This is another really good film of the event made by an audience member

On the evenings of Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th March, residents and visitors to Todmorden were treated to a truly spectacular event.

Illuminos, working with the Friends of Todmorden Town Hall, created a visually stunning, really clever artistic interpretation of the life of the town set to original music. It featured snippets from history, such as a clock indicating John Fielden’s Ten Hours Act, shuttles to highlight the cotton history, the three Fielden brothers appearing on the plinths many assume were designed to hold their statues, steam trains, white and red roses, ballroom dancers and so much more.  Parts of the film turned the town hall inside out, featuring the grand staircase and other motifs from inside the building. Many other aspects of Todmorden life were featured, including a UFO, the bus that used to run to the Women’s Disco, the tae kwondo that used to happen in the Town Hall.

Many prominent residents featured including Market traders, sports children, a Ukranian refugee choir leader, flood wardens, child musicians from Music4theMany, a long-term popular undertaker, the Mayor and the Town Crier, the last dairy farmer left in Todmorden, a lesbian straw-bale builder, well-known local father and son builders with their robin reliant van, lollipop ladies, a teacher from the South Asian community who as a child appeared in the BBC Clothes Show in the Town Hall, together with four current pupils from that same school including her own nephew, and a locally famous and popular pub landlady.

It is no exaggeration to say that everyone absolutely loved it;  the atmosphere in the crowd was fantastic.

See below for a written description of the film which has many details that you perhaps didn’t spot, and is also useful for the visually impaired

Mesmerising, I loved the local people taking part, the history content and the excellent visual display.

It brought a tear to my eye. I recognised so many references to Todmorden people and events

amazing, inspiring, made me feel happy to live here

Text Description of the Film
We start with energy and power, from the river, and the splitting atomic nucleus by Sir John Cockroft, bringing Lancashire and Yorkshire line down the building into focus. John Fielden’s statue emerges centrally, the 10 hour working day referenced in a vast clock created from the town hall ceiling, as the building constructs itself. Its grand staircase emerging, By Industry We Prosper emblazons, as bobbins spin and shuttles form from beech trees (the wood used) “to a child, diversion is so essential, that it will undergo, even exhaustion in its amusements.”

Samuel, John and Joshua Fielden silhouettes form in the archways.

Flood rises up the building and cascade down the stairs, as the beech trees sway, Bridestones are hewn in a rush of water as The Wizard of Whirlaw’s face forms on pillars. Town crier spreads the news, as flood wardens assess the situation. Judge-like, the courtroom emerges from the crier, gavels fall and the hammering makes pins on trainlines, as John Ramsbottom’s steam train races past Walsden and Littleborough, designs for steam hammers are glimpsed.

Out of the steam the foundry rises up, pulled by Rashid, red hot iron pours down the building. Night shifts are referenced with the moon orbiting overhead, Kashikari tile patterns cover the building as the Mayor feels the heat, extracts of Music for the Many’s Festival of Nasheeds sung by school children are heard.

From this music, instruments erupt on all sides filling the building with sounds and play. Orchestras and choral society are referenced, along with a nod to Ukraine as their flag flows up pillars. The building becomes a vast musical instrument. The Trombone of Geoff Love and his gold records joins the mix. Children from Music for the Many play instruments conducted by a Stasia (a Ukranian refugee who now leads a local choir)  We soar through this into the ballroom filled with dancing, the clock ticks on above and below, as the ballroom ceiling orbits as a floor.

The undertaker doffs his hat, and lollipop ladies emerge to stop traffic on the pedestrian crossing. The Bus carrying people to the 1983 women’s disco lumbers in. Pelican crossing becomes a catwalk centrally, as children strut along, denim jackets on display. (This is a reference to the 1985 BBC Clothes Show filmed in the Town Hall, when kids from Ferney Lee primary modelled denim jackets. The Ferney Lee teacher who also features in the film was one of those original children and her nephew is one of the film stars)   Glitterballs descend and the double-decker bus returns in full disco glory, with rainbow references to the lesbian and wider LGB community. Everyone dances to the beat.

The reliant robin of Lownds and Son follows the bus, and from its doors flow the red and white stripes of the open market, fruit and veg. Incredible Edibles and Tod in Bloom conjure daisies and wild strawberries to grow across the space with vast watering cans. Produce builds up on all sides. Pextenement cheese is rolled by via the stall holders. Then vegetables and flowers erupt to cover the whole building.

The boxes of produce explode into footballs and cricket balls, as sports take over, stripes of the market becoming stripes of football kits. Candles become cricket stumps, taekwondo represents the rise in girls sports. Goals are scored in the football net, which creates itself from more weaving shuttles racing across the building. Lancashire and Yorkshire roses blossom left and right from the In Bloom foliage. A cheeky UFO is glimpsed and seen off by the taekwondo expert.

Sheep and cows munch their way into view,, as a tractor chugs by driven by the last dairy farmer in Todmorden (Pextenements). Todmorden agricultural show programme flutters down, and more cheeses rolls in. Barbara hammers straw bales into position. The sun shines and the Town hall is decked in bunting, as we return to the opening of the hall. Gig pours pints which fill up the pillars. Sudden clouds and humorous torrents of rain fall, as umbrellas go up on all sides, each representing the many people we’ve seen throughout. The river returns, and the energetic atomic split ends our piece in an eruption like fireworks.