RESPECTED folk filmmaker Doc Rowe will be presenting his film Departed Friends ahead of an evening of live music in Ulverston next week.

The Hope & Anchor hosts the screening on Tuesday July 4, which presents a sample from Doc's film library, and includes unique performances from many legendary performers including Mike Waterson, Dave Swarbrick, Louis Killen, and Lancaster's Sam Sherry.

British traditional culture holds some bizarre secrets, and filmmaker, writer, broadcaster and activist Rowe is one of its great chroniclers.

For more than 50 years, he has been recording traditional singers, dancers, May Day celebrations and local rituals, amassing an enormous archive of film, tape, photography and print.

Furness artist John Hall met with Doc in Whitby and invited him to Cumbria as part of his "Seasoning" project.

John says: "The Doc Rowe Archive is a treasure trove for anyone interested in folk song, vernacular arts and social history.

"An hour in Doc's company is time well spent; he can take you from a mob football match in Derbyshire to a sea shanty session in Sidmouth, via the Aldermaston Marches and the Horn Dance at Abbots Bromley.

"This is a great chance to meet Doc, see some of the giants of the folk scene on film, and then listen to the best of our local musicians as part of the build up to the weekend and the Furness Tradition Folk Festival."

The film begins at 7.30pm, and the music session follows. Entrance is free.