Ranscombe Farm Touring Exhibition

November 6, 2013November 6, 2013Leave a comment

What does Ranscombe Farm Reserve mean to you? was a postcard competition organised by Plantlife, an organisation that protects wild plants and wildlife at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve, in partnership with Medway Council, as part of a Heritage Lottery project to continue Plantlife’s on-going education and outreach work engaging and involving local people in it’s wildllfe, landscape and heritage.

Launched in April this year, participants were asked to design a postcard-sized piece of art that illustrated what Ranscombe meant to them. Plantlife were looking for entries that were exciting and original showcasing Ranscombe’s wild flowers, landscape and history. There was an opportunity to win one of 15 prizes to be awarded across four age categories from young children to adults. In addition, the winners’ artwork has been printed as real picture-postcards.

To inspire local people, a series of free creative workshops were organised, run by professional artists at Ranscombe Farm Reserve, and free nature-inspired workshops were also offered to schools across Medway, with a handful of schools taking up the offer. Children created nature-inspired mono-printed flags and designed their own flowers.

The competition closed at the end of July with the final winning entries selected by three judges. The winners attended an awards ceremony on Sunday 1 September, as part of Plantlife’s Woodland Open Day with The Worshipful The Mayor of Medway Councillor Josie Iles as the guest of honour.

To celebrate this competition, an exhibition of the final winning artwork can still be seen in the following libraries across Medway:

· Cuxton Library – now until Tuesday 12^th November

· Luton Library – Tuesday 12^th November – Saturday 23^rd November

· Rochester Library – Monday 25^th November – Saturday 14^th December

You can also find out much more about the work of Plantlife and Ranscombe Farm Reserve with various information leaflets available as well as the opportunity to take home a postcard pack of the winners’ artwork (while stocks last!).

For further information please contact Plantlife on:

Telephone: 01634 292062

www.plantlife.org.uk/ranscombe

Twitter @Ranscombe_Farm

http://www.facebook.com/RanscombeFarm

Day of Dance

November 4, 2013November 4, 2013Leave a comment

Whitstable based fundraising organisation, Trust Sulha, are holding a Day of Dance on Sunday, November 24th at the Horsebridge Arts and Community Centre.

For the paltry amount of just £10, you’ll be able to spend the whole day learning four different dance styles: Ballet, contemporary, street and Spanish, under the expert tutelage of Hasland Dance Studios, the Page Mason School of Dance and Drama and Phoenix Performing Arts.

You must be at least 16 years old and no dance experience is necessary although comfortable shoes and clothes are a must. Bring along a plate of vegetarian food too, for a shared lunch. The day will run form 10am – 5pm.

Trust Sulha helps to educate young Afghan refugees and aims to bring peace through education. To book your ticket, visit the We Got Tickets page here.

Creative writing and heroic adventures

October 9, 2013January 20, 2019Leave a comment

The last weekend of the Rochester Literature Festival approaches!

Rochester Literature Festival

We’re halfway through but there’s still lots more to do!

Whether you’re an experienced writer or a fledging, stretching those itchy pen fingers for the first time, we have three opportunities coming up for you to hone your skills and find inspiration from like minded people. You’ll find links to the booking forms highlighted.

Firstly, Write Around Town, led by our friends Barry and Sam of ME4Writers. Join them on a tour of our fair city, and let its stories unlock your creativity with creative writing exercises.

Next, the Potlatch – bring something to the table. Pen(s) and paper are a must, together with your favourite book, or part thereof, that you feel interprets our Other Worlds, Other Voices theme.

Our final workshop is led by Philip Kane. In From Sorcery to Starships, Philip will help us to craft and explore a world of our own creation that can…

View original post 242 more words

The Little Chapel, Guernsey – smallest chapel in the world?

September 25, 20131 Comment

If you know different, you’ll have to let me know!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We discovered this little gem on holiday recently. It’s both a labour of love and a work of art, begun in 1914 by a Brother Deodat of Les Vauxbelets. On his arrival there, he set out to recreate the grotto and basilica of Lourdes and, with a few stops and starts (read the history here) the one you see was finally finished. The chapel is meticulously and gloriously decorated with pebbles, seashells and broken china, and guardianship is now in the hands of the Blanchelande Girls College.

Rochester’s Dance Junction to host Performing Arts College Taster Day

September 22, 2013Leave a comment

A chance to learn from experts in their fields is offered at a Taster Day at Dance Junction, Rochester, on Sunday 29th September.

