Dear Members,

In April Hilary Williams gave an excellent lecture entitled ‘Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’: the Anatomy of a Masterpiece’. The visuals illustrating the talk enhanced the clear exposition. Hilary is an expert in the field of Seventeenth Century Art and her depth of knowledge and humorous delivery ensured that we all left the lecture knowing more about this iconic painting.

There are still places available on the Perry Green trip on the 10th June. Although the places that include the house tour are all filled there is still much to see, including the sculptures and the War Art Exhibition. The cost for the trip without the house tour is £64.

After the vote to change the venue for our annual lunch, Janet our Membership secretary has booked Congham Hall for November 20th. Please put this date into your diary, more detail will be be sent out in a flier but the cost will be £33 for two courses or £36 for three courses and this price includes tea or coffee at the end of the meal. 

The lecture on May 14th is entitled ‘Venice and the East’. Venice’s unique position brought the city into contact with the different powers of the Eastern

Mediterranean including the Byzantine Empire, the Mamluks and the Ottomans. This lecture explores the ways in which these interactions left their mark on the artistic heritage of the city as can be seen in Venetian architecture, painting and the decorative arts.

The lecturer Dr Antonia Gatward Cevizli is an independent art historian specialising in both Italian Renaissance art and Ottoman art. Antonia has lectured for a number of institutions including Sabancı University, Istanbul; Sotheby’s Institute of Art; the National Gallery; the V&A Academy and The Courtauld summer school. Her interests are wide-ranging and she also worked across the collections of both Tate Modern and Tate Britain as a professional guide.

We would like to remind you that the AGM starts at 2.10pm on Thursday 14th May and we look forward to seeing you.

Best wishes

Claire and Jean

Dear Members,

The March lecture, ‘Images of the British Empire’, was an interesting look at how and why the British view of themselves and of their subjects changed over the period of imperial rule. The talk was well illustrated with clear images that John Stevens used to good effect to explain his themes. Good  lecturers stimulate their audience to think and to discuss and we thought that John achieved this with his lively delivery and academic rigour.

The committee feel that it is time for a change of both venue and date for the Advent lunch. We were wondering whether Congham Hall in mid November would be a better option and so before the March talk, we asked for a show of hands of those in favour and those who would wish to stay at Knights Hill. The response was overwhelmingly in favour of the move to Congham Hall and so the committee will explore this option.

The annual subscription was not increased last year and we have been advised by The Arts Society that our subscription is too low (the average annual subscription across the UK is £65). The committee proposes to increase our subscription to £60 for 2026-2027. This amounts to £6.66 per lecture and we hope that you feel this is good value. The accounts show that we will have made a loss this year and the subscription increase will hopefully put us into a more secure financial situation. Please carry on with your good work in recruiting friends as both members and visitors.

You will have seen the flier for the trip to Perry Green. This is a follow up to our lecture last season on Henry Moore. This year not only are the iconic sculptures on display but there is an exhibition  of his war art. You need to book your place on this trip as soon as possible.

Lastly, we would like to invite one or two volunteers to be in charge of the projector and laptop. It would be advantageous to have two people like we have for the sound system in case one is not able to attend a talk. It involves arriving a bit early at around 2pm to set up  the equipment which needs to be packed away at the end as well. We are sure that Michael Walker, who has done this for many years, would be more than happy to show you the ropes. Please do speak to us if you are interested and willing!

Our April lecture is entitled ‘Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’: the Anatomy of a Masterpiece’. Many of us will have seen this iconic work on visits to Amsterdam and been amazed by its size and scope. This talk examines the painting’s commission, the characters in the painting, strange images, such as the woman and the chicken and its history.

Hilary Williams is a specialist in 17th century art with a particular interest in Rembrandt. She has lectured at the British Museum and at the Wallace Collection as well as leading private tours of Buckingham Palace.

We look forward to seeing you on the 9th April.

Best wishes

Jean and Claire

Dear Members,

                       As I look out of the window at yet more rain it was good to attend a lecture that focussed on Fashion and Fame. The subjects of John Singer Sargent’s pictures were elegant and wealthy. They would have to be, as the Worth gown alone would have cost between twenty and thirty thousand pounds in our money! The full length portrait cost  about one hundred and twenty thousand pounds. The largest collection of Sargent’s work is in Tate Britain, so look out for them the next time you visit.

It was good to see the exhibition of the paintings done by the Art Group at the back of the hall on Thursday. If you want to find out more about the group, have a word with Pat Bray at the next lecture.

Last year’s Henry Moore lecture sparked interest in a visit to Perry Green. The flier accompanying this news letter will tell you more about the proposed visit. Numbers at the venue are limited and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

The committee have agreed that we should publicise the tour to Naples organised by North West Norfolk Arts Society. There are a few places available. To find out more click on the link which will give you details. Some members went on this year’s tour to Glasgow and spoke highly of it. Gerald Pepper, the organiser, tells me that the closing date is March 13th 2026.

https://us10.campaign-archive.com/?u=191655f8ac0296fcef86b385d&id=8a3c18d374

The committee is pleased to say that membership has increased to 125. We now regularly get 16 or 17 visitors who comment on the welcoming atmosphere; so thank you for playing your part in achieving this.

Our next lecture is entitled ‘Images of the British Empire’.At the turn of the twentieth century, the British Empire held sway over approximately one quarter of the total population of the world. British imperial power was projected through a variety of artistic mediums, from fine portraiture and grand imperial buildings to more popular forms of imagery. British artists also produced countless images of people from all over the globe who had become subjects of British rule. This lecture provides a fascinating insight into the ways in which the British viewed themselves and their subjects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Dr John Stevens gained his PhD in History from UCL, before going on to teach British

Imperial History, Indian History and Bengali Language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). He is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh and has lectured at  numerous Indian Universities. 

Some lecturers have commented that it is unusual to have a vote of thanks as well as a thank you from the chair and so the committee has decided to discontinue the vote of thanks.

We look  forward to seeing you on March 12th.

Best wishes

Jean and Claire

Dear Arts Society Member, 

The committee would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and we look forward to  even more wonderful lectures in 2026. 

We were treated to an excellent lecture in January. The visuals were very clear and we probably got a more detailed view than a trip to the Tower of London would have afforded. Laurie Wickwire gave an interesting, humorous account of the stones that are set in the Crown Jewels. We were amazed to hear that the Black Prince's Ruby had actually gone into battle with him! 

The year starts with good news, as with the help of the initiative from head office, our numbers have risen from 103 members to 124. We hope that all the members continue to speak enthusiastically about the lectures and so attract even more people to join.

More good news is that Graeme and Alison Robb have agreed to join the committee as joint Programme Secretaries. They will be going with Claire, our current Programme Secretary, to Directory Day in March to choose the lecturers for the 2027 / 2028 season. We are still looking for more committee volunteers who could organise trips and events and for anybody who would be willing to be responsible for the audio visual equipment at the lectures for the next season. Michael Walker would be more than willing for you to learn the ropes with him this season if you are interested.

February is the month for our raffle. There will be 3 major prizes and there is no need to donate any prizes. Please remember to bring some cash to buy your raffle tickets!

Our talk in February is about John Singer Sargent who was born to American parents but spent most of his life in Europe. He is famous for his stylish portraits of the elegant and wealthy. The talk will look at how he ‘fashioned’ his world at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.

Our lecturer, Cindy Polemis, is an art historian, independent lecturer and art guide. She has a BA in Modern History from Oxford University and, as a mature student, she went back to university to study first for a BA and then for a Masters in History of Art at Birkbeck College, London University. Before that she spent many years as a radio producer and presenter for the BBC World Service working in news and current affairs. Since 2016 Cindy has worked as a lecturer and an official art guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern.

Best wishes

Claire and Jean

Dear Arts Society Member  

What a fantastic talk we were treated to in December! Steve King gave us a masterclass on 1960s music combining wonderful musical excerpts, excellent graphics, humour and in depth analysis. Nearly 50 attendees submitted feedback and nearly all rated the talk as outstanding, some even saying that it was the best talk that they had ever attended. If you would like to hear more, please see the following links and instructions which Steve sent to us afterwards:

The playlist links below contain the full versions of all the songs featured in both 60s lectures. Click on the link, or if that fails copy and paste the link into a browser like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. You will then see a full list of all the tracks used in the lecture. Spotify users can click the add button and the playlist will appear in their app. Those without Spotify will still see the full list and will be able to play a few seconds of each song.

Like A Rolling Stone (65 – 69)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Xc4Ot90D7jPPGfbYVhIQa?si=a416833a56ef4085

She Loves You (60 - 64)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4XRkm2mdYaijxxBEsBjcTl?si=20d1011aa342450c

We also mentioned at the lecture that Steve can be seen in the latest vodcast that The Arts Society has produced. It features a discussion between Steve King and Scott Schiavone, a Decorative Arts Curator, about 1970’s music and fashion. It's on Youtube and the link to it is below:

'70s Music and Fashion From Dancefloor to Runway | Steve King and Scott Schiavone | Artfully Said

All of these links etc make it sound as if we are a very ‘techy’ bunch but sadly we are not! If any of you have skills in this area, we would love to hear from you!

The Arts Society Membership Initiative has been very timely and successful. At the end of last year’s programme in May, we had 123 members. In contrast, up until last month’s lecture, just 103 people had joined or re-joined our society. Therefore we had a problem but the recruitment project is very encouraging. There were 27 newcomers at the November lecture of which 11 are now members. There were 17 newcomers at the December lecture and so far 2 have joined. It was very unfortunate on the day of the lecture that there were roadworks on the A10 which caused terrible traffic delays. We suspect that this adversely affected attendance this month.

It is noteworthy that the majority of new members live in West Winch, Downham Market and surrounding areas. These are areas that have not been well represented in the past and so hopefully the new members will tell their friends about us. Indeed, a new member who joined after the November talk brought two of her friends to the December talk which was great!

So moving forward, our next talk is on January 8th and is entitled “The British Crown Jewels: Every Stone Tells a Story”. This talk looks at the secrets and mystery surrounding the diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls used in the newly crafted royal regalia used by Kings and Queens since 1661.

Laurie Wickmire has worked in the diamond industry for over 35 years. She uses her expertise in the field presenting programmes on the television, hosting diamond master classes and creating the historical jewellery range for both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle gift shops. Laurie has also created some bespoke commissions for the Royal Family. 

Finally, may we wish you all a Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Claire and Jean

Dear Arts Society Member, 

We were delighted to see so many newcomers (there were 27 – a record!) at our November meeting when James Vaux gave such an entertaining and informative talk about the Viking Gods and Valkyries. This was thanks to The Arts Society’s recruitment drive for which we were a pilot site. We very much hope that we have similar numbers next month and that a good number will decide to join our society.

 Members who volunteered to help in different ways on the pledge form that we circulated last month were a great help at the meeting. We recruited them all to help with registration, serving teas and coffees and giving the vote of thanks. This freed up committee members to welcome the newcomers, so many thanks to all those involved!

The Arts Bags for the Food Bank project has been running for 5 years and the idea has been taken on by Arts Societies across the country. This year we are grateful for donations from the Arts Society, Mars Food UK, Hayes and Storr, and Learning Resources. Also to Jeff Hoyle and Ros Harre who organised a very successful quiz that raised £470.

Back by popular demand for our December lecture is Steve King. He is building on his  Music of the Sixties lecture and taking it from 1965 to 1969. It is entitled ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and to our generation it will showcase the music that we loved and our parents hated! By 1965 British music dominated the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with groups such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones topping the charts. In America the civil rights and the anti-war movements were gaining momentum, influencing writers and musicians such as Bob Dylan. This lecture is the story of the second half of the sixties featuring the music of that era.

Steve King is an engaging speaker and his lectures are both entertaining and informative. His background is that of working in the radio industry as a Broadcaster, Programmer and Events Director.  He has interviewed and worked with many well known popular music artists and this first hand knowledge enriches his lectures. Those of you who were at his last lecture will be looking forward to this follow-up and will be ready to tap their feet to the music!

 Best wishes

Jean and Claire

For the fifth year running we have completed our project to provide packs of art and craft materials to be given out this Christmas to children of clients of King's Lynn Foodbank. With support from The Arts Society and local companies Mars Food UK, Hayes & Storr and Learning Resources we have been able to hand over 100 gifts today. Hugh thanks also go to our Society members, Norfolk Creative Arts sewing group and numerous other local individuals who donated money or time to make this a success again. We couldn't do it without you!

Anyone wishing to help keep this much appreciated project continuing next year, please speak to the committee as soon as possible.

The grand total of £470.60 was raised at the quiz night held at Ferry Lane Social Club last night in aid of our Children's Art Packs for the Foodbank project. A highly entertaining quiz was organised by TASKL members Jeff Hoyle and Ros Harre and kindly supported by Tracey and her team at the Social Club. About 60 people enjoyed a fun evening and helped to fund at least 20 of the gifts which will be distributed to the children of Foodbank clients this Christmas. Well done and a big thank you to all involved.

Artfully Said is a video podcast series that brings together Accredited Lecturers of The Arts Society, along with leading voices in arts and culture. Every episode starts with two experts and a shared passion, but where the conversation goes next is anyone’s guess. Expect stories, surprises, and the kind of exchange that happens when curious minds meet. 

This first episode sees Arts Society accredited lecturer, Leslie Primo, discuss what makes great art great with James Payne, Founder of the YouTube Channels Great Art Explained and Great Books Explained. 

The next episode will be published in November, featuring Arts Society accredited lecturers Steve King and Scott Schiavone, discussing music and fashion in the 1970s.

Where to watch / listen: YouTube.com/@TheArtsSociety
Don't forget to subscribe to The Arts Society's YouTube channel so you don't miss an episode.

Chairs' November Newsletter

Dear Friends

We were so pleased with the largely extremely positive feedback about Pamela Campbell-Johnston’s lecture on Art Deco and the 1925 Paris Expo. Thirty four people responded this time: thank you! It was pleasing to hear how much people had enjoyed it.

Sadly the afternoon ended with a horrible accident which many of you will be aware of. Patricia Dimmock fell back whilst clearing up and she hit her head hard on the window ledge. She has a nasty skull fracture and laceration and has been in hospital for three days. Thankfully Patricia is doing well and is in good spirits and they are releasing her this afternoon (Sunday)! No doubt she cannot wait to get home. Stuart was happy for us to update you and we are sure that you would want to join us wishing Patricia a steady recovery. She will be out of action for a few weeks while the fracture heals.

Meanwhile, we hope that you will bear with us over the next couple of months whilst we attempt to manage the equipment without Patricia’s expertise! We hope to be busy as well as a result of The Arts Society’s recruitment drive with a number of guests arriving with their free guest passes to the November and December lectures. We may be in contact with some of you who kindly offered to help on the pledge forms to manage this.

As you know, our November lecture is Viking Gods and Valkyries: The Art of Norse Mythology’. We are very familiar with Greek and Roman gods and goddesses in art. Their sculptures and pictures grace our art galleries and stately homes, but where are the Viking ones? The lecture explores how Norse myths and legends have been portrayed in the decorative and fine arts over more than 1300 years. James Vaux will reveal how few depictions there are and the sometimes sinister reasons for this.

James Vaux is a specialist in Nordic arts and culture. After a career in law and banking during which he lived and worked in Scandinavia, he took an MA at UCL in Scandinavian Studies. His talks focus on understanding art through its historic, cultural and political context. This will be an opportunity to learn more about a neglected area that we know little about. We hope the lecture will appeal to you.

Lastly, Janet Smith and Jean Meldrum attended The Arts Society AGM in London in September. It was good to hear our new President Hilary Kay of Antiques Roadshow fame speak. She was full of enthusiasm and will be an asset for our society.

 Best wishes

 Jean and Claire

We have received a massive boost for our project this week with local company Mars Foods and Nutrition King's Lynn donating a whopping £1000 to our fund. Together with the grant received from the Arts Society plus donations once again from local companies Hayes & Storr and Learning Resources we are now confident we will be able to provide the 100 packs required this year by the Foodbank at Christmas.

Anyone still wishing to support the project by sewing some of the bags we put the packs in, can find the pattern for guidance on our 'Documents' page. To arrange collection or for any further queries please email Tricia at triciarowlands23@live.co.uk or Ros at r.harre@internet.com  

Our new season got off to an excellent start with a look at the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven. A review of the talk by Sandy Burnett appeared in the Lynn News on Friday written by arts journalist Andy Tyler, who described it as "excellent, informative and entertaining". Usual fare from a TASKL talk!

Dear Friends

Before we talk about the next lecture here are a few points that you will have missed if you were unable to attend the lecture on 11 September.

We need to be thinking about the Advent Lunch on 5 December at Knights Hill.  Janet, our Secretary, will be sending out the forms for you to choose what you want to eat and who you want to sit with.  These will be coming out before the end of the month.

We are still trying to raise additional funds for our children's art pack project but fortunately the Food Bank has indicated that they have fewer clients with families at the moment and so will need fewer children’s art bags this year We are aiming for 100 instead of the 200 we produced last year.  However, we need people to make bags and would also appreciate help filling them at the appropriate time during November.

We are continuing to distribute lecture feedback forms before the lecture because they did result in a larger response which enabled us to give a more accurate response to The Arts Society on lecture quality.  We hope that you will continue to use them – a simple tick is all that is needed.  There is still scope for you to leave a comment online in the usual way which is always appreciated.

The 1925 Paris Expo must have been amazing!  16 million people attended and in the October lecture we will find out what drew people to it.

In the lecture, the architecture of the pavilions that the various nations built will be considered, as will the exhibits that were inside them.  These items were pivotal to the popularisation of what was to become a global style known as Art Deco.  From the lobby of the Empire State Building to the Jardins Majorelle in Marrakesh and from Lalique glass to Boucherin jewellery of the 920s we look at things and murmur Art Deco.  It is 100 years sine this iconic exhibition making the forthcoming lecture very timely. We can look forward to furthering our knowledge with the help of our lecturer Pamela Campbell-Johnston.

Pamela has lectured at The Royal Academy for many years. She has given focused gallery talks and is regarded as a specialist in Modern British Art and British Domestic Architecture – with a particular love of the 1920s and 1930s.

Looking forward to seeing you on 9 October.

Best wishes

Claire and Jean

Hello everyone

Sorry the Bugle is a little late this month; Patricia and I decided to take a few days off to enjoy the sunny Spring weather.  Blue sky from horizon to horizon, although the sun has been tempered by what the BBC weather people describe as a ‘chilly wind’.  Of course, not everyone is cheered by this sunny spell. My neighbour, a keen gardener, is praying for rain.  I guess it was always thus.

One thing that has pleased me greatly was the recent East Anglia Area Forum that I attended with Jean Meldrum, our joint Chair from 1st June, when we had the opportunity to hear new Chief Executive Officer, Ian Arnold, talk about his vision for The Arts Society.  Ian, who was confirmed in post this March, is a specialist in company ‘turnarounds’, marketing and advertising and his appointment is a clear sign that our new Trust Board recognises The Arts Society must develop as a business if it wants to survive. So, what is Ian’s vision for The Arts Society?

·         TOTAL SUPPORT OF THE SOCIETY MODEL.

The internet magazine Cultur.art, was a financial disaster. It has been closed.  Local societies are now the centre of ‘Head Office’s’ (HO) efforts and its aim is to support local societies wherever possible.

·         TARGETING THE PEOPLE WHO WILL JOIN AND SUPPORT

The Society’s principal demographic is the ‘soon to be and the recently retired.’  HO will work with societies to aid recruitment and retention of new members.

WORKING WITH AREAS – NOT IGNORING THEM

Areas will become an essential link between local societies and HO to provide effective support to local societies, while respecting their independence.

·         JOINED UP SYSTEMATIC MARKETING/ADVERTISING

Aim to increase national awareness of The Arts Society and position ourselves as a premium/aspirational brand.

·         SUPPORTING THE LECTURERS/PROVIDING A QUALITY PRODUCT

Our lectures are our product. Lecturers have, in the past, been regarded as ‘suppliers’.  To ensure our product is of the highest quality they must be part of the team.

_____________________________________

PURCHASE OF NEW SOUND SYSTEM

Our present sound system was purchased in 2007 and while it has given very good service it is, like me, past its sell by date.  During the 18 years since it was bought audio technology has undergone considerable change.  Our system is obsolete.  It still works, but only because our ‘Sound Techie’, Patricia, has nursed it; servicing it annually and renewing parts.  Unfortunately, we have now reached the point where many spares are unavailable. It can ‘give up the ghost’ without warning during a lecture, which, if possible,  we must avoid.

After on-line research Patricia, together with Claire and Jean, visited Cambridge for a demonstration of different sound systems. They chose a BOSE speaker.  It is simple to operate and a lot lighter than our present system that weighs 30 kilos (66lbs). We can continue to use our existing microphones.  The cost is covered by the surplus  from Elizabeth Walker’s two Christmas raffles.

________________________________________

REVIEW - THE VISIT TO GROUND WORKS GALLERY

Our visit to Ground Works on 19th March, organised by Irene Andrews, provided a different perspective to traditional forms of art.  Fifteen members attended and it was an ideal number for an informative and relaxed tour of the exhibition on ‘Plant Power’. One big message of the exhibition is that humans need to ‘root like the plants’. To be vigilant on the plants behalf and restrain our desire to exercise control over nature.  The displays consisted of collages, photographs and paintings.

__________________________________________________

PROPOSED LECTURE PROGRAMME 2026 – 2027

Your Joint Programme Secretaries, Claire and Jean,  recently spent a marathon 2 days tuned into The Arts Society’s Directory Day to watch the performances of new and old lecturers on ZOOM in order to decide who to invite onto the programme for 2026-27.                   

LECTURER                                                   TITLE OF LECTURE

Isabelle Kent                                                Golden Age of Spanish Art

Jackie Klein                                                  Cezanne

Raymond Holden                                          Messiah

Andrew Prince                                              Courts and Courtesans

Aliki Brain                                                     Iconoclasm and the Art of Destruction

Simon Keeble Elliot                                      Tahiti The Enduring Image

Geoina Bexon                                               Art in Hindu Temples

Pepe Martinez                                               Banksy, Fraud or Genius

James Smallwood                                         The Life and Work of William Moorcroft

__________________________________________________

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING'S LYNN 2024 - 2025 SEASON

Our next lecture starts at 2.30pm on Thursday 10th April 2025 at West Winch Village Hall when the subject will be:

WORLD FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHS: IMAGES THAT SHAPED OUR CULTURE

Our lecturer will be Brian Stater who has lectured at University College London for 25 years, retiring in 2021 as a Senior Teaching Fellow. His principal academic interest lay in the appreciation of architecture and he has a lifelong enthusiasm for photography. He has written on architecture for a wide range of publications and an exhibition of his own photographs was held at UCL. He is a member of the Association of Historical and Fine Art Photography and he works with a pre-War Leica camera, as used by his great hero, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and many others. Brian is an engaging and amusing speaker who seeks to entertain as well as inform his audience.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place or just turn up on the day. To enquire about TASKL membership please ring 01366 328648. Full details about the society and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk

PLEASE NOTE NEW LECTURE TIME OF 2.30P

Hello Everyone,

In the Chinese calendar, 2025 is the Year of the Snake. The meanings of the snake in Chinese mythology and literature are polar opposites. In the former they are regarded as little dragons and the skin that snakes shed is referred to as the dragon’s coat, symbolising good luck, rebirth and regality.  On the other hand, the snake belongs to the yin, associated with darkness, dampness and femininity. Poisonous snakes are often associated with evil women who seduce men and suck their yang to nourish their own yin. Nuff said, I think!

