Our Freedom: Then & Now

Celebrate with us! All aboard the Secret Freedoms Express…

Join us for our Secret Freedoms Celebration Day on Saturday 1 November. It’s going to be a wonderful day packed with different activities for everyone to enjoy!

Date: Saturday 1 November

Time: 11am – 3:30pm

Location: LEVEL Centre, Peak Rail at Rowsley South and Darley Dale Station

What’s happening?: We’re so excited to announce that thanks to the amazing team at Peak Rail, you’ll be able to see the fantastic community artwork that’s been created for the project on board the Secret Freedoms Express! That’s right… we have our very own steam train for the day! Our work will be displayed on an a carriage which can be viewed during your journey. Wheelchair access to the carriage will be available when the train reaches Darley Dale Station.

• Start your journey at LEVEL Centre with dance performances, fun creative workshops, music and storytelling.
• Take a storytelling walk from our garden down the White Peak Loop to Peak Rail where you can board the Secret Freedoms Express
• And at Darley Dale Station, you can have a go at spray painting and butterfly making

What’s happening at LEVEL Centre from 11am – 3pm?

• Crack the code with Phil! Explore life as a secret agent and create a secret message that only you will know how to see!
• Message on a postcard with Helen! Get creative designing your own postcard and send your very own message of freedom!
• See the Secret Freedoms Dance, and have fun exploring freedom through movement with Danni and Georgie! Performances at 11:30am and 12:30pm.
• Enjoy music and storytelling with Adverse Camber! Take a guided storytelling walk down the White Peak Loop in time to catch the Secret Freedoms Express at Peak Rail Rowsley South! Walks start at 11:45am and 1:45pm

• All aboard the Secret Freedoms Express with Peak Rail at Rowsley South! That’s right… we have our very own steam train for the day and you’ll be able to see the fantastic community artwork that’s been created for the project on board! Toot toot!
• Spray Painting with Eduard! Become a graffiti artist for the day! From 1pm – 3:30pm at Darley Dale Station.
• Create a stunning freedom butterfly with Hannah! Watch it’s wings flutter as it flies away with you! From 11am – 3:30pm at Darley Dale Station.
• Textile art with Bella Figura! Come and get crafty and enjoy creating with textiles! From 11am – 1pm at Darley Dale Station.

Events at LEVEL Centre and Darley Dale Station are free.

To ride the Secret Freedoms Express with Peak Rail, tickets cost:
All Day Rover:
£15 – Adult
£13 – Senior Citizen (Age 66 and over)
Free – All Children under 16

One way single:
£8.50 – Adult
£8 – Senior Citizen (Age 66 and over)
Free – All Children under 16

Tickets must be purchased at Rowsley South Station or on board the train.

Access information:

Peak Rail offer a specially adapted carriage that is fully accessible to wheelchair users and is available on all trains. Wheelchair users have access into the main saloon, where there is space for up to 2 wheelchair passengers, and 4 passengers with limited mobility. Access into the coach is via a ramp, please tell the guard or station staff when you arrive so that they are able to assist you.

– Wheelchair user access to Rowsley South, Darley Dale and Matlock Platform 2 stations
– One carer can travel free with one full fare-paying person with a disability

For more information please visit the Peak Rail website.

Timetable: Plan your day using the timetable below!

Freedom Road

a poem by Simon Armitage

“If we want to walk along Freedom Road
then away we go. It’s a slog at times
but look at the views: deserts, the airport, a lake.

On the move, passing through towns and cities
we dance with the locals. Come as you are,
they say, do as you wish, sing us your dreams.

Or if we decide to stay put, Freedom Road
is our home address. A neighbour’s washing
flaps in the breeze like hilarious friendly flags;

in the house and over the garden fence we agree to differ; someone’s grazing a horse on the common where Freedom Lane becomes Freedom Green.

You can’t dig up freedom like a potato
from the verges of Freedom Way, or pan it
from Freedom Beck like inklings of gold;

it won’t be delivered to Freedom Avenue
gift-wrapped in silver string. Where it goes unnoticed – that’s where it exists. Listen, when people ask

where they can find Freedom Road, we don’t say
turn right by the church, left by the bank,
we stroll where we want and live as we please.

And there it is.”