The Centre – Performing Arts College is a small, highly selective and exciting young college offering the best in dance, musical theatre and dance teacher training for students aged 16+. The comprehensive and intensive three year full time course is aimed at the highly motivated student who wishes to pursue a career in theatre performance or dance teaching.

The Centre offers small class sizes, a highly regarded teaching faculty and its own agency. This level of individual attention and outstanding teaching coupled with fully equipped, air conditioned dance studios, an on-site dance shop and full access to the largest independently owed gym in Europe, adjacent to Rochester Dance Junction, enables The Centre to offer a holistic approach to training the performer of today.

Graduates of The Centre, are currently performing, choreographing and teaching worldwide. To find out more please visit their website.

To allow potential students the opportunity to work with some of the inspirational members of our teaching faculty they are running a Taster Day on Sunday 29 September from 10am – 2.30pm. Classes will include Hip Hop with Carrie-Anne Ingrouille: Blaze, Into The Hoods, Some Like It Hip Hop. Ballet with Nicola Moriarty: The Royal Ballet. Musical Theatre with Paul Harvard: author Acting Through Song and former Head of Musical Theatre at The Urdang Academy.

Their annual Open Day will be held this year on Sunday 10 November 12pm – 4pm. The day will consist of a tour of their fantastic facilities, the chance to meet current students and members of the teaching faculty and see first hand the outstanding work currently being produced at The Centre.

To reserve a place on one or both of the above events please send contact them via the website or call on 01634 848 009.

Storytelling at the Hastings Arms

September 22, 2013September 22, 2013Leave a comment

Rochester LitFest exhibiting artist Fitzy selected for ‘Draw’

September 19, 2013September 19, 2013Leave a comment

The very first artist to submit their work to the Rochester Literature Festival exhibition ‘Other Worlds, Other Voices’ has been selected to exhibit at a prestigious London event by the Society of Graphic Fine Art.

Glenn ‘FITZY’ Fitzpatrick, an artist based in Canterbury, has been selected for DRAW 13, the 92nd Annual Open Exhibition of the Society of Graphic Fine Art (SGFA). The exhibition, which will run from 30th September to 12th October at the Menier Gallery in London, will be officially opened by Tim Lihoreau, Creative Director of the radio station Classic FM.

The SGFA is the only national art society dedicated exclusively to drawing. This year’s exhibition attracted submissions from artists across the UK and Europe. 219 works of art by both members and non-members made the final selection. Traditional and contemporary drawing techniques will be on display in a wide range media; from etching and aquatint to charcoal and sgraffito. The scale of the Menier Gallery gives scope to hang works in a range of sizes from the tiny 6 by 4 inch lino cut, to an oak panel with egg tempera and gilding at 65 inches tall. Society members will give free talks and demonstrations during the exhibition.

Fitzy, a Gulf War Veteran 1991, started drawing images on tanks, icons of identity and luck. After leaving the army he pursued an art career and finished art school with an M.A. in Fine Art (2001). Since then his choice of weapon is pen, a medium he can utilise with great intricacy, creating highly engaging artworks that command both distance and close proximity for viewing, allowing the voyeur to discover drawings within drawings which always reveals a different narrative to the first encounter.

The SGFA was established in 1919 to promote good drawing and draughtsmanship. An early President was Sir Frank Brangwyn. Past members include Dame Laura Knight, and both Ronald Searle and the painter-printmaker John Piper exhibited with the Society. Honorary members today include Royal Academician Professor Ken Howard OBE, the award-winning illustrator, Victor Ambrus, and Ronald Maddox, President of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour. The Society’s members work in both traditional and contemporary styles, in all drawing and printmaking media. Membership elections are held twice each year, with applicants submitting a portfolio of their artwork. The Society organizes local and regional events throughout the year, culminating in an annual open exhibition in London.

Find Fitzy on Twitter

Society of Graphic Fine Art

Other Worlds, Other Voices Festival: A summary of events

September 15, 2013January 20, 2019Leave a comment

The full programme for the Rochester Literature Festival ‘Other Worlds, Other Voices’. Individual events can be booked, or a Festival Pass that gets you into everything for less than booking the events individually. Fantastic value, if I say so myself 🙂

Rochester Literature Festival

Three award-winning writers feature in our very first Rochester Literature Festival, an eclectic and imaginative ten-day programme of events inspired by the overarching theme, ‘Other Worlds, Other Voices’. The festival begins on 3rd October to coincide with National Poetry Day and runs to 13th October.