Looking forward, April is National Poetry Month and it always prompts a memory of my last year at primary school. The whole class had to learn Browning’s poem, ‘How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix’ and we had to recite it  aloud during the last ten minutes of Friday afternoons.  I’ve never known why our teacher insisted we learn it. Perhaps he just liked it, or perhaps it was because the poem ‘s metre mimics the speed of a galloping horse. For those who don’t know the poem this can be illustrated by its first verse:

                               “ I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;
                                  I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
                                 ‘Good speed!’ cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew;
                                 ‘Speed!’ echoed the wall to us galloping through;
                                  Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
                                  And into the midnight we galloped abreast.”

In common with most of my classmates I assumed the poem was based on historical events and was very disappointed when our teacher wouldn’t tell us any details of the ‘Good News’ brought from Ghent to Aix.  Sometime later I discovered the distance from Ghent to Aix la Chapelle (now Aachen) was about 120 miles - an impossible distance for a horse to gallop from midnight to sunset on the following day. And the ‘Good News’?  Everyone acquainted with the poem knows that Browning never revealed what the ‘Good News’ was.

However, right now I am the bringer of GOOD NEWS and unlike Robert Browning I’m going to declare it – I’m delighted to tell you that four members have volunteered to stand for election at May’s AGM for the jobs of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary as required by TASKL’s Constitution.   THANK YOU!

2025 UPDATE ON THURSDAY MORNING ART GROUP

COME AND JOIN US

The Art Group continues to meet and we are searching for new members. We have just celebrated our 19th birthday.  We are entirely self-supporting and will continue for as long as we are able. New members would be most welcome!

Our friendly little group meets on Thursday mornings in the Reading Room at Castle Rising from 10am – 12noon. We don’t have a tutor – we just do our own thing in pastels, oils, acrylics, watercolour or just drawing, so if that would suit you why not come and visit one Thursday? You can find us down the road to the west of the church, by the second bend. It says ‘Old Hall’ on the wall by the rustic porch.

For more information call Pat Bray 01760 725 931

THE ARTS SOCIETY APPOINTS A NEW PRESIDENT

The Trustee Board is very pleased to announce that Hilary Kay has been appointed as President of The Arts Society with effect from 1 April 2025 for a 5-year term.
Hilary is a broadcaster, independent consultant, speaker and writer. She is probably best known for her work on the Antiques Roadshow and is now the longest serving member of the expert team having been involved for 47 years.

Commenting on the 2025 strategy, Hilary said: "I am delighted to see that there is a clear road map for The Arts Society and I am keen to play a part in helping to achieve these ambitions."

PLANT POWER

COFFEE, CAKE AND CONVERSATION AT GROUND WORK GALLERY

17 Purfleet, King’s Lynn at 11.00AM on 19TH March

Whether you are new to this gallery or a regular supporter, its owner and joint curator, Veronica Sekules invites you to the first social event of the Arts Society year.

Veronica left a career as Assistant Director at the Sainsbury Centre to establish the gallery in Purfleet Street.   After winning the Nick Reeves Award for Arts and the Environment in 2018 the gallery has also been recognised winning one of the Mayor’s Design Awards amongst many other accolades.

Don’t miss out on a unique opportunity to meet Veronica, hear more about the gallery and its work and socialise with other members.

Veronica will give a talk about the Gallery’s ethos before focussing on a number of key exhibits. Thereafter, you will be free to browse. Only 25 places are available so booking is essential. A donation of at least £5 per person will be made on the day.

 Email    taskl.treasurer@gmail.com  by Sunday 16th March to secure a place.

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING'S LYNN 2024 - 2025 SEASON

The next lecture starts at 2.30pm on Thursday 13th March at West Winch Village Hall when the topic will be:

HENRY MOORE: A REVOLUTION IN BRITISH SCULPTURE

Our lecturer will be Jo Walton who has combined teaching and lecturing with a career in art bookselling and has been a volunteer guide at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Now a freelance lecturer for The Arts Society, the Art Fund, and Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery and other local arts societies.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place or just turn up on the day.  To enquire about TASKL membership please ring 01366 328648. Full details about the society and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk

Hello everyone

To quote Woody Allen, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”  That is to say,  I missed you at Christmas but now I’m back. It is rather late in the day to wish you all a happy new year -  happy new year nevertheless.

In medieval times the people of Britain celebrated an abundance of festivals throughout the year, until the Reformation, industrialisation, the growth of new cities and two World Wars changed the patterns of peoples’ lives.  Some of these festivals and their associated customs still survive and some have been revived.  Unfortunately, most have been forgotten in the popular mind unless the memory of them was passed on by a parent or grandparent.  I would be interested to know how many of our members can recall stories of old festivals they heard as a child. In my early teens I lived with my maternal grandmother for several years and learned something about the events in her life.

One of her abiding memories was the celebration of Plough Monday. It was held on the Monday after Epiphany Sunday in many English villages, but particularly in the Midlands and Eastern England. In my grandmother’s village in SE Leicestershire the day began in church where blessings were bestowed on the land and agricultural workers.  This was followed by a parade whose centrepiece was a plough that was dragged by a ploughman, wearing a straw skirt and a battered top hat. He was accompanied by another man dressed as an old woman and a ‘fool’.  Musicians marched behind the plough together with the village’s young men in fancy dress. The parade halted outside every house to receive a gift (generally a coin or two). Those who refused to give would suffer a forfeit; often the path to their house, or their garden, would be ploughed up.

I wonder how many of The Bugle’s readers have been told stories about Plough Monday. It seems it was widely celebrated throughout Norfolk. Indeed, the ‘dish of the day’, Plough Pudding - a boiled suet pudding, containing meat and onions – was made to a Norfolk recipe.

It’s many years since I lived with my grandmother but at the beginning of every January I remember Plough Monday.  I don’t eat Plough Pudding; even as a child I hated boiled suet puddings.  I remember because Plough Monday was also celebrated as an early herald of Spring, because in a world before night-time light pollution, after Plough Monday, when skies were clear, one could discern the gradual increase in light at the end of each day.

CHRISTIANITY’S ANGELS

An addendum to the Christmas 2024 Lecture

I was sorry to miss the December lecture on Angels as I’d hoped the speaker might be able to throw some light on the gender of angels. Unfortunately, Caroline Holmes’s lecture didn’t explore gender, or the hierarchy of angels and, as a member’s question about the different ranks of angels wasn’t answered, I thought some readers might welcome a short piece on this esoteric subject.

The most influential authority on Christianity’s angels is Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite’s. His work,  De Coelesti Hierarchia (On the Celestial Hierarch),  written in the 5th or 6th century describes nine Choirs of spiritual beings which he grouped into three Orders. As follows:

The Highest Orders:  Seraphim, Cherubim and Orphanim

Middle orders:   Dominions, Virtues and Powers

Lowest Order:   Principalities, Archangels and Angels

The three Choirs of the Highest Order encircle God. They are always in His presence and share in elements of  the ‘Divine Understanding and Knowledge’.  The three Choirs of the Middle Order are akin to our idea of ‘middle management’, passing down God’s Commands and the Authority to act to the angels in the Lowest Order. The Archangels and angels in the Lowest Order are in direct contact with humanity and their purpose is to deliver messages and act as Guardians to humans and nations.

Later authorities, such as Thomas Aquinas, refined Dionysius’s theory.

Regarding the question I would have asked, i.e.   ‘Are angels of the male gender?’  one can assume that Dionysius’s answer is the gender of the anonymous angels in the Lower Order is unknown, but the Archangels;  Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zadkiel are males.  But what of those beings in the higher orders?  My reading of the works of early Christian scholars makes clear that this knowledge is invested only in those angels in the Middle and Higher Orders and God.  

CHRISTIANITY’S ANGELS

An addendum to the Christmas 2024 Lecture

I was sorry to miss the December lecture on Angels as I’d hoped the speaker might be able to throw some light on the gender of angels. Unfortunately, Caroline Holmes’s lecture didn’t explore gender, or the hierarchy of angels and, as a member’s question about the different ranks of angels wasn’t answered, I thought some readers might welcome a short piece on this esoteric subject.

The most influential authority on Christianity’s angels is Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite’s. His work,  De Coelesti Hierarchia (On the Celestial Hierarch),  written in the 5th or 6th century describes nine Choirs of spiritual beings which he grouped into three Orders. As follows:

The Highest Orders:  Seraphim, Cherubim and Orphanim

Middle orders:   Dominions, Virtues and Powers

Lowest Order:   Principalities, Archangels and Angels

The three Choirs of the Highest Order encircle God. They are always in His presence and share in elements of  the ‘Divine Understanding and Knowledge’.  The three Choirs of the Middle Order are akin to our idea of ‘middle management’, passing down God’s Commands and the Authority to act to the angels in the Lowest Order. The Archangels and angels in the Lowest Order are in direct contact with humanity and their purpose is to deliver messages and act as Guardians to humans and nations.

Later authorities, such as Thomas Aquinas, refined Dionysius’s theory.

Regarding the question I would have asked, i.e.   ‘Are angels of the male gender?’  one can assume that Dionysius’s answer is the gender of the anonymous angels in the Lower Order is unknown, but the Archangels;  Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zadkiel are males.  But what of those beings in the higher orders?  My reading of the works of early Christian scholars makes clear that this knowledge is invested only in those angels in the Middle and Higher Orders and God.  

The Arts Society King’s Lynn 2024-2025 Season

Our The next lecture starts at 2.30pm on Thursday 13 February 2025

at West Winch Village Hall when the topic will be

Chinamania – The Impact of Chinese Porcelain on European Taste, Collecting and Display

Our lecturer will be Jane Gardiner who has an MA in History of Art, University of London. She trained at the V&A and continues to lecture there. Jane was Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art for 17 years, becoming a Deputy Director of Sotheby's Buckingham University, l'Institut d'Etudes Superieures des Arts in Paris, a private women's college in Saudi Arabia, on cruise ships and at antiques fairs and interior design conferences in America and the UK. Jane has also lectured for the National Trust, the Art Fund and London University

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place or just turn up on the day.  To enquire about TASKL membership please ring 01366 328648. Full details about the society and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk

PLEASE NOTE NEW LECTURE TIME OF 2.30PM

There is no ‘editorial’ this month; the Chair is indisposed

HANDOVER OF CHILDREN’S ART PACKS TO KING’S LYNN FOODBANK

Our 2024 Young Arts project to provide a Christmas gift to children whose parents rely on King’s Lynn’s Foodbank came to a successful conclusion on 2nd December when we handed over 200 Art Packs to King’s Lynn’s Foodbank for distribution to King’s Lynn’s poorest children.

We began this project in 2021 and this Christmas we will have provided a total of 550 Art Packs to the Foodbank.

This would not have been achieved without all the volunteers who gave up their time to take on the necessary tasks, eg.  sewing the carrier bags, parcelling up the art packs, contacting local donors.  Thanks to everyone and a special thanks to Gaynor and Mark Scrivenger who managed the project this year assisted by Tricia Rowlands, who initiated the project in 2021.

Our thanks for the money to pay for the project go to the Arts Society for yet another large grant from the Patricia Fay Memorial Fund; to local donors, Hayes and Storr, Solicitors,  Learning Resources, Shah’s Fabrics of Hunstanton and Abteec Toys.

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING'S LYNN, 2024/25 SEASON

Our next lecture start at 2.05 on Thursday 12 December at West Winch Village Hall when the topic will be:

Messenger or Missile? Angels with glad tidings, doom, gloom or perdition

SPEAKER: Caroline Holmes. Caroline has lectured across the world. Cambridge University ICE Academic Tutor and Course Director. Lectures for Royal Horticultural Society. Recipient of Herb Society of America’s ‘Elizabeth Crisp Rea Award’.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of  £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place or just turn up on the day. To enquire about TASKL membership please ring  01366 328648. Full details about the Society  and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk 

Hello everyone

We are now in that time of the year which John Keats called ‘the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’.  Keats wrote his ode ‘To Autumn’ nearly 200 years ago, inspired it is said by a walk in the water meadows behind Winchester College and a Google map shows that those woods and fields still exist together with a path called ‘Keats Walk’.  Of course, Keats wrote his ode long before Britain began to adopt the ways of our American cousins.  Now, in 2024, it would be more accurate to describe this time as the season of mists and spookiness’, as anyone who has been confronted by a horde of kids outside their door making threatening demands for chocolate and sweets can testify. Even so, anyone who has been in Uncle Sam’s heartland at Halloween will know that our local youth’s high jinks are tame by comparison with the behaviour of young Americans. Nowadays it seems our ancient fears surrounding the night of 31st October have been eclipsed by ‘trick or treating’, Jack o lantern pumpkins and fancy-dress costumes that mimic bygone images of Satan’s spawn.  This was not always the case, even in recent times it was a night of dread, and I have never forgotten a radio programme, heard years ago, about a particular family’s  dread on All Hallows Eve.

I was in my teens, in bed with ‘flu and the programme in question was on Woman’s Hour when Woman’s Hour consisted of nice ladies talking about recipes and knitting rather than its agitprop discussions of today.  The piece that caught and held my attention was a talk by a middle-aged Irish woman, born and bred in the deep south of that country and the subject of her talk was her family’s ritual throughout the 1920s, to protect themselves against the dead who had left their graves to roam the land from dusk ‘til dawn on All Hallows Eve.

A few weeks before the 31stOctober the village priest had visited every local family to collect the names of dead relatives over the preceding two generations.  Every family would provide the priest with names of their departed and what money they could afford. In return they received the priest’s promise to pray for all the names he had received with the hope that those who would leave their graves at Halloween would be able to escape Purgatory and enter Heaven.

Come the 31stOctober the village school closed at noon and our storyteller was sent home. At home the cottage windows were boarded-up, peat for the fire was stacked high by the hearth, the door at the bottom of the stairs was locked and bolted, sufficient food and drink to last ‘til dawn was on the table and buckets for the family and an earth box for the dog were in the small scullery.

In the early afternoon, her grandmother and widowed aunt arrived at the cottage with food and blankets in readiness for the night’s vigil. Sometime before dusk the cottage door was barred and bolted.  They talked during the early part of the evening, but as the night drew on they quietened and from midnight until dawn’s first light they sat quietly, in abject terror, barely saying a word and starting at every night-time sound.
Not my idea of a jolly get- together!

NEWS FROM THE ARTS SOCIETY’S EAST ANGLIA AUTUMN FORUM

Held on 24th October at Bury St Edmunds

The Forum meets twice yearly to enable committee members of local societies in E. Anglia to share ideas, discuss common problems, possible solutions and receive information from the Arts Society’s Trustees. It also provides an opportunity to ‘network’ with people from other local societies. October’s meeting was well supported with societies from Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. A new Trustee Board member, Sally Kent, also attended.
Speakers reported on various issues such as Young Arts projects (and it was nice to hear that Newmarket had copied King’s Lynn’s  ‘Art Bags for Children project’); the Area- led courses on offer for  committee members; and the reorganisation of Heritage Volunteering. 
The half-yearly reports submitted by E. Anglian Societies shows that our membership fee (£55) is about average and our membership number (currently 121) is below average.

CHANGE OF LECTURE START TIME

FROM 9th JANUARY 2025

Members should have already seen my letter of 24th October about the change to the start time of our lectures from January 2025.  I don’t want to repeat the contents of my letter; suffice to say that from the winter of 2022/23 there have been times when the lack of an overlap between our time of entry into West Winch Hall and the playgroup’s departure has caused friction.  West Winch PC has resolved the problem by introducing a 30-minute gap between the departure and entry times of all Hall users. The WWPC made clear the new start time was on  a ‘take it or leave it’ basis.   The Committee has accepted the WPCC’s new hiring condition because no other venue can meet our requirements at such short notice.

Therefore, from 9th January 2025 the doors to the Hall will be open from 2.00pm and the lecture will commence at 2.30pm.

A TALK WITH COFFEE

WEDNESDAY, 6TH NOVEMBER 2024 AT 10.30AM

IN THE FRED HALL ROOM AT MARRIOTTS WAREHOUSE

S QUAY, KING’S LYNN, PE30 5DT

A TALK ON THE BRITISH ARTIST WALTER DEXTER, RBA

BY CHARLOTTE PATON

Walter Dexter (1876 –1958) was an English artist, painting in oil and watercolour. He also worked as a commercial artist, illustrating books and producing posters.   He lived in King's Lynn for much of his life, and many of his pictures show the area.  

Guests welcome. Pay at the door: £10.  For catering purposes please email in advance to the Treasurer at:  taskl.treasurer@gmail.com

ADVENT LUNCH

FRIDAY 6TH DECEMBER 12.30 for 1.00

KNIGHTS HILL HOTEL

A reminder that Eileen is taking bookings for our Advent Lunch.

Please contact Eileen if you have misplaced the menu/booking form.

2 Course Lunch (any two courses) followed by coffee or tea and mintsCost:  £31.00 [Includes tip]

3 courses followed by coffee or tea and mints

Cost:  £37.00 [includes tip]

All drinks will be ordered and paid for individually.

CHANGE OF SPEAKER FOR OUR CHRISTMAS LECTURE

 ON 12th DECEMBER

PLEASE NOTE:  Unfortunately, our original speaker, Peter Medhurst has a scheduling problem and can’t be with us on 12th December.  In his place Claire has managed to sign up Caroline Holmes, who will talk on the theme of angels:-

Messenger or missile? Angels with glad tidings, doom, gloom or perdition.

Angels, familiar and fantastic, playing major and minor roles, can be seen in centuries of paintings, engravings, illustrations and sculptures. Archangel Gabriel and the Annunciation, or Archangel Michael fighting the good fight. Angelic references also abound in Islamic and Jewish traditions, the latter beautifully evoked in Chagall’s Bible Message. Time to contrast the beauty and light of cherubim and seraphim with the dark, fiery abyss of Satan and contemplate the Angel of the North.

Caroline Holmes: Lectured in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Europe and Japan and on specialist cruises across the world’s oceans. University of Cambridge ICE Academic Tutor and Course Director.  Recipient in 2017 of the Herb Society of America’s ‘Elizabeth Crisp Rea Award’.  Author of 12 books examining the relationships between art and gardens, including Monet at Giverny, Impressionists in their Gardens, The Victorian Garden and Architectural Extravaganzas.  

The Arts Society King’s Lynn 2024-2025 Season 

Our next lecture starts at 2.05pm on Thursday 14 November 2024 

at West Winch Village Hall when the topic will be:

OLEKSANDR BOHOMAZOV (1880 – 1930):

THE LOST FUTURIST OF UKRAINE

Although Bohomazov never left Tsarist Russia or the Soviet Union his work is no
less exceptional than his European counterparts and many now consider him Ukraine’s national artist.

Speaker:  James Butterwick: Collector, seller of Russian and Ukrainian  Art since 1985. Regarded as a world expert.  Moved to  Russia in 1994, taking part in in exhibitions and lecturing on Russian  Art. Exhibitions from 2014 on Ukrainian Futurist Art including the work of Bohomazov.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of  £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place or just turn up on the day. To enquire about TASKL membership please ring  01366 328648. Full details about the Society  and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk 

Hello everyone

As I write this we are two days away from the Feast of St Michael the Archangel, more commonly known as Michaelmas, the day that marks the start of the last quarter of the year.  In British and Irish traditions, the quarter days were the four dates in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. They fell on four religious festivals roughly three months apart and close to the two solstices and two equinoxes. They have limited significance now, but during the Middle Ages and beyond the quarter days were important legal dates. Accounts had to be settled, a reckoning made and publicly recorded on the quarter days to ensure debts and lawsuits were not allowed to linger on.  

St Michael is mentioned on several occasions in the Bible as the leader of God’s ‘army’ and sightings of his apparition are celebrated in what is now Mon Michel in Normandy and at St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. Depicted in religious art as a winged young man clad either in white robes, or in armour he was widely popular in the Middle Ages. In contrast, in the 1996 movie, ‘Michael’, its star, John Travolta, wore jeans and a long, baggy raincoat to hide his wings.  If the action had been set against a background of autumn or winter a baggy mac wouldn’t have looked out of place, but in the heat of mid-summer in Chicago poor St Michael looked ridiculous.

As mentioned before, Michaelmas is a day for reckoning up.  In our case it’s the point at which we can decide the likely number of members we will be able to recruit for the 2024/5 Season.   This time last year I said that given our average annual loss of members due to ‘natural wastage’ an optimistic forecast for members recruited by end of this September would be 110.  I’m pleased to say that our current total membership is 121.  Of these, 9 people are new to our Society and 3 former members have returned.  In the past two years we have continued to push recruitment from September to December. Last year we recruited a further 10 in this period.  We hope to match and if possible exceed that number this year.  Experience shows that visitors are inclined to become members, so, if you know or meet anyone who might be interested why not suggest they come as a visitor.  (NB. The £10 visitor fee will be deducted from the cost of their membership).

Christmas Art Bags for Children

The request, in the August Bugle, for volunteers to manage our annual project to give art bags to children whose parents use the Foodbank has been answered.  I want to thank Gaynor and Mark Scrivenger for volunteering to take on the job.  They have met the Foodbank manager to discuss this year’s project.  The solicitors, Hayes & Storr, have promised to continue their donation of £500.   At September’s lecture Tricia Rowlands asked our bag makers to start sewing. Bag patterns are available and there are sufficient funds to buy material.  Gaynor and Mark will be asking for help to fill the bags in the run-up to Christmas.  Personally, I think it’s good to know that some of King’s Lynn’s needy children will receive at least one Christmas present this year. 

Thanks to all our volunteers

As we start out on our 2024/25 Season it’s also a good time to thank everyone who has volunteered to do those jobs which ensure the lectures run smoothly; setting up the sound and visual equipment, signing in members and visitors, running the raffles, giving the VoTs, dealing with the hall’s lights and all the other tasks.  On behalf of the Committee, I THANK YOU.

Members of the new Trustee Board will be meeting Chairs of local Societies in the Area Forums to be held during this autumn.  The East Anglia Forum, consisting of Societies from Cambridge, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk meets on 24th October. A ‘Town Hall Meeting’ is planned for 28th October. This will be a Zoom meeting open to committee members to give them the opportunity to question Trustees and TAS staff.

A cheering piece of news is that the new Chair of Trustees, Jeremy Thomas, has stated that the fee of £120,000 spent by the previous Board for legal advice on their Governance Report will not be added to Societies’ recharge fees. The old Board had indicated they would have done so.

The East Anglia Forum will provide an opportunity to raise important questions about:

1.    The role and cost of management consultants in creating the Arts Studio and Cultur.Art;

2.    The business cost (staffing/accommodation/on-costs) of setting up the Arts Studio and Cultur.Art;

3.    How were these costs funded;

4.    Current financial position of Cultur.Art and future financial projection.

The Arts Society King’s Lynn 2024-2025 Season 

Our next lecture starts at 2.05pm on Thursday 10 October 2024

at West Winch Village Hall when the topic will be  

Tintoretto “Il Furioso”:  Painter for the People

Speaker: JULIA MUSGRAVE

Julia Musgrave has a Graduate Diploma in the History of Art and an MLitt in “Art, Style and Design: Renaissance to Modernism, circa 1450 – 1930”.  She gained her PhD at the University of York for her research into the involvement of Roger Fry and the Bloomsbury Group and the social networks of the British art world in the development of the Contemporary Art Society from 1920 to 1939.  She teaches Art History at the City Literary Institute and is Co-Director of the London Art Salon. 

