A Music of Grief: Classical Music and The First World War – Wymondham Norfolk, 3 June

This year’s Wymondham Music Festival music lecture by Dr Kate Kennedy is A Music of Grief, Classical Music and The First World War. The lecture is free to attend and starts at 7.30pm on Tuesday 3 June, at Fairland Church Centre. The event is supported by Rotary Club of Wymondham and Fairland United Reformed Church.

Dr Kennedy will be talking about and playing music by Ivor Gurney, FS Kelly, William Denis Browne and George Butterworth. All four fought in World War I, and only Ivor Gurney survived.

Kate Kennedy explained: “I'll be looking at favourite songs, that are some of the best loved in the repertoire of English song, and some that I have only recently unearthed in archives from around the world. These songs have never been heard, but will be broadcast for the first time on BBC Radio 3 on 24 June, a recording of the recital/drama, The Fateful Voyage, part of the City of London Festival.”

Dr Kennedy is a guest on BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week, from 16-20 June and will be talking about Ivor Gurney every day, and will be on BBC Radio 3 Essential Classics from 23-27 June talking about all aspects of World War I.  She is a Research Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge lecturing in both the Music and English Faculties, and has published widely on composers and poets of the First World War. She is the editor of The Silent Morning: Culture, Memory and the Armistice 1918, and her biography of Ivor Gurney is forthcoming.

George Butterworth (1885-1916), was a composer, critic and collector of folk songs and dance. He joined up as a Lieutenant in August 1914 and was killed on the Somme on 5 August 1916.

William Denis Browne  (1888-1915) was a composer, pianist, organist and music critic. A close friend of Rupert Brooke, he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Division with Brooke and died at Gallipoli on 4 June 1915.

Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) was a poet and composer. He volunteered in 1914 as a private, although was initially rejected because of poor eyesight; he finally succeeded in joining the 2nd and 5th Gloucestershire Regiment in 1915. He was gassed in September 1917 and returned home. He wrote many poems and at least 300 songs and other instrumental music. Ivor Gurney had very fragile mental health and volunteered, as he believed the war could help improve his health. He died on 26 December 1937 at the City of London mental hospital.

FS Kelly (1881-1916) was born in Sydney, Australia and went to Oxford University as a music scholar. He was also an oarsman and rowed in the 1908 Olympics. Kelly was both a composer and pianist. In September 1914, he joined the Royal Naval Division, and went to Gallipoli in 1915.  Kelly was a friend of Rupert Brooke and wrote the Elegy for harp and strings, in memory of Brooke. He fought in France in 1916 and was killed on 13 November on the Somme.

Wymondham Music Festival is centred on Festival Fortnight, June 21 to July 6, but with events from May onwards. More than 30 events, many of them free, will be staged in venues across the town during Festival Fortnight. Tickets are on sale at Puff’s Toyshop, Market Place, Wymondham and at www.wymfestival.org.uk. Save £1 on tickets booked by June 14.

For event enquiries, contact the Festival office, t. 01953 333500.

Fairhaven Garden Bamboo Present for new Thrigby Hall Red Panda - Norfolk

Red panda Louise enjoying the Fairhaven bamboo

A young female red panda, born last September, and newly arrived at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens from Colchester Zoo, was welcomed to Norfolk with a gift of its favourite food, bamboo, which grows at nearby Fairhaven Woodland Water Garden.

Louise Rout, Manager of Fairhaven Garden visited Thrigby on Thursday, May 22 to present the bamboo as part of an ongoing programme of support. The panda has been named Louise in recognition of this support.

Ian Guest Fairhaven, Sophie Hodds Thrigby, Louise Rout and John Debbage Fairhaven with the bamboo delivery

Bamboo is the panda’s staple diet. They have fore limbs and ‘fingers’ able to reach and hold slippery stems and leaves. More nutritious items like eggs are added to their diet at Thrigby.

The red panda is a smaller relative of the giant panda and is a native of the Himalayan foothills of India, Nepal and China. Red pandas are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. There are fewer than 10,000 adult red pandas in the wild and numbers are declining.  The new Thrigby red panda is a genetically important young female and part of an international breeding programme. She brings the number of pandas at Thrigby to three.

Ken Sims, Director of Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens, said: “It is very kind of Louise and the Fairhaven team to deliver fresh Broads bamboo to welcome the panda, which is settling well into her new environment.”

Louise Rout, Manager Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden said: “We were pleased to bring some of our bamboo as a welcome gift for the new panda, giving her a taste of Norfolk in her new home. It’s a lovely surprise to have the panda named after me.”