The festival opens with multi-award winning, Guyana-born writer Maggie Harris reading from a selection of her moving, resonant work in celebration of Black History Month in the first of two events in association with Medway Libraries. Maggie Harris is now based in the county of Kent and she has won countless accolades for her work, both at home and abroad. She will also be leading a participatory poetry workshop on Saturday 5th October.

In the evening of 5th October, Rochester-based Sarah Hehir, who won the 2013 BBC Writer’s Prize for her radio play ‘Bang Up’, first broadcast on Radio 4 in August, will attend a…

View original post 666 more words

Medway: Brilliant or crap?

August 18, 2013August 18, 201314 Comments

Freelance journalist, Sam Jordison, has just released details of his latest book, Crap Towns, a tongue in cheek look at Britain’s urban sprawls. I don’t know how you nominated which town should be included but some Medway folk decided that our town* deserved a spot inside the covers.

Now don’t get me wrong, I know Medway isn’t perfect but find me a town in Britain that is. With the exception of the idyllic one road villages scattered across the country (and look closer, you’re sure to find even they have their less desirable spots) every town will have the same issues as anywhere in Medway – the late night revellers and other social concerns. The difference in Medway is the amount of people doing positive things to give the local community a reason to be proud. And yes, while there’s a nice line in self deprecating humour “If Kent is the garden of England, Medway is its compost heap” and we’re happy to take the piss out of ourselves, we’ll jump to the defence of our patch. There’s a huge number of individuals and groups working to make Medway a better place and it’s frustrating when some residents clearly can’t be bothered to find out about them.

No-one likes councils, it’s just a fact of life – doesn’t matter who’s in charge; But – free festivals abound for Medway’s residents, beginning with the Chinese New Year celebration in February and moving through the summer with the English Festival; Sweeps; Dickens; Fuse; Armed Forces Day; River Festival; Under Siege; Medieval Merriment; Will Adams, and then in December, we have the Dickensian Christmas. And they’re packed, not just with locals enjoying them but also bringing in people from outside the area to spend their cash in our local businesses.

If live music is what you want, we have Homespun, ME1, TEA Concerts, Medway Eyes, Motherboy Noise, Suburban Kings, Manny’s Music and more, holding festivals and free gigs night after night in local pubs and clubs. Phil Dillon of Medway Eyes is a major fan and supporter – check out his Flickr stream.

We’re rich in art and culture activities, and having a local consortium recently awarded Creative People and Places funding, this is only going to increase, with more people engaging the community in arts activities. Aligned to those already doing it – Rochester Literature Festival, LV21 and Creatabot to name but three – ongoing exhibits throughout the year at our galleries and other, more unusual spaces, and you’ll be tripping over arts activity from the moment you cross your doorstep. Assuming, of course, that you’re one of those positive residents who can actually be bothered to seek out them out. What’s on guides (both council and privately funded, such as WOW magazine) can be readily picked up or received through your letter box. Search on line for what’s going on in Medway and you’ll be inundated with results.

Heritage: Absolutely no excuse to not know about our history with the RE Museum; Historic Dockyard, Fort Amherst, Medway Archive Centre, the Guildhall Museum and Medway Libraries activities. Plus, it’s all around you, living history in the walls of the castle, cathedral and other ancient buildings.

Sport and hobbies: Loads of sports clubs encourage all ages to get involved, from badminton or sailing. Want something less strenuous? How about archaeology or Viking re – enactment?

Residents’ Associations: The community folks who, with or without funding, work tirelessly to make their area better: South Shore RA; Chatham Big Local; All Saints Community; DNA; White Road Group.

Parks and open spaces: Our landscapes are lovely, with Riverside, Ranscombe, The Vines, Victoria Gardens, Broomhill Park and so many more, most with ‘Friends of’ groups looking after them. Initiatives like Full Frontal Gardens have brought colour and nature to brick and concrete streets.

All the above mentioned are a mere snapshot of what can be found happening in Medway. Whatever your hobby, interest or work, you’ll find others like you and the means by which to meet them and share your enthusiasm. Many community activities are free, so why waste time and energy being negative? Embrace what’s on offer to enrich your life.

*Medway isn’t actually a town. It’s a river, upon which sit the five areas that make up the Medway Towns: Rainham, Gillingham, Chatham, Strood and the City of Rochester – we don’t recognize admin errors.