Church Stretton and South Shropshire Arts Festival

A Fantastic Finale to a Fabulous Festival!

photo credits:  John Arnfield

A lovely sound from a young and talented group of players.

photo credits:  John Arnfield

Once again, John Arnfield brings us happy memories of an outstanding play.  We’re looking forward to having the Chapterhouse Theatre Company back next year with “Cranford”.

photo credits:  John Arnfield

The pictures of the “School’s Out” Performance shown on this page are just a small fraction of those taken at this event.  You can click on the picture to see a larger version of  it.

There are two more pages of “raw” performance pictures.  To see them and to request copies, please click here for Page I and here for Page II.

photo credits:  John Arnfield

The pictures of the “School’s Out” rehearsals shown on this page are just a small fraction of those taken at these events.  You can click on the picture to see a larger version of  it.

There are two more pages of “raw” rehearsal pictures.  To see them and to request copies, please click here for Page I and here for Page II.

Lovely cello music from Graham Walker, superb accompaniments by Oliver Gooch and the whole thing followed by scones with jam and cream – a yummy combination!

photo credits:  Joan Arnfield

Here are some more photos from Roger Stokes:

Here’s the Zephirus Saxophone Quartet playing in St. Laurence’s Church – heavenly!  ….. sorry, I couldn’t resist!

photo credits:  John and Joan Arnfield

He ain’t nothin’ but a houn’ dog – how cool is this?

photo credits:  John Arnfield

The pictures speak for themselves:

photo credits:  John Arnfield

What a treat!  We spent Saturday morning enjoying recorder music with harpsichord and piano accompaniment in the newly refurbished church.  That was followed by coffee and home-made biscuits from Berry’s – scrumptious!

photo credits:  John and Joan Arnfield

Gábor Galavics and Dalma Lendvai entertained us well on Friday with lovely music for clarinet and piano.  We hope you enjoyed your visit to Church Stretton as much as we did!

photo credits:  John Arnfield

The Chamber Players are a group of friends who happen to play Chamber Music very well.  We had a lovely concert of quintets from a very talented ensemble.

photo credits:  John Arnfield

Rebecca Vaughan gave us an outstanding one woman show on Wednesday.  In addition to introducing us to some of Jane Austen’s less well-known women, she was able to demonstrate the position of women in Regency Society at the same time as showing how their thoughts and emotions are still relevant today.  It was a terrific performance – come back soon, Rebecca!

photo credits:  John Arnfield

Roger Stokes, this year’s Chairman, is doubling up as photographer at the events that John Arnfield can’t get to.  Here are some photos from Coffee Concerts in the Church and one lovely picture of Tony Benn.

We were delighted that Tony Benn could step in, at very short notice, to replace Ann Widdecombe for our evening performance on Tuesday night, while at the same time really sorry that Miss Widdecombe had been taken ill.  We wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her here sometime in the future.

Mr. Benn was accompanied by Samantha Norman, who led the discussion in the first part of the evening and then moderated questions from the audience in the second part.  It was great to be able to hear one of our distinguished statesmen give his views on everything from vivisection to war, and we were well entertained by his wit and insightful discussions.

As usual, here are the pictures:

photo credits:  John Arnfield

The Church Stretton Art, Crafts and Photography Exhibition opened on Monday.  170 people came to the opening reception which was great fun and very successful.   If you didn’t make it to the opening, do come soon as the artworks are selling fast this year.

Steve Lunt, head teacher of Church Stretton School opened the show with lovely compliments on the quality of the art and some relevant comments about how he hopes to see increasing co-operation between the school and the town.

Alison Holt, our guest artist, was the recipient of many accolades.  Most people were absolutely amazed at the intricate detail and lovely depth of colour in her needle paintings.

Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Photo credits:  John Arnfield

Here are the photos from Colin Stone’s lovely Chopin concert. If you didn’t come you missed a real treat. He has great power on the piano, but he can also make it sing – and he did!

Photo credits:  John Arnfield.

Due to the sudden illness of Ann Widdicombe, the Arts Festival has had to quickly find a replacement for our Tuesday evening talk.  Fortunately, we were able to secure the services of Tony Benn – the outspoken ex Labour MP.

We hope that the audience will find Mr. Benn just as entertaining as Miss Widdicombe and we look forward to hearing what he has to say!

” The office of The Rt. Hon. Ann Widdecombe regrets to announce that she will be unable to fulfil her speaking engagement at The Church Stretton and South Shropshire Arts Festival on Tuesday 27th July 2010.

Miss Widdecombe, today, underwent emergency eye surgery and has been advised by her doctor that she is unable to carry out any engagements for at least a month while she convalesces.

Priority will be given to rearranging Miss Widdecombe’s appearance and she is desperately sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Whilst Miss Widdecombe is convalescing we would ask that she receives no direct media enquiries.”