News and Forthcoming Events

In mid-November 2011, Born out of Wenlock was published by JMD as an ebook, downloadable to e-format readers of all kinds.  So now you can enjoy it on your phone, Kindle or equivalent.

Catherine sees this as a particular boon to older readers, who often find print books tricky to read.  With e-readers you can usually enlarge the text to any size you like.

Also great to have it out in time for Christmas...

Amazon seems to be the main outlet for this format, partly to protect authors from piracy.  However, it seems a bit tough that authors can't sell this format from their websites, so getting a greater return on their own product, and helping to finance future work...

Born out of Wenlock is available in ebook format on Amazon at 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Born-Out-Wenlock-Olympics-ebook/dp/B005T54D9A/ref=tmm_kin_title_ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&qid=1318452204&sr=1-1

Thank you for your support.

Presteigne Festival is predominantly a classical music festival featuring a healthy dose of music by living composers.  It takes place annually over the August Bank Holiday week-end.  

Catherine was invited to give her lecture on William Penny Brookes and the British origins of the modern Olympics to an audience of over fifty at the Assembly Rooms.  She explained that she was wary of the likely reception for her subject, given the lively debate around funding for the arts in the run up to the London Olympics next year.  

Despite her misgivings, the first airing was well received, and she is looking forward to taking this remarkable story further afield in the run-up to London 2012. 

Editor Neil Thomas chatted to Catherine about writing both Champagne & Shambles and Born out of Wenlock.  His article and accompanying pictures appear in this month's Shropshire Magazine.

Proprietors Kirk and Lucy Heywood had generously closed their restaurant for the evening so that over eighty people could enjoy the evening both inside and out in the hotel's courtyard. Guests came not only from Shropshire but from further afield, including representatives of the British Olympians' Association and of Birchfield Harriers AC.

Chris Cannon, Chairman of the Wenlock Olympian Society introduced Catherine's speech by explaining that one of the Society's aims is to spread the message of Brookes's work and he felt that the book made an important contribution to that. He described it also as a 'bodice-ripper' with some great stories to tell. International interest in the story of Much Wenlock's Olympian Games is at an all-time high, with TV crews from Japan, China and NBC from the USA having visited in the last week alone.

In her speech, Catherine outlined the story of William Penny Brookes and the Wenlock Olympian Games' development from local to county to national level. At the National Olympian Games of 1866 at the Crystal Palace, London, cricketer WG Grace left a match at the Oval to go over and win the 440yd hurdles. She also explained that Brookes was responsible for a 44 year campaign to have PE put on the curriculum of schools in England, a measure finally passed in 1894 and enacted in 1895. This is a story that has touched all of us.

In writing the book, she hoped to set the Wenlock endeavour in the wider context of sport, both in the UK and beyond. She had enjoyed seeking out the stories of some of the competitors which certainly added spice. She asked those present to help spread the story, quoting Brookes, on the propagation of athletics, in 1867:
"Sow a single seed of a rare plant in the most secluded spot and if the soil and other conditions are favourable to its germination, it will grow up and bear other seed, and, in time, produce plants sufficient to cover the length and breadth of the land." Many present responded to the call and bought copies for themselves and to send to others as far away as Australia.

Martin, Chef of the Raven produced some sensational canapes for the guests, based on a menu of the Wenlock Olympian Society's dinner of 1852. These included pan fried pigeon with beetroot balsamic, seared sea bass with a savoury rhubarb and herb crumble, and braised beef and mushrooms with truffle oil (to book a meal at the Raven go to http://www.ravenhotel.com/). These were enjoyed with wine generously sponsored by Tanners Wines of Shrewsbury (www.tanners-wines.co.uk/). Also available for the first time was Woods Brewery's WPB Athlete's Ale, kindly sponsored by Edward Wood (http://www.woodbrewery.co.uk/index.htm). The evening was a celebration of Shropshire at its best.

A happy time was had by all and Born Out of Wenlock launched on a tide of goodwill.

In 1890 Baron Pierre de Coubertin, 'Renovateur' of the Olympic Games visited the Olympian Games started by Dr William Penny Brookes at Much Wenlock forty years before. Within two years Coubertin had decided to revive Olympic Games as an international competition, something that Brookes had been wanting to do for decades. His contacts with the Greeks dated back to the 1850s.
 

Given the forthcoming Olympic Games at London in 2012, the subject seemed worthwhile pursuing, and to merit a full-scale book. DB Publishing will be bringing out the results of her research in mid-June. Watch this space for further information... In the meantime, take a look at http://www.dbpublishing.co.uk/buy/born-out-of-wenlock_11181.htm

Catherine was asked to stand in for the owners, and to share what she knew of these lovely antiques. Suffice it to say that silver expert Alastair Dickenson was very pleased to see them...

Tally's father, Sir Hungerford Hoskyns (7th Baronet) fell on hard times, and Tally's brother Chandos tried to rescue the estate for the family from the 1860s. To do so, he sold his own estate at Wroxall, Warwickshire, which had come to him through his first marriage to Theodosia Wren, descendant of Sir Christopher Wren. But all his efforts were in vain, and the Harewood estate was sold in 1877.

