Bardshaw: A Songs and Stories Summer Solstice
19th-21th June 2026, Pardshaw Quaker Centre
Our 2026 Solstice gathering will be about storytelling and songmaking! We’re pleased to be able to welcome Mike Forde to lead us on a journey of unlocking our inner Bards.
- A Friday night songs and stories session around the fire, to hear classic songs and stories drawn from a variety of folk traditions.
- A Saturday morning workshop on methods of storytelling and songmaking, to help you develop and refine your own compositions.
- A Saturday afternoon picnic up the top of Pardshaw Crag, and a trip out to Loweswater lake – alternatively a woodburning workshop and 1-on-1 help with storycrafting, for those who feel like staying at the Centre.
- A Saturday night concert of your own composed songs and stories, open to the local Pardshaw village community. All abilities welcomed and celebrated!
Rate £90 standard / £60 concession / £120 supporter. This includes all food and 2 nights simple bunkbarn accommodation at Pardshaw Quaker Centre. We define a concession as anyone who would struggle to afford the full rate if paying for themselves, including any children. Supporters are entirely voluntary, and help us extend our offer to include concessions at our fundraising-focused events.
Led by Mike Forde, a Quaker and storyteller based in Lancashire. He tells stories about dragons, Quaker silence, Ulster folk heroes, creation mythology and the birds of Morecambe bay (amongst other things). Working with organisations like Lancaster Arts, Lancashire Heritage Service and Lancaster LitFest, Mike tells stories and runs workshops in schools, community groups, Quaker meetings and in public events.
Some recent projects include:
- Stories from the Silence is a journey from genesis to the AI apocalypse told through Quaker practice. The audience becomes members of a meeting whose silence and ministry helps constructs the stories as they go.
- Sigurd and the Dragon is a re-imagining of a Viking saga retold by the birds and the mud of Morecambe bay. It is inspired by the legend of Sigurd which is carved into the viking-era Hogback stone at Heysham and embeds the story in the nature of Morecambe bay.
- Lancaster Lore is an open-source folklore project. It is a quest to fill every corner of the city with new and old myths and legends. Anyone can create or re-tell a myth about a particular location in around Lancaster and upload it to the online maps of myths. Dozens of QR code plaques linking to the stories are now hidden all across Lancaster.
- Spill the Mill Race was a heritage project funded by the National Lottery. Community groups, children and members of the public took part in workshops to create stories inspired by the history of the Mill Race area of Lancaster. These stories then became part of a digital story map as well as contributing to other artistic projects in the area.
Cooking facilitated by Kes Ward and Tim Hall-Farthing of Lancaster Quaker Meeting. All proceeds from Bardshaw will go to pay the attendance fees at Pardshaw Quaker Centre of Quaker-linked groups, such as groups of refugees and asylum seekers.
