The Folk Music Weekends take place at Savio House which is located near Bollington in Cheshire, just under the shadow of White Nancy, a folly which sits atop of Kerridge Hill. This page provides you with a little information about Savio House, Bollington and White Nancy, as well as providing some links to related websites .
Savio House is a Retreat and Conference Centre run by the Salesians of Don Bosco - a Roman Catholic Religious Order working for youth all over the world.
It is situated in a valley outside Macclesfield on the edge of the Peak District, between Bollington and Rainow, and is surrounded by fields, hills and woodland. White Nancy is the local landmark.
Once known as Ingersley Hall, it was built in the early part of the nineteenth century and until the 1930s was the home of the Gaskell family. The farm was working until the early 1970s.
The Salesians moved here in the 1950s. They named it after St Dominic Savio, and used it as a house of studies for young Salesians before beginning youth retreats.
The farm buildings have gradually been converted into a variety of single room and dormitory accommodation suitable for adult and youth groups.
Savio House has it's own website at www.saviohouse.org.uk
The small town of Bollington is located about three miles north of Macclesfield, 18 miles south east of Manchester, in north east Cheshire, in the north west of England - find us on the map. It nestles in the western most foothills of the Pennine range of hills above the Cheshire plain, adjacent to the Peak District National Park.The small town of Bollington is located about three miles north of Macclesfield, 18 miles south east of Manchester, in north east Cheshire, in the north west of England - find us on the map. It nestles in the western most foothills of the Pennine range of hills above the Cheshire plain, adjacent to the Peak District National Park.
there's a great website showing exactly what's going on in Bollington at www.happy-valley.org.uk
This c.15 foot high landmark standing on the top of Kerridge Hill overlooking Bollington is visible for miles around.
White Nancy was actually built as a summer house by the Gaskell family, who lived at Ingersley Hall (which is now Savio House), in about 1815. It is stone built with external rendering and regularly painted white in order to maintain its visibility. It is thought that it may have been built at that time to commemorate the battle of Waterloo. Internally there is a seat all round the wall with a large table in the centre. The table is circular, cut from a single piece of stone.
Occasionally, at Christmas, Nancy is painted in artistic form such as a Father Christmas or Plum Pudding! There's a fantastic 360-degree photograph of the view from Nancy (including, at the far right, a view of White Nancy hersel) again at www.happy-valley.org.uk