Bamba the red panda with Fairhaven bamboo

Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens is at Filby near Great Yarmouth, t. 01493 369477, www.thrigbyhall.co.uk. The Wildlife Gardens open every day at 10am.

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is at South Walsham, t. 01603 270449, www.fairhavengarden.co.uk and is open every day from 10am to 5pm.

Norwich Baroque with Richard Tunnicliffe at Wymondham Abbey, Norfolk – Saturday, May 31

Norwich Baroque at Wymondham Abbey in 2012

Norwich Baroque, with cellist Richard Tunnicliffe, presents The Bach Family and The Baroque Cello at Wymondham Abbey on Saturday, May 31 at 7.30pm, in partnership with Wymondham Music Festival.  

Norwich Baroque is celebrating the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-88) and Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749). The programme includes C P E Bach’s Cello Concerto in A major and J S Bach’s 3rd Brandenburg Concerto.

Norwich Baroque will be joined by Richard Tunnicliffe, principal cellist with The Avison Ensemble. He is also a key member of Fretwork, described by the London Evening Standard as ‘the finest viol consort on the planet’.

Tickets: adult £16, concessions £14 and under 18 £3, are on sale at Prelude Records, St Giles Street, Norwich, t. 01603 628319 and Puff’s Toyshop, Wymondham Market Place.

Formed in 2006 Norwich Baroque specialises in fresh and vibrant interpretations of music by popular and less well know Baroque composers; from Handel, Bach and Vivaldi, to Avison and Mudge.

For more information about Wymondham Music Festival see www.wymfestival.org.uk, t. 01953 333500, e. office@wymfestival.org.uk.

Maids Head Hotel - Norwich City of Ale Boost for Fairhaven Boathouse Restoration

Pictured in the Maids Head Bar are Louise Rout, Manager Fairhaven Garden, Alex Youngman (Assistant Restaurant Manager) and Christine Malcolm, the Maids Head's General Manager.

The Maids Head Hotel is supporting the restoration of  Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden’s 19th century thatched boathouse, during the Norwich City of Ale festival 2014. The hotel will be donating 5p to the boathouse project, for every pint of Maids Head Ale, Woodforde’s Wherry and Flagondry sold at the Maids Head Bar, from 22 May to 1 June.

Just over £3,000 has been donated since the Fairhaven public appeal to raise £15000, by sponsoring sheafs of sedge or reed, was launched at the end of April to help complete the restoration of one of the last remaining traditional wet boathouses on the Broads. It costs £7 to sponsor a sheaf of reed, £10 for a sheaf of sedge and  £1.75 for a brotch pin, which secures the thatch.

Fairhaven boathouse

Christine Malcolm, General Manager, the Maids Head Hotel said: “Many of our guests visit the Broads and we are pleased to be involved with the preservation of an important aspect of the area’s history. We are looking forward to a busy City of Ale festival and hope to sponsor several sheafs of reed.”

Louise Rout, Manager Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden said: “Thank you very much to Christine Malcolm and the Maids Head team for their support and encouragement. I hope the City of Ale festival goes well and that there are lots of visitors to the Maids Head Bar.”

The Maids Head is staging a free City of Ale event on the evening of Tuesday 27 May with Humpty Dumpty Brewery, who will be running a tutored ale tasting session from 7.30pm to 9pm, featuring Little Sharpie, Humpty Dumpty Ale, Broadland Sunrise and Red Mill. Booking is essential, t. 01603 272008 or email events@maidsheadhotel.co.uk.

Donations to the Fairhaven boathouse restoration project can be made at www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/fairhaven or in person at Fairhaven Garden, School Road, South Walsham NR13 6DZ,            t. 01603 270449, enquiries@fairhavengarden.co.uk.

Great Yarmouth Heritage Walk – Whitsun Holiday Special – South Quay and St George’s - Wednesday, May 28, 2014

St George's Theatre Great Yarmouth

Explore historic Great Yarmouth on a special Whitsun Holiday Heritage Walk on Wednesday, May 28, taking in South Quay and St George's Theatre. The walk starts at 2pm from the Fishermen’s Hospital Gates in the Market Place and lasts approx. 1½ hours.

Places must be booked in advance on 01493 846346, or at Great Yarmouth Tourist Information Centre, Marine Parade. Prices: £6.50 adults, £4 children (7-16), under 7’s free, price includes refreshments at St George’s Pavilion.  Twenty maximum on the walk, so book early (10 minimum for guided walk to take place).

South Quay was once described as the finest quay in all Europe. Learn about the area’s stunning architecture; find out about Yarmouth’s witches and The Tolhouse Museum, the oldest gaol in the country; visit newly refurbished St George’s Theatre and explore its stunning interior.

