Pendle Witch Walkers set to be world record breakers!

Guinness World Records™ endorse record number of witches attempt!

A HUGE Charity event planned to coincide with the 400^th anniversary of the Pendle Witch Trials in August is set to break a world record for the biggest ever gathering of “witches”!

Pendle Witch Walk, taking place on August 18^th – the exact date of the infamous trials - has been approved by Guinness World Records™ as an official world record attempt. And with over 2,000 attendees expected in witch-themed fancy dress, organisers are confident that they’ll claim the record!

The event itself is a 5-mile circular sponsored walk from the beautiful Lancashire village of Barley – the epicentre of so-called Lancashire Witch Country!

The walk will take in the summit of Pendle Hill – which in itself is emblematic of both Lancashire and witchcraft, as well as being a site of reverence for both Pagans and Quakers!

Simon Tattersall, one of the organisers of the event, said: “It’s great news that Pendle Witch Walk has been recognised by Guinness World Records™ as a World Record attempt. Clearly, that means we need as many people as possible to visit the website (www.pendlewitchwalk.co.uk) and register to join the festivities – then of course, attend the event in witch-style fancy dress.”

“We only announced the launch locally a couple of weeks ago and the levels of interest have been staggering - we’ve already had dozens of people register for the walk, the website traffic has been phenomenal, plus we have 250 Facebook followers and 700 on Twitter!”

“We’re hoping for a great event and a truly memorable day. The world record attempt for the greatest gathering of “witches” will give everybody’s efforts an undisputable measure of achievement. It will bring huge attention to the Burnley and Pendle area and our tumultuous history, but more to the point we hope that via their sponsors, walkers will raise in excess of £50,000 for Pendleside Hospice.”

BrandSpankin’ barometer?

It’s been very quiet on the blog front! In part, that’s because we’ve been so busy of late. I’m not going to be a hostage to fortune and predict green shoots of recovery, but the number of leads we’re generating at the moment is very encouraging. It’s still taking longer to convert leads, but I suppose it’s like the old football cliché – it’s better to be creating chances and not scoring goals, than not creating chances. So what are the implications of all this for you?

Well, I see BrandSpankin’ as a bit of a barometer business in East Lancashire. We deliver marketing services to clients from all sectors and we work for businesses large and small. If the number of leads we’re generating is increasing (probably tenfold month-on-month comparing August with January), then I suspect that it’s a good sign of improvement in the local economy as a whole.

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Enterprising Pendle

I’m excited at the prospects that the Community Enterprise Board presents to the area. Enterprising Pendle, as it’s known is relatively nascent, but we took a big step forward recently with the appointment of Remi Thackrey, as Enterprise Facilitator. He’s a very personable guy and he’s committed to the regeneration of the area, so I’m sure he’ll make a success of it.

The board itself is based on the Sirolli Institute methodology (http://www.sirolli.com/). It appeals to me in many ways, not least because it’s not a prescriptive, top down approach to regeneration, but a grass roots, non-bureaucratic approach, that has a real track record of success.

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Radio Gaga

I’ve done several radio pieces recently – one on BBC Radio 4 and a couple of pieces on BBC Radio Lancashire, which included being co-commentator for the Burnley victory over Manchester United. BBC strictures on impartiality went out of the window when Robbie Blake’s screamer hit the back of the net and I went mental live on the air! It’s a fantastic time to be a Claret at the moment!

The Radio 4 programme I was interviewed for was called ‘Divided Britain’. I think my contribution was there for the purposes of ‘balance’ – at least one person had to be on there who actually loves the area, thinks it’s a good place, full of good people and a worthwhile place to live and work. If the remit of the programme is to focus on problems (and let’s face it there is a clue in the name Divided Britain, which makes it fairly clear they’re not going to trumpet the potential of Nelson as a tourist destination!), then it’s not difficult to find the negatives. My problem with this approach is that it means the tail wags the dog – the lunatic fringe will often get the airtime and we potentially hand the initiative and agenda to Fascists and Fundamentalists.

I’m not suggesting that we ignore the problems that we face, but I do think we are generally hindered by a national media that often characterises the area as full of people who are marginalised, alienated and disenfranchised.

For those of you interested in what Divided Britain had to say, you can hear it again here:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mbm3l