BLICKLING MEMORIES WANTEDDo you remember Blickling in days gone by? If so, the National Trust wants to
hear from you. The Trust is setting up an archive of recordings of such memories, of the
hall and the estate, but first it needs to find the people who have them. Bob Carter
is running the project for Blickling Hall. "It's very important to us that this is a
true community project. "The hall and estate are fine, historic, things but
they are best brought to life by the people who knew them and worked and played there over
the years. And they're the people we want to hear from." Once they have a list
they'll be using some of the hall volunteers to talk to anyone who comes forward and
record their memories. That will then become part of a permanent oral archive for future
historians. Some recordings will also be used to play to visitors in parts of the hall to
help their understanding of what went on in years gone by. Bob says nobody should
think their memories too ordinary to be included. "It is in fact the ordinary,
everyday, that is important in a project like this," he said, "and we also want
to hear stories passed down through families and friends about life in and around the
hall." Bob's already spoken to two people who worked in the kitchens in the
late 1930s for Lord Lothian before the second world war. But he's also looking for people
who took part in the Masque of Anne Boleyn, who remember the RAF taking over the hall and
the days of squatting families in the old RAF buildings afterwards. And then there's the
time when the De Chair family leased the building and all the changing face of agriculture
on the estate farms over the years. "I've already heard some fascinating
stories, like the first television at Blickling, hand-built in 1948; and Blickling's part
in one of the most successful British films of the post-war era. But I want to hear
more," he said. SOLVE A FAMILY MYSTERY ON THE POPPY LINEThe Poppy Line, in conjunction with the BBC RaW project, announces a family-friendly
new event. On Friday 28th December, families joining the Mince Pie Special trains from
Sheringham at 11.00am and 2.30pm get the chance to blow away the after-Christmas cobwebs
and stimulate the little grey cells by solving "The Mystery of the Lost
Keystone". This intriguing panto-style mystery involves Morgan the Railway Cat
and his friends - and would-be detectives will be given a full pack of clues to help them
crack the case. As the trains are Mince Pie Specials, the grown-ups will get a mince
pie and a glass of sherry served on the train, while children get a soft drink and a
chocolate treat. PHARMACY OPENING TIMES OVER SEASONAL PERIODCHRISTMAS DAY |
Pioneering Project For North Norfolk Young People Launched at Sheringham.A pioneering, £78,000 project aimed at encouraging north Norfolk young people to become "creative entrepreneurs" kicked off at Sheringham Little Theatre on November 16, with a hip hop-inspired showcase featuring performance poetry, break dancing and human beat boxing. Presented by hip hop organisation Throwdown, the show launched a scheme that will see some of the UK's top hip hop artists run residencies and workshops all over the area. Entitled It's Our Theatre: Norfolk, the project, which will continue until July 2008, is being run by Hertfordshire-based regional youth theatre organisation THEATRE IS . . . in conjunction with Sheringham Little Theatre, with funding and support from the Arts Council’s Young People's Participatory Theatre programme (YPPT), the Bittern Line, North Norfolk Community Partnership and The Benjamin Foundation. Other partners include Norwich-based young people’s performing arts organisation The Garage and Great Yarmouth arts development organisation Sea Change Arts, which will be creating a documentary-style film of the scheme's progress. Early next year, Throwdown artists will embark on a road show, touring schools, skate parks and shopping centres all over the north Norfolk area. They will also run workshops and residencies aimed at giving young people a chance to create their own production, to be performed in the region and further afield.
Sheringham Little Theatre artistic director Debbie Thompson, who will be co-ordinating the scheme, hoped local young people would be inspired to get involved in the arts. “It is and exciting and unique opportunity for all young people across north Norfolk to have a voice as to what they would like theatre to be,” she said. Performance poet and rapper Charlie Morley, who is It's Our Theatre: Norfolk's lead artist and assistant project producer, set up Throwdown 4 years ago. Together with a team of performers ranging from graffiti artists to multivocalists, the former drugs and alcohol worker has since run a monthly residency at Brixton in South London, as well as touring music festivals, universities and extreme sports events all over the UK and Europe. "The idea was to put on a hip hop night which was more about who you are than what you wear," he said. "We wanted to make it competitive, but without the negative elements associated with hip hop." THEATRE IS . . . communications co-ordinator Michael Corley said It's Our Theatre: Norfolk, which will encompass all art forms, aimed to give young people given the skills and support needed to develop an entrepreneurial culture and put on their own Throwdown-style events, which will be accredited through the Arts Council's arts award scheme. "The East of England has distinct rural areas, and we are really keen to make sure young people here are not ignored," Mr Corley added. "And although they don't always have the same opportunities as young people in other areas, they are just as talented and dynamic, and it is often in more isolated communities that you find people more willing to push the boundaries and challenge conventions." If successful, the scheme could be rolled out nationally through the YPPT, a 3-year initiative funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport aimed at increasing 11-twenty-five-year-olds’ access to and participation in theatre. "We are looking to run similar It’s Our Theatre projects around East Anglia, and what we want to do is to create a legacy and provide the infrastructure to make sure these things can continue long term," Mr Corley said. |
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@ Sheringham Community Paper - Issue 82 - 21 December 2007
