Village Blog

John Singer Sargent – Talk by Mary Alexander

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Mary Alexander

On Wednesday 8th February 2017 at 8pm, Mary Alexander will give a talk entitled Fizz and Crackle: Imagination, Innovation and Curiosity in the work of John Singer Sargent at Evesham Arts Centre, Victoria Avenue, Evesham WR11 4QH.

American artist John Singer Sargent RA (1856-1925) made the quiet Cotswolds village of Broadway his home during the mid 1880s, and became a member of the ‘Broadway Colony’ a bohemian crowd of artists and writers living in the village. Whilst in Broadway, Sargent painted what has become his most famous painting Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose in the gardens of Russell House and Farnham House.

Sargent is regarded as the leading society portrait painter of his generation and Art History lecturer and tutor, Mary Alexander, will explore his extraordinary inventiveness and technical brilliance across a range of media and subjects.

Tickets £7 on the door. For further details tel. 01386 48883.

 

 

Henry Sandon Talk and Valuation Evening, 20th February 2017

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Photo: Museum of Royal Worcester

On Monday 20th February 2017, ceramics and antiques expert Henry Sandon MBE will give a talk on ‘Worcester China’ starting at 7pm in the Torrington Room at the Lygon Arms Hotel, High Street, Broadway. After his talk, Henry will gladly value any porcelain or china brought along.

This event is free to Members of the Broadway History Society, non-members welcome £3 on the door.

For more information about this event or membership of Broadway History Society please telephone Mary Smith, 01386 853278.

Broadway Archaeological Excavation, West End

img_5799Archaeologists from Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service are currently excavating one of the fields along West End, Broadway, at the end of Mill Avenue.

The archaeologists have found evidence of some of Broadway’s earliest known residents: Mesolithic hunter-gathers who lived on the site along Badsey Brook around 10,000 years ago.

The main focus of the dig is a complex Iron Age and Roman settlement with some fantastic Saxon and Roman finds, and an ancient burial site. The dig which is planned to go on until the end of February 2017 and has proved to much more important than expected.

An Open Day for residents was held on Friday 18th November and a further date will be announced soon. For more information about the excavation and recent finds visit: http://www.explorethepast.co.uk/2016/11/open-days-at-broadway-dig.html.

 

 

Meeting: Monday 12th December 2016 ‘The Worcestershire Regiment in World War One’

On Monday 12th December 2016, the Society will meet in Broadway Methodist Church Hall, High Street, Broadway, for a talk on ‘The Worcestershire Regiment in World War One’ by Dennis Plant starting at 7pm. Non-members welcome (£3).

The Worcestershire Regiment
Men of the 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment marching to the trenches; Acheux-en-Amiénois, France, 27 June 1916

Over 30 men from Broadway served with the Worcestershire Regiment in the First World War which saw action on the Western Front, the Middle East and Salonika. Several men from Broadway died whilst serving or having served with the Regiment during WW1 and are commemorated on the Broadway War Memorial on the village green:

Private 25249 Josiah James Baylis
Private 34604 William Robert Billey (2nd Battalion)
Private 203259 William Bishop (10th Battalion)
Private 15373 Albert Henry Clarke (11th Battalion)
Private 30483 Bertram Clarke (2nd Battalion)
Private 47558 John Sydney Cull (Yeomanry)
Private 2414, Francis Alfred Folkes (Yeomanry)
Corporal 240841 Leonard Frank Green (1/8th Battalion)
Private 15024 Gerald Haines (2nd Battalion)
Private 241170 Charles Jackson (9th Battalion)
Private 202406 Walter Jordan (1st Battalion)
Private 27819 Charles Hubert Keyte (3rd Battalion)
Private 22994 Alfred Layton (9th Battalion)
Private 241819 Frank Rastall (1/8th Battalion)
Lance Corporal 3674 George Sandel (1/8th Battalion)
Private 21387 Wilfred George Scrivens (4th Battalion)
Private 42530 Alec Silvester Stanley (2nd Battalion)

Amongst the men who served with the Worcesters during the First World War was Wilson William Keyte. Wilson was posted to Salonika with the 11th Battalion and was awarded the Military Medalin 1917 for stretcher-bearing duties during the Battle of Doiran. Two of Wilson’s cousins, George Thomas Handy and Albert Henry Clarke (see above) were involved in the same battle. At the end of the war, Wilson Keyte was awarded the Greem Military Cross, the highest decoration awarded by the Greek Government, for meritorious service in action.

 

Broadway History Society

Meeting: Monday 14th November ‘The Lost Soldiers of the Somme: a Tolkien and Broadway Connection’

On Monday 14th November 2016, Broadway History Society will be hosting a talk by Steve Williams and Debbie Williamson on ‘The Lost Soldiers of the Somme: a Tolkien and Broadway Connection’ in Broadway Community Library, Leamington Road, Broadway WR12 7DZ, starting at 7pm.

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J.R.R. Tolkien, aged 24, in 1916

Steve Williams, who writes under the name of Steve Ponty, and is the author of ‘Middle-Earth in Magic Mirror Maps… Of the Wilderland in Wales… Of the Shire in England’, has researched the part played by J.R.R. Tolkien, who served with the Lancashire Fusiliers in the Battle of the Somme during 1916, including the military details stage by stage, and will discuss the impact of Tolkien’s writing of Mordor in ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Tolkien lost all four of his best friends during the First World War and remarkably a young Adolf Hitler was in the opposing trenches on the Western Front.

