The Hollow Crown

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

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

(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)

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)

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

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

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.