For details of Great Yarmouth’s full programme of Heritage Walks see www.heritage-walks.co.uk, or pick up a leaflet at Great Yarmouth Tourist Information Centre.

Fairhaven Garden Norfolk Broads Half Term Family Events May 24 to June 1, 2014

Candelabra Primula - Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden

There is a packed programme of family activities at Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden, South Walsham, during half term week: Bug Week Bonanza (May 24-June 1), Candelabra Primula Walk (May 25), Bug Day with the RSPB (May 27) and Tree ID Walk (May 31).

All events are included in the entry charge to the garden, £6.10 adult, £5.60 concessions, £3.60 child (under 5 free).

Bug Week Bonanaza, May 24 to June 1, daily 10am to 5pm. Search the woodland garden for as many mini beasts as you can find. Then tick them off your list to win a small prize.

Candelabra Primula Walk, May 25 at 11am. Find out about the garden’s famous candelabra primulas during this guided walk through the woodland garden with Head Gardener Ian Guest.

Bug Day with the RSPB, May 27, 11am to 3pm. Take part in a bug hunt, make a home for your garden mini beasts, and create some wild bug art.

Tree ID Walk, May 31, 10.30am to 12.30pm. Want to sort out your birch from your beech? Find out about the amazing variety of trees in the woodland garden and gain confidence in your tree identification with Jon Tyler from Wildforwoods. Booking essential, sorry no dogs allowed at this event.

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is at South Walsham, nine miles east of Norwich, signposted off A47 at B1140 junction, t. 01603 270449, enquiries@fairhavengarden.co.uk,  www.fairhavengarden.co.uk.

The garden is open daily all year (closed Christmas Day), also open on Wednesdays until 9pm from May to the end of August, tearoom, gift shop and plant sales.

There is wheelchair access throughout the garden, including a Sensory Garden. Visitors requiring special facilities are advised to telephone in advance, mobility scooters available. Dogs are welcome on leads; small charge to cover poop scoop.

Wymondham Music Festival Norfolk – Town Busking Day – Saturday, May 24

Wymondham Music Festival's  annual Town Busking Day returns on Saturday, May 24, from 10am. More than 50 musicians took part in 2013’s event and it is hoped that there will be an equally good turnout this year.

Individual musicians and groups are very welcome and should register in the marquee on the Market Place between 10am and 12noon, or call 01953 333500.  Town Busking Day is supported by South Norfolk Council.

Richard Elliott, Chairman Wymondham Music Festival said: “The Town Busking Day is one of our well-established events. Musicians perform all over town creating a wonderful atmosphere. If you have never busked before do come along on Saturday, May 24 and join in the fun.”

Wymondham Music Festival is centred on Festival Fortnight, June 21 to July 6, but with events from May onwards. More than 30 events, many of them free, will be staged in venues across the town during Festival Fortnight. Tickets are on sale at Puff’s Toyshop, Market Place, Wymondham and at www.wymfestival.org.uk. Save £1 on tickets booked by June 14.

For event enquiries, contact the Festival office, t. 01953 333500, e. office@wymfestival.org.uk.

Broads Authority staff take on 25km to mark 25 years for Love the Broads

Staff at the Broads Authority will be running, walking or cycling 25km on Saturday, May 17 to celebrate the organisation’s 25th anniversary and raise money for the Love the Broads charity for  projects to protect and nurture Britain’s magical waterland. Sponsorship donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/broads-authority.

Dozens of staff will be taking off from Whitlingham and continuing along Weaver’s Way to Loddon, where the journey will end with a well-earned barbecue washed down with Woodforde’s Flagondry – an ale especially brewed to mark the Authority’s silver anniversary. Walkers will be setting off from Whitlingham at 8.30am and cyclists will be following at 12noon for those planning a leisurely ride and 12.30pm for the more competitive. One runner will also go from Whitlingham with the walkers, arriving early to help set up the party.

Broads Authority Chief Executive Dr John Packman said: “I speak on behalf of all staff and volunteers when I say how proud we are to be part of an organisation that has made such strides in managing and looking after this precious part of the national park family.

“Twenty-five years is a significant milestone and it is important that we celebrate the Authority and all its achievements during that time. My thanks go to all our staff and volunteers for making those achievements possible.”

All sponsorship raised by the effort will go to the Love the Broads charity, which administers projects to benefit conservation, environment and tourism facilities within the Broads and its immediate surroundings.

