During the reign of Henry V111, a group of local villagers formed a travelling troupe of actors known as the 'Barton Players 'who regularly performed in Nottingham and the surrounding neighbourhood, far into the reign of Elizabeth 1. Strangely, some locals have unknowingly revived the tradition in recent times with their annual murder mystery evening performed in the Village Hall. Obviously this is a far cry from the plays of William Shakespeare, which would undoubtedly have formed part of the repertoire in Elizabethan times, although an open-air performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the garden of The Forge was hailed a side -splitting success only a few years ago!