Celebrating Chorlton down at the Library … yesterday … an afternoon of poetry, music and heaps of fun

Yesterday there was one of those events l was pleased to be part of.

It was advertised as "How to turn a poem into a song with music in three easy steps .... And a book launch".

And it   was an afternoon in three parts, starting with the launch of Peter Topping's new book “Musical Poems and Pictures of Chorlton-cum-Hardy” but also an opportunity to hear Lindy Newns and Mark Wood share some of their poetry and part workshop.

Peter described his evolution from artist to poet, took us through the journey and the innovative approach to blending poetry, art and music against the backdrop of Chorlton where he has lived for the last half century.

So, part homage to a place we all love, the book breaks new ground in making poetry, music and art accessible to the “visually impaired and hard of hearing by the use of subtitles and karaoke …. using Navilens and QR codes, the words and pictures in the book come alive and burst into song.  QR codes have been used before to link to YouTube video but not in the same way as this book”. *

All of this and a workshop where the audience were invited to break into small groups and each a compose a verse of a poem about "Memories of Chorlton". 

These were then transformed with music in the style of our choice for a sunny Saturday and the rest as they say was two hours of collaborative fun.

This is the second in the series of “Musical Poems and Pictures of Chorlton-cum-Hardy” and follows on from three other poetry books, one of which was in collaboration with Lindy Newns.

I could say more, but all is revealed in the introduction to his latest book, and of course in the pictures on the day wot I snapped.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; from an afternoon of fun, poetry and music, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Peter Topping