New heritage project with strong Amble roots
Amble Sword Dancers, c.1920. Photograph courtesy of Phil Heaton
A new project to save and celebrate a North East tradition with strong links to Amble is coming to Dry Water Arts this year.
Dry Water Arts has been awarded a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for a project to save and celebrate the tradition of rapper sword making – the specialist craft that has enabled generations of rapper sword dancers to perform their distinctive dance.
Rapper sword dancing is the miners’ dance: a lively sword dance first performed by miners in Northumberland and Durham and now danced all over the world. Amble was one of the early homes of rapper sword dancing, with Amble Sword Dancers associated with the Flanighan family of Amble.
The sword dance tradition has been revived in the town in recent years by Amble Sword. While rapper sword dancing continues to flourish in the North East, across England and internationally, the specialist craft of making the swords is now in the hands of just one man, Frank Lee of Cumbria, and is in danger of disappearing.
Frank, who is 80, is an exceptionally skilled craftsperson and has spent 49 years making the swords used by rapper sword teams. At the heart of the new project is the recording of Frank’s knowledge and expertise. He will demonstrate his sword-making techniques for a film which will document his craft and preserve this knowledge as a resource for future generations.
The project will also celebrate the living tradition of rapper sword dancing and its connections with the communities in which it developed. Activities will include an exhibition at Dry Water Arts, talks and demonstrations by Frank, a concert celebrating rapper dance music, and a range of community workshops and performances.
The project runs from August 2026 to September 2027. It will be launched at Dry Water Arts Centre on 15 November 2026 with a launch event and the opening of the exhibition “The Miners’ Dance”.