Fairhaven Garden Spring Plant Fair, Saturday, May 24 - Norfolk Broads

Fairhaven Garden Candelabra Primula 2014

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden at South Walsham in the heart of the Norfolk Broads is staging its fourth annual Spring Plant Fair on Saturday, May 24, from 10am to 2pm. The event showcases specialist independent nurseries from Norfolk and Suffolk, offering the opportunity to buy unusual varieties of plants with expert advice and plant identification.

There’s also a special 30-minute guided walk at 11am to view the garden’s famous candelabra primulas. Free entry and parking for the Plant Fair and £5 garden entry (special offer) to join the primula walk.

Nurseries attending are Green Pastures Nursery (shrubs and perennials), Tower Plants (pelagoniums), Pickerings Plants (bedding plants), Cottage Memories (roses and perennials), Helen’s 4 Seasons Plants (winter interest shrubs and herbaceous perennials), Predator Plants (carnivorous plants), George Debbage (perennials and annuals), and Fairhaven Plant Sales (candelabra primulas and other Fairhaven plants).

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is at South Walsham, nine miles east of Norwich, signposted off A47 at B1140 junction, t. 01603 270449. The garden is open daily all year (closed Christmas Day), tearoom, gift shop and plant sales. Garden entry is £6.10 adult, £5.60 concessions and £3.60 child (under 5 free).

There is wheelchair access throughout the garden, including a Sensory Garden. Visitors requiring special facilities are advised to telephone in advance, mobility scooters available. Dogs are welcome on leads; small charge to cover poop scoop.

Raveningham Gardens Spring Flowers Weeks - Norfolk

Raveningham - The Bacon Garden, photograph Anne Green Armitage

Raveningham Gardens Spring Flower Weeks, part of the Broads Outdoors Festival are from Monday 12 May to Friday 16 May and Monday 19 to Friday 23 May, open daily 11am to 4pm (closed Saturday and Sunday).

Flowers include ox eye daisies, birds foot trefoil, pink campion, cowslips, meadow buttercup, sorrel, ragged robin, snakeshead fritillaries and yellow rattle on the wild flower meadow and enjoy late bulbs including tulips, forsythia and pulmonaria in the garden.

The 18th century Walled Kitchen Garden with its large glasshouses will be open and visitors will also be able to enjoy views across the new lake established at the turn of the Millennium and the contemporary sculpture in the gardens.  Tea and cakes available.

Garden entry is adult £4, concessions £3.50 and under 16 free. T. 01508 548480, www.raveningham.com.

Raveningham Gardens (NR14 6NS) is 10 miles south east of Norwich, signposted off the A146 at Hales, then B1136

Wymondham Music Festival Launch – Saturday, May 10 - Norfolk

Norfolk Schools' Brass Band

The 19th annual Wymondham Music Festival, centred on Festival Fortnight, June 21 to July 6, but with events from May, will be launched in Wymondham Market Place on Saturday, May 10 at 10am, with an open-air performance from Norfolk Schools’ Brass Band, supported by South Norfolk Council.

The Festival brochure, available from May 10, features more than 70 events, with 32 during Festival Fortnight. Events are organised by both the Festival committee and other groups. Many of the events during Festival Fortnight are free in venues across the historic South Norfolk market town.

Tickets for Festival Fortnight concerts go on sale on May 10 at Puff’s Toyshop Wymondham Market Place or online here. Save £1 on Festival Fortnight tickets booked by June 14. For general enquiries t. 01953 333500, email office@wymfestival.org.uk.

Enjoy performances by national, regional and local musicians with everything from Schumann, Debussy, Beethoven and JS Bach to Americana, English folk, swing, jazz, flamenco, bluegrass, African, Balkan, Gypsy and Indian music and contemporary composers and singer-songwriters.

Festival Chairman Richard Elliott said: "Soon we shall be converting months of planning into music - it's a really exciting time for everyone. The Wymondham area will be buzzing this spring and summer. Festival Fortnight is going to be a real treat for music fans, with its superb mix of classical, folk, jazz and contemporary music. Many of the events are free, so do come along, relax and enjoy our diverse programme in this beautiful market town."

Early events include the annual Wymondham Town Busking Day on Saturday, May 24 and Raevennan Husbandes, winner of Future Radio’s Next Big Thing (2012) in the Market Place from 10am on Saturday, May 31. Then Norwich Baroque presents The Bach Family and the Baroque Cello at Wymondham Abbey at 7.30pm on May 31

Festival Fortnight kicks off at 10am on June 21 with Around the World Through Music and Dance, a new free family event in Wymondham Abbey and churchyard. Enjoy Moxy Garbanzo playing Eastern European tunes and Sokoshumba performing colourful African music on mbira, hosho and djembe. There’ll be Bollywood and Indian classical dancing and Strictly Flamenco, along with Adrian Palka’s Sound Table.

