Arreton Blog

The Hollow Crown

2011-04-28T12:21:00.003+01:00

The Community Theatre is staging John Barton's 'Hollow Crown', a
"celebratory entertainment by and about the kings and queens of England" in prose, poetry and song, with harpsichord, recorder and accordian accompaniments (including 'Rule Britannia' at the end).

Performances are at 7.30pm on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th, in St George's Church.

Do come and swell the numbers and indulge in a bit of flag-waving. Refreshments will be served in the interval.

Global Warming

2010-12-02T16:37:00.009Z

Snow (a.k.a. global warming) seems to have arrived early this year, and since I am marooned at home as a result, like many others, it seemed to merit an entry.

My (personal) view of global warming/climate change, is that the climate has always changed, and our contribution is unlikely to be significant. The difficulty for scientists and university departments investigating this is that continuation of their funding largely depends on the promotion of the domesday scenario - it would be very difficult for them to find work if they declared that CO2 was pretty harmless and that climate depends on outside influences, such as the sun. CO2 is plant food and essential to life on the planet, even though it constitutes less than 1/2000 of the atmosphere. Indeed, much less, and we wouldn't be here at all, so a bit more is probably not a bad thing.

This doesn't mean that I approve of waste (or all the other messes we make) but, in my view, the weather is something we have no control over. The Met Office have difficulty with this, as they are contributors to the alarmism, and tend to tie themselves in knots when called on to explain it, as nicely illustrated here.

Anyway, the snow is very picturesque, although somehow I doubt that the Tourist Board will be making much use of it. If I recall correctly, the message always used to be that it never snowed on the Isle of Wight, but I guess that will have to be revised, as we already had a large dose in January, which is when I took the photo above. Click on it to enlarge.

More, and more recent, photos here.

Heritage Day

2010-11-24T15:07:00.005Z

(click above to enlarge)

The Heritage Day exhibition in October displayed an impressive array of old photos and artefacts relating to village life over the years. More documents and photos came to light, including the 1908 map shown here (note the allotments in the field opposite the White Lion). A selection of photos is now on the Flickr site here, and if you would like to see more, or to obtain a CD, please let us know by adding a comment (use the Anonymous ID if you're new to this) or call Lin Watterson on 528921.

Midsummer Night's Dream (3)

2010-08-06T18:46:00.002+01:00

The first night was a great success, but we have had to cancel tonight (Friday) because it's rather wet and windy - not ideal for fight scenes or lying on the grass, and not really picnic weather, either.

Please come on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon, when the forecast looks better. There is also a raffle for a hamper of food and some other items, to be drawn on Sunday, all in aid of theatre funds.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (2)

2010-07-30T17:31:00.003+01:00

Sadly we have been plagued with errors about the venue. Last year the County Press advertised it as at Arreton Manor in their one line summary, with the result that people turned up at the locked gates, so sorry to Andy and Julia for that one.

This year the Apollo Theatre has generously included our event in its programmes but it is listed as "BUNBRIDGE MANOR" which sounds faintly like something from Jeeves and Wooster, or perhaps The Importance of Being Earnest?

AND the County Press has done it again today with "BURBRIDGE Manor" in our very expensive advert!

If anyone out there reads this then please do let your friends know that it is BUDBRIDGE Manor and they can get there by going North up Merstone Lane, into Bury Lane (the only RIGHT turn) and then RIGHT again into Budbridge Lane. The alternative from the Sandown Road is to follow the East Lane which is a few yards from the top of Merstone Lane and the first LEFT turn after Arreton Cross coming from Arreton.

Locals can easily walk or cycle to the venue and there will be car parking provided.

Come early, bring a friend, family, food and a rug or chairs and enjoy a unique occasion.

Call Lin Watterson 528921 for ticket reservations.

Arreton Community Theatre Group

A Midsummer Night's Dream

2010-07-27T21:11:00.011+01:00

The Arreton Community Theatre group, run by Isabel Favell and Lin Watterson, is busily rehearsing this famous Shakespeare comedy, to be performed in the garden at Budbridge Manor on the 5th-8th August (Thursday to Sunday). The performances will be at 7.30 pm, except on the Sunday, when there will be a matinée at 2.30 pm (doors open at 6.30 and 1.30, respectively).

The group performed Don Quixote at the same venue last year, to great acclaim, and we want as many people as possible to enjoy this summer's production. Bring a picnic and some friends, or even relatives, and transport yourselves to ancient Athens (or maybe even 60's Warwickshire) for an evening of pathos, passion and pack animals...