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of  £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place or just turn up on the day. To enquire about TASKL membership please ring  01366 328648. Full details about the Society  and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk 

Hello everyone

I hope you enjoyed the summer break and are looking forward to our new season of lectures beginning on Thursday 12th September at our usual venue, West Winch Village Hall.  This season’s lectures cover many aspects of the arts from Old Masters to Futurists, Chinese porcelain, British sculpture, photography and the cultural changes in Britain as depicted in the films of the 1960s.

We start with Peter Bruegel the Elder. His painting of 1565, ‘Hunters in the Snow’, revolutionised the way we look at the world.  It was discussed in The Art Society’s magazine (Winter 2023) together with the work of other artists who painted the frozen winter landscapes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Re-reading the article recently I was reminded of Brian Fagan’s book, ‘The Little Ice Age’ that was published in 2000, about three decades after the world began to get warmer.

When Bruegel painted ‘Hunters in the Snow’  Europe was in the middle of a cold period that had begun in the early 1200s and would continue until the 1850s.  In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries winters were exceptionally cold as can be seen in the paintings by artists from the Low Countries.  Britain also shivered, witness Abraham Hondius’s 1677 painting, ‘The Frozen Thames’.  Indeed, the Thames is thought to have frozen over as many as 16 times between 1683 and 1814 and Frost Fairs on the frozen River were a feature of London life. As late as 1895 there were large ice floes on the River that hindered navigation. 

During the four centuries before 1200 – the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ – Europe and probably North America experienced a mild climate. For example, at some point in the late 900s the Norsemen were able to settle in Iceland and Greenland.  The increasingly cold climate prompted their departure from Greenland during the 1350s.

The climate’s ups and downs in temperature over successive periods of approximately five centuries makes one wonder whether ‘global  warming’ is a cyclical process; a feature of this particular stage in our planet’s evolution.

The Arts Society King’s Lynn 2024-2025 Season 

Our first talk of this season starts at 2.05pm on Thursday 12th Sept 2024    at West Winch Village Hall when the topic will be  

 Bruegel, the Seasons and the World 

Speaker:  Gavin Plumley, writer, broadcaster on BBC Radio 3 and 4.  Specialist in European culture during 18th and 19th centuries.

April newsletterOur Annual General Meeting will take place before our final talk of the season starting at 1.30pm. We hope to see as many of you as possible there as we have some important decisions to make.  

Hello everyone

I’m writing this on the eve of May Day hoping the low temperatures and bitterly cold winds of late April will be replaced with more clement weather.  May 1st is about halfway between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice and from ancient times it has marked the first day of summer.  Let’s hope it does in 2024!  In ancient Greece the ‘May Queen’ was Rhea, the mother of the first gods.  For the Celts it was Flora, who brought spring. Flora, accompanied by the Green Man were the central figures in the feast of Beltane, which was celebrated with bonfires, dancing and fertility rites.  Unable to banish the Beltane festival, Christianity banished poor Flora and replaced her with the Virgin Mary.  Thereafter It survived in its semi-pagan form, perhaps without fertility rites when priests were present, until the mid-17th century, when it was almost extinguished by Cromwell’s Commonwealth. It made a comeback following the Restoration and has continued to be observed in many English towns and villages.  Padstow’s ‘Obby ‘Oss festival attracts around 30 thousand visitors. 

May Day also marks Labour Day as an official holiday in many countries, except in the UK. Bank Holidays were introduced by Act of Parliament in 1871, but it wasn’t until 1976 that a Labour Government designated the first Monday in May as the ‘May Day’ holiday and its introduction was delayed until 1978 due to the controversy over its socialist connotations.  It’s socialist connotations certainly influenced US Pres. Grover Cleveland who signed a law in 1894 making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday for America’s workers. Pope Pius XII may also have had it in mind when, in 1955, he established Mayday as the Feast of St Joseph the Worker to honour the dignity of work and vocation.

May Day is also the one day in the year to observe the old belief and to utter ‘rabbit, rabbit’ before saying another word as a way of inviting good luck for the next 12 months.

May also sees the end of our 2023/24 season, with the AGM on May 9, followed by a lecture on George Stubbs, ‘The English Leonardo’.  Our long-time members tell me that generally the last lecture is not as well attended. They say this is because it’s preceded by the AGM. I hope this year is different, because, aside from our annual accounts, there are several matters which require members’ approval, such as the membership fee for next season.  The Committee has discussed this matter at length.   The ‘elephant in the room’ that will not budge is the Arts Society’s recharge fee of £16 per head.   When it comes to our society’s fee, all the available evidence we have says the annual decline in our numbers will continue in 2024/25 and we must ensure we can cover next season’s expenses.   Country-wide evidence says increases in fees are rarely quoted by those who leave local societies.  Nevertheless, it’s probable that people who are looking to join our society will compare our products with our competitors.  We say our lectures are of higher quality than are local competitors, but a potential buyer can’t know that, unless they come as a visitor.   How do they choose?  If we’re honest we haven’t always chosen quality over price and gauging our fee against that of other societies in King’s Lynn is another concern.  Finally, assuming a small number of members will volunteer to manage our Society from May 2025 the present Committee must ensure that the new management can start off on a sound financial footing. I and the Committee hope you will find we have managed to achieve an appropriate balance.

FEEDBACK ON OUR APRIL LECTURE

THE DIVINE SUNFLOWER IN ART AND CULTURE

SPEAKER:  Twigs Way

Based on your feedback our report to The Arts Society reads:

Very good.   A very interesting lecture delivered with enthusiasm, knowledge and hardly a reference to her notes. The botanical properties of the sunflower was fascinating as was its history and symbolic importance in art down the ages. Some members felt that the talk would be better if less was covered with more in-depth analysis.

 To give your feedback either take a paper handout available at the signing-in desk or visit our website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’ and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides. If you prefer not to make a comment on the lecture your two scores will be sufficient.  Thank you.

Social Events Programme Summer 2024

Boston, Lincolnshire -  Wednesday 22nd May

Visit to St Botolph’s Library and Guided Tour of the Town. Cost: Personal donations to the Library and £5 cash per person for guided tour of the town.  Maximum 20.  See Page 3 for further details. 

Mannington Hall, Wednesday 12th June

Cost £25 to include coffee/tea and cake on arrival. Maximum 20. Pay in advance. See Page 4 for further details and application form.

King’s Lynn guided tour on Thursday 4th July 10 am.

Choice of two routes. 32 participants. £10 per person to include refreshments. Names only in advance.  Details to follow.

Summer Tea Party at Knight’s Hill Hotel. Thursday 11th July, 15.00 to 17.00. £16 per person. Payment in advance. Details to follow.

 Churches Norfolk Profunde Study Day, Thursday 8th June. 

Led by John Vigar. Minimum 30. Bookings with payment in advance. Details to follow

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN

2023-2024 Season

Our next talk starts at 2.05 on Thursday 9th  May 2024 at West Winch Village Hall, PE33 0JY when the topic will be:

George Stubbs (1724-1806), ‘The English Leonardo’

Many art historians and critics have compared the work of Stubbs to that of Leonardo da Vinci, one even christening him the ‘Leonardo of Liverpool’ to reflect his humble origins as the son of a Liverpool leatherworker. The comparison can seem hubristic until one considers the intense scientific method and investigation that lay behind the production by Stubbs of his world-famous Anatomy of the Horse published in 1766 – a work which revolutionised the understanding and depiction of equine subjects. This lecture looks at the life and work of this country’s greatest animal painter, putting Stubbs in the context of British sporting artists of the eighteenth century more generally. It focusses on his depiction of equestrian subjects such as the National Gallery’s Whistlejacket but also looks at the broader themes he addressed.

Speaker:   Christopher Garibaldi

Independent Researcher. 2010–2019 Director of Palace House,

Newmarket 2008–2010, Co-Director of the Attingham Summer

School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections.

1998–2003  Senior Curator & Assistant Keeper of Art (Decorative Art)

 at Norwich Castle Museum: co-curator of Flower Power – The

Meaning of Flowers in Art and Eat, Drink and Be Merry, the British  at

Table 1600 to 2000.  He catalogued the silver in the Royal Collection

at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal residences.

Hello everyone

I’m writing this on the morning of Good Friday and reflecting how much this day has changed since my youth.   I was born and raised in a small market town in south Leicestershire and at that time most shops that didn’t sell food were closed on Good Friday and grocery stores had closed by 2.00pm.  The town’s councillors thought it necessary to close the Ritz cinema for the day and a little later, when they yielded to the forces of secularisation, only ‘wholesome films’ could be screened, or cartoons.  As a choirboy I was required to attend the parish church in mid-morning for Holy Communion and for the last hour of the Vigil, held from 12noon to 3.00pm, to mark Christ’s time on the Cross.  The final service was in late afternoon, beside a grave in the cemetery of a ruined church on the outskirts of the town. The grave was that of William Hubbard who, in 1786, left a bequest of one guinea a year for the parish choristers to sing the Easter Hymn over his grave.  The guinea, minted between 1663 to 1814, contained a quarter ounce of gold. The increasing value of gold meant, by the late 1950s, that each choirboy received the tidy sum of half a crown for singing the eleven verses of ‘Christ the Lord Is Risen Today’.

In today’s Britain Good Friday seems to pass by almost unnoticed by the general population, except for the hot cross bun, which is now on sale from early January.  In contrast, other European countries still maintain the traditions of Holy Week and Easter. For example, in the Andalucian cities of Seville and Malaga normal life is suspended. I have only seen Holy Week in Malaga and cannot say whether Seville’s claim that theirs’ is better than Malaga’s is true or not. I can say Malaga’s festival was an unforgettable experience.

The first procession of Semana Santa (Holy Week) begins on Palm Sunday. In succeeding days,  except for Saturday, a total of 45 processions wend their way through the streets of the old city; a distance of over half a mile. Processions take place every day until the evening of Easter Sunday.   The number of processions vary each day, but all begin in the afternoon and carry on into the evening, with several going on past midnight.  Each procession consists of two large floats, one carrying a statue of Christ, the other a statue of the Virgin. These are carried by the confradias, brotherhoods of men, associated with Malaga’s 115 churches.  Although anyone who is a Catholic can apply to join a brotherhood by email it’s not uncommon for membership to pass from father to son and for all the males in a family to be members of the same brotherhood.  Membership requires commitment.  The brotherhoods practice carrying their floats throughout the year, even during the heat of August; not surprising when the average weight of a float is 3 tons.  The only exception is on Holy Thursday when soldiers from the Spanish Legion arrive by ship from Ceuta, to accompany the figure of the Christ of the Good Death on its journey to the Cathedral.

If you decide to go and see it, stay for the whole week and be sure to take an umbrella. As any Malagueño will tell you, ‘Even if we held Semana Santa in June it would still rain!’

FEEDBACK ON OUR MARCH LECTURE

The World’s Most Expensive Art – where Leonardo meets Picasso

Speaker: Ian Swankie

Based on your feedback our report to The Arts Society reads:

Excellent  -  A humorous and very well-presented lecture. A real eye opener to the ‘business’ of art and a novel way of showing us a wide range of paintings and sculpture.

To give your feedback either take a paper handout available at the signing-in desk or visit ourwebsite www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides. If you prefer not to make a comment on the lecture your two scores will be sufficient.  To give your feedback either take a paper handout available at the signing-in desk or visit our website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’ and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides. If you prefer not to make a comment on the lecture your two scores will be sufficient. Thank you.

REVIEW OF OUR COFFEE MORNING & RECITAL

We had thirty-six in the audience to hear Ed Taylor play the classical guitar. Ed covered a range of musical genres including flamenco, traditional Spanish, bossa nova, blues, jazz and even some Beetles. In addition to playing Ed also talked to his audience about the structure of each genre when played on the guitar.  It was a fun morning, with none of the formality that generally accompanies concerts. Marriotts coffee and the posh biscuits were great and several among the nine non-members who came along said they would join TASKL in September.

Many thanks to Irene Andrews our Events Organiser and her band of helpers.

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN

2023-2024 Season

Our next talk starts at 2.05 on Thursday 11th March, 2024 at West Winch Village Hall, PE33 0JY when the topic will be:

The Divine Sunflower in Art and Culture

Worshipped by Aesthetes and cultivated by Impressionists the sunflower casts its golden rays across art and culture. A personification of the divine and the regal, we trace its history from classical myth to twentieth century painting via Van Dyck and Van Gogh, Clytie and Klimt, Monet, Rivera, Wilde and Watts. Green and gold, human and divine, the adoring and the adored, the Sunflower.

Our Speaker is Twigs Way   

Twigs Way is a professional researcher and writer fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds. Her work explores themes of symbolism and meaning, class and gender, art and literature...and she enjoys following lesser-known paths in garden history towards the unexpected. Her original work was on the history of women in the garden and she retains an active research interest in this topic. 

Recent publications include the art and culture of specific flowers including the carnation and the daffodil and her book on the Chrysanthemum in Art and Culture was published in 2020 by Reaktion Press. Her original work was on the history of women in the garden, and she retains an active research interest in this topic. Twigs is currently working on the Daffodil in art and culture.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of £10.  Please pay by cash or cheque at the door, or email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to reserve a place.

Membership enquiries – 01366 328648. Website – www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk

Members are invited to join a Extra Ordinary Meeting before our March talk to discuss the future of our society. Please make every effort to attend as we have some important issues to discuss. 

Many thanks 

TASKL Committee

Hello everyone

It’s February.  Spring flowers are with us once more, encouraging one to think that summer is just around the corner.  Allegedly, it’s also the time when ‘a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,’ to quote Lord Alfred Tennyson. It’s sad, and true, but I’ve reached an age where I can barely remember experiencing a ‘young man’s fancy’.  There are still a lot of things I do fancy, but these are the fancies of an ‘ole geezer’ and best kept to myself.

In the world of The Arts Society Kings Lynn (TASKL) our lectures continue to be remarkably good as is our level of attendance, we enjoy a steady stream of visitors and the organisation of lectures – signing in, serving of tea/coffee etc continue to operate like a well-oiled machine. On the surface everything appears to be business as usual.  Unfortunately, the underlying reality is different, which is why the Committee has called for an Extraordinary Meeting, to take place before the 14th March lecture, beginning at 1.20. A short paper explaining our current situation will be distributed shortly and I ask that you take a little time to read it and to come to the Extraordinary Meeting.

February sees the start of the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Dragon.  In Chinese culture, the Dragon holds a significant place as an auspicious and extraordinary creature, unparalleled in talent and excellence. It symbolizes power, nobility, honour, luck, and success. The forecast for 2024 is that it will bring opportunities, changes, and challenges. If you're seeking a shift in your current lives, this year might offer a favourable chance of success.

I wonder whether The Arts Society (TAS) chose the Year of the Dragon to introduce their Report on Governance.  It was emailed only to Chairs of local arts societies on 29th January. Consultation meetings on the Report chaired by the CEO and Company Secretary will be held on Zoom for members of local society’s Chairs/Committee members until 24th March. An Extraordinary General Meeting will vote on it on 15th April via Zoom.

FEEDBACK ON FEBRUARY’S LECTURE

MUSIC IN ART

SOPHIE MATTHEWS

Based on you feedback our report to The Arts Society reads:

‘Excellent

A lively, enthusiastic lecture delivered without notes, with humour and a wide knowledge of the subject. A refreshing change with live demonstrations of musical instruments played by Sophie together with art references. The audience were captivated throughout.’

To give your feedback either take a paper handout available at the signing-in desk or visit our

website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’

and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides. If you prefer not to make a comment

on the lecture your two scores will be sufficient.  To give your feedback either take a paper handout available at the signing-in desk or visit our website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’ and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides. If you prefer not to make a comment on the lecture your two scores will be sufficient.

Thank you.

Spring Coffee Morning and Recital

Join us from 10.30 at Marriott’s Warehouse on Friday 22nd March for the first social event of the year.

Quality coffee/tea and biscuits included as well as a recital on the Classical Guitar presented by Ed Taylor musician and teacher who will play a range of genre exploring the versatility of the instrument.

There will also be a seasonal raffle.

Cost is £10 cash on the door but since places are limited, these must be booked. Email Irene Andrews artichoke@btinternet.com by 10th March to secure your place.

What’s on in March?

Five events in and around King’s Lynn to see in the Spring. We have a play, a choral concert, exhibition, coffee morning, film.

West Acre Theatre is staging Pinter’s Betrayal on a variety of dates and times in what seems to be a revival of interest in this major playwright. Betrayal won the National Theatre Olivier Award in 1978 so expect quality theatre.

On Saturday 13th at 7pm the Festival Chorus will be performing Brahms Requiem and Elgar’s Sea Pictures at The Minster.

Throughout the month on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, go along to the Fermoy Gallery to see Views of Lynn. This is a watercolour exhibition by Christopher T Page celebrating King’s Lynn in the first half of the 20th century.

TASKL’s own event a Coffee Morning and Classical Guitar Recital is from 10.30 on Friday 22nd March. We would urge you to support this event and bring along a friend who can gain an insight into the society and maybe join us? Email < artichoke@btinternet .com > to book places but pay at the event.

MARCH LECTURE

The World’s most Expensive Art – where Leonardo meets Picasso 

Thursday 14 March 2024

14 March 2.00pm

West Winch Village Hall

SPEAKER:  Ian Swankie

In the last few years the top end of the art market has flourished, and collectors have been prepared to pay astonishing amounts to own a modern masterpiece. This lecture is about the works that have sold for over $100 million and is an excuse to examine some beautiful and varied art. These works would not achieve such sky-high prices if they were no good. So, we’ll see some wonderful paintings including those by Picasso, Cézanne, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Modigliani, Klimt, Bacon and Pollock, all held together by the common thread of their extraordinary commercial value. But we will also look at the buyers and sellers, the stories behind the works, the reasons for changing hands and I will try to answer the question “Are they really worth hundreds of millions of pounds?”

Ian Swankie

A Londoner with a passion for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours around each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his home town of Richmond in West London. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lectures for a charge of £10.  Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place or just turn up on the day.

To enquire about TASKL membership please ring 01366 328648. Full details of about the Society and all our activities are on www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk

Hello everyone

A thousand apologies to all those readers who felt a deep sense of loss during the two months when there was no Bugle.  But I’m back now, it’s still January so I can wish you all a healthy and happy 2024. 

I’ve long since thought there’s a lot of truth in the Greco-Roman idea that our lives are shaped by the Wheel of Fate and its Goddess, Fortuna. Indeed, the words of ‘O Fortuna’, which provides the prologue and epilogue to Carl Orff’s cantata, ‘Carmina Burana’ perfectly captures the series of sudden mishaps which befell my wife and I during the last two months of 2023.  We were rolling along, relatively carefree and planning for Christmas and the New Year when Fortuna, the Goddess of Fate, crept up behind us unseen and coshed the pair of us. In a trice we plunged off the upper rim of Fortune’s Wheel and down to its underside; Pat with a broken kneecap, me with an injured shoulder and the ‘falling sickness’.  As Carmina Burana has it, ‘O Fortuna, like the moon you are changeable, ever waxing, ever waning, hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it.’   At present, Fortuna is treating Pat and I to her soothing mood, but she can change our destiny in a moment.

Our turn of Fate meant that neither of us could attend the December talk,  ‘The Music of the Sixties’ and we thank the Committee and all those volunteers who came forward and  ensured the talk went without a hitch.  THANK YOU.

And what a talk we missed!  The music and the world of the 1960s!  They say that if you were there in the 1960s, and young, you only really had a great time if you can’t remember anything about it.  I do remember it, so maybe I didn’t have such a good time, although many of the memories still come with a rosy glow.   Luckily I was back in harness in time to hear Tony Brenton’s talk on the Russian ‘itinerants’ – a lecture I had been looking forward to since the first time I saw our 2023/24 programme. 

THE EXTRAORDINARY MEETING:    Traditionally, the time allotted for our AGMs is around 30 minutes. Not enough when there are complex matter to be discussed. For this reason the the Committe has decided to call for an Extraordinary Meeting before the March lecture to enablemembers to consider a number of issues that will be decided upon at our AGM in May.

YOUR FEEDBACK ON JANUARY’S LECTURE

TURBULENT TIMES:

Russian History as depicted by its 19th Century Realist Painters

I’m sure many of us found Tony Brenton’s lecture an eye opener.  I visited Moscow in the winter of ’79 and made a series of trips to what was Leningrad in ’89 and ’90, when the Soviet policy of Glasnost was getting into its stride.  Outside of business hours I visited a variety of Tsarists palaces to see the art that covered their walls, but aside from icons and posters showing the history of Soviet propaganda I never so much as glimpsed an example of the Russian art that Tony Brenton spoke about.

The feedback received marked the lecture as ‘Outstanding’ and  ‘Excellent’ and Claire Smith, our  Programme Secretary, sent the following comments to the Arts Society.

‘Excellent. Tremendous authority on 19th century Russian Realist Art which was unfamiliar to most of us. Tony’s personal experience as an ambassador added insight into the Russian psyche and enabled him to add interesting social and political context to his talk which was riveting! Our overall score would have been outstanding had it not been that some members thought Tony spoke too quickly which made it difficult to hear. Otherwise a wonderful talk.

Can I remind you that The Arts Society expects us to provide it with feedback. To give your feedback either take a paper handout that’s available at the signing-in desk or visit our website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’ and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides.  If you don’t want to make any comment on the lecture, then don’t, your two scores will be sufficient.  Thank you.

VISITS and TRIPS in 2024

January maybe coming to a close, but February can be a unpredictable month in terms of weather.  In the light of this we are not planning any visits until we are into March. Irene Andrews, our Events Organiser, is currently researching several possibilities. More news anon. In the meantime, if you feel like getting out and about please take a look at her ‘What’s On’ column.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

It may sound bizarre to be talking about Advent 2024 at this point of the year, but experience shows that it’s always best to book up early if you want to hold an event in the Christmas period, which starts on 1st December for most of the catering industry.

 In line with past years our Advent Lunch will take place on Friday 6th December and Knights Hill Hotel will be the venue.  

Our summer event - the July Tea Party will take place on Thursday 11th June, 3.00 - 5.00pm. At the Knights Hill Hotel. 

          OUR FEBRUARY TALK 

  MUSIC IN ART

Speaker: Sophie Matthews

8th February, 2024 at 2.05

West Winch Village Hall

Sophie Matthews is a musician, well known for her prowess on various regional bagpipes. She also plays and makes a variety of early woodwind instruments such shawm, rauschpfeife, crumhorn and recorder.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a fee of £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place, or just turn up on the day. To enquire about TASKL membership please ring 01366 328648. Full details about the Society and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk

We have the perfect gifts for the Art Lovers in your life! 

You can buy a membership of The Arts Society King's Lynn for the final five lectures of this season (January to May inclusive) for just £30. In addition to free entry to the excellent monthly talks, this also includes all the benefits of the usual annual membership including access to all our social events, volunteering activities and the Arts Society magazine and 'instant expert' emails. 

