Come Scythe With Us on 8^th August. A one day scything course with Simon Fairlie  at the All Saints Conservation Area at Thorpe Abbotts. Truly amazing value at £7 for the day due to support from South Norfolk District Council. This is the only course using the increasingly popular Austrian Scythe happening in East Anglia this Summer so will be popular. Please contact Simon Beet on 01379 669069 or email allsaintsta@btinternet.com

The Olde Coach House in Brockdish are holding an Open Garden & Daffodil Walk down to the river on Sunday the 12th and Monday the 13th of April from 11am – 4pm.  The event is in aid of Waveney Responders.

There will be stalls, tombola, cakes and refreshments.

The world-renowned keyboard player, and star of television series Grumpy Old Men, lives in the Diss area where the festival is based. And he will be joined by a cast of musicians, comedians and actors including Nicholas Parsons, television comedy producer Charles Garland and Keith Skues, awarded an MBE in 2004 for his services to broadcasting and charity. 

“It always gives me immense pleasure to perform in these ancient and unique buildings, and I am really looking forward to working alongside the talented artists booked for this event,” said Mr Wakeman who lives next door to the Rev Trevor Riess, the priest in charge of the four parishes. 

“Working with the team from the local churches also enables me to see how a few dedicated people ensure that these fabulous buildings are looked after for the benefit of everyone in the community.”

The festival opens with a comedy night with Joe Goodman and special guests at Billingford church on Wednesday May 27, followed by an evening with Nicholas Parsons at All Saints Church, Thorpe Abbots, the following day. He will also chair a live version of Radio 4′s hit show ‘Just a Minute’ at Brockdish church on Friday May 29 that includes Rick Wakeman in the line-up. 

The festival concludes on Saturday May 30 with two performances by Gordon Giltrap, one of the UK’s most respected guitarists, at St Andrew’s Church, Scole. 

Mr Riess said: “The festival embodies the medieval ideal of churches as community centres – places where Christian worship takes place alongside a whole range of other activities that enhance the quality of people’s lives. 

“We are all really looking forward to welcoming this year’s performers as well as the many hundreds of people who will be coming to see them.”

Full story from the Diss Mercury

Wingfield Arts will be fully re-opening on 3 April 2009!

Now owned by Mid-Suffolk Council and called Wingfield Barns, there is a new and growing website – http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/WingfieldArts – with all information, including details of a varied programme of events.

We are very fortunate to have this delightful venue so close to Brockdish. I urge you to explore the website.

Maggi Hambling ‘North Sea Waves’

An exhibition of new paintings on paper

The Old Rectory, Brockdish, Norfolk, IP21 4JJ

Saturday 11th – Sunday 19 October – 2pm to 6pm or by appointment

The celebrated East Anglian artist, Maggi Hambling, is one of the most distinctive artists of her generation – a restless artistic spirit who is equally at home painting George Melly for the National Portrait Gallery or making sculptures using cans of Special Brew. 

In recent years her attention has turned to the coast near her house in Suffolk; her most famous and contentious work being the striking and monumental sculpture ‘Scallop’ on Aldeburgh beach. 

The restless movement of the sea has become an obsession for Hambling and all paintings start with her daily ritual. ‘Early each morning I go down to the sea and try to capture its mood by drawing, and each day is different. Back in the studio, these drawings become paintings. Whether they are tiny or cover the studio wall, I try to make the movement of the waves happen in the paint’.

The exhibition will comprise new oil paintings and her first small, acrylics on paper, where the waves become jewel-like in their intensity, and in their concentration of energy and colour. 

Most works will be for sale with prices starting at £1,000 – very reasonable given Hambling’s current prices. 

An extra bonus will be an illustrated talk by Maggi, in her inimitable, highly entertaining and occasionally scurrilous style, based on her autobiography ‘Maggi Hambling: The Works’ at Brockdish Village hall on Monday 13^th October at 8pm, preceded by a private view at the Rectory from 6pm. Tickets are limited and are £7 each. 

The exhibition is for charity and all profits will be shared between The Laura Case Trust, a medical charity, and Brockdish Church.(Laura is the daughter of David and Anthea Case of Brockdish who was killed in Uganda last year while working as a medical student in a hospital there.) We are very grateful to Maggi and her Marlborough Fine Art, her London gallery, for all their help and encouragement in organising this exhibition

For information on the exhibition and talk, contact David Case at davidcasefineart@btinternet.com, or 01379 668875. Details of the exhibition and all images will also be on www.davidcasefineart.com.

David Case, David Case Fine Art, The Old Rectory, Church Road, Brockdish, Diss, Norfolk IP21 4JJ

On a theme of “All the Saints”, 11.00am – 4.00pm.Refreshments on all days stalls on Saturday. Entrance free together with a warm welcome. Contact for further details Simon Beet on 01379 669068.