry to have drawn a blank.

[rossylass]

I have just thought to record this! Stephen Pickles - Barlick man....some years ago I discovered that a play which he had commissioned, "The Lancashire Witches", along with a letter which he had written, have ended up in the Tate Theatre Collection at Harvard University. I duly contacted staff at the library, but the collection has been mislaid. I get in touch with them from time to time & they jsut tell me it's still missing, but think that they'll happen across it some day. It is so frustrating that this bit of Lancashire working class history is effectively lost to us. My rational head tells me it could have been lost in a library over here. At least someone saved it for posterity.

[rossylass]

I thought that this may be of interest given the references to "Maria Marten & the Red Barn". There is a loose connection between the play and Barlick. Prior to becoming the wife of Barlick man James Pickles, my ggrandmother was a Mrs Longmore, an actress. I recently visited the Wolverhampton Archives to photograph a playbill for "Pickuls Theatre" (belonging to the said Stephen, another son of Barlick). Whilst there I discovered that Mrs Longmore's name was on a playbill for a Latimer's Theatre. I looked up John Latimer and found that he was the writer of "The Red Barn". Well how about that? Barlick man marries woman who worked for man etc.. (said it was loose)!

[Stanley]

That perhaps explains why Ernie said Red Barn was one of the plays he saw in the wooden travelling theatre that used to set up on what is now Post Office Corner. (Even though the PO is not there any longer)