If you are looking for a smaller gift, you can also purchase a AS token for £10 which give the recipient access to one of our talks, whichever they choose. 

So buy a gift that you know will be appreciated and support your Society at the same time!

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN

MONTHLY BUGLE

Hello everyone

Well, we’ve had our first Thursday afternoon get together and what a cracking talk Bertie Pearce treated us to; a potpourri explaining the art of sculpting, the work and life of Adrien De Vries and his mentors and the world of auction houses who deal in “high art”, all mixed in with a stream of amusing anecdotes. Where could one get such a mix of high-quality entertainment and knowledge except in the Arts Society? Indeed, Bertie’s talk made me temporarily forget my concerns about the future. But first, a few words about the past.

Pre-Covid our membership was reducing by about 15 to 20 members a year. The numbers of new recruits were never enough to stop the ongoing decline and, towards the end of the 2021/22 season it was recognised that simply maintaining our post-Covid membership of 150 was a major challenge. Recruiting 50 new members to replace those lost during Covid was a pipe dream.  

Thus, as we explained at the May AGM, we decided to base our finances on a continuing membership of 150 people. Our current fee of £52 per member gives us an annual income of £7,850, sufficient to pay our yearly expenses. The income we receive from visitors’ fees, the tiny profit from pre-lecture teas and the Christmas raffle provide a small annual surplus. The money from visitors’ fees make up the major part, but we cannot rely on it.

Members generally re-join for the coming season from May to August. By the end of August we can see whether we are on target for 150 members. At the end of August last year we had 127 members; 23 short of our target.  We weren’t unhappy with this figure because a small cohort usually re-join in September. Indeed, by end-September we had a further 13 people, giving us a total of 140.  We recruited 8 more in November, giving us a total of 148 members. By comparison, in 2023, we are almost at the end of September and our membership is 123.  

What to do?  The answer must be – RECRUIT!   RECRUIT!  RECRUIT! – and all of us must play a part to reach our target of 150. Our brochure for the 2023/24 season is regarded as one of the best and each of us must take some copies and ‘hawk them around’ – to relatives, friends, neighbours, even downright enemies if we think they might join.    

All the gurus in the promotion/publicity business say getting yourself known is key to selling your product.  We may not like the idea, but we too are selling a product.  During the summer break Committee members have been working on ways to promote us.  Posters with this season’s talks have been designed and placed in commercial premises and village halls.  Also, we have invited prominent people in the local art and arts related scene to attend a lecture of their choice in the coming year, to stimulate interest in what we do,  with the aim of getting greater publicity and recruiting new members. Starting in November we are offering a quiz to all comers in the hope of raising funds and recruiting. In our next Committee meeting we will be looking at other ways to promote recruitment.

A recent report by The Arts Society records the closure of five local arts societies since the beginning of this year.  If we are to survive we must recruit new members.

FEEDBACK ON SEPTEMBER’S  LECTURE

THE DANCING FAUN by ADRIEN DE VRIES

Speaker: Bertie Pearce

Eileen received 20 responses to her request for feedback on what all agreed was an ‘outstanding/excellent’ lecture. Based on your feedback our Programme Secretary, Claire Smith, sent the following comment to the Arts Society.   

 “Outstanding.   A very entertaining lecture, full of wit and joie de vivre. It was a fascinating family story, told like a thriller at times with hilarious anecdotes in between. We learned interesting facts about Adrien De Vries, and about 16th and 17th century European history. We also learned how to make a bronze from the lost wax method, thanks to the Getty Museum. As always, Bertie brightened up everyone’s day."

To give your feedback either take a paper handout available at the signing-in desk or visit our website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’ and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides. If you prefer not to make a comment on the lecture your two scores will be sufficient.

The Art’s Society, King’s Lynn

 Coffee Quiz with Jeff Hoyle

When?  Wednesday 1st November 2023 10.30 for 11am  prompt start

Where?  The Warehouse, Setchey (where there is ample free parking)

How much?  £5 per person payable in cash on the day includes a donation to True’s Yard

Refreshments available to purchase. 

Teams of up to 6 which can be allocated on the day.

How do I book?  email Irene Andrews at artichoke@btinternet.com or Tel 01553 676712

TASKL members exclusive booking up to 30th September 2023

 so don’t delay.

THE BUGLE’S MONTHLY QUIZ

The start of our 2023/24 season sees the introduction of a new approach to the monthly quiz. Instead of relatively easy questions about art in general this season’s quizzes will concentrate on questions arising from the last lecture.   Last year the number of entrants never exceeded more than 4 people.  Hopefully this year more will take part. If nobody takes part a few extra pounds will stay in my pocket!

Q1.    Who in the Pearce family bought the Dancing Faun? 

Q2.    What was this person’s profession?

Q3.    When did this person buy the Dancing Faun (date within 3 years)?

Q4.    How much did the person pay for it? 

Q.5    How long had the statue stood in the garden of the Pearce’s house?   

Q6.    How tall is the statue (to within 4 inches/ 10.5cms). 

Q7.    Where was Adrien De Vries born?

Q8.    Who was Adrien De Vries’s second and most important patron?

Q.9.   How much did it sell for at Sotheby’s auction?

Q10.  In “Fools & Horses” what did Del and Rodney sell at Sothebys for £6.2million?

 [All answers are verified by the Encyclopaedia Ruritania]

A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

Just a reminder that our Advent Lunch will be on

Friday 1st December 2023

At Knights Hill Hotel

King’s Lynn

October What’s On???

With fine weather continuing this edition takes us out of Kings’ Lynn to Ely, Norwich and Cambridge.

Toppings in Ely, as well as being an excellent book shop, holds regular author events. On Tuesday 3rd October at 19.30 David Mitchell will be in Ely Cathedral talking about “Unruly: a history of England’s Kings and Queens”.     Book this event through toppingbooks.co.uk.   Coming up Giacometti in Paris with Michael Peppiatt on Thursday 12th October.

Further along the rail line, at The Fitzwilliam, the new exhibition is Black Atlantic: power, people, resistance exploring Cambridge’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.

At Kettle’s Yard, October sees the last chance to visit Material Power: Palestian Embroidery.

It is always worth checking out adctheatre.com to see what is on and make a day of it.

 Norwich Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts has a new exhibition Stuff of Life/Life of Stuff focussing on recycling and sustainability. Free tours are at 11.30 and worth every penny!!!

Travel safely,   Irene Andrews.

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING'S LYNN  2023/24 SEASON

Our next talk starts at 2.05pm at West Winch Village Hall on Thursday 12th October when the topic will be:

"How to get down from a Yak - adventures in Central Asian Nomadic textiles"

Speaker

Chris Aslan

Chris has spent most of his life travelling and living in the Middle East and Central Asia, including 3 years in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. He is the author of "A Carpet Ride to Khiva" and "Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia". Chris lectures for the Arts Society and leads tours to Central Asia.

Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a fee of £10. Please email taskl.treasurer@gmail.com to book your place, or just turn up on the day. To enquire about TASKL membership please ring 01366 328648. Full details about the Society and all our activities are available at www.theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk

THE BUGLE   AUGUST 2023

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE

In the June edition of The Bugle I expressed the hope you were enjoying flaming June and that it wouldn’t be followed by a wet July and August. Unfortunately, it was. The Met Office’s report describes July as unsettled; often cool, dull and windy with high rainfall and autumnal in character.  With few exceptions the first half of August was also cool and wet. The jet stream moved to the north in the second half and the weather has improved.

We “staycationed” (a horrible new teeth-grinding word) in the West Country, or as we now call it the “Wet Country” where it rained and blew non-stop until, on the fifth day, we decided to pack up and come home. Back in West Norfolk the weather was a lot better.   Unfortunately, some of those who decided to vacation in sunnier climes often found they were in fiery climes too. 

Although I’m sure my hopes for a sunny July and August didn’t tempt the Gods to screw-up the weather for us mortals I’ve decided never to mention the subject again – just in case.

Looking to the future we have another excellent season of talks to look forward to, beginning in September with Bertie Pearce’s story of “The Dancing Faun” and its journey from a family’s garden to the Getty Museum in LA.

On a more sombre note, a few days ago Eileen emailed me the current membership list for our 2023/24 season.  Right now we have 110 paid-up members; 40 people short of our financial target of 150 members.  Eileen tells me there is always a late rush of members re-joining in September. At the risk of tempting the Gods on such an important matter – I hope fervently that Eileen’s prediction is correct.

Please, if you are re-joining for this coming season, can I ask you to sign up as soon as possible and if you know someone who’s thinking of joining or re-joining can I ask you to encourage them to make the right decision.  Thank you.

Our Visit to Congham Vineyard

Thursday 10th August 2023

The visit, which was both interesting and enjoyable took place on one of the hottest afternoons in August, but the owners saw to it that there was plenty of shade and best of all, plenty of tastings.  Thanks to Irene Andrews, our Events and Trips Organiser for setting up and managing the visit.

Rather than ask for a fee the vineyard owners, John and Helen Lilly, asked for our members to give a donation to Tapping House, the Norfolk Hospice. 

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN 2023/24 SEASON

THURSDAY 14th September 2023

The Village Hall, West Winch

(Doors open at 1.30pm. Talks start at 2.05pm)

“THE DANCING FAUN”  by    ADRIEN De VRIES

Speaker:  Bertie Pearce

     THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN

THE BUGLE

Hello everyone

I hope you are enjoying the summer and that flaming June won’t be followed by a wet July and August.

Please note that publication of the Bugle will be suspended during the summer months.  It will re-appear towards the end of August in time for the new season of lectures. 

In the meantime, places are still available for the visit to Congham Vineyard on Thursday 10th August.

Applications for this events is attached.  

Best wishes

Stuart

THE ARTS SOCIETY KINGS LYNN       

The Chair & Committee invite you to join them for

A BESPOKE TOUR OF CONGHAM VINEYARD

Commencing at 2.00pm on Thursday 10th August

This is an established vineyard, owned by Helen and John Lilley that produces Rosé, Dry White, Red and Sparkling wines from various grape varieties. The visit will last for about 90 minutes the visit will include:-

A talk;  a tour of the one-acre site;  wine tasting and an opportunity to purchase wine.

Please reserve . . . . . . . . . . . .. places to attend the Tour on Thursday10th August at 2pm for the following people:

Name(s) of Member(s)-------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------

Name(s) of Guest(s) ----------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------

At the Lilley’s request the £6 payment for the visit is being donated to Tapping House. Further contributions on the day are encouraged. The payment of £6 (members or guests) is payable on reservation of place(s) either by:

Bank Transfer (BACs) to:                                              

Account: The Arts Society KL

Sort Code: 30-99-77

Account No. 00147703

Ref: Congham

OR

Send a cheque to:

The Treasurer TASKL,

Rowde House, Hills Court,

Downham Market PE38 0QE

Please complete this form and send it:

Either by email to taskl.treasurer@gmail.com or if paying by cheque enclose it together with your cheque to the Treasurer at the above address.

THE CLOSING DATE FOR RESERVATIONS IS 31st JULY 2023

CAN ANYONE SELL OR LOAN ME A COUPLE OF GECKOES?

When I was a boy of about nine or ten I read a short story, called ‘Leningen versus the Ants’, written by an Austrian writer called Carl Stephenson.  Originally published in Germany it was translated into English and re-published in an edition of Esquire in 1938.  Set in Brazil it recounts Leningen’s epic battle to save his plantation from a vast horde of ants.  The ants in question weren’t British-type ants, or even the larger Mediterranean variety, but Army Ants; the length of a thumb, reddish black, and long-legged, which, during their nomadic phase, travel great distances attacking and eating animals and foliage.

Leningen’s plantation lies directly in the ants’ path and the story opens with him talking to a Brazilian official who has come to warn of the ant’s approach and to advise Leningen to pack up and leave before they arrive.  The official’s response to Leningen’s decision to stay and protect his plantation sets the scene for the ensuing battle; “You’re insane Leningen! These aren’t creatures you can fight -  they’re elemental - an 'act of God!' Ten miles long, two miles wide--ants, nothing but ants! And every single one of them a fiend from hell; before you can spit three times they'll eat a full-grown buffalo to the bones. I tell you if you don't clear out at once there'll be nothing left of you but a skeleton picked as clean as your own plantation."

The story of Leningen and his ants has been dormant within my brain’s memory bank for over half a century, until earlier this week when, standing by the kitchen sink I suddenly became aware of one, then three, then more ants scuttling around the work top. They were quickly despatched. But ten minutes later I noticed ants on the tiles by the dining room’s patio door.  And so began the Dimmock’s version of Leningen and the ants.  Of course, there’s no comparison between our little visitors and the Army Ant (thank God). Nevertheless, they are the most persistent little b-----s.  However, four days on and a combination of Novichok nerve agent, DDT and boric acid seems to be turning the tide.  In the long term though, as we live close to the countryside, I think a couple of roaming geckoes is the most effective solution.  So, if you have a couple for sale or on a lend/lease arrangement please get in touch.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING FOR 2022

Thursday 11 May 2022

Main Points:

·       Messrs Stephenson Smart (East Anglia) Ltd of King’s Lynn were reappointed as Financial Examiners to the Society

·       Committee Reports of Young Arts; Heritage Volunteers; Church Recorders; and the Art Group were adopted.

·       Thanks given to John Townsend as outgoing President. Elizabeth Walker appointed as new President.    Officers: Stuart Dimmock (Chair), Patricia Dimmock (Treasurer), and Committee members, Irene Andrews (Events Organiser), Eileen Powell (Membership Secretary), Tricia Rowlands (Publicity & Website), Claire Smith (Programme Secretary), Alison Wakes- Miller (Church Recorders), Alan Levanthall (General member/Church Recorders).   Office of Secretary (vacant)

·       Thanks given to retiring Officers and Committee members: Elizabeth Walker, Jean Meldrum and Anne Truman

Summary of the Chair‘s Report:  We started this year with the benefit of two decisions made by Kate and her committee:  1. to aim to retain the present membership number of 145 year on year;  2. to set fees at a level sufficient to cover our operating costs.

And I would say we’ve had a good year; achieving our aim to retain 145 members means the £52 fee has covered our running costs and the extra income from visitors’ fees, the Xmas raffle and teas/coffee has given us a trading surplus for the year of approx. £1000. Hence, despite inflation we can keep fees at their present level for 2034/24. The quality of our lectures is the centrepiece of the Society. However, we continued to receive good publicity for our Volunteering Activities, such as the work of Young Arts at Whitefriars Academy, for our Foodbank initiative and for our Heritage Volunteers’ work at Holkham Hall.   We have been successful also in attracting grant money, for our Foodbank work and  Church Recording. Our Social events  -  the summer tea party and Advent lunch – were well supported and we organised a number of successful visits, the highlights being our walking tour in Kings Lynn and the trip to Oxburgh Estate. We look forward to next Monday’s trip to Gainsboro’ House.  My thanks to the Committee, to those who manage our AVA equipment and to every member for their part in recruiting new members and introducing visitors. We look forward now to even greater success in our 2023/24 Season.

SUMMER EDITIONS OF THE BUGLE

Please note. During the next three months a couple of the usual features will not appear, i.e.  details of forthcoming lectures and subsequent reviews, and the quiz. Both will restart in our 2023/24 season in September.

YOUR FEEDBACK ON MAY’S LECTURE

VOX POP – Opera in England – Sarah  Lenton

Eileen received 20 responses to her request for feedback on what all agreed was an ‘outstanding/excellent’ lecture.

Based on your feedback our Programme Secretary, Claire Smith, sent the following comment to the Arts Society. Excellent.

‘Excellent. Members were agreed that this was a great lecture; full of new information and insider’s insights. It was delivered with great passion for the subject and with very amusing comments. The reasons why English opera is so different from that of Europe were fascinating. The operatic excerpts complemented the lecture well. Many thanks Sarah.’

By now you must be pretty bored of hearing that it’s important to provide feedback to The Arts Society on the speakers. But it really is.  Feedback from local societies is the only sure way The Arts Society can monitor the quality of its appointed lecturers. So, a big thank you to the 20 who recorded their views.

RESULTS OF MAY’S PUZZLE

The winner of May’s puzzle was Alison Brinston.

Answers to Puzzle No 3  -  What are these artists’ forenames?

1.    Edward Hopper        2. Mary Cassat             3. Henri Matisse     4.  James Whistler      

 5.   Leonora Carrington    6.   Georgia O’Keeffe      7.  Amedeo Modigliani    

8.    Grant Wood        9.  Berthe Morisot       10. Alessandro Botticilli

OUR  VISIT TO GAINSBOROUGH HOUSE

The drive through the countryside on a sunny day was pleasant and soon we arrived outside Gainsborough’s House. 

We opted for the guided tour, which was certainly worthwhile.  

The tour started in the garden, with a mulberry tree, symbolic of Sudbury’s silk industry and a recently built crinkle crankle wall. These are a rarity, Fakenham has one.  

We then progressed into the Parlour, which would have been familiar to Thomas as he was born in this house and lived here until he was 13. Thomas went to London for 10 years and returned to Sudbury for a further 3 years but not to this house. His father, a draper, had gone bust due to spending more money than he possessed. 

Next, we visited the Painting Room, which was an addition after Gainsborough’s death. It represented the type of artist studio with which he would have been familiar. 

Onto the Music Room, which represented his love of music. This room also featured what was, then, considered a racy Gainsborough portrait of a woman sitting cross legged, showing her ankle and playing a musical instrument.  

The Silk Room was next and the women painted by Thomas mostly wore locally produced silk.  

We then went to the Gainsborough Gallery, where our guide took us through a selection of portraits and landscapes describing them intelligently and placing them in context. Thomas painted portraits for the money but preferred landscapes as they allowed him to experiment with different techniques.  

After thanking our guide, we explored the newer areas of the museum, including paintings on loan from Woburn Abbey.  

Thank you to everyone involved for making this a memorable visit.    

 Alan Leventhall

  SUMMER TEA PARTY

Friday 14th July from 3.00 – 5.00pm

 Garden Room and Brasserie Knights Hill Hotel,

                                    Kings Lynn

£14.50 per person

This was advertised with an accompanying application form in April’s Bugle and Eileen has sent a form to everyone.  Cost is £14.50 per person.  July still seems a long way off. However, please bear in mind that the size of the venue means there is a limit on numbers of around 45 – 50 people.  An application form is on the back page  in case you have mislaid your previous one.

NB. Closing date has changed to 8th JULY

Visit to Congham Vinyard

THURSDAY 10th AUGUST 2023

Our Events Organiser,  Irene Andrews, is currently in the throes of organising a bespoke visit to this established local vineyard, which produces rose, dry white, red and sparkling wines.

The visit, commencing at 2.00pm and lasting for approx. 90 minutes will include a talk, a tour of the vineyard, wine tasting and an opportunity to buy a bottle or two.  Full details will be available very shortly.

PRESENTATION OF CHURCH RECORD AT ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH, SOUTH ACRE on SUNDAY, 11TH JUNE AT 6.00PM EVENSONG

You are invited to attend this Service of Evensong when the Church Recorders will Present the Church Record of South Acre Church.  St George’s is a lovely little church with a very fine brass with near life-sized figures of Sir John Harsick and his wife Catherine. They are holding hands, he having removed his armour gauntlet.  Not to be missed is the tomb of Sir Edward Barkham and his wife, Lady Jane, laying side by side on the tomb chest dressed in robes that appear to be real rather than carved from stone.

Alison Wakes-Miller and other Recorders will be pleased to see you.

ARTS HIGHLIGHTS JUNE 2023

#  With continuing exhibitions at The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Kettles Yard and The Fitzwilliam, the focus is on what is new in June. ( Note:  SCVA now operates a pay what you can pricing policy and guided tours are free of charge.)

#  Concerts in churches is something of a theme with St Nicholas Chapel staging two events. These are Journeys at 19.30 on Friday 9th featuring the flute and harp and on Sunday 18th at 15.30, The Norfolk Symphony Orchestra programme includes Mozart, Haydn and Saint Saens.

#  St Mary’s, Snettisham (yes, the one with the enormous spire) is holding a concert of Bach and Telemann at 19.00 on Friday 30th

#  Further out at The Burnhams, if you enjoy unaccompanied cello, Leo Popplewell is performing at 15.00 on Sunday 11th at Burnham Sutton Church as part of the Music in the Burnhams Programme.

#  The Royal Shakespeare Company is performing at the Theatre Royal, Norwich with an interpretation of Julius Caesar exploring how far you would go in pursuing political principle. Dates are 6th to 8th June.

#  On a lighter theme, Jeff Hoyle will be the quizmaster for the monthly Marriot’s Warehouse Coffee Quizzes. Only £5 for coffee and homemade biscuits and a lot of fun. June’s quiz is at 11.00 on Wednesday 28th. No need to book, just come along and join a team.   #  Also at Marriott’s at 7.30 on Thursday 29th June a free event featuring films by local film makers Peter Clitheroe and Robert Fuller. Donations to Fairstead Community Shop, a not for profit enterprise providing funds for school trips, uniforms and the youth club.

This is by no means a definitive list. I welcome any suggestions for hidden gems for future articles.   Irene Andrews 23/05/23

Hello everyone

A la recherché du étés perdu

I know people say time goes more quickly as one gets older, but it seems barely credible that in a
week’s time a quarter of the year will be behind us and it will be May, with a Coronation and three
Bank Holidays. It’s also the month when the first of the five Classic flat races are held, starting
with the 2000 Guineas and 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. I haven’t atended a race meeting for
more than forty-five years, but this year I decided it was time to renew my interest in the sport
and we will be at Newmarket to watch the 1000 Guineas. I can’t claim that horse racing is in my
blood, although my father was a jockey in his youth and my great aunt married into the Nightingall
family who were Epsom based trainers from 1892 until the death of Walter Nightingall in 1968. It
was said his horses always ran to win and during his 40 years in the business, he trained several
of Queen Elizabeth’s horses and all of Winston Churchill’s.
We used to go to Epsom every August to stay with my aunt and her husband, John Nightingall
(Walter’s uncle) from the time I was eight until my uncle John’s death in 1960. Their Edwardian
style villa , Beech Cottage, was on the very edge of the Downs, the Nightingall’s two stable yards
were within a few minute’s walk along the Burgh Heath Road and there must have been another
half dozen trainers’ racing stables in the immediate vicinity. Memories fade, but I can still
remember, as a litle boy, being lifted into the saddle of ‘ Vienna’, one of Winston Churchill’s
horses; watching strings of horses pass by the front gate e very morning on their way to the
training rides on the Downs; shaking hands with Duncan Keith, the Nightingall’s stable jockey after
he won the 1961 Memorial Gold Cup at Kempton; and going to Epsom’s August meetings with my
father. My last visit to Epsom races was on the final day of the 1963 August meeting. Arthur
(‘Scobie’) Breasley, probably the greatest ever Australian jockey, was riding in every race. I decided
to back him and finished the afternoon with over £100 in my pocket. Not bad when the average
weekly wage was around £17.