The loss of young lives is echoed in the experiences of Broadway, and Debbie Williamson, author of ‘Broadway Remembers‘ will talk about the lives of six men from the village who lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme.

Non-members of the Broadway History Society are welcome to attend the meeting (£3 on the door).

For information about joining the Society please telephone Mary Smith, Hon. Treasurer on 01386 853278.

Meeting: Monday 17th October 2016 ‘Elgar’s Women’ with Jon Goldswain

Guest speaker, Jon Goldswain, a recipient of the Elgar Society Certificate of Merit, will give his second illustrated talk to members on ‘Elgar’s Women’ with excerpts, both orchestral and vocal, of Elgar’s music. Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) was greatly influenced by the intensity of his relationships with women, and in particular four women: his mother, Ann née Greening; his wife, Caroline Alice née Roberts, whose poems Elgar set to music; Helen Weaver, a close friend and Elgar’s first fiancée who ended a nine month engagement in 1884, and his daughter, Carice who was born in 1890.

The talk starts at 7pm and will be held in the Community Room at The Court, Russell Square, Broadway. Refreshments will be served at the end of the meeting. Non-members welcome (£3 on the door).

 

 

Meeting: Monday 19th September 2016 ‘St George and Worcestershire’

Our 2016/17 year of meetings starts on Monday 19th September with a talk by Paul Harding on ‘St George and Worcestershire’ in the Community Room at The Court, Russell Square starting at 7pm.

All welcome. Non-members £3. Tea and coffee will be served.

 

AGM and Talk on ‘Broadway’s High Street’

Our first Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 16th May 2016 in the Parlour in the Lifford Memorial Hall, Broadway.

During the meeting our Treasurer, Mary Smith, will be giving an illustrated talk on ‘Broadway’s High Street’.

All welcome. Non-members £3.

 

 

 

The History of the Lygon Arms

$_35Our next meeting of the Broadway History Society will take place on Monday 18th April 2016 starting at 7pm in the Torrington Room at the Lygon Arms. During the meeting Cllr. Liz. Eyre will be giving an illustrated talk on ‘The History of the Lygon Arms’.

All welcome. Non-members £3.

 

 

The Cotswolds in the Drama of Shakespeare

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Dr Martin Wiggins

On Monday 21st March our meeting will be held in the Torrington Room at the Lygon Arms Hotel starting at 7pm. Dr Martin Wiggins, Senior Lecture and Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, will be giving an illustrated talk ‘The Cotswolds in the Drama of Shakespeare’.

All welcome. Non-members £7.50. Tickets available from www.broadwayartsfestival.com.

 

December Meeting: Monday 14th December 2015

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Our meeting on Monday 14th December will be kindly hosted by Michael de Navarro at Court Farm, High Street, Broadway, starting at 7pm. During the meeting Michael will give a talk on his grandmother, the American stage actress Mary Anderson, Mme de Navarro. Drinks and mince pies will be served. Non-members £3.

 

‘Elgar from Cradle to Grave’ – Monday 16th November 2016

On Monday 16th November at 7pm in The Community Room, The Court, Russell Square, Broadway, Jon Goldswain give a talk on Sir Edward Elgar titled ‘Elgar from Cradle to Grave’. Non-members welcome £3.

Sir Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934)
Sir Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934)

‘The Arts & Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds’ – Monday 19th October 2015

On Monday 19th October at 7pm in Broadway Methodist Church Hall, Sarah McCormick Healy, Curator of the Court Barn Museum, Chipping Campden, will give a talk on ‘The Arts & Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds’ focusing on Broadway and Chipping Campden. Non-members welcome £3.

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A History Society for Broadway

Inaugurated in June 2015, Broadway History Society has been set up to:

  1. Promote the understanding of and study the history of the village of Broadway, in the county of Worcestershire.
  2. Arrange meetings, walking tours, talks and other events on a broad ‘history’ theme to include visits to local historical building or sites.
  3. To provide a forum for the reporting, debate and discussion of issues relating to Broadway’s history and to share knowledge of the community and local area.
  4. To be an educational and non-profit making society.

Membership is open to all (individual £10 p.a., joint £15). For more details please contact Mary Smith (Hon. Treasurer) tel. 01386 853278.

Meetings will take place in 2015/16 on the following dates:

  • Monday 21st September, 7pm in Broadway Methodist Church Hall, an illustrated talk by Gordon Franks ‘The Centenary of the Lifford Hall’.
  • Monday 19th October, 7pm in Broadway Methodist Church Hall, an illustrated talk by Sarah McCormick Healy ‘Arts & Crafts in the Cotswolds’.
  • Monday 16th November, 7pm in The Community Room, The Court, Russell Square, Broadway, a talk by Jon Goldswain on ‘Elgar from Cradle to Grave’.
  • Monday 14th December , 7pm at The Court, High Street, Broadway. Christmas drinks and a talk by Michael de Navarro on ‘Mary Anderson de Navarro’.
  • Monday 18th January 2016, 7pm in Broadway Methodist Church Hall, at talk by Graham Downie on ”The Fairground Calendar’.
  • Monday 15th February, TBA.
  • Monday 21st March, TBA.
  • Monday 18th April, 7pm, venue to be confirmed. A talk by Liz Eyre on the Lygon Arms Hotel,
  • Monday 16th May. Annual General Meeting.