Festive family fun with storytelling evenings in Whaley Bridge

Winter Tales at the Transhipment Warehouse is returning this week. Picture from the 2020 event taken by Nev Clarke

There will be family fun until Saturday as storyteller Ian Douglas and his puppeteer wife Jo will be returning to put on their special Winter Tales.

The duo will take audiences on a journey across the world and through the warehouse with a selection of winter and festive stories.

Ian said: “We came last year and there were no other Christmas events happening in the area and people were so thrilled to be doing something.

"We sat around the fire sharing stories and then as we left the snow started falling and it was just magical and we knew we had to come back and do it again.”

The Winter Tales started on Wednesday evening and will run until Saturday.

Each story performance will last around an hour and there will be three sessions on Thursday and Friday and two on Saturday evening.

Ian said: “In the crazy and chaotic world we live in we rarely just stop and take a moment.

"There isn’t another building in the world like the Transhipment Warehouse and we are really excited to be telling some much loved stories which have been passed down from generation to generation in such a unique environment.

"My wife is a wonderful puppeteer and will bring the stories to life and I’m really excited to be putting on the shows again and bringing the festive spirit to Whaley Bridge.”

Ian and Jo, who hail from Huddersfield but now live on a narrow boat, have agreed to join the board of directors for the warehouse.

Ian said: “It’s such a wonderful venue and in the coming months we want to do more with story telling and creativity.

"The Winter Tales are not just for children they are for the young and the young at heart and it would lovely to see people come out and lose themselves from the Christmas stress just for a bit.”Tickets are available from the warehouse or online at high-peak-crafts.co.uk/bookings-checkout/whaley-winter-tales-2021/book.

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