                                                  _________________________________________

                                             APRIL’S LECTURE – ART AFTER WINDRUSH
                                                               Barry Venning
                                                                                        YOUR FEEDBACK
---------------------------------------------
Nine(!) people sent in their feedback on Barry Venning’s lecture which was quite
surprising in light of the discussion it generated. We expected a higher number. Speaking
personally, the work shown of black artists was an ‘eye-opener’, although at times I
sensed an evangelical tone to the lecture.
Claire, our Programme Secretary’s, who conveys your feedback to The Arts Society
wrote,
‘Excellent. Thought provoking and entertaining lecture. Barry treated a sensitive subject
with insight and humour, combining interesting facts about the artists with analysis of the
paintings. The animated post-lecture discussion demonstrated that this is an area that we
should return to in the future.’
To give your feedback either take a the paper handout available at the signing in desk or
visit our website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the
password ‘waitrose’ and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides. If you
don’t want to make any comment on the lecture, then don’t, your two scores will be
sufficient. Thank you.

Artist list for after Windrush – postcolonial art in Britain since 1948
• Below is a list of prominent artists that we asked Barry Venning to send on to us:
• Barbara Walker MBE, (b. 1964, Birmingham)
• Rasheed Araeen (b. Karachi,1935)
• Francis Newton Souza (b. Goa, 1924 d. Mumbai, 2002)
• Anwar Jalal Shemza (b Shimla, Kashmir, 1928 d Stafford 1985)
• James Barnor (b. Accra, Ghana, 1929)
• Sir Frank Bowling, RA, OBE (b. 1936 Bartica, Essequibo, British Guyana).
• Eddie Chambers (b. Wolverhampton 1960)
• Keith Piper (b. Malta 1960)
• Donald Rodney (b. Birmingham 1961. d.1998)
• Professor Lubaina Himid, CBE, RA. (b. Zanzibar, 1954)
• Professor Sonia Boyce, RA, OBE b. London, 1962
• Yinka Shonibare R.A. MBE (b. London, 1962)
• Chris Ofili (b. Manchester, 1968)
• Lynette Yiadom Boakye. (b. London 1977)
• The Singh Twins (Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh b. Richmond,1966)
• Dr. Chila Kumari Singh Burman (b. Bootle, 1958)
• Denzil Forrester MBE (b. Grenada, 1956)
• Sir Steve McQueen (b. Ealing, 1969)
• Khushna Sulaman-Butt (b. Blackburn 1995)
• Not mentioned in the lecture but very well worth checking out:
• Ronald Moody. Donald Locke. Hew Locke (Donald’s son). Claudette Johnson. Hurvin  Anderson. John    Akomfrah.

                                   ____________________________________________________ 

GOING TO GAINSBOROUGH?
DO YOU QUALIFY FOR A REDUCED ENTRY FEE?
PLEASE REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR RELEVANT
MEMBERSHIP CARD!

________________________________________

                                             THE BUGLE MONTHLY PUZZLE No. 3
A Rule Change
We had three entries for March’s puzzle. Fingers crossed for more in April. March’s
competition was won by Ivor Rowlands who beat Graeme Robb to the winning post by a
nose. Adrian and Kate Phillips came third. It has been suggested that basis on which the
winner is decided be changed. Instead of the first correct entry received it will be the first
correct answer to be pulled ‘out of the hat’. The draw will take place before a lecture. This
gives those members who cannot email their answers a fighting chance.
Puzzle No 3 - What are these artists’ forenames?
1. Hopper 2. Cassat 3. Matisse 4. Whistler 5. Carrington
6. O’Keeffe 7. Modigliani 8. Wood 9. Morisot 10. Botticilli
Answers must be received before 9 th May. Draw takes place on 13th May. Winner can choose
either a bottle of plonk or a box of chocs. Answers to < thedimmocks2000@hotmail.com >
or by letter to - Rowde House, Hills Court, Hilgay, Downham Market, PE38 0QE.
Answers to March competition
1. David Hockney. 2. Gustav Klimt. 3. Edvard Munch. 4. Vincent van Gogh.
5. Jack Vettriano. 6. Damien Hurst. 7. Jan Vermeer. 8. Leonardo da Vinci. 9. Raphael
10. Diego Valazquez

                                      _______________________________________________

NWNORFOLK ART SOCIETY
TRIP to DODDINGTON HALL and LINCOLN CATHEDRAL
Following an agreement with NWNorfolk Arts Society to share information about visits we
circulated details about their trip on Monday 19th June to Doddington Hall and
Gardens followed by Evensong in Lincoln Cathedral. Cost for a visitor is £53, lunch and
other refreshments not included. The coach will leave Sedgeford Village Hall at 8.30am.
Closing date for applications is 10 th May. BUT you must contact NWNorfolk directly if
you want to go on the visit. Further information about the trip and a booking form is
attached to the email circulated by Eileen on 18th April.

                                          __________________________________________

                                                        OUR OXBURGH VISIT
                                                              Alan Leventhall
The weather was not promising for our visit to Oxburgh Hallbut no one was going to let that spoil
the day. An early fact we learned was that it is no longer called “Oxburgh Hall” but “Oxburgh
Estate” as the National Trust has purchased 150 acres of land, that once belonged to the estate,
to create a larger walking area.
We met our guides for the morning, Anne Guymer and Diana, in the courtyard and were shown
the dormer window, whose collapse in 2016 had started the investigation and eventual £6.5
million conservation work on the remaining dormer windows, plus tiles and chimneys. Curiously,
the building problems had nothing to do with the original structure from 1482 but the Victorian
additions. By good fortune, Bulmer Brick makers still had the original casts and 12,000 individual
bricks were made for the 27 mock-Tudor Victorian chimneys.
The Bedingfeld’s were and remain, Catholic and royalist, which must have called for some nimble
manoeuvring on their part to survive through the centuries. Cavalier Sir Henry was present at the
Siege of Lynn and fought for the king at Marston Moor.
We are fortunate that the Hall exists for a builder from Brandon wanted to demolish it for the
bricks, timber and fireplaces and cut down the wooded area around the estate. Thankfully this did
not become a reality.
The moat is decorative but also performed the function of receiving waste from the latrines. The
moat could not be drained for the conservation work because the foundations would crack, so
the scaffolding had to rest on breeze blocks with a foundation of sandbags. None of the scaffolding
was allowed to touch the building.
A bat colony had to be moved during work on the roof and were housed in a "Bat Hotel.” On their
return, it was discovered that the 14,000 pantiles were too smooth for them to climb and
therefore the tiles were sprayed with a sticky substance to help the bats.
Our tour included a visit to the King’s Room (so named in commemoration of Henry VII’s stay at
the Hall – though it is unlikely that he would have slept in this room) and the Priest's Hole, both
within the imposing Gatehouse. No priests were discovered in the raids at Oxburgh.
After lunch we joined new guides for a tour inside the Hall, including a National Treasure, the
Marian Hangings, embroidered by Mary, Queen of Scots and “Bess of Hardwick.”
Thank you to everyone involved for making this a memorable and enjoyable visit.

                                 _______________________________________________

                                          THE ARTS SOCIETY KINGS LYNN
                 The Chair & Committee invite you to join them for A Summer Tea Party
                                       Friday 14th July 2023, from 3.00 – 5.00pm
                    The Garden Brasserie, Knights Hill Hotel, Kings Lynn, PE30 3HQ
Refreshments will be the usual summer tea party goodies – selections of sandwiches and
cakes, warm scones with cream and jam and tea or coffee. Guests are welcome. The cost is
£14.50 per person for members and guests.
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The Arts Society King’s Lynn – Summer Tea Party
Please reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . places to attend the Summer Tea Party on
Friday 14th July, 2023 from 3.00 - 5.00pm at Knights Hill Hotel, Kings Lynn
For the following people:
Name(s) of Member(s)------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name(s) of Guest(s) --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The price is £14.50 per person (members or guests) payable on reservation of
place(s) either by:
                                                                 OR
Bank Transfer (BACs) to:                                          Send a cheque to:
The Treasurer TASKL,                                              Account:       The Arts Society KL
Rowde House, Hills Court,                                        Sort Code:    30-99-77
Downham Market                                                      Account No:  00147703
PE38 0QE                                                                                                   
Ref: Tea Party

Please complete this form and send it:
Either by email to taskl.treasurer@gmail.com or if paying by cheque enclose it together with your cheque to
The Treasurer at the above address.
      THE CLOSING DATE FOR RESERVATIONS IS 5TH JULY 2023

_______________________________________________________

                                              THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN 2022/23 SEASON
                                                                  THURSDAY 11th May 2023
                                                          Annual General Meeting at 1.30pm
                                              May Lecture: ‘VOX POP – Opera in England’ at 2.05pm
                                               The Village Hall, West Winch (Doors open at 1.10pm )

VOX POP - OPERA in ENGLAND -  (See image)

Lecturer - Sarah Lenton. After a career working in the theatre, Sarah now lectures, writes and broadcasts on Radio 3 & 4 about opera and ballet.     

CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS THIS MONTH
This year marks the 650th anniversary of the birth of English Mystic, Margery Kempe. King’s
Lynn Minster has a programme of talks all of which are free. ‘”Margery Kempe and Walter
Hilton: the English Mystic Tradition’”is on Tuesday 9th May at 6.30. Whilst in The Minster, view
controversial sculpture Rosemary Goodenough’s “Women in Motion’”
Still in Kings’ Lynn, the Town Guides walks have now recommenced and run from Tuesday to
Saturday each week.
Houghton Hall has reopened with an exhibition of sculpture, paintings and works on paper by
Sean Scully in the house and grounds.
Houghton on the Hill, St Mary’s is now open from 2pm in the afternoon at weekends. On May
7th Serendipity woodwind trio will perform a mixed programme at 4 and 6 pm.
If 60s American political drama is your thing this month’s National Theatre offer “Best of
Enemies” can be enjoyed at cinemas throughout the area.
Christy Lefteri’s “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” is being staged at the Theatre Royal, Norwich from
9th to 13th May. This moving narrative follows Nuri, the beekeeper and his wife, the artist, Afra
in their flight from Syria to establish a new life.
Don’t forget the exhibitions ongoing in Norwich and Cambridge. We visited the Lucie Rie
ceramics exhibition at Kettle’s Yard which was stunning. The accompanying film from Omnibus
(remember?) saw a younger David Attenborough interviewing the artist. Cakes are good there
too!  (Irene Andrews )

See you at the AGM and VOX POP lecture

Stuart

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING'S LYNN

MONTHLY BUGLE

SPRING IS BUSTIN’ OUT ALL OVER

I don’t know about you, but I feel the first three months of this year have raced by. As I write this it’s two days since the Vernal Equinox and this morning, on my way to Setchey, I passed by a paddock blanketed in daffodils.  It reminded me that it’s time to order the gardener out of the potting shed, where he retreats to snort cocaine, and into the garden.  Of course, while “Spring is bustin’ out all over” is often quoted as a song written by Rodgers & Hammerstein those aficionados of the American musical among you will know that the correct title of this song from “Carousel” is “June is bustin’ out all over”.  June may seem some way off, but if time continues to move at its current pace our 2022/23 lecture season and AGM will be over and we’ll be publicising our 2023/4 season in no time.

To be honest, this time last year I wasn’t sure whether we would have a 2023/4 season. However, thanks to the work of our committee and to all those members who recruited new faces and invited guests we have managed to stabilise our membership numbers and improve our financial position.  However, if our society is to survive in its present form, with 9 lectures a year and 2 or 3 active volunteer groups we need to have about 145 members annually to raise the necessary income to support our costs. 

At the beginning of September 2022 we had 145 members. Since then we have recruited a further 26. At the same time we lost 25 – all for understandable reasons. Thus, despite the effort we put into recruitment, we have only 1 extra member.  The result of our recruitment effort this year means it’s very likely that maintaining about 145 members year on year will be our biggest problem and a continuing problem.

I’m not writing this with a sense of despondency, but to urge you all to keep in mind that the evidence from local Arts Societies shows that most new recruits have been recruited by existing members. Anyone you meet who shows interest in our society is a potential member.

YOUR FEEDBACK ON MARCH LECTURE

‘THE IMPERIAL EASTER EGGS OF CARL FABERGE´– AFTER THE REVOLUTION’

---------------------------------------------

 Only 8 people bothered to record their feedback on Tony Faber’s lecture. A disappointing response at any time, but especially so after the flood of responses to the previous lecture on the Art of the Cartoonist.  Of course, it may be that the low level of feedback is itself a comment on how members felt about the lecture.  Perhaps the computer equivalent of ‘voting with one’s feet’? 

Our Programme Secretary, Claire Smith, has the job of summarising the feedback we receive from you and forwarding it to the Arts Society.

Based on the 8 scores received her summary to the Arts Society on the Faberge Eggs talk reads: -

  ‘ Lecture scored as ‘Very good’.    An interesting lecture accompanied by some entertaining and humorous stories plus good slides. Toby Faber had a lot to say and some members found the speed of delivery a problem. Enjoyable otherwise.’

Chairs and Programme Secretaries of local societies share the aim of providing their members with high quality lectures and whenever they meet they always take the time to share information about past lectures.  

It’s your opinions that guide the choice of lecturers we invite to talk to you so, after a lecture please go to our website www.theartssocietykingslynn, tap into ‘Previous Lectures’, enter the password ‘waitrose’ and score the Quality of the Lecture and Overheads/Slides.  If you don’t want to make any comment on the lecture, then don’t, your two scores will be sufficient.   Thank you.

VISIT TO GAINSBOROUGH HOUSE, SUDBURY 

MONDAY 15th MAY, 2023

THERE ARE STILL SEATS ON THE COACH!

DON’T DELAY, BOOK TODAY!

                                                         GAINSBORO HOUSE                                                                   

                                 ‘A most excellent brickt mansion’

Several of this season’s lecturers have spoken of the quality of the house and gallery following its £10million restoration and suggested it’s a visit well worth making.

Features of our visit are:

·       Travel by coach from KL to Sudbury and entrance fee @ £32.00 p/person.

·       Reduced entry cost for Art Fund members

·       Historic Houses members pay no entrance fee

·       Starting from King’s Lynn at 9.30am return at 6.00pm

·       Refreshments at own cost at the House or in Sudbury

To book your seat contact any of the following:

Irene Andrews, Events Organiser,  < artichoke@btinternet.com >   OR, 01553 676712

Patricia Dimmock, Treasurer,   <  taskl.treasurer@ gmail.com  >  OR,  01366 381174

 THE BUGLE MONTHLY PUZZLE No. 2

I never anticipated receiving a sack full of answers to the anagram puzzle, but a nil response came as a surprise.  I put it down to apathy until a couple of members told me it was too hard;  so we’ll try again, with an easier set of 10 questions.  No anagrams, this time it’s ‘which artist created what?’

1.  A Bigger Splash.   2. The Kiss.    3. The Scream.   4.  Starry Night.

5.  The Billy Boys.     6. Mother and Child (Divided)  7. Girl with a Pearl Earring

8.  The Last Supper.    9.  Portrait of Pope Julius II.   10. Las Meninas   

First correct answer received before 15th April  wins  either a bottle of plonk or a box of chocs.   Answers to < thedimmocks2000@hotmail.com > or by letter to -

Rowde  House, Hills Court, Hilgay, Downham Market..  

---------------------------------------------------------

For those who had a go at the anagrams, here are the answers:-

1)  vicar agog - Caravaggio.  2) cherubim oh so soon – Hieronamous Bosch.

 3)  hurler bred cat – Albrecht Durer.  4)  jack en navy – Jan van Eyck

 5)  cog reel – El Greco  6)  huge marshland rat – Graham Sutherland.

 7)  zap el nuance – Paul Cezanne.   8)  have dicky nod – David Hockney.

9) tugs milk vat – Gustav Klimt.   10)  sneak by - banksey.

Mind you, it beats me why nobody thought to look up an anagram solver on their mobile phone or computer.  Perhaps it was apathy.  We’ll see what happens come 15th April.

THREE OF MEMBERS HAVE ANSWERED THE CALL -

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Following my email asking for volunteers three ladies have come forward to assist with the work that takes place before the doors open on Thursday afternoons.

Committee members and I are very grateful to them.

I make no excuse for reminding the other 130 or so  members that we still need volunteers to learn how to set-up and run our audio equipment and the projector and laptop.  You don’t need a PhD in Rocket Science. Anyone who can operate a laptop or a stereo player will have no difficulty.  After training, all that’s required is you help with setting up the equipment and be able operate it if necessary.  You don’t have to join the Committee. 

ART SOCIETY LEAVES GUILFORD STREET

As many members are aware, The Arts Society’s premises at 8 Guilford Street were sold  on 19 January 2023. Completion took place on 16 February 2023. 

Its running and continual maintenance costs; poor heat retention and the investment needed to adapt it to meet modern building standards were not deemed to be a suitable use of the charity’s funds.  The Society has moved to service offices in High Holborn.  It’s staff – 11 currently - like the new offices, although they continue to work from home for 2 days a week.

MEMBERS’ LETTER’S

As I reported in the last issue there are opposing views about the idea of including a Letter section in The Bugle. Some are concerned the letters will be full of grumbles we can’t fix, others believe  they will allow members to make useful suggestions.

To date I can report that not a single email/letter has been received.  However, if you’re thinking of writing one here are the address details.

Email letters to < thedimmocks2000@hotmail.com > or by post to The Bugle, Rowde House, Hills Court, Downham Market. PE38 0QE.  Emails/letters must be received by the 15th day of each month to appear in the following month’s edition.

OUR VISIT TO OXBURGH HALL

As so often happens, when you plan a visit that includes a walk in the open air, it rains, and so it was when we visited Oxburgh Hall on the last Tuesday in March.  Monday had been cool but sunny. Tuesday dawned wet, cold and windy.

The tour began with a briefing and an explanation of what followed after one of 14 dormer windows collapsed into the courtyard in 2016 and how the repairs, originally  estimated at £90,000, turned into a £6million restoration project. Not surprising given the need to replace 14,000 roof tiles, 27 mock-Tudor chimneys with their bricks specially made and new timbers for the dormer windows. This was followed by a walk around the Hall on the moat path with further explanations of how the Bedingfeld family had changed the building since 1482, and how the scaffolding for the recent restoration was erected in the water-filled moat. We climbed the spiral staircase in the gatehouse to see the King’s Room and the priest’ hole where we were treated to another talk about their histories.  On an earlier visit, when I was still supple and lithe, I eased my way into the priest hole. If any of you are still thinking having a go  – forget it.  Health & Safety – who must always be obeyed – have forbidden entry by the public. 

We then divided into 2 groups for our exclusive guided tour of the Hall, which enabled us to see and learn about the tapestries the Bedingfelds acquired by marriage that were created by Mary Queen of Scots during her 19 years of imprisonment.  

Many in the group had visited the Hall before, but I think everyone learned something new.  I know I did.  Thanks to Irene Andrews who organised the visit.

  THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN 2022/23 SEASON

April  Lecture: Thursday 13th April,  2.05pm at the Village Hall, West Winch

(Doors open at 1.30pm)

Art after Windrush

The lecturer is Barry Venning, lecturer and writer on art history and script consultant most recently for the BBC’s documentary ‘The Genius of Turner’.

 Visitors are always welcome to join any lecture for a charge of £10.

Arts Highlights April 2023

Plenty of opera this month with the Met’s ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ and ‘Champion’ and the Royal Opera House’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’ and ‘Cinderella’ screening at venues across the region including King’s Lynn, Wisbech and Norwich.

At the Cambridge Art’s Theatre you can pick up Shaw’s ‘Mrs Warren’s Profession’ between 4-8th April and while you are in Cambridge Lucie Rie has an exhibition of ceramics at Kettle’s Yard.

On ceramics, Silvy Weatherall’s ‘Last Supper’ exhibition at the Cathedral takes on the theme of recycling as all the busts are made from broken china. If you are in Ely on 22nd April, the Ely Choral Society will be performing Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ in the cathedral in the evening.

As a fan of David Tennant, I will be heading to one of the cinemas screening ‘Good’ described as ‘the definitive piece about the Holocaust’. This will be at the Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn on 20th April.

Meanwhile always look out for King’s Lynn Community Cinema club films and activities. The next showing at King’s Lynn Shakespeare Guildhall is the award winning ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ on 6th April and the Kosovan film ‘Hive’ on the 20th.The best value in town at £5 a showing for Day Members.   (Review by Irene Atkins)

THAT'S IT FOR NOW FOLKS - SEE YOU AT THE NEXT LECTURE - STUART

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN MONTHLY BUGLE

2023, THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT

A YEAR OF LONGEVITY, PEACE AND PROSPERITY

The predictions for the Chinese New Year - the year of the rabbit - don’t look too good at present. But who knows what another year will bring? For some months now I have been telling myself it’s time to stop producing the traditional form of newsletter and start afresh and, as February is my birth month, it seemed the ideal moment to break the mould.

 I toyed with various ideas for a title.  The double T alliteration of the ‘TASKL Trumpet’ appeals to the ear, but trumpet somehow seemed faintly ‘non-U’ (apologies to the late Nancy Mitford).  The trombone and tuba were suggested, but they’re definitely non-U.  The piccolo, flute, recorder and bassoon don’t have the necessary oomph. And the saxophone?  Well! What can one say?  The bugle evolved from German hunting horns and its name derives from the Latin ‘buculus’, meaning a young bull. Historically it was used by cavalry officers to give orders to their men in battle and it continues to play an important role in military life. So, the Monthly Bugle is the chosen title and its aim is to inform, entertain and encourage greater involvement in the Society’s affairs. I hope members will read and enjoy it.  Even better, if anyone wants to write a feature or, dare I say it, a regular column, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

By the way, if anyone can come up with a better title then let’s hear it.  And to saxophone lovers, I’ve been a fan of Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderly and John Coltrane for more years than I care to count, so please don’t write in to protest my put-down of the saxophone.   

FEEDBACK GALORE

Was Harry Venning’s lecture, with its humour and emphasis on audience participation, the reason? Or the opportunity to fill out a feedback sheet and hand it in when  leaving the Hall?  Or perhaps it was both. Whatever the reason(s) Eileen received comments from 40 people who attended Harry’s lecture – a fraction under 50% of the audience.  Thank you to the 40.

Comments were heavily weighted towards ‘outstanding’ ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ with only one person registering a ‘poor’ score. 

Needless to say we are very pleased to have received this amount of feedback and hope it will continue.  Interestingly, a quarter of those who gave feedback did so on the feedback sheets, rather than the computer and from now on feedback sheets will be available for every lecture, so don’t forget to bring a pen.

BESPOKE VISIT TO OXBURGH HALL

TUESDAY 28th MARCH

To everyone’s great surprise the 25 places available for this visit were snapped up within a few days.  We’re sorry that some members have been disappointed, but it seems Oxburgh are not minded to increase the number. As a result we have set up a waiting list, in the order of application, to ensure that if anyone drops out those on the list can take their place.

Oxburgh is happy to host another visit for a similar sized group and we are happy to organise it if sufficient members want to go.

A reminder that we make our own way to Oxburgh Hall. Visit starts at 10.30am.

RELEASE YOUR INNER CARTOONIST

A STUDY SESSION WITH

HARRY VENNING

Following Harry Venning’s lecture Irene Andrews (Visits & Trips Organiser) has been talking to him about the possibility of a study session/workshop. The event would be three hours long with two breaks.

The first part consists of a slideshow presentation- showcasing examples of drawing styles, jokes, and cartoons about cartooning. Part two is a cartoon drawing workshop, when participants get the chance to have a go at cartooning, or if they’re shy of drawing in public, to sit back and observe.