For those who haven't visited, Budbridge is at the far end of East Lane, which runs parallel to the Merstone road and is the route to the Bike Shed. Just keep going, over the old railway bridge and cycle track and you will reach a stretch of unmade road that leads to the Manor.

We are very grateful to Piers and Venetia Verey, for the use of their lovely garden; to SEEDA, for their recent help with funding; to Lin Watterson, whose original artwork you see above (click on it to see more detail); and to all the cast members, who have been rehearsing their socks off. Please come and make it all worth their while! Ticket prices are a very reasonable £6 for adults and £3 for children, so no excuses...

Gardens open in Arreton tomorrow

2010-06-19T11:47:00.003+01:00

We are opening 9 gardens in the village again this year (on Sunday 20th June) and the money raised will go to St John Ambulance and Relate on the Island, as well as a contribution to the Arreton Community Theatre.

Arreton Manor, The Old Vicarage and Haseley Manor are not normally open to the public now, so it is a great opportunity to see these very interesting gardens as well as some other delightful smaller gardens in the village, two of them different to last year.

There will be cream teas, lakes and plant sales. Free parking at Haseley, Arreton Barns and by the White Lion. The gardens will be open from 11am to 5pm.

£3.50 per person, children under 12 £2, or £10 per family and tickets can be bought from the Arreton Post Office until 1pm on the day and any of the participating gardens which will be well sign-posted. It should be a great day out for all the family. No.8 bus goes through Arreton with 3 stops in the village.

St.George's Day Lunch

2010-04-26T19:44:00.002+01:00

To follow the patronal festival service at the church (St.George's) another excellent lunch was held at the Community Centre. This was to the usual high standard, and a bargain at £6.50 including aperitifs, wine and three delicious courses. The puddings, again as usual, were to die for (see below) but I must also put in a word for Erica's starters, which gave us a choice of two mousses (mice?), egg or cucumber and cream cheese, both of which were what Greg Wallace would describe as scrummy. If you missed it, you missed out, so make a note for next year, and when the summer's over, remember the Harvest Supper, which will doubtless be just as good...

A good read

2010-04-03T18:25:00.001+01:00

I’m indebted to fellow blogger Ray Girvan for his interesting piece on a Victorian melodrama set in a thinly disguised Arreton, known in the book as ‘Arden’.The story, titled ‘The Reproach of Annesley’ was written by Mary Tuttiet of Newport, under the pen name of Maxwell Gray, writing being considered rather an unladylike activity at the time.

Ray’s summary of the plot and character descriptions (“a nice-but-dim mother and geeky father highly reminiscent of the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice”) are worth a read in their own right, but I’m not sure how many copies of the book itself are still around. You may have to visit a few antiquarian book shops, although I see there is a link to the text on Ray’s blog, so you could always print it yourself!

Link

Spring is sprung...

2009-03-23T14:37:00.004Z

Spring is sprung,
Der grass is riz,
I wonder where dem boidies is?
Der little boids is on der wing,
Ain't dat absoid?
Der little wings is on der boid!

My mother, an otherwise sophisticated person, used to recite that, but perhaps she was bringing herself down to my level.

Anyway, this piece comes after a very pleasant and spring-like period, which will doubtless end abruptly now I've drawn attention to it.

However, come rain or shine, there will be a musical theatrical production of 'Lark Rise' in a month's time, at St George's Church, which we hope all Arretonians will put in their diaries. All the details are on the main website, here. The same notice is also on the Ventnor Blog, here, which is always worth a look.

Appeal by Phil Smith

2009-02-08T14:48:00.005Z

In May 2009 Phil Smith and Steve Olding are riding their motorbikes around Britain to raise money for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice & the IoW Motor Neurone Disease Association.

In May 2008 Bessie, my wife of 21 years, was diagnosed with MND. This was a huge shock as Bessie was only 49 at the time.

Bessie was a nurse for over 20 years, mostly caring for the elderly, working for the National Blood Service IoW Team, and Laidlaw Day Hospital. MND usually causes weakness in their limbs, but most people retain their faculties with a few experiencing some personality change. Bessie has yet to experience much physical deterioration beyond a near total loss of speech and extreme difficulty eating and swallowing, but her personality change is very marked. A once highly intelligent and outgoing person is now reduced to a child-like being with little or no desire to do much more than watch “Scooby-Doo” cartoons on TV.

Bessie no longer works, needing almost constant care, but I still work full time as we have one 15-year old son at school and a 19-year old full time student living at home. We manage between us (I have a very understanding employer) but without the help of the Hospice I would have to give up work to care for Bessie, putting the family in a very difficult situation.

