Babworth Arts Festival will mark the launch of the Pilgrim Trail across Nottinghamshire

On Saturday, November 19, at 10am, Coun Madelaine Richardson, Bassetlaw Council chairman, will officially open the Pilgrims Trail and the Babworth Arts Festival.

Then at 10.30am, Retford Business Forum will present cheques worth £200 each to Focus on Young People in Bassetlaw, and Bassetlaw Hospice and this will be followed by a talk by local author, and historian Adrian Gray on “Rebellious Women of Nottinghamshire” at 11am.

On Sunday, November 20, at noon , local tour guide and Pilgrims expert Maggy Watkins will give a talk on Mayflower New Beginnings, with an emphasis on the characters and what happened on the voyage and arrival in America.

Refreshments will be available throughout the weekend and there is free parking in the car park.

The theme for this year’s Arts Festival is New Beginnings, which is reflected in the overall approach of Thanksgiving, and artists wishing to show their work should deliver items to Babworth Church on Friday, November 18, between 10am and 3pm.

The Mayflower Pilgrims story has deep roots in and around Bassetlaw, with Babworth forming the “crucible” where the key elements of Richard Clyfton, John Robinson, William Bradford and William Bradford met and started to form their ideas.

Bradford and Brewster went on to found and run Plimoth Colony in America, and Robinson supported the expedition from Holland, and also founded the Congregational Church.

Pilgrim Churches at Austerfield, Scrooby, Sturton le Steeple, and St Swithun’s Retford which form the Pilgrims Trail will also be open to visitors.