We are still at the early planning stage and will be consulting with you in due course about appropriate times and the likely cost.  

VISIT TO GAINSBOROUGH HOUSE, SUDBURY 

MONDAY 15th MAY, 2023

Several of this season’s lecturers have spoken of the quality of the house and gallery following its £10million restoration and suggested it’s a visit well worth making.

Features of our visit are:

·       Travel by coach from KL to Sudbury and entrance fee @ £32.00 p/person.

·       Reduced entry cost for Art Fund members

·       Historic Houses members pay no entrance fee

·       Starting from King’s Lynn at 9.30am return at 6.00pm

·       Refreshments at own cost at the House or in Sudbury

Please note:    Details of this visit were emailed to members in mid-February. Since then there has been a steady flow of applications. Don’t wait too long if you intend going.  

THE BUGLE MONTHLY PUZZLE

Solve the following 10 anagrams and win either a bottle of plonk or a box of chocs.

Clue:  This is a puzzle aimed at members of The Arts Society!

1)  vicar agog.  2) cherubim oh so soon.  3)  hurler bred cat.  4)  jack en navy.  5)  cog reel.  

6)  huge marshland rat.  7)  zap el nuance.   8)  have dicky nod.  9) tugs milk vat. 

10)  sneak by.

Answers to < thedimmocks2000@hotmail.com > .   First correct answer received before 15th March is the winner.

THE ARTS SOCIETY KING’S LYNN 2022/23 SEASON

March  Lecture: Thursday 9th March, 2.05pm at the Village Hall,   West Winch.     (Doors open at 1.30pm)

THE IMPERIAL EASTER EGGS OF CARL FABERGE´– AFTER THE REVOLUTION

Our lecturer, Tony Faber is an author and publisher, who has written books on the mysteries of Fabergé eggs, the artistry of Stradivari and the history of Faber & Faber, the influential publishing house founded by his grandfather.  Fabergé eggs are beautifully made with a remarkable creativity stretching over 30 years. They are also a tangible link to the fate of the Romanovs.  (Tricia Rowlands, Publicity & Website)

MEMBERS’ LETTER PAGE

Editor’s Note:    There are opposing views about the idea of including a Letter Page. On the one hand there is concern that the letters will be full of grumbles we can’t fix, on the other hand the letters will be constructive and provide an opportunity for our members to become more involved in the business of our Society.   I take the latter view. We’ll have to wait and see.

Starting with the March edition of the Bugle there will be adequate space for a Letters Page.

Email letters to < thedimmocks2000@hotmail.com > or by post to The Bugle, Rowde House, Hills Court, Downham Market. PE38 0QE.  Emails/letters must be received by the 15th day of each month to appear in the following month’s edition.

WHAT’S ON AROUND & ABOUT

Cultural Highlights in King’s Lynn, Norwich and Cambridge

Late February and into March 2023

Irene Andrews (Visits and Tours) gives her top picks:

 EXHIBITIONS

Two new exhibitions at The Fitzwilliam and Castle Museum, Norwich should draw the crowds.

“Islanders: the Making of the Mediterranean”, running from 24th February at the Fitzwilliam, features objects from Cyprus, Crete and Sardinia over a 4,000 year journey.

·       From 25th February the Castle Museum will launch “The Last Voyage of the Gloucester, displaying objects recently retrieved from the vessel which ran aground off Great Yarmouth.

·        Whilst out at SCVA “Empowering Art: Indigenous Creativity and Activism from North America’s North West Coast” runs from March 12th.

OPERA         The English Touring Opera will be at the Theatre Royal performing “Lucrezia Borgia” by Donezetti on 17th March and the following day “Il Viaggio a Reims”  by Rossini. Whilst at the Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn “La Boheme” by Puccini  is on 28th February. The National Theatre’s “Othello” by Verdi, directed by Clint Dyer is showing at various venues in the area.

THEATRE     “The Cambridge Footlights” and “Abigail’s Party” are two lighter offerings at Cambridge Arts Theatre on 12th  and 19th March and 21st to 25th respectively.

 CINEMA      Finally,  if you haven’t yet seen “the fizzing tonic” “Anything Goes” catch Robert Lindsay, Sutton Foster, Felicity Kendal and Gary Wilmott strutting their stuff at King’s Lynn Corn Exchange from 15th to 19th March.

Hello everyone

I hope 2023 is bringing everything you wished for on New Year’s Eve and the resolutions you made haven’t fallen by the wayside.  It’s said that resolutions are more likely to be kept if they remain private.  During the time I lived in Spain I worked, for some years, with an old Andalusian gypsy and he warned against sharing my resolutions with anyone, especially a wife; the Devil was bound to hear and thereafter the year would be full of temptations, he cautioned. Of course, as an educated Englishman I treated his advice as superstitious nonsense, but as time passed I noticed old Antonio’s predictions often came true.  Finally, when our paths diverged, I had come to believe he really did have the powers of clairvoyance.  So, when I’m pressed by someone to share my resolutions I always say I intend to stop smoking.  I haven’t smoked for over forty years, but it satisfies the questioner and the Devil knows he’s wasting his time trying to get me smoking again. 

Well, it’s now 2023, I’ve been in the Chair for eight months and we are  halfway through this season’s programme.  I had serious doubts about our financial position in May. Unfortunately, I can’t report a large upsurge in income, but our finances are stable, we maintain a small surplus, lecture attendance is high and we attract a goodly number of visitors. I hear on the AS network of some local societies amalgamating and others closing, but I think if we can continue on our current course, we will be around for sometime to come. None of this happens by chance and I would like to thank the committee members for their hard work and commitment to our Society, to our volunteers for their work in our community and to all those members who pitch in and help with simple but important tasks, like sorting out the lecture hall.  Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone for the support I’ve received.

THE COMMITTEE NEEDS YOUR HELP!

One topic in particular has been exercising the minds of committee members over the past couple of months  –  what to do about visits. To be honest, we’re in a quandary and we need your help. 

Before the Covid pandemic, trips, both at home and abroad, were a regular feature of our Society’s programme. At the start of this season, after the disruption of the previous two years, we decided to concentrate on visits nearer to home, believing members would be wary of travel so soon after the pandemic.  Last summer’s chaotic travel arrangements that blighted holidays seemed to vindicate our decision.  Now, the rapid increase in inflation and its effect on the cost of energy and every other commodity presents us with further difficulties. If members were queuing up to go on trips we could probably find ways to cope with these problems.  However, the fact is that our 2022 programme of trips was not a success.  

Our first trip - a guided walking tour around historic King’s Lynn at the height of last summer was a sell-out. The feedback was very good and we had high hopes for the next trip.   September’s visit to Ware Hall House at Wells-next-the-Sea can’t be seen as a flop. However, we had planned for 20 visitors, only 13 members signed up for it and, on the day of the visit, we were down to 11 due to illness.  In October, there was little support for the Coffee and Quiz Morning, held at Marriotts Warehouse, which went ahead with support from other King’s Lynn organisations.

Chastened by our experiences in September and October I sense that most of the committee believed the November trip to the Sainsbury Centre’s exhibition, ‘Visions of Ancient Egypt’ was sure to be a success. As it turned out we were well short of achieving our target of filling 30 seats on the coach and the trip was cancelled.

So, as I say, we are in quandary about how to proceed.  The committee decided not to arrange any visits in the dark, dull months of January and February, but Irene Andrews, our Visits and Trips Organiser is currently researching several visits, both local and farther afield for this spring and summer. However, before we make any firm commitment we will be asking for your opinion about the types of visits that would appeal to you and what are the other important factors you consider when deciding whether to go on a trip.  We hope you will reply to the questionnaire and, if visits and trips no longer hold any appeal, please tell us.

 SOCIAL EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY IN 2023

While our programme of trips hasn’t caught members’ imaginations our 2022 social events were well supported. The dates for this year’s events are as follows:-

Thursday 13th July, Summer Tea Party

After its successful launch last year we hope to make this a regular date in our annual calendar. Everyone I have spoken to says they enjoyed the afternoon and we think Knights Hill, with its access onto the lawn is a good setting, especially if we have a sunny afternoon.  Further details in a later newsletter.

Friday 1st December, Advent Lunch

I know it seems absurd to be talking about a date in December, but these days organisers have to start booking as early as possible when planning events in the weeks before Christmas. The committee debated a change of venue for 2023, but on hearing what it was likely to cost decided to remain at Knights Hill.

WE NEED TO HAVE YOUR ‘FEEDBACK’ ON THE LECTURES

Glad to see the high scores recorded in the feedback for Sarah Burles’s lecture on ‘The Three Grand Dames of Impressionism’.   We shall be hearing more about how the male of the species has routinely dismissed the work of female artists when Aliki Braine talks to us in November on the subject, ‘Where have all the women gone?’.

In a similar vein I ask the question, ‘where has all the feedback gone?’ Eighty-five members came to hear Sarah Burles, but only fourteen emailed their feedback to Eileen. I know that some members don’t use a computer and, for those who do I recognise there is now the minor complication of entering the password ‘waitrose’.  Nevertheless, I would like to take this opportunity to reinforce Eileen’s constant reminder that your feedback is important.  It’s forwarded to the Arts Society and they use it to maintain the excellent quality of their accredited lectures. 

On the other hand, you may prefer to record your view immediately after a lecture on a handout, which you can give to a committee member before you leave the hall.  If you would prefer to do this please speak to me or a member of the committee at our next lecture and we can consider how to introduce it as another way of getting feedback.

THE 2022/23 SEASON - LECTURE 6: THURSDAY 9th FEBRUARY

Art of the Cartoonist   -  Harry Venning

In 'The Art Of The Cartoonist' Harry will be tracing the history of his profession with examples from early practitioners like Cruickshank and Hogarth, to more contemporary artists such as Giles and Schulz, bringing events right up to date with cartoons produced fresh on the page that day! Harry will be drawing live. Prepare to hear some tricks of his trade, learn where to put eyebrows for maximum effect and discover exactly what the eskimo brothers said in The Funniest Joke Ever (possibly).

Harry Venning

Harry has been a professional cartoonist for thirty years, during which time he has provided cartoons for several high profile UK publications (The Guardian, Radio Times). He was awarded UK Strip Cartoonist Of The Year in 2016 for his Guardian strip ‘Clare In The Community’. Harry is also a Sony Award winning writer of radio comedy, including the shows ‘Coach Karen’s Half Time Team Talk’ and ‘Clare in the Community’ starring Sally Phillips, currently recording its twelfth season.

Hello everyone

Our Advent Lunch has come and gone and Christmas is almost upon us. I’m sure many of you are busy with the thousand and one tasks the ‘Season of Christmas’ demands of us. Tell me, is it only my perception, or have the number of tasks grown almost exponentially since ‘The Season’ morphed into a 9 day holiday? Perhaps it’s the endless stream of supermarket ads urging me to stock the pantry up to the ceiling with food, or to fill the cellar with every type of booze, or the perfumers’ sensual enticements to spend a small fortune on what used to be called scent. Whatever the cause, in recent years, by the time I reach Christmas Eve I can relax only if I feel we’re amply provisioned and ready to withstand a long siege. This morning we set Tesco on the path to economic recovery and this afternoon we took delivery of a hamper from a London store. Nevertheless, I’m still fighting the urge to go out and buy more stuff. After all, there’s still two shopping days to Christmas and we ought to have some of this and some of that in case Mr and Mrs So & So drop by over the holiday. It matters not that Mr and Mrs So & So have never dropped by during the ten Christmases we’ve lived in Norfolk - they might do this year.  Does this sound familiar, or should I be on a course of medication?

Young Arts  Project -  children’s Christmas bags at the Foodbank

I wrote about this at some length in my October newsletter and I make no excuse for talking again about such a worthwhile project which, for a second year, has been a great success.  However, in this newsletter Tricia Rowland’s project report to the Arts Society can speak for itself.

“The Young Arts Volunteers had run this project last Christmas and the foodbank had said the art packs were so well received last year we decided to run it again this year, but due to the increased demand on the foodbanks services we decided to try and double the number of packs we produced this year to 100. Anne Truman, Barbara Vincent and I began contacting local companies and retailers for donations in the Summer and found that many were more reluctant to help this year due to the economic crisis. However, a few did offer vital help and we received some paper and card from Exaclair Ltd and Palm Paper, discounted story books from The Works, craft materials from Morrisons Supermarket, Hobbycraft and local retailer Pastimes and Learning Resources donated 100 packs of playfoam. Following the publicity we received last year a small local charity, the Guella Trust, offered us a donation of £200. I applied to the Patricia Faye Fund for a grant and we received £500 from that in October. Through one our society members discussing the project with her daughter, a local solicitor, we also received a donation of £500 from the company she works for Hayes and Storr. It was a huge relief to receive the financial support as up to that point our packs were looking quite depleted compared to last year. The money we received enabled us to purchase scissors, gluesticks, sellotape, drawing books, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, crayons, felt tips, stickers, lolly sticks and age appropriate craft sets for each pack. Once again our society members and a local sewing group made beautiful, colourful fabric bags to contain the items. We had also been given dozens of small plastic jars so we asked members to fill them with any small craft items or gifts which we could include. A team of volunteers helped putting the bags together and 104 bags were handed over to the local Foodbank on 30th November. The project has featured in local papers The Lynn News and Your Local Paper, magazines North Norfolk Living and Town and Around and on BBC Radio Norfolk.

Church Recorders

Following visits to the churches at Burnham Deepdale, North Creake and Docking the group have decided North Creake church will be their next project.  Interested in joining the Church Recorders? Contact alison@wakes-miller.com or 01485 512525.

West Winch Village Hall

Our contract to use the Hall for our Thursday afternoon lectures expires in January and for some time our Treasurer has been trying to negotiate a new one.  This has now been achieved and a new contract has been agreed from January to December 2023 at the same cost - £36 for a Thursday session.  This is obviously very welcome news.  In recent times the BBC has been reporting on village halls that are closing due to increased energy costs and your Committee had begun to explore alternative venues.  It seems now that we have secured West Winch for another year. Thank you Treasurer.

 The Christmas Raffle

My thanks to Elizabeth Walker for her initiative in reviving the Christmas Raffle.  Thanks too to all those members who donated the prizes. The raffle, which took place at the conclusion of our December lecture, raised £325 for Society funds.

THE 2022/23 SEASON - LECTURE 5: THURSDAY 12th JANUARY

The Three Grandes Dames of Impressionism  -  Sarah Bowles

The Impressionists were an innovative and radical group of artists who took Paris by storm in the 1870s. Using new colours and techniques, they created paintings of modern life which shocked and horrified the art establishment. From the start the group included women artists but their contribution to Impressionism has often been overshadowed by their male contemporaries. Marie Bracquemond, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt all exhibited regularly at the Impressionist exhibitions. In 1894 they were given the title “Les Trois Grandes Dames d’Impressionisme” by the art critic Gustave Geffroy. This lecture will discuss their lives and work, revealing their skill and originality as well as their willingness to take risks, despite the additional obstacles they faced as women.

Sarah Burles

Sarah Burles studied History of Art at Cambridge University before doing a master’s degree at University College London. She went on to have a career in museum and gallery education, establishing new services in three different museums before working at the Fitzwilliam Museum for many years. Sarah is the founder of Cambridge Art Tours, which runs tours and courses in and around East Anglia. She is also a Tour Director for a travel company and has led tours to Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and America.

Hello everyone

We’re only days away from our Advent lunch and thereafter the run up to Christmas always seem to fly by.  Unfortunately, several members have had to drop out of the lunch due to unforeseen circumstances.  At one stage I thought I’d also have to give it a miss, until a seven hour wait in A&E for an X-ray finally revealed I hadn’t fractured my hip. Nevertheless, if Paramount Pictures decide to remake its Hopalong Cassidy films I’m well placed presently to audition for the lead role.

 Young Arts  Project -  children’s Christmas bags at the Foodbank

Christmas is the time when traditionally we think of those who are less well off than ourselves and in 2022, when we have returned to the hard times not seen for many years, it is especially important to help others wherever we can.  Earlier this year we set out to double the amount of children’s Christmas bags we provided to the Foodbank. Thanks to the hard work of the Project leaders, Tricia Rowlands, Anne Truman and Barbara Vincent, together with those members who stitched the Christmas bags and the generosity of the AS and our local sponsors, who supplied the funds to fill them, this year our Society will provide a 100+ Christmas bags to children whose parents rely on the Foodbank.  It’s an important achievement for all those involved and for our Society.

See Photo: Children' Christmas bags ready for despatch

A caretaker/chair mover for lecture afternoons at West Winch

While members have rallied round to put out and put away away chairs on our lecture afternoons we are still  in need of someone to take on the job.  Nobody has responded to the adverts we placed in several local shops, nor has the Chairman of West Winch Village Hall been able to find anyone.  We paid our last guy and I believe paying someone for this services has been a long standing practice. We will pay now for someone who is reliable so please, if you think you know someone who might be interested please ask him/her to phone me – 07443 537585 or the Treasurer 07976 760381.  Thank you.

 THE 2022/23 SEASON - LECTURE 4: THURSDAY 8th DECEMBER 

The story of wine  -  David White

 Wine has been part of our global society for over 7,000 years, and the story tells of its origin and appearance in all societies across the Mediterranean and through Europe. There is rich evidence of the role wine has played in these societies and how it became an important component of faith, well-being and festivity. From the kvevris of Georgia in 5,000 B.C., the symposia in ancient Greece, the thermopolia of Pompeii, the hospices of Europe, to the dining tables of fine society wine has been ever present. Drawings, paintings, engravings, buildings, pottery and wine labels themselves all contribute to the story.

David White has been a wine retailer, importer and distributor for 30 years. In that time, he has publicly presented tastings and talks on wine to trade and private audiences. These have taken the form of wine ‘tastings’ or charity events where a particular subject is presented and wines tasted. His talk, A Brief Story of Wine, goes back over 7,000 years and is full of rich evidence, in the form of paintings, decorated drinking vessels, buildings and literature that contribute to the story.

Hello everyone

The last weekend in October marks the end of European Summertime and the return of long nights.  For some, the prospect of ice, snow and winter’s dark nights conjures a Dickensian image, of a cosy sitting room with an open fire and a dog or cat asleep in front of the hearth.  I admit to sharing this almost mythical point of view, while simultaneously complaining about winter’s realities, made worse this year by the huge increase in the cost of energy. Still, we’re told we mustn’t grumble, but look on the bright side and, with Christmas fast approaching, can I remind you that our Advent Lunch is not that far away now.

Our Advent Lunch

It will take place on Friday 2nd December at Knights Hill Hotel, King’s Lynn.  Eileen has sent out application forms and a lot have been returned to her already. But if you intend coming along to what is always a ‘good do’ please complete the form and send it in.

A Review of the Coffee and Quiz Morning by Member, Sue Lukey

Twenty-one members and guests gathered at Marriott’s Warehouse for the Coffee  and Quiz Morning. Our quiz master was Jeff Hoyle and he had put together questions on interesting and varied topics that were not confined to the Arts. There were seven rounds ranging from ‘Biscuits and Cakes’ to ‘Where am I? and also two challenging marathon rounds on ‘Museums and Galleries’ and ’Name the Artist’. The atmosphere among the four teams was quietly competitive and, as we marked each other’s efforts, we were able to add comments like ‘Could do better’! The final scores ranged as widely as the questions and the prize winners achieved an impressive score of over 90, beating the second place team by nearly 10 points.

This was a fun way to spend a damp and gloomy October morning and gave us the opportunity meet new people. Thanks to Irene Andrews and the committee for organising the quiz and to Jeff Hoyle for putting together such an enjoyable programme.

November – Visions of Ancient Egypt – Thursday 17th November

Unfortunately, we are unable to proceed with our plan to visit this exhibition because of insufficient support from members. Those who signed up for the visit have been informed and they will receive a refund shortly.

The committee and I thought the visit would attract a lot of interest and we are disappointed so few members applied. It seems we will have to ‘go back to the drawing board’ and do more research on the sorts of visits that would appeal to members.   

New Members Coffee Morning, held on Thursday, 6th October

By comparison the New Members coffee morning, when committee members welcome newcomers and talk about the Society and the work of our volunteering groups was well supported.  Seven new members came along and we had quite a lively and free-ranging discussion.

 Young Arts  -  children’s Christmas bags at the Foodbank

Members have been extremely helpful and generous in making bags for the Food Bank Project. We now have at least one hundred bags to be donated to the Foodbank by the beginning of December which we will fill with art and craft materials, books, pens, glue sticks etc.

Filling the hundred bags has been made possible by very generous donations from; The Patricia Faye Fund, £500, Hayes and Storr Solicitors, £500, and Guella Trust, £200. We have also received a voucher from Pastimes and sufficient goods for every bag from Learning Resources.   Reporter: Anne Truman, Young Arts.

 THE 2022/23 SEASON - LECTURE 3, THURSDAY 10th NOVEMBER

        The Golden Age of British Landscape Painting by Susan Owens

This lecture describes the great age of British landscape painting, from its origins in the Arcadian views and picturesque scenes of 18th-century painters Richard Wilson and Thomas Gainsborough, through John Constable’s sparklingly fresh observations of nature, dramatic paintings by J.M.W. Turner and intensely detailed paintings by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Dr Susan Owens is an art historian, writer and curator. She studied English literature at Oxford University and European art at the Courtauld Institute, then wrote a doctoral thesis on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations to Oscar Wilde’s play, Salome, at University College London. She was a curator at the Royal Collection before becoming Curator of Paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her recent books include The Ghost: A Cultural History (2017),  and Christina Rossetti: Poetry in Art (2018).  Spirit of Place: Artists, Writers and the British Landscape (Thames & Hudson), came out in 2020; it was shortlisted for the Apollo Book of the Year Award and is a Times art book of the year.

Looking forward to seeing you at Susan Owens’s lecture.

Best wishes to everyone

Stuart

Hello everyone

To date I’ve started every newsletter with a reference to the recent weather.  It’s a very British stereotype and I intend to break it. Instead, I’ll mention it was the Autumnal Equinox recently – 23rd September – the start of autumn, based on the sun’s position and the Earth’s tilt, rather than the 1st September, the meteorological start, based on temperature cycles and the Gregorian calendar.  (Personally, I think the Ancients got it right!).  The Equinox is also the date when commerce begins to put it’s Christmas goods in the shops, even though there’s still thirteen weeks to Christmas. 

Our Advent Lunch

With Christmas in mind, can I remind you all that our Advent Lunch will take place on Friday 2nd December at Knights Hill Hotel, King’s Lynn.  Eileen has sent out application forms and would like you to begin sending them back to her.  Personally, I’ve always enjoyed the Advent Lunch, not least because it means I generally have a week or so before I’m blitzed with Christmas dinners.

 Ware Hall House Visit

Our visit to Ware Hall House at Wells-next-the Sea began under threatening grey clouds but as the morning wore on they receded and we had a sunny, if cool day. The visit to the house in Ware that Miss May Savage dismantled and rebuilt in Wells proved fascinating. Miss Savage’s niece and current owner of the house, Christine Adams, served coffee and biscuits before telling us the story of her aunt’s dogged determination to save the old house and of her, some would say, eccentric life. We had a tour and saw past TV interviews with Miss Savage.  Visits are by arrangement only, but if you get the chance I’m sure all those who went would recommend it.       