In return for their help I want to raise some funds for both the Hospice and the IoW Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (Registered Charity no. 294354). I am undertaking a sponsored motorcycle tour of England and Scotland in May this year accompanied by an old school friend Steve Olding. We will be riding some 1400 miles, visiting locations associated with the life and career of Lord Louis Mountbatten.

We will be meeting all our travel and accommodation costs ourselves, except ferry crossings generously supplied free by Red Funnel, and all monies raised will go to the Hospice and the IoW MND Association. This might not seem much a challenge but despite both riding bikes since the early 1970s, neither of us has ridden such distances for a long while, e.g. being wrong side of 50 may question our endurance.

Please sponsor us today. It is simple and easy at our Just Giving fundraising page www.justgiving.com/mountbattenmnd

Frosty

2009-01-21T19:05:00.007Z

After the recent deluge, I thought it would be nice to record the Christmas/New Year period, when it was cold and dry, reminding me of the 'proper' winter weather that seemed more common a generation ago.

More pictures on the Arreton Flickr site - click here to view.

Huffin and Puffin

2008-11-15T16:53:00.010Z

For those that don't know about it (you soon will) ~~there is a scheme to allow parents to park at the Community Centre when dropping off and collecting children from the primary school~~. This involves widening the pavement opposite and installing a Puffin* crossing to the Community Centre entrance. The work is due to start on Monday November 17th and will take at least three weeks, so expect traffic delays, as they say!

Short-term parking remains a problem, as the existing arrangement in Church Lane is very tight, even with the school numbers as they are now (and they will increase by 50% if the proposed Council reforms go through). This is not helped by the plan to include 'turfing and installing wooden bollards to the area of verge opposite the White Lion to prevent cars parking', according to the Council notice.

This is the area in the photo which, ironically, is where the contractors have parked their gear prior to starting the work. The Council have always had a strange attitude (in my opinion) to this spot, having both objected to cars parking there because they obstruct the view and having themselves placed a far more obstructive billboard there to advertise road safety! They seem blissfully unaware that it is regularly used by visitors to the village, as well as church congregations attending weddings and funerals, not to mention emergency vehicles, the police, tow trucks and anyone needing to pull off the road in a hurry.

The upshot of all this is that they are incurring major expense to reduce the overall number of parking places available, but perhaps I'm missing something...

PLEASE NOTE - The Community Centre car park is NOT intended for school overspill - the crossing is for the benefit of bus passengers or anyone needing to cross the road in either direction. I'm still miffed about the fencing off of the verge, though, which will cause all kinds of problems that the Council seem unable to anticipate.

*(pedestrian user-friendly intelligent crossing), apparently!
More puffin crossing info here

Arreton Heritage Weekend

2008-10-31T21:28:00.006Z

Make a note in your diary for the last weekend in November (29/30th, 10am-4pm) when Lin Watterson and Pat Phillips will be at the Community Centre, scanning or photographing any parish-related historical items, photographs or documents. These could be old family records, letters, pictures or postcards, the older the better!
Get into that attic and start dusting off the old heirlooms - you might surprise yourself.

There will also be parish maps, burial registers, copy of school admissions register 1866-early 1900s, and old photographs for you to look at.

Contributions of photos or documents from members of the public will be welcomed.

Harvest Festival

2008-10-08T22:42:00.006+01:00

The harvest festival service at St George's on Sunday was not quite as well attended as usual, perhaps because some felt that the harvest this year wasn't so well worth celebrating. However, aside from the debatable crop yields, the church was beautifully decorated, and the service provided the right atmosphere to consider what most of us take for granted the rest of the year.

As usual, an excellent supper in the Community Hall followed, and we could only feel sorry for those who were unable to partake of Erica Oulton's delicious beef stew and dumplings, or Venetia Verey's vegetarian risotto. A dazzling array of desserts and puddings, for which seconds were virtually compulsory, was provided by various ladies, including Erica and Venetia, Diana O'Grady, Wendy Urry, Joy Rann, Norma Aston, Jacqui Miller and Isabel Favell.

The church flowers were also done by Venetia, assisted by Erica, Norma and Carolyn Campbell. There are photos of some of the flower arrangements here.

We should also mention Janice, our vicar, who had recently returned from her honeymoon with Andrew. The Blog wishes them every happiness.

Suggestions Box

2008-10-07T21:16:00.002+01:00

We hope that parishioners will make use of the website as it develops, and comment on items posted here. If you, dear reader, would like to add to this blog, say by reviewing a recent event, stating an opinion on local matters, or just letting us know about an upcoming event that deserves some coverage, please add a comment here and someone will either do it or get back to you.