Bella Tromba at Wymondham Abbey, June 21

Other highlights at Wymondham Abbey are Bella Tromba – jazz, classical and early English music (June 21); Joy and James Lisney (June 26), cello and piano featuring Schumann, Debussy and Beethoven; Collegium (June 28), a new Baroque ensemble performing Telemann and Bach and The Goldman Ensemble (July 2) recreating their 2008 piano recital at St Martin-in-the-Fields, which they presented without their pianist who was stuck in traffic.  Enjoy an evening full of comedy, theatre and music from Bach to Joplin.

There’s also a programme of lunchtime recitals at the Abbey and a special performance by Matthew Schellhorn of Ian Wilson’s new piano masterpiece, ‘Stations’ (June 29), to celebrate the Abbey’s new icons of the Stations of the Cross.

And on July 3 at the Abbey, it’s ‘Of Night And Light And The Half Light’ with John Law piano and Iain Ballamy saxophone, exploring the ground hovering between classical and jazz using contemporary groove-based rhythms and contemplative music.

The annual Midsummer Jazz Picnic returns to Becketswell (June 23) with Simon Nelson’s Dixie Mix, fresh from supporting Rod Stewart’s UK tour and Is u Iz – Ali Huiellebecq, saxophone and Hugh Stanners, accordion.

Pasadena Roof Orchestra at Central Hall Wymondham, June 27

Central Hall has a great line up beginning with Norwich newgrass string band Feral Mouth (June 24) performing their ‘raucous irresistible bluegrass with rock n roll flair’ – Louise Rodgers, Americana UK.  Then the world famous Pasadena Roof Orchestra is in town on June 27, followed by singer-songwriter Edwina Hayes (July 4), ‘the sweetest voice in England’.  Arhai and Musica Planina (July 5) complete the Central Hall series with a lively evening of Balkan folk music.

Head to the Market Place for Brother Pit’s Acoustic Americana (June 28) and Klezmerized! playing lively danceable music with Middle Eastern, Gypsy and Balkan influences (July 5).

The annual Teddy Bears’ Picnic is at Kings Head Meadow on June 29, with gentle musical fun for the under-fives from Charlotte Arculus and Hayley Moyses. And Norwich favourites The He Hews wrap up Festival Fortnight with the Family Finale at the Baptist Church (July 6), an afternoon of ‘sophisticated silliness’ from flapper to disco with a New Orleans twist.

Sponsor a Sheaf to Save Fairhaven Garden’s Thatched 19th Century Boathouse - Norfolk Broads

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden, at South Walsham, has launched a public appeal to help save the 19th century thatched boathouse beside the garden’s private broad. Visitors and friends of the garden are being asked to sponsor a sheaf of local Ranworth reed, or a sheaf of sedge, or buy a hazel brotch pin for the project.

Sponsor a Sheaf, Ian Guest Head Gardener (left) and Louise Rout Garden Manager (right) with supporters Gordon and Truda Craig and Lucie Ruddock launch the appeal in front of the boathouse

Structural work on the boathouse and thatching will cost £35,000. The Fairhaven Garden Trust has raised £20,000 for the project, including a £4,000 donation from Geoffrey Watling Charity, but a further £15,000 is needed to complete the restoration of one of the last remaining traditional wet boathouses on the Broads.

Fairhaven needs 1,500 sheafs of reed and 100 sheafs of sedge to complete the roof, along with 2000 brotch pins; £7 will buy a sheaf of reed,  £10 for a sheaf of sedge and a brotch pin for £1.75. Donations can be made online here or in person at Fairhaven Garden, School Road, South Walsham NR13 6DZ, t. 01603 270449, enquiries@fairhavengarden.co.uk.

Fairhaven Garden's 19th century thatched boathouse

Louise Rout, Manager, Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden said: “We have been planning the restoration of the boathouse for a number of years, gradually raising funds, but a recent structural survey has shown that we need to act soon to save the building. We will keep a record of all reed, sedge and brotch pin donations and are planning a Facebook gallery of donors with their sheafs.  We would also love to hear from anyone who would like to do a sponsored walk or run in aid of the boathouse fund, or stage a fundraising coffee morning or tea party. We would be very happy to come along to special events and talk about the garden and plans for the boathouse.”

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is open daily 10am to 5pm (closed Christmas Day and closes 4pm in the winter), also open Wednesdays until 9pm from May to the end of August. Entry is adult £6.10, concessions £5.60 and child £3.60 (under 5 free).