A BOOK celebrating a popular Cumbrian music festival has been published after a mammoth trawl through photographic archives.

A Decade of Dancing shines a light on 10 years of Music on the Marr, which has brought some of the folk world’s biggest names to the county.

The 48-page book is packed with pictures from the festival held annually in the village of Castle Carrock near Brampton.

To create it, more than 7,000 images taken by photographer David Ambridge between 2010 and 2019 were examined through the archives.

After much consideration, a total of 170 were chosen for publication. They include some of the star names that have delighted audiences over the years including Wolfstone, Merry Hell, Dan Walsh and Skerryvore.

The book also includes some of the more offbeat moments from the four-day festival – including circus performers, candid shots of festival goers and the occasional summer downpour.

The publication was compiled and edited by David Helliwell and designed by Liquid Studios’ Becca Davidson.

David said: “We are so fortunate to have this wonderful archive of images that has been compiled by David.

“Every year he pops up all over the place, taking an amazing number of pictures that document what has become a much-loved event.

“It seemed obvious we needed to do something more with this historic archive.

“We are a not-for-profit festival, so the aim of the book is two-fold. Hopefully we can raise some money to help us fund next July’s 11th festival. But it’s also a fantastic way to celebrate the great times that people have enjoyed over the last decade.”

The book includes a personal foreword from renowned guitarist Martin Simpson, a festival favourite and twice named Radio 2 Folk Awards’ artist of the year.

  • A Decade of Dancing is available for £14 plus £2 p&p by emailing mombook19@gmail.com
  • Tickets for the festival from July 16 to 19 - are set to go on sale shortly.