On the morning of Whit Friday, parishioners from Dobcross follow the churches’ banners and village bands to King George V playing fields in Uppermill for a united open-air service with other Saddleworth villages.
Why is it called Whit Friday?
Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and became a popular time for baptisms when the participants would dress in white. This became known as Whit(e) Sunday and the Procession of Witness, or Whit Walk, on the following Whit Friday was an opportunity for the newly baptised children, and adults, to display their faith, and new clothes.
The Dobcross Whit Walks
The day starts at 9.40am in Dobcross Band Club where Silver Hill is played in memory of absent friends.
The procession then assembles on Platt Lane outside the Band and Social Club and then walks down to The Square accompanied by Dobcross Silver Band playing Hail Smiling Morn
At 10.00 am there is a short open service before the procession, joined now by the Dobcross Youth and Training bands, leaves The Square at around 10:25 and makes it way down Woods Lane passing Holy Trinity Church and along Dobcross New Road to Uppermill.
At 11.00am, an open-air Whit Friday service takes place in King George V Playing Fields.
The procession then returns to Dobcross via Wool Road and Sugar Lane.
Childrens’ lunch and sports afternoon
After the procession disbands at Holy Trinity Church at around 12.30pm, a lunch is served at Dobcross Holy Trinity Primary school for the children who walked with the procession. Anyone who helped in the Whit Walks procession is also invited to attend the lunch.
In the afternoon, the Children’s Sports Afternoon takes place for children (up to Year 7) on the playing fields on Dobcross New Road , where every contestant gets a prize!
There is then time, for some, to have a brief rest before the excitement of the Dobcross Whit Friday Band Contest in the evening.
This is a video of the whole day taken in 2022. Watch it in YouTube to be able to skip to the various chapters.