Free Family Fun this May

A Free Family Fun Day is coming to Astbury Mere in Congleton on Saturday, 17th May.

Put Saturday, 17th May in your diaries, when families are invited to step into the stories of Cheshire’s past in a playful and creative celebration of local history.

Astbury Bound is inspired by a treasure trove of historical records in the Cheshire Archives and is brought to life by event producers Wild Rumpus, the team behind the popular Just So Festival and the magical Yuletide.

Families can enjoy hands-on arts and craft workshops inspired by local history from 11.30 am – 4 pm. Using some of the archive’s incredible historic maps as reference, you can design your own map of the area and places that are special to you. You can also make your own creature, taking inspiration from the beautifully hand-painted nature journals in the archive.

Then, make your own musical instrument using recycled materials before joining a musical parade around the lake at 2 pm.

Led by performers from Betty Brown Bags by Raggle Taggle Arts, you will all learn and sing a communal song with lyrics taken from folk songs in the Cheshire Archives. Families will walk together, sing together, and celebrate the land they live on in a creative nod to the ancient tradition of Beating the Bounds. 

Beating the Bounds is a centuries-old tradition where communities would walk the boundaries of their town or parish, often encouraging children to ‘beat’ landmarks with twigs so they would remember the borders. 

‘Astbury Bound will be such a unique day out for local families’, says Rowan Cannon, Director of event producers Wild Rumpus. ‘There’s loads to get involved in and it’s all a real celebration of Congleton and the local area – I can’t wait to parade around the lake! It’s completely free and there’s no need to book, just turn up between 11.30 am and 4 pm.’

Astbury Bound is an interactive creative event created by Wild Rumpus, commissioned by Cheshire Archives, a shared service of Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester councils. It is part of the community engagement programme for the project ‘Cheshire’s archives: a story shared’, which will transform the way the archives service works and open up 900 years of Cheshire’s written history collections to a whole new audience. As well as a county-wide community engagement programme, two new archives centres in Chester and Crewe will feature exhibition and event spaces, new research rooms, workspace for staff and volunteers, as well as environmentally stable storage for the archives. 

The project is funded by the Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, The National Lottery Heritage Fund – made possible by National Lottery Players – and the Wolfson Foundation.

Councillor Jill Rhodes, lead for archives at Cheshire East Council, said: “The free family fun day will be a brilliant way for people to interact with Cheshire’s extensive archives and see local history brought to life.

“This is just one of many exciting events that will be taking place across the county as we prepare for the opening of two state-of-the-art new archive centres. I encourage people to go along and get involved with as many events as possible – there is a lot of history there just waiting to be uncovered!”

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: ‘it’s fantastic to see the events surrounding the Cheshire Archives project taking place. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we are delighted to be supporting the project that will work to ensure the archive and collections are preserved for years to come, and allow local communities and visitors to learn more about Cheshire’s rich heritage.’

Saturday 17th May, Astbury Mere, 11.30 am – 4 pm – and it’s Free, Free, Free!
Interactive craft workshops 11.30 am – 4 pm, suitable for all ages
Musical parade at 2 pm