During her talk, Catherine also spoke of the contribution that Chandos Wren Hoskyns made to agricultural debate in the Victorian period, particularly the improvement of estates using guano (that of the penguins of the Pacific being preferred - the shipping of which from Peru to the UK helped the Gibbs family build Tyntesfield, recently bought by the National Trust). He was also a powerful advocate in favour of the introduction of an agricultural census. Chandos's column for the Agricultural Gazette was written under the pseudonym of 'Talpa', the mole.

The meeting was well attended and enjoyed. It was good to see, on the journey home, Hereford cattle grazing in the fields at Llandinabo, formerly a part of the Harewood estate.

Items recovered with his body were filmed, and Fiona Bruce read from a letter of his sister Mary to their mother, Sarah (Tally) Arkwright.

Details of the second episode will follow once notification is received

Hampton Court will be decorated for Christmas with produce from the gardens. On Friday evening there will be carol singers and Liz's famous mince pies and mulled wine to enjoy.

The fair runs from Thursday 9th -Saturday 11th December (11am-4pm), with late night opening on Friday 10th December (11am-9pm). For details of the event, see Hampton Court's website at www.hamptoncourt.org.uk

Catherine helped the producer to identify possible stories about the house, which might appear in the autumn. Dates to follow. This seemed a great way to mark not just 200 years since Richard Arkwright the younger bought Hampton Court (7th July 1810) but also 500 years since the Coningsby family purchased it from the founders, the Leinthalls. The Coningsby were by far the longest owners - for 300 years from 1510.

Catherine spoke to the North Herefordshire group, some of whom farm on land that was formerly part of the Hampton Court estate. Given the profile of the group, she focussed on some of the women at Hampton Court in particular, and their role at the house, as well as identifying some of the farms and their tenants.

She delivered the after-dinner speech, and enjoyed hearing from landowners and farmers from Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire of their connections with the Arkwright, Coventry and Chester-Master families mentioned in her talk, and the properties that they owned. The Society gives a dinner every year, just before its prestigious show, to thank Stewards for the contribution that they make to the success of the event. Catherine's grandfather, Trevor Price had been a judge of Hereford Cattle at the Show in the 1930s, and it was a great pleasure to renew the connection.

After that, on 18th May, Catherine led a tour of Hampton Court for Yalding Garden Society from Kent, who were on a week-long visit of Herefordshire gardens. It was an opportunity to draw out some of the connections between the Elizabethan owner of Hampton Court, Sir Thomas Coningsby, and his friend and relation Sir Philip Sidney, with whom he toured Europe. Penshurst, home of the Sidneys, is still well known for its Italianate gardens, probably influenced by their grand tour.

To speak in the Arkwrights' former drawing room, beneath, as she put it 'Johnny's bedroom' seemed a particularly appropriate setting. About 65 people forsook a spring afternoon outside to learn about the factors that contributed to the demise of many landed estates in the second half of the nineteenth century. The event was hosted by Herefordshire Council's Reader Development Librarian, Anne-Marie Dossett, after various reading groups in the county had requested the book for their club. Several of Hampton Court's tour guides also attended, keen to learn more about the history of this remarkable house.

Afterwards, an evaluation over tea and cakes yielded the following comments:

"Excellent, informative, very well presented, clearly spoken.

It was excellent enjoyed it immensely!

An excellent presentation Excellent- venue, speaker, subject.

Excellent talk

Excellent - good well structured talk with supporting slides and anecdotes lovely to be held in the appropriate property

Excellent speaker I could hear every word First Class"

The Trust is concerned to 'protect our historic parks and gardens' and Catherine's talk attempted to show why many of them had fallen into varying degrees of disrepair in the 20th century, from which some are now emerging.

She was afterwards thanked for 'such a full and fascinating lecture', and for giving the Trust such a 'brilliant start to our year', particularly by referring in her talk to so many places with which they were familiar, or were shortly to visit.

Over sixty members heard her describe how this remarkable artefact - one of only two pre-Reformation ecclesiastical tapestries still in a church in Britain today - had survived. She also described recent conservation work to the fabric carried out at Hampton Court Palace's Textile Conservation Studio. Now, the U3A hopes to make a visit to Presteigne to see the tapestry in situ. "I came rather expecting to be bored," confessed one gentleman, "but what a fascinating subject!"

The tapestry, depicting the Entry into Jerusalem, will, appropriately, be a focus of special celebration at this year's Palm Sunday service at St Andrew's, Presteigne, at 11am.

The Telegraph is, of course the 'local' paper of the Arkwrights' original home, Cromford in Derbyshire, where the Arkwright Society is based at Cromford Mill - now part of the World Heritage Site of the Derwent Valley. To read 'Tale of a Charming Gentleman', click here .

The cover was redesigned to include a photograph of Johnny Arkwright, the 'Three Graces' and Charlie at the Hampton Court conservatory door, and the subtitle altered to The Arkwrights and the Country House in Crisis.

Owner Barry Simmons laid on champagne, and the date promised great potential for a shambles. However, it was anything but, with tremendous support from the town, including a visit from the Mayor, Richard Westwood, a photographer from the Hereford Journal, a queue on to the pavement, and a sell-out of all but a couple of copies in the window. More stock had to be delivered by local distributors Ludlow Books, in time for opening the next day. It was a great start for the new edition.