FUTURE VISITS

October – Coffee & Quiz Morning – 21st October

In addition to the lectures we aim to offer a monthly event for members and on Friday, 21st October we are holding a Coffee & Quiz Morning at Marriot’s Warehouse, starting at 10.45, finishing around 12.30. The quiz will be run by Jeff Hoyle, a well-known local quizmaster and, as it’s an Arts Society quiz, we can probably expect some questions about the Arts.  Teams will consist of 4 to 6 members, but there’s no need to determine these ahead of time; just come along for a fun morning, be part of the winning team and win a fabulous prize.

For those who don’t know King’s Lynn, Marriott’s Warehouse on South Quay dates from the 1580s and is unusual, having a stone lower storey, probably built from the dissolved Friaries. (Of course, if you had been on August’s guided tour of the town you would have visited Marriott’s). There is ample parking, either at South Quay, at Baker Lane or Boal Quay.  Cost: £6.00 a head for members and guests and pay for your own choice of coffee/tea/soya or yak’s milk etc. etc. and a snack.

An application form will be sent out very shortly.

November – Visions of Ancient Egypt – 17th November

This is to give you early notice we are planning a visit to the ‘Visions of Ancient Egypt’ Exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre on Thursday, 17th November.  This is a ground breaking exhibition, with over 150 works from UK collections and from around the world that reveal how the art and visual styles of ancient Egypt has shaped our cultural imagination.  

We believe quite a lot of members would like to see this Exhibition, BUT, whether we can go depends on how many take up the offer.

Parking issues at the Centre make coach travel preferable. However, coach transport has become expensive and local companies offer only 49-seater coaches. Therefore, to keep the cost down we have decided to provide only transport to and from the Exhibition.  

A seat on the coach is £13.00 a head (members or guests), but we must have a minimum of 30 people and we must receive payment by Friday 28th October to be able to pay the deposit required by the coach company.

Members will be responsible for paying the cost of their entrance fee of £14 (with concessions), the cost of a guided tour (should they chose to have one), and for refreshments during the day.

The coach will leave central King’s Lynn at 9.30am and return by 4.00pm

 Applications will be available in due course

THE 2022/23 SEASON - LECTURE 2, THURSDAY 13TH OCTOBER

Splendours of the Royal Collection  by Jacky Klein

The UK’s Royal Collection contains over a million objects – paintings and works on paper, tapestries, furniture and jewels, photographs and decorative arts, carriages, weapons and armour, clocks and musical instruments, manuscripts and books. This talk reveals the dramatic histories, plots and intrigue of some of the most unexpected and spectacular objects that make up one of the world’s most important art collections.

Jacky Klein

Jacky Klein is an art historian, publisher, writer and broadcaster, specialising in modern and contemporary art. After studying at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, she worked as a curator at a number of leading galleries: Tate, the Barbican, the Courtauld and the Hayward. She is author of a bestselling book on British artist Grayson Perry (Thames & Hudson, 3rd edition 2020)  and co-author of a number of other titles. Jacky has presented and contributed to a range of television programmes for the BBC, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's  arts review programme, 'Front Row'. She has appeared on Channel 5, the Travel Channel and Bloomberg TV, and has written and presented a number of online films and livestreams for Tate, Christie's and the Art Fund.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Jacky Klein’s lecture

Best wishes to everyone

Stuart

Hello everyone

I hope the weather has not been too hot for you and you have been enjoying this wonderful summer.  We’ve just returned from holiday; not in a foreign clime, but in sunny Norfolk. Sometime ago we decided not to suffer the airport ‘scrumdown’ that’s now a mandatory experience for all air travellers and to holiday henceforth in the UK. This August we stayed close to home with a golfing holiday at Barnham Broom. 

Guided walk in historic King’s Lynn

I don’t know about you, but holidays generally act as a ‘mindwipe’ on me and our Saturday morning walk, exploring historic parts of King’s Lynn, seems a very long time ago.  In fact, it’s less than a fortnight since our two guides, Doreen and Ivor, were briefing our group of 20 walkers outside the Minster.

Starting from the Minster in Saturday Market Place our walk to Tuesday Market Place took us, among other places, to Nelson Street, (the main street of medieval King’s Lynn), Hanse House, the Law Court (the only Court not to display the reigning monarch’s coat of arms, but those of King Henry VIII) and the Customs House.  We finished at the Guildhall and came away with three important facts about this ancient Guild building.  Speaking personally, and everyone I spoke to felt the same way, the walk was an ‘eye-opener’ to the importance of King’s Lynn to the economy of medieval England. For example, in 1204 its burgesses were granted the same liberties and privileges as were enjoyed by the citizens of Oxford.

It was a very hot day and at the end of the morning those who had chosen the option of lunch repaired to the air-conditioned dining room at the Duke’s Head.

Our thanks to Town Guides, Doreen and Ivor for providing such an interesting and enjoyable morning.  Thanks too must go to Irene Andrews for organising the whole event and to Eileen Powell who suggested it.

Our next trip: -

Ware Hall House, Wells-next-the Sea. Tuesday 27th September

For our next visit we will be going to Wells-next-the-Sea to visit Ware Hall House. I’ve previewed this trip several times, so just a reminder that we will be going to see a house was built in 1450 in Ware, Herts.  It survived for 5 centuries until, in the 1950s, the local Council decided to demolish it to make way for a road. Its owner determined to save the house and it was dismantled and rebuilt at Wells. We will visit the house and hear the fascinating story of its rebuild. The visit will last about two hours and includes coffee/tea and biscuits.

The visit starts at 10.30am.    Maximum number: 20. Guests welcome.

Note:  If numbers exceed 20, a second visit, starting at 2.30pm can be arranged.

Cost: £13.00 per head (members and guests). (Excludes lunch)

Wells has many places offering lunch and it will be a free afternoon either for exploring Wells, or a visit to the Maltings.

On this occasion, because of the high cost of coach travel, we recommend car share and would be grateful if you could indicate if you need or could offer a lift.  Information on parking will be supplied.

An application form will be available in a few days

Arts Volunteering

Our Young Arts Volunteers have received recognition from Arts Volunteering again this year for the Whitefriars Academy art project. More about this later. In the meantime congratulations to Tricia Rowlands and Barbara Vincent and all those who helped with the workshops at Whitefriars and at the Hanse House exhibition .

The 2022/23 Lecture Season

The first lecture in our 2022/23 will explore how Madison Avenue advertising agencies used (exploited?) images from fine art to promote commercial products. Our lecturer, Tony Rawlins, describes some of the processes by which these advertisements have been created and why the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo have been a particularly rich source. And Tony will use a wide range of visuals and video to show examples of the original works, the creative process and the (not always entirely successful) advertisements that are the end result.

Tony Rawlins

Tony’s career in advertising commenced in 1965 as a mail boy in J Walter Thompson and progressed to an account director, followed by moves to other ad agencies before setting up his own agency in 1985. He has handled advertising for Guinness in Africa and the Caribbean and remains an active consultant in the industry. A member of the Arts Society for many years Tony lectures in the UK and Europe.

Recruitment

Thanks to members’ efforts I can report that we are on our way to achieving last year’s membership number of 144, which is our break-even figure. However, to maintain this figure we will still have to replace those who, for one reason or another, decide to leave the Society.  Therefore, we must continue to try and recruit new members or to encourage people to come as a visitor.  If visitors like what we offer we should ensure they know the £10 visitor charge will be deducted from their membership fee if they decide to become a member.

I look forward to seeing you at West Winch on Thursday 8th September when we will have the opportunity to discover whether Don Draper, the principal male character in the TV series ‘Mad Men’, is stereotypical of senior men in the ad industry.

Best wishes to you all

Stuart

                                                                                                                                                                          26 July 2022

Hello everyone

Whitefriars CE Academy Art Exhibition

I’m pleased to report that the exhibition of art produced by the pupils of Whitefriars CE Academy, held at Hanse House in the first week of July, was a great success. The Mayor of Kings Lynn, Counsellor Lesley Bambridge, came to see the art and talk to some of the pupils. We welcomed 600 visitors during the exhibition; all praised the children’s work. Our thanks to Tricia Rowlands and Barbara Vincent for all their hard work in organising both the workshops to produce the art and the exhibition.  Thanks too for the volunteers who helped with the workshop and acted as stewards.

The Society’s Summer Tea Party

I’m also pleased that our tea party at Knights Hill Hotel was a success.  Forty-eight members and guests sat down to enjoy a tasty tea, conversation flowed and the weather decided to provide us with a pleasantly warm afternoon. We took some photos but decided not to print them as the sight of someone tucking into a strawberry and cream scone isn’t especially illuminating. Seriously though, I think the tea party could become an annual event, enabling us to stay in touch during our summer break.

Our Volunteers

My thanks to Brenda Cox for her work as the organiser of the Heritage Volunteers and to Mary Dawson for agreeing to take on the job as the Volunteer’s new Leader.

Congratulations to Alison Wakes-Miller from the Committee and me on the very good news that the Norfolk Churches Trust has agreed to give our Church Recorders an annual grant in support of their work.

GUIDED WALK AROUND HISTORIC KING’S LYNN

Originally suggested by Eileen Powell and planned by Irene Andrews, this has stimulated a lot of interest.  In fact, ALL 20 PLACES HAVE BEEN FILLED.

HOWEVER, our Town Guide, Ivor Rowlands – a new member of the Society – assures us that another Guide will be available to lead a second group, if there is a demand.

So, if you are still undecided, here are the details.

The walk takes place on Wednesday 10th August, starting at 10.30am outside Stories of Lynn. Lasting for about 2 hours it will take us from Saturday Market Place to Tuesday Market Place, encompassing 900 years of King’s Lynn’s history, showcasing buildings, hidden places and stories of people who have left their mark here.     Afterwards, lunch, for those who wish, at The Duke’s Head.   Cost (excluding lunch): £5.00.  (An application form is attached). Please note the closing date is 31st July.

VISIT TO WARE HALL HOUSE, WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA – Tuesday 27 September 2022

Built in 1450 in Ware, Herts. In the 1950s, the house was scheduled for demolition by the local Council to make way for a road. Its owner, Miss May Savidge, determined to save it. She dismantled it and dedicated her life to rebuilding it at Wells. Her niece, Christine Adams, finally completed the rebuild after her aunt’s death.  We will visit the house and hear the fascinating story of its rebuild. Visit lasts about two hours and includes coffee/tea and posh biscuits.

There are many places for lunch, a visit to The Maltings and a quiz for those who want to explore Wells.

The visit starts at 10.30am.    Maximum number: 20. Guests welcome.

Note:  If numbers exceed 20,  a second visit, starting at 2.30pm can be arranged.

Cost: £13.00 per head (members and guests)

On this occasion we recommend car share and would be grateful if you could indicate if you need or could offer a lift. Information on parking will be supplied.

Application forms will be sent out by mid-August.

The Arts Society, London

I’m sure some will already be aware that the Trust Board has decided the Guildford Street HQ will be sold. High maintenance costs? Presumably the Society will take a long-term lease on a newer building.

Finally, I’m not going to remind you we need to recruit new members. But we do.

Any problems please contact Eileen or me  - thedimmocks2000@hotmail.com.

Best wishes to you all

Stuart

Hello everyone

I hope you enjoyed the recent brief spell of high summer weather. Or was it too hot?  Interesting that George II’s comment on English summers, uttered in 1730, has stood the test of time, “A few days of fine weather followed by a storm”. 

Let’s hope the weather is fine for our tea party at Knights Hill Hotel on 14th July.  A brief reminder that its runs 3.00-5.00pm in the Garden Room. Cost £13.00 per person for members and their guests. Tickets are selling steadily so, if you intend coming, please don’t leave it too long before you book your place. Email the Treasurer taskl.treasurer@gmail.com. Payment by BACS or cheque must be received by Monday 4th July. 

With Covid numbers rising again, rail strikes, chaos at airports and inflation at a 30-year high the Committee feel that tours with overnight stays, abroad or in the UK, are unlikely to be popular at present. For this reason, we are arranging a series of events that are closer to home.  In my first newsletter I mentioned the visit being planned for Tuesday 27th September to Ware Hall House, Wells-next-the Sea. (For more information see box below.)  Eileen will be sending out application forms in due course. What Else?

GUIDED WALK IN KING’S LYNN

How about joining us for a guided walk in King’s Lynn led by a Town Guide?  It’s planned for Wednesday 10th August, starting at 10.30am outside Stories of Lynn and will take us from Saturday Market Place to Tuesday Market Place.  The walk will take about two hours, encompassing 900 years of King’s Lynn history showcasing buildings, hidden places and stories of people who have left their mark here.  Come along and discover all the things you didn’t know about King’s Lynn!    Afterwards, lunch, for those who wish, at The Duke’s Head.

Maximum number: 20.  Cost (excluding lunch): £5.00.  (Application forms will be sent out in early July).

VISIT TO WARE HALL HOUSE, WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA

                                      11.00am – 1.30pm on Tuesday 27th September 2022

Visit includes refreshments at Ware Hall House.

Max no. 20. Guests welcome. Cost: £13.00 per head (excluding lunch)

Lunch at local hotel, followed by visit to an exhibition at The Granary or self-guided Town Trail.

Transport to and from Wells-next-the-Sea by member’s cars

Good to see the work of our Heritage Volunteers on Holkham Hall’s tapestry recognised in The Arts Society Volunteering Newsletter.

 Finally, can I remind you to we need to recruit new members and if you would like to receive copies of our 2022/23 brochure to hand out to friends, please contact either Eileen or me (01366 381174 or thedimmocks2000@hotmail.com) and we will send you some.

With best wishes

Stuart

Hello

As the new Chair I aim to send out a monthly newsletter to keep you in touch with various events that are taking place within our Society, in our local community and in The Arts Society, London.  This, the first one, is a bit late, but it’s taking me time to settle in!

The three months break between our lecture seasons has always seemed like a long time and I’ve discovered in my recent chats with members that some of you feel the same. So, the first thing to say is that we have decided to try and bridge the “meetings gap” between May and September with a mid-summer tea party.  I’d like to call it a “garden party”, but I fear it would tempt the Sky God to hurl down thunderbolts on the day in question. 

The day in question is Thursday, 14th July. The place is the Garden Room at Knights Hill Hotel. The time is from 3.00 – 5.00pm. Refreshments will be the usual summer tea party goodies – selections of sandwiches and cakes, warm scones with cream and jam and tea or coffee.  The cost is £13.00 per person.  Guests are welcome.

If you would like to attend, please email the Treasurer taskl.treasurer@gmail.com. Payment by BACS or cheque must be received by Monday 4th July.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be fine so we can spread out onto Knights Hill’s lawn.

Some local Arts Societies are finding their members are reluctant to go on trips and our first attempt – a special interest day on “Early Keyboard Instruments” – was cancelled. However, trips and interest days are an important part of what Societies can offer and our new Committee member, Irene Andrews, is planning a trip to Ware Hall House, Wells-next-the-Sea in late September. Built in 1450 in Ware, Herts, the house was taken apart, piece by piece, in the 1950s and re-erected at Wells. Irene has pencilled in the 27th September with lunch and the possibility of a further visit in the afternoon.  Transport in members’ cars. More news about this in a later newsletter. In the meantime, if you interested in the trip, please check out the ‘ Trips’ page in the website and make a note in your diary.

We know, after our AGM, that keeping our present members and recruiting new ones is vital for our survival.  Our best recruiters are our members, but people in the area must know about us before we can start to recruit them and one aim for this year is to appear in the local media as often as we can. You may have seen the article and photos printed in the local newspapers recently about our Heritage Volunteers’ work on a damaged tapestry at Holkham Hall.  If not, they are attached.  (Please see the ‘website’s Volunteering’ page).

With best wishes

Stuart Dimmock

If you want to contact me – taskl.chair@gmail.com

 The Arts Society King’s Lynn

6th February 2022

Dear Friends,

 I hope that you are all keeping well, and have managed to see some encouraging growth outside.   There are early snowdrops and hellebores in my garden with catkins on the hazels reminding me that spring is just a few weeks away when it will be possible to actively enjoy being outside once again.  

 As explained in my last newsletter, we decided that our lecture on Thursday, 10th February will be on Zoom once more, which will please some of you who say the pictures are better on zoom!   Nevertheless, we do hope that will be the last one, and consequently in March we shall all be able to meet up at West Winch again for our meeting.    Meanwhile, Simon Seligman is going to tell us about John Ruskin, whose bicentenary was in 2019 (which all seems ages ago now).    I remember – vaguely - learning about Ruskin at school for being pivotal in developing art criticism in the 19th century, and for influencing William Morris.   However, I see that Wikipedia explains that he was a polymath who could – and would – write on all sorts of diverse subjects, and was considered in his lifetime the most important theorist on much that concerned those appalled by industrialisation.   So I’m looking forward to being reminded what a great man he was in ‘From Venice to Sheffield: John Ruskin’s passion for Art, Craft and Social Justice’.    I shall be sending out the zoom link for our lecture on Thursday, 10th February, to reach you on Wednesday, so look out for it.

 Which leads me on to our lecture next month, on 10th March.   We were booked to hear Neil Faulkner tell us about Petra in Jordan.   Very sadly we have heard of his untimely death on Friday.   He was the leading archaeologist behind SHARP at Sedgeford, and intimately involved with West Norfolk over more than 25 years.  He will be sadly missed.   We have had to make alternative arrangements, therefore, and are indebted to Jean Meldrum, our programme secretary, for arranging at short notice for Simon Whitehouse to come to West Winch and give us ‘A Handbag?  The Importance of the Importance of Being Ernest’, which promises to be a sparkling occasion.    Make a note in your diaries and tell your friends.

 So, until next Thursday.    Remember non-members can enjoy the lecture as visitors for only  £7 by contacting info@theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk to book a place.

 Best wishes,

Kate

The Arts Society King’s Lynn lecture in February will once again be via Zoom Webinar due to the impact of current Covid-19 levels.

With transport links not being reliable for their visiting lecturers and some of their members not yet feeling confident about meeting in a large group, the committee has decided to delay the return to live lectures in West Winch Village Hall until March.

Group chairperson Kate Parker explained “We will continue to watch local data, but very much hope to be getting together face to face as soon as possible. Our meetings are not just about the wonderful lectures, they are also very sociable occasions.”

This month’s talk will take place on Thursday, February 10 at 2pm and will celebrate the extraordinary life of the visionary Victorian John Ruskin. He was perhaps the most complete polymath of the 19th century. He is most famous today as a champion of JWM Turner and the Pre Raphaelite painters and for his writings that inspired the Arts and Crafts movement. His ideas about conservation inspired Octavia Hill when founding of the National Trust and his philanthropic work led to the foundation of the Guild of St George which continues to promote many traditional crafts. His ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated the current interest in environmentalism and sustainability.

Lecturer Simon Seligman has given talks widely in the UK and the US as well as working part-time for John Ruskin’s charity The Guild of St George.

TASKL members will be sent the Zoom link automatically, but anyone is welcome to join the webinar for £7 by emailing taskl.treasurer@gmail.com Full details of future lectures can be found on the website www.theartssociety.org.uk

The Arts Society King’s Lynn with be returning to Zoom Webinars for their lectures in January and February amid concerns of rising Covid infections in the area. The decision has been made reluctantly as the live lectures throughout the Autumn at West Winch Village Hall have been so successful and very well attended. Group chairperson Kate Parker explained “It will always be our preference to meet face to face, but we have to think about the safety of our membership. Also, because our excellent lecturers often travel from a considerable distance away we are dependant on transport links being reliable and in current circumstances this is not guaranteed. However, there are benefits at this time of year in that we don’t have to venture out in the bad weather!”

This month’s talk will take place on Thursday 13th January at 2pm and will be given by a very familiar face to all fans of the BBC’s Antique Roadshow, Mark Hill. Mark has appeared on numerous antiques programmes on television and has been a regular expert on the Antiques Roadshow since 2007. His talk to TASKL next week will look at the Victorian craze of cartes de visite, small photographic portraits which people gave out in their thousands. They were the selfies of their day, giving a fascinating insight about the people and the period and no doubt this experienced broadcaster will be his usual entertaining self.

 TASKL members will be sent the Zoom link automatically but anyone is very welcome join the webinar as a ‘visitor’ for £7 by booking a place via info@theartssocietykingslynn.org.uk Please do this at least one day before the lecture to ensure receiving the link in time.                                                                                         

The Arts Volunteer group, led by Barbara Vincent, presented 50 packs of art and craft materials to King's Lynn Foodbank to be given out to local families this Christmas. Supported by a community grant from the Arts Society and donations from local businesses it was possible to create packs including pens, crayons, papers, scissors, glue, stickers etc as well as a story book for the families to share. Members of the local TASKL group put their sewing skills to use by producing handmade fabric bags, ensuring each gift pack looked extra special for the recipients.    

King's Lynn Church Recorder's Group, supported by TASKL, have presented a bound copy of their findings to St Faith's Church. Featured in th Lynn News on Friday 1st October 2021. 

The new TASKL Season got under way with a highly entertaining lecture from Gavin Plumley on Gustav Klimt. Seventy four members and guests attended our return to live lectures at West Winch and there was a wonderful atmosphere as members enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces after 18 months on Zoom. There were even new comfortable chairs to enhance the enjoyment. Roll on the October meeting!  

LECTURES AT HOME / STARTING 2 MARCH 2021

We are excited to announce a new series of Lectures at Home starting on Tuesday, 2nd March 2021 when Aliki Braine will present About the Old Masters. The lectures will be released fortnightly on The Arts Society Connected website, and will be available to view 'on demand'. Details will be shared with Members in the next Monthly Highlights e-newsletter on 2nd March.  

The spring issue of The Arts Society Magazine, which is delivered quarterly free to all members, will be landing on your doorsteps any day now! We are very happy to announce that it now comes wrapped in 100% recyclable paper packaging sourced from carefully managed and renewed commercial forests. 

To keep you occupied between our local Zoom lectures dont forget there are still nine lectures available on the TAS website, www.theartssociety.org , to view at your leisure.  Find them via the 'Connected' link. All are presented by accredited Arts Society lecturers so you can expect the usual excellent standard. 

Titles to choose from are:

18th century handpainted Chinese export silk : trade and technique by  Viv Lawes 

Rescuing Unwanted Diaries by Irving Finkel.

Beethoven's Fit of Rage when his 3rd Symphony became Erotica by Sandy Burnett.

Aboriginal Art : Recording the Dreamtime by Rebecca Hossack

The Anatomy of Collecting at Home by Marc Allum

An Artist of Note ; Turner and the new £20 note by Nicola Moorby

The 1960's : Revolutions in Glass by Mark Hill

Venice : Dressed and Undressed by Sarah Dunant

Las Meninas by Dr Jacqueline Cockburn

Watch out for the next online Art Society Lecture at Home 'The English Cookbook'. Lectures start at 1pm and can be viewed live on You Tube at youtube.com/c/theartssociety

Why not encourage your family and friends to join you for these sessions and introduce them to the quality lectures the Arts Society consistantly offers to members.

Pepe Martinez, an award winning London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, shall be giving this special extra lecture on Thursday 13th August, at 2.00 pm.  “The Old East End” is the story of immigration from the French Huguenots to the Kindertransports. The Story of the Old East End Virtual Tour uses powerful video, google street view and other images to tell this story.

