DARWEN’S night of horror, when 12 people, including children and a baby, died when flood water crashed into their dark and cramped town centre cellars as they slept, will be recalled on Saturday afternoon by a group of schoolchildren.
Youngsters from Holy Trinity Primary School will perform a theatrical overture to the launch of a sculpture trail that winds through Bold Venture Park.
Writer and storyteller Jacqueline Harris has been working with teacher Rob Heap to capture the imagination of the children.
It was in 1848 that heavy rain caused a vast reservoir, in a quarry on the edge of the moors above the town, to burst its banks and flood the slums around the town centre.
The anguish of that night has been recalled by Darwen sculptor Marjan Wouda in her sculpture trail around the site of the old reservoir.
Marjan said: “There was such a sadness about the story. Creating the sculptures has been quite a challenge. I wanted to make a series of sculptures unique to the park and I looked to the town’s history for inspiration.”
The trail, which will be officially opened on Saturday afternoon, was commissioned by the Friends of Bold Venture Park with funding from Groundwork Trust and the National Lottery.
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