Richmond is a town of superlatives, Colin told me as he showed me around. That wasn’t his opening gambit – more a passing observation that together we chanced upon.
Home to the oldest stone-built castle in England, the oldest surviving Georgian theatre, it has even been described as the most romantic town in the country.
And next month the old town will be welcoming visitors from far and wide for the only ‘walking and book festival’ of its kind you’ll find anywhere in the world.
North Yorkshire is of course a challenge to explore by bus (such is its beauty, you might say; I don’t own a 4×4 so I wouldn’t). I had to take the train to Darlington first, but the brisk journey back southwards into Yorkshire was a sweet respite this afternoon. Waiting to greet me in the heart of town was Colin – one-time farmer, county councillor, all-round local fixture, and now part of the team working hard all year round to make this upcoming festival happen.
The idea of the festival is perhaps best exemplified by the new book released by Colin Speakman, Chairman of the Yorkshire Dales Society and the Dales Way Association – who himself will be speaking at Richmond School on the opening night of the festival. Walk! A Celebration of Striding Out looks at the culture surrounding walking – and in particular explores the historic link between walking and literary inspiration, whether Wordsworth wandering by Tintern Abbey, Baudelaire through the Paris night, or our twenty-first century flaneurs here at Culture Vulture…
Among the perambulatory highlights are a walking tour around the early life of Lewis Carroll (educated at Richmond School), a voyage round town with Jane Hatcher revealing Richmond’s Georgian heritage, and a picturesque exploration of the views that brought J.M. Turner to Richmond in the eighteenth century.
Shirley Williams and Pam Ayres share pride of place high on the billing, whilst the Georgian Theatre Royal will host an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’ – a show brought to town by North Country Theatre and its renowned director Nobby Dimon (who I met busily untangling wires and arranging lights ready for the show), whose previous highlights include what sounds like a version of Lorca the way it was meant to be performed, ‘A Blood Wedding in Wensleydale’.
The town has a treasured history, and it is thanks to Colin, Nobby and others that that heritage is being kept alive – whether in the rebuilding of the scenic walkway that encircles the ancient castle, or the painting of shop-fronts around the marketplace which rekindle the spirit and style of their Georgian antecedents.
Richmond made its name once upon a time for its castle and Norman settlement, then as a spa resort for the fashionable glitterati of the eighteenth century. In recent years it has perhaps been known best of all as the focal point of William Hague’s vast North Yorkshire constituency seat – whether you believe that to be a privilege or not, it’s ultimately merely incidental.
The festival is not all that draws attention from the world outside its old walls – narrow as they are, much as they contain.
After visiting the Georgian Theatre – a modest space with seating encircling the stage and decorated much the same as it was when Samuel Butler welcomed his first theatre-goers – Colin took me down to The Station.
Once the town’s port for its many regular visitors and the surrounding region’s industrial output, it was shut down by Beeching – but in recent years has been salvaged thanks to the genius and the commitment of Richmond’s locals. The result is a stunning multi-purpose venue which brings together a cinema, a cafe, an art exhibition space, and a series of shops which make and sell local specialties, not to mention a micro-brewery.
I pondered aloud whether it was made according to any scheme, or any existing model – merely because I’d come across nowhere else like it. A Grade II-listed building, it was regenerated by the Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust and a group of committed locals who pursued their vision, bringing it back to the heart of the community. Even now, the operation is led by its volunteer support force, and it not only retains the colour and quality of its previous incarnation as a train station but also tells the story of the station’s heritage and the memories of those who used it and knew it.
Colin tells me it brings at least four times more annual visitors than the castle up the road, and indeed was abuzz with families even on a rainy Wednesday afternoon at the sombre epilogue of the summer holidays.
The Walking and Book Festival (sponsored by the boot-maker Alt-Berg) serves as a diversion, an attraction – and most vitally to local businesses as a source of custom and income.
You don’t have to walk for long to see how the local area is kept alive by its people and their commitment. Richmond is not the Norman stronghold, nor the fashionable Georgian resort it once was; but it could still be reborn as a thriving northern hotspot for visitors from far and wide.
Whatever its future, it’s thanks to Colin and those who spearheaded The Station and those who lead the way in the coming season’s festival that Richmond will thrive.
For further background as to Mark’s challenge check out ‘28 days later’