Cuckoo Festival 2009 at Standedge Tunnel and Visitor Centre

Standedge will be featuring a 'legging' event in partnership with the National Horseboating Society. There will also be some traditional canal craft activities including rope making. 'Legging' is the traditional form of transport through the tunnel.
To keep the costs down, the original tunnel was built without a towpath and while the horses crossed over the hill, the boat crew had to 'leg' the boat through the tunnel. This was done either by lying on boards across the boat and walking along the walls or by lying on the cabin to walk against the roof of the tunnel which could take up to four hours.

This annual event welcomes the return of the cuckoo to Marsden when the townspeople celebrate with a day-long festival with clog dancing, music, a procession and a famous 'cuckoo walk'. Artistic workshops, an all-day craft fair, banner-making, a village procession, maypole and Morris dancing and cream teas all culminate with a lively evening ceilidh at Marsden Mechanics Hall. Marsden's reverence for the cuckoo stemmed from the fact that the spring and sunshine always came with its arrival. In days gone by legend has it that the people of the village built a huge wall to try to prolong the cuckoo's visit.

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Prices

Free entry

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