SUMMER HOLIDAYS at
THE HEIGHTS of ABRAHAM
I call this one 'The BIG show in the BIG Theatre'
And for very good reason ...it's enormous !
2024 is a very special Year for Heights.
A DOUBLE Anniversary Celebration.
This Year we celebrate 50 YEARS since the Pugh family took over the running of the Heights of Abraham Estate.
Also it is 40 YEARS since the Cable Cars started running. They were the very first Cable cars ever in the U.K.
50 & 40
GOLD & RUBY
40
These days Summertime Punch & Judy Shows are found at Village Fetes, County Shows, Museums, Steam Rallies, Festivals & Council run Events.
Only a handful still survive on a Beach.
We have two of the best Beach performers in the Punch CLUB:
Joe Burns (Swanage) and Mark Poulton (Weymouth).
My residential season is geographically as far from the sea in any direction as you can possibly be in the UK.
The Heights of Abraham at Matlock Bath is in the middle of Derbyshire.
It is most certainly the Punch Show furthest from Sea Level.
You need to ride a cable car to reach it!
Once you do reach the summit the grounds of this unique hill-top-park are immaculate. The staff welcome is warm and the views are stunning.
The 'main-event' people visit the Heights for, apart from the Cable Cars- (and the Punch & Judy Show) ... are the Underground Guided Tours.
If you want naturally occurring caverns and caves you can visit plenty in nearby Derbyshire.
What makes the Heights underground tours unique, is that they are entirely 100% Lead Mines.
Everywhere you walk, every cavern and space you see, is made by human hand alone. Blasted, then hand dug, by the Victorian Lead miners.
Once the Lead was all gone, the miners started taking tourists to explore the incredible subterranean landscape. And you can too when you visit.
You've got to admit - it's a pretty cool way to commute to work each day!
And for the many hundreds of times I've 'flown' across the Derwent Valley, I never take it for granted .
And yes, when you ride a cable car : the correct term is 'flight'
It is breathtakingly beautiful.
The parts that make up my Punch Booth have a much less glamorous journey.
Heights have their own fleet of 4x4 Landrovers - the only vehicles hardy enough to cope with the steep slopes of the vast estate.
All the perimeter fencing and silk flower displays are also part of my own kit for the show.
Everything for the show has to go up to topside in the Landrovers.
A massive shout out to Ian the Groundsman. Ian helps me get all my Punch kit to the summit and back down every season.
He has to drive perilous narrow slopes, some parts in reverse gear to get things to topside.
All year, he ferries a never-ending supply of food, drinks and gift shop merchandise in the back of his trusty 'Landy'.
And every Summer he transports a whole Punch and Judy Show.
Cheers Ian, there wouldn't be a show without you!
Many of the Staff are seasonal. Quite a few working Summers in between University. Heights Staff are always bright, independent, happy people.
I've been there so many years now that I've seen 'em come and go.
But I have made some good friends along the way.
Some are there long enough to get added into the Punch Show !
The Heights is such a huge tourist attraction that guests often assume it is Council run or a National Trust property.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is a Family-Owned and Family-Run endevour.
And that family are The Pughs.
They are very hands-on with the day to day running of the place, making rounds every morning to talk to all the staff.
And here they are presenting a cake at the start of my 15th season 2020.
Waiting for the show to start. You need to get there promptly to get one of the seats. But it's still good fun even if you stand. That's the benefit of the theatre being so tall, and my puppets being larger than usual.
Everyone gets a good view.
Nineteen years ago the theatre wasn't quite so grand. It all started off fairly modestly ...and then grew!
And the show was first positioned right outside Vista Restaurant.
About ten years ago, a level platform was built on what was sloping ground next to the tree. Here we stayed until Covid .
The pandemic meant Vista restaurant needed extra tables outside where the Punch audience normally was.
So we had a big move to somewhere even better.
Heights being a hilltop park, there is no flat, level ground anywhere.
So a new level standing had to be constructed specially for the show.
The guys from Derwents Landscaping did an awesome job.
Two huge tipper trucks of gravel later, and the new base was ready to start building on.
How they got those trucks up the perilous service road at the back of the estate I will never know !
The new pitch for the show was picturesque and perfect.
Better than where I had been before. So much so, that I decided it really needed a brand new theatre to do it justice.
So I used that rotten year of Covid Lockdown to build it in my garden.
I'm glad something so awful, gave birth to something so wonderful.
In 2022 we even got brand new chairs for the audience.
A couple of peaks 'behind the curtain' during a show.
The new theatre is so roomy inside, that when my mates come to visit, they can easily watch a show backstage.
Other Punch performers know what goes on .. but friends and family are often quite surprised by just how much stuff is happening out of sight to make the show work.
Of course, it all looks so much better from the front.
If you are planning to come and visit, there are three shows every day during the Summer Holidays.
The times never alter, they are evenly spaced through the day.
You will get to see a performance.
Even if you go on both Cave tours.
Work has already begun on new puppets for my 2025 Summer Season at the Heights of Abraham
After a short absence, Mr. Punch 'in Bed' will make a return for the 2025 season.
And by popular demand Jonty Spangle and the Vista Chef will once again face each other for the big "Bash Battle".
These two characters have not been seen for over seven years.
It is a truly stunning Theatre, though I say so myself.
There isn't another one remotely like it in the U.K.
Come and see it for yourself if you can. A day out at The Heights of Abraham in the Summertime is always a delightful treat.
And if you are curious about how this behemouth of a booth was built, then check out my photoblog below.
And by popular demand Jonty Spangle and the Vista Chef will once again face each other for the big "Bash Battle".
These two characters have not been seen for over seven years.
And by popular demand Jonty Spangle and the Vista Chef will once again face each other for the big "Bash Battle".
These two characters have not been seen for over seven years.