The Zoom link will be emailed to members the day before the lecture. Full details on our lectures page.

On Thursday 30th July you are invited to join us for an online Tea Party at 3pm. It will give you the opportunity to see and greet friends from our Society and also hear updates about our current projects. On Wednesday, 29th July (the day before the Tea Party) all members will receive an email giving the new link ready to join the Party.    

We are running two informal Zoom ‘training sessions’, to which all members are invited. Hopefully these will enable everyone to fully enjoy our upcoming series of online events. Please check your emails for the links to these meetings and join us for either or both of them running at 2pm and 5pm. 

Please note that the AGM scheduled for 14th May 2020 has been abandoned due to COVID -19 and an e - meeting will take place on 21st May 2020.  Details are set out in the Chairman's report that follows and the Agenda, draft accounts and committee reports are set out in the Documents section of this website - which can be found in the section entitled 'Our Society'.  Please email Kate Parker, our Chairman, kateparker33@btinternet.com with your approval of the reports and any questions or comments.

Chairman’s Report    AGM May 2020

As I write my first annual report as your chairman, in splendid isolation, our last two lectures have had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.    This has been a great shame as the quality of the lecturers this past season has been extremely high, drawing large numbers to our meetings, including on one occasion the largest number of visitors we have yet had, many of whom hope to join us in the future.   When the pandemic finally wanes, in the months to come, I do hope that it will find you and your families and friends have survived what has been a very shocking crisis for the whole world and that you will look forward with even more anticipation to our next season.    

It seems like looking back into the mists of time, but back in September a coach load of members thoroughly enjoyed Chris Cawthorne’s last ‘study tour’ to Cardiff.   In October Susan Ingleby arranged a visit to Martyn Clarke at Oxborough, to hear him play contemporary music on the wide range of early keyboard instruments held in his collection.   Following our lectures on wallpaper design and silk, she arranged another well-supported visit to the Warner Textile Archive at Braintree.   Susan’s plans, for trips to Syon House and Strawberry Hill, and Elton Hall unfortunately had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.    The good thing is that they will all still be there for us to visit when this is over. Fortunately, our Advent Lunch was held at The Ffolkes Arms at Hillington in December, where we were able to drink to our Society’s good fortune in its thirtieth year.  Those who attended agreed the new venue was a great success and next year’s event was booked there and then.   

Separately with these AGM papers are reports of the Church Recorders, the Heritage Volunteers, Young Arts and the Art Group, and I urge you to read them to remind yourselves of the interesting things our volunteers have done in the past twelve months, supported by you.   My thanks are due to all those who lead those endeavours so capably.   The enthusiasm of the various volunteer groups within our society has been a matter of great pride and pleasure to me, personally, and admiration elsewhere within the East Anglia Area family of Arts Societies.  One of the great disappointments of the year has been the Arts Society’s unforeseen decision to cease supporting the Church Recorders from the end of this year.   Thanks to your support, our industrious – and productive - group will continue to undertake this valuable work, unaided by the national society. 

Finally, I want to thank particularly my wonderful colleagues on your committee, who have supported me so well over the past year.   The whole committee has risen magnificently to the latest challenges to our Society with unstinting and generous time and support, and I sincerely thank them all. Our membership secretary, Eileen Powell, who keeps us all connected in these isolated times has also kept up our spirits with some very entertaining posts.   Jean Meldrum, in her first year as your Programme Secretary, has been faced with unusual challenges;  firstly changing the date of the lecture in December for the election (remember that?) and then cancelling excellent lecturers and re-booking them for later seasons because of Covid 19.   Two of the other vital jobs on the committee are the management of the audio-visual technicalities for our lectures, managed most conscientiously by Alan Brinsdon and Patricia Dimmock.   They have been tested to the enth degree by lecturers who jumped about like Tigger, who stuffed  microphone packs into their trouser pockets or wore specially rustling material on which to pin the mike.   Undaunted they are investigating how to make the tasks as plain sailing as they should be.   This may involve purchasing some new equipment, even though it only gets nine outings a year.  However, our current package is fifteen years old and at the speed of today’s technological improvements, that makes it practically an antique.   This is just another reason why it has been deemed essential by your committee, as I have already forewarned you, that because of several increasing costs we must regrettably increase our subscription for next year, to £42.00 per person and £78.00 per couple at the same address which will be put forward for your agreement through this AGM procedure, as item 9.   I hope you will agree that this will represent extremely good value, at less than £5.00 per meeting.   Our fees will still be among the lowest in the Region.

 Your President, Pat Bray, has been a tower of strength.   She retires at this AGM, as will Elaine Robinson, Mary Sackree, Susan Ingleby, and Penny Sheerin who for a number of years has been responsible for our excellent lecture programme.  Gillian Savage is retiring as Treasurer but will stay on the committee as our Secretary.   It is a great pity that they will not hear the applause that they all so richly deserve for their work on our behalf, but I hope that they will be aware of our grateful thanks for all their efforts.   John Townshend will take over the reins as President, by rotation, and Tricia Rowlands, Claire Smith and Alison Wakes-Miller have put forward their names for election to the committee.     

At the heart of our success this year has been the friendliness and enthusiasm of our membership.   For this I thank you all.   Our meetings, special events and voluntary activities would never afford as much pleasure to us individually without your own commitment to our Society and the friendliness you extend to everyone.     I look forward to seeing you all again in happier circumstances, post coronavirus, when once again we shall hope to offer you a warm welcome and an enjoyable and stimulating programme.   

Kate Parker

Kateparker33@btinternet.com

Dear fellow members,

I do hope that you are all keeping well, and reasonably up-beat, despite the ‘lock down’, and all that means to us.   This letter is to keep you up-to-date with the arrangements for our AGM.  Following previous custom it should have been occurring on 14thMay, moving swiftly through before another fascinating lecture.   So much for that!   What I have decided to do is to run an ‘e-AGM’ so that we can do all that we need to do at more or less the right time, and hope for a much easier and enjoyable occasion next year.   

My thinking has been that we need a quorum to make it a legal event, a quorum in our constitution being 25% of the membership, i.e. 50 people.   We obviously can’t get together to constitute that quorum, but I reckon if I can get at least 50 people to respond by email to me (at the address above) that they are content with the accounts, the reports and the constituency of the committee – and also the rise in the subscription fee, which I spoke about last year – then those responses can be put into a file marked ‘AGM 2020’ to form a formal record of the event.   Accordingly, I will shortly be sending out all the papers:  the minutes of the last AGM, the agenda for this one, the accounts and the various reports for adoption, and the names of those being elected to the committee (proposed by various committee members and agreed by you, I hope).   I will ask you for any questions relating to those papers to come to me by 1st May.   This way I shall have time to answer any queries by email to all the membership, as well as the questioner, and hopefully satisfy everyone before the due date, 14th May.   My reason for sending this preamble letter is so that anyone who wishes to be considered for election to the committee should have the opportunity to put forward his/her name for inclusion on the agenda.   At present we are fortunate to have a full complement of twelve nominations for the committee (twelve is a full house), but should anyone wish to go to election that is perfectly do-able, provided that any such nomination is made to me by 16th April.

Therefore, dear friends, I do hope that you will be willing to read through the various reports and proposals when they come, and in due course send me a concurring email, headed AGM 2020, for me to include in the records.   It is all very cumbersome, I know, but with the way things are we cannot be certain of anything within the fifteen months legally admissible between AGM’s.  

Best wishes,

Kate

Sadly, due to the COVID -19 outbreak, we have today decided to cancel our April and May lectures  on April 9th and May 14th.  The visit to Syon House Gardens and Strawberry Hill House on April 26th. and 27th has also been cancelled.  

Further information about the business of the AGM will follow.

Meanwhile, we wish our members and friends good health in these difficult times and look forward to meeting again in due course.

Dear Friends,

It is astonishing to realise that we are into February and our sixth lecture.   Andrew Prince is coming to talk to us about the wonderful jewels which appear in royal portraits.  As a special treat for us, he is going to bring with him some of the fabulous jewellery that he made for ‘Downton Abbey’, proving that beauty is not reliant on precious stones, but on the quality of the design.   All sounds unmissable, so l look forward to seeing you on 13th February.

Late last spring the chairmen of all the Arts Societies were asked to complete a questionnaire about the volunteering activities we undertake.   We were asked how many people join in, how much is spent on the various projects, and so on.   After that, the personnel at our head office made strenuous efforts to discover how much value was placed by other organisations on our efforts.   This week we have received the first intimations of the results of this survey, not so much in a compilation of the responses, but in a sort of fait accompli following decisions already made on our behalf.   It appears that our Heritage Volunteering is regarded highly, and we may continue to clean books, conserve tapestries and the like, and we’re encouraged to undertake even more projects.   Similarly, the Children’s Trails, which started out as Church Trails, then expanded to be notable building trails, and finally encompassed town trails and similar, are welcomed as drawing children into aspects of our cultural heritage which they might otherwise not encounter.   Young Arts will be renamed Arts Volunteering and has widened its scope to include those in deprived areas, and not necessarily particularly young.   However, Church Recording, which has just managed to record its 2000th church, has been given the coup de grace.   It has been judged that no-one (not including, of course, those who actually undertake this activity, on hands and knees, in chilly churches) is particularly interested in detailed records of the rather exceptional artefacts one finds in a church, and accordingly this activity will cease to have support (or funding) from the national body after December this year.   Our gallant band of Church Recorders, who have recorded what exists in twenty local churches, are understandably dismayed.    I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has any views on this.   Do please contact me on kateparker33@btinternet.com .

Before Young Arts expands to include the rather more mature, you may be interested to hear that Barbara Vincent has organised on our behalf country dancing for five primary schools, for whom such activity is an amazing novelty.   Barbara wrote to 17 schools offering this opportunity, only five responded.   It proved to be a learning curve for all.   It appears that 5 year olds are just too small to be able to cope with the intricacies, but that it became more and more wonderful the older the children became, with Year 6 children (even rather doubtful boys) finding the experience of country dancing absolutely absorbing and something they were really reluctant to give up!   

On a less hectic note, the textile conservationists are back at work on the Holkham Hall tapestry, and this photograph shows some of them working at conserving the eighteenth century British made Soho hanging, which would have been new when Holkham Hall was first built.   

They would welcome some new members.   The work is not difficult, requiring good eyesight and conscientiousness, rather than wide experience and needleworking skills.   Training would be given by a conservator from the National Trust’s Textile Conservation Studio at Blickling Hall.

I look forward to seeing you and hearing from you soon.

With best wishes, Kate

                             Young Arts King’s Lynn Autumn Term Project 2019

                                   Music for Youth Proms at the Albert Hall

The Arts Society King’s Lynn contributed toward the costs for two small choirs, teachers , teaching assistants and parents  from local primary schools to travel to the Albert Hall on 13th November for the Music for Youth Proms.   Dersingham  Primary School and Churchill Park Complex  Needs  School  performed  in an extract from a newly composed opera - A Kind of Magic Flute. Previously, five K.L. Society members had visited the schools to listen in on rehearsals.  Norfolk Music Hub in partnership with the Come and Sing Company and Theatre Royal Norwich presented a performance involving 600 pupils from schools from across  Norfolk .  Music for Youth believes that active music making should be available to everyone.   It was a wonderful opportunity for pupils to visit the Royal Albert Hall and be part of the Massed Ensemble, meeting youngsters from schools in different parts of the country.   Young Arts organiser and partner from our society were just amazed and delighted  to see the youngsters taking part with joy and enthusiasm,  considering  they had spent the whole day rehearsing and waiting for their big moment.  It was wonderful to be there with so many  young people giving  of  their best . The enjoyment, energy and pride, was almost tangible! A lasting memory for so many of a very special endeavour.

 The whole day was a very special once in a lifetime experience. I’m told that some students are” still reliving the experience and singing through the days!” 

Barbara Vincent.  Young Arts Organiser

Before we know it, it will be Christmas, and the New Year just around the corner.   Things have somehow come sooner than expected this year because we have had to change the date of our December meeting from the 12th December (which will now be Polling Day) back to the previous week, 5th December, when fortunately our lecturer and the Hall are available together at our usual time.   I do hope that you, too, will be able to come to hear Christopher de Hamel and to see the exquisite medieval art in the Books of Hours on which he is a world expert.   Another treat for us all on 5th December will be the exhibition of paintings by our own Art Group, which is to be shown in the Hall before the lecture.   So come early and give yourself time to enjoy what they have to show us.   The Art Group meets on Thursday mornings, at Castle Rising. If you would like to join them, speak to Clive Wakes-Miller.   

Since I last wrote we have enjoyed an excellent visit to the Warner Textile Archive at Braintree, comprising a vast collection of examples in silk and other fibres from the eighteenth century to today – an invaluable resource for today’s students of design and design history.  On the same day we visited the National Trust house of Paycockes in nearby Coggeshall, which took the textile trade back into the Early Modern period, when Coggeshall grew rich supplying its fine white cloth to England and Western Europe.   This time our weather luck held and many of us enjoyed a stroll in beautiful sunshine from Paycockes through the town to visit the great thirteenth century abbey barn, testament to the wealth of former religious houses before the Reformation and to the skills of their carpenters.  The National Trust proudly boasts that it is one of Europe’s oldest surviving timber framed buildings.  

Something completely different, but again with an eye – and an ear – to the past, was another fascinating study afternoon with Martyn Clarke and his collection of early keyboard instruments at Oxborough.  We were able to appreciate the subtle and delightful differences between a Clavichord, a harpsichord and several different, early 19th century pianos.   They were all expertly played by Martyn, who showed us how each instrument offered different and unusual soundscapes which the famous composers would have known and written for.  It proved that those well-known compositions, while still lovely played on modern pianos, have yet lost something in the translation.   It was a fascinating and insightful afternoon.      Many thanks to Susan Ingleby for arranging both excursions for us. 

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you (and the art exhibition!) at our next lecture on 5th December, and the following week those of you who have booked will be able to enjoy our Advent Lunch on 13th December at the Ffolkes Arms at Hillington, 12 for 12.30 pm, a forerunner of what I trust will be an enjoyable Christmas holiday for us all.

With best wishes, 

Kate Parker

Arts Society visit to the Warner Textile Archive and Coggeshall

On Tuesday the 22nd October members of King’s Lynn Arts Society visited the Warner Textile Archive in Braintree and followed this with an afternoon spent in Coggeshall. It was a sunny autumn day and this only enhanced what was to prove a fascinating day out.

Warner’s Mill closed in the 1990s but the archive preserves a treasure trove of hand printed silks, block printed wallpapers and trimmings. After coffee and biscuits we listened to an interesting talk on silk production and the history of Warners from their beginnings as dyers. The silk produced was both for furnishings and dresses. There was a royal connection, with not only curtains for royal residences but also the fabric for the future Queen Mary’s wedding dress. Pulling out display drawers showed samples produced by the company and then in smaller groups we saw samples of silk woven using a jacquard loom.

Coggeshall Village has numerous listed buildings, many dating from Medieval times. Paycocke’s House was a National Trust property built around 1500. It was a house and showroom built to impress, with stunning woodcarving and elaborate panelling all based on wool trade money. The Grange Barn was even earlier. Built in the 13th Century it was an enormous tithe barn and is one of Europe’s oldest timber framed buildings.

Most of us managed to find lunch and explore the garden of Paycocke’s House all before getting back on the bus and returning to Norfolk. It was a busy day but enjoyed by all. Thanks to Susan Ingleby for the superb organisation of a wonderful visit.

A Visit to Martyn Clarke: an afternoon of early music and history – October 14, 2019

As someone not especially knowledgeable about music, why was I attracted by the Arts Society billing of ‘an afternoon with Martyn Clarke’? Several reasons: it sounded intriguing, it offered me insight into something outside my musical experience, and it would be an autumn afternoon with friends in the pretty village of Oxborough. 

The afternoon exceeded all expectations. In a beautiful music room containing Martyn’s instruments, the audience sat amongst these precious items and appreciated them both visually and musically. Martyn gave an informed description of each instrument - harpsichord, clavichord, early piano – with a brief history of the place they were made (London held supremacy over Vienna in this sphere) and their ownership. Martyn illustrated his talk with short recitals on each instrument, so letting his audience absorb the beauty of the music coaxed from such beautiful instruments. 

The interval provided an opportunity to enjoy tea, coffee and cake, but also to appreciate what a lovely house Martyn and his wife had kindly invited us to share. Not only that, we were able to wander in a garden ‘wrapped around’ the house, with intriguing topiary and delightful autumn colours.

As the afternoon closed there was a suggestion that we might return for another visit. If so, I’ll certainly be there.

Kate Gordon

Dear Friends,

Autumn weather has assailed us all, and it started just in time for the Arts Society’s trip to Cardiff!   By some very good fortune we missed most of the downpours as we enjoyed five packed days of art, architecture, history and drama, with two National Trust houses and guided visit to the Jewellery Museum in Birmingham thrown in.   A thoroughly stimulating and interesting few days.   Now plans are well ahead for our society’s journey to northern Italy next October and the overnight stay to visit Sion House and Strawberry Hill next April.  

This month we have been delighted to welcome some of our new members to a special meeting of the committee so that they could learn more of the opportunities available through the society:  the church recording , heritage volunteering activities and the art group.   October also sees two extra visits for members:  the day trip to see the Warners Textile museum in Braintree, incorporating historic silk and wallpaper collections which we know will be of particular interest as our two first lectures have been on these subjects.  In November we are looking forward to a lecture on Antonio Stradivari, by which time some of us will have enjoyed Phyllis Clarke’s exploration of the flute, with a chance to see and hear her collection of historic instruments.   

We hope you continue to enjoy our lectures and other activities, and look forward to seeing you soon, and perhaps at our Advent Lunch, now booking for 13th December!   In any case, we hope that you will take the time to tell us what you think of our lectures by filling in the on-line form under documents in this website.

With best wishes,

Kate Parker

The Advent Lunch this year will take place on Friday, December 13th at the Ffolkes Inn Hotel, Hillington at noon.  Please join us for a convivial and social occasion.

BOOKING FORM

The Arts Society King’s Lynn Advent Lunch

 Friday 13th December 2019

Ffolkes Arms Hotel

Lynn Road

Hillington

Norfolk PE31 6BJ

12.00 noon for 12.30pm

3 course lunch followed by coffee, tea and mints

Cost: £27.00 [Includes tip]

All drinks will be ordered and paid for individually

Starters

Homemade Cream of Vegetable Soup with Roll and Butter

Traditional Prawn Cocktail with Brown Bread

Homemade Chicken Liver Pate with Dressed leaves and Warm Toast

Main Course

Norfolk Turkey with Pigs in Blankets, Roast Potatoes and Fresh Seasonal Vegetables, Gravy and Cranberry Sauce

Traditional Fish Pie with Creamy Mashed Potato Topping and Fresh Seasonal Vegetables

Vegetarian Nut Roast, Vegetarian Gravy, Roast Potatoes and Fresh Seasonal Vegetables

Dessert

Christmas Pudding with Brandy Custard

Homemade Chocolate Cheesecake with Fresh Cream

Fresh Fruit Salad with Fruit Sorbet 

Bookings close on Friday15th November 

Please send your cheque made payable to The Arts Society King’s Lynn and your completed form to:-

Membership Secretary

20 All Saints’ Way, Beachamwell, Norfolk PE37 8BU

Telephone: 01366 328648

Email: kldfas@beechamwell.plus.com

Name(s) _______________________________________   Telephone Number___________________

I would like ________  place(s) for the Advent Lunch on Friday 13th December 2019

I enclose payment of ________________ (£27.00 per person) payable to The Arts Society King’s Lynn

I would like to be seated with _____________________________________________________

Choices:

Starter                        ___________________________________________________________

Main Course   _________________________________________________________________

Dessert                      ___________________________________________________________

Heritage Open Day for King's Lynn will take place on Sunday 15th September.  The King's Lynn Civic Society works with English Heritage, the Borough Council and the Town Guides to arrange a wonderful free programme of open buildings, some of which are not normally open to the public. 

The programme for the day is available at the Town Hall and the Tourist Information Centre.

The Arts Society King's Lynn will be manning a stand in the Stone Hall in the Town Hall from 10am to 4pm.  If you could spare an hour during the day to assist, please contact Richard Morley (Richardmorley53@gmail.com) or Kate Parker (kateparker33@btinternet.com) to make the appropriate arrangements.

Enjoy the day!

Dear Friends,

It is time once more to welcome you to a new season of TASKL lectures and activities, and to hope that you have all have enjoyed the long days and warmer weather of June, July and August.  

Quite a lot of our society’s activities continued throughout the summer, such as the Young Arts project with Whitefriars Church of England Primary Academy (with all 420 children!), which involved hours of input from our volunteers, led by Barbara Vincent, culminating in a most attractive exhibition in the Hanse House in King’s Lynn in early July.   Look out for pictures of it at our first lecture on 12th September.    In early July the Church Recorders presented their completed Record to  All Saints Church, Narborough, whilst continuing with their work at St Faith’s, Gaywood.   You can see a display of the work at Narborough at our first lecture.    The team have now almost completed their survey at St Faith’s, and it is being digitally compiled to include many accompanying photographs, before printing.  To end the season the recorders are just about to start on the very tiny church at Waterden, which they hope to accomplish with two or three visits this month: the 20th record for the team.   Meanwhile the Heritage Volunteers are involved with two new, and very different projects.   A small group are helping the Wisbech and Fenland Museum measure and catalogue items from their store which have been acquired from various other collections and sites over recent years, and are a mystery resource which needs rediscovery!   Training in handling various museum artefacts has been given by staff from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to help us in this task, and a visit to meet the Cambridge experts is being arranged later in the year for our volunteers by the Wisbech Museum.   Meanwhile, Holkham Hall has asked our small textile conservation team to help them once again, this time with restoration of a large early 18th century tapestry from the English Soho Works, and work on this has already started.  Again, Holkham has arranged advice and support for the team from a National Trust textile expert from Blickling.     The Society’s art group has continued to meet and enjoy the summer painting opportunities available with the better weather.  We are promised a show in December.

All this should fill us with pride; at a recent local meeting of Society Chairmen in Norwich our wide range of voluntary activities within the King’s Lynn society was much admired.   Not many other small societies can boast such a range of fascinating and enjoyable opportunities for hands-on volunteering.    Perhaps the reason is that each of these projects is not only enjoyable in itself and a chance to try something new and very worthwhile, but leads to new friendships and collaborations with like-minded folk.   Training is available to enable everyone to undertake the various tasks effectively and confidently.   Anyone who feels that they would like to have a go with any of these activities should come to the New Members’ Coffee Morning in early October when all will be explained more fully by the Society’s individual Volunteering Representatives.    Speak to me or any other member of the committee if you would like to come.

But our main interest is the series of wonderful lectures which have been arranged for us by Penny Sheerin, our last Programme Secretary, now enjoying a well-deserved retirement from the task.   With wonderful timing our first two lectures – on wallpapers and on silk– have the added benefit of a tour arranged in October to the Warner’s Textile Museum at Braintree, where their large collection of both materials will be sure to delight.   A few places are still available:  see Susan Ingleby if you would like go.

I look forward to seeing you all soon, and to renewing the friendships, interest and activity that the King’s Lynn Society has to offer.

With all good wishes,

Kate Parker