Part 1: The Absolute Beginners’ Guide to Whit Friday
East of the M60 has been around in cyberspace for nearly two years, yet in this period it has still to cover Whit Friday.
Until now.
For those of you unsure about Whit Friday, Whit Friday falls after Whit Sunday and is two days before Pentecost. There is no fixed date, with the date determined by the month when Easter falls on.
A traditional Whit Friday involves the Procession of Witness in the morning. Churches from, for example Uppermill meet at a central point in the village or town centre and assemble for a short service. Before and after the service, each church leads with the church’s banner at the front (carried by two strong persons, augmented by a small number of children holding onto its ribbons).
As well as adult members of the congregation, each church is represented by members of its school, Cub/Beaver/Scout/Rainbow/Brownie/Guide groups or other bodies such as mother and toddlers or the local Mothers’ Union.
Behind the banner is a local brass band which leads out fellow walkers. Some of which carry smaller banners, or other religious artifacts such as a cuddly lamb (symbolising the ‘Lamb of God’). After the service, each church returns ‘home’ with the full congregation for raspberry buns and a brew.
After the parade (as if the younger members did enough walking), the afternoon’s proceedings would include a sports day, with traditional activities like ‘The Egg and Spoon race’, ‘Three Legged Race’ and an obstacle race featuring.
By night came the centrepiece of Whit Friday, a tradition upheld by villages within the Saddleworth area and the Tameside area - the Whit Friday brass band contests. From 1883, the first recorded contests took place in Stalybridge, Uppermill and Mossley. Bands travelled far and wide (within 20 miles from the venue).
Stalybridge, as well as being home to the world’s oldest brass band is also home to the first Whit Friday contest. Its roots stem from the bands trying to prove which church had the best band. 125 years on, it is now possible to see bands from Switzerland as well as Friezland competing - thanks to motorways and the Channel Tunnel.
Whit Friday is the traditional day for this procession, though the late 1980s saw, mainly in the Tameside area the walks switching to Sunday before Whit Friday. Since 1883, the number of Whit Friday contests had increased to 23 at any one time. The late 1980s also saw great expansion of the Whit Friday contest, with Denton, Ashton-under-Lyne and Droylsden alongside the traditional three (Stalybridge, Uppermill and Mossley).
As well as an increase in the number of contests, the modern day epidemic of congestion has made it impossible for any band to do all the contests, a far cry from 1884 when Stalybridge Borough won the first Stalybridge contest.
S.V., 17 May 2008
Tags: music, entertainment, brass bands, religion, Whit Friday, Tameside, Oldham, Saddleworth, local history
