Come to at St George’s on 20 November between 17:00 and 18:30 to celebrate the switching on of the Christmas Lights. There will be hot dogs, hot chocolate and mulled wine available to buy. The switch on of the lights will be at 6pm and in between there will be music from the Sea Cadets, the School Choir and the Church Choir. We will finish at 6.30pm.
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Category Archives: Social Events
Photos of the Arts at St Mark’s Festival
On the weekend of 20-22nd October St Mark’s held an Arts Festival, organised by the energetic and talented Bob and Lesley Shatwell. It consisted of an exhibition, concert, workshops, ceilidh and festival service… a mesmerising, colourful exuberant weekend celebrating art and the people of this parish. Here are some photos:
Connections
Connections is a group for over 50s that meet every other Tuesday from 10:00 to 11:30 just come along to St George’s church and enjoy a cup of coffee, some cake and various activities.
Re-drawing the map:an arts project
In 1957, a local Hale lady, Evelyn Caesar, produced a pictorial map of the parish of Hale as it was then. She included a wealth of historical material and her legacy is a very attractive document.
Since Miss Caesar’s time, there have been many changes in the Parish: some buildings have disappeared, others have been built. Perhaps the biggest change of all is the alteration to the Parish Boundary itself: we now live in the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale and consequently, we need to re-draw our parish map. This is particularly relevant this year as it is exactly 60 years since the original map was produced!
Our aim is not to produce a particularly accurate map, but to put pictures of buildings, parks and other features that mean something to us (we could even draw our own homes!). We also need plenty of people, dogs and cars to put on the streets. Photos of lots of local buildings and parks will be provided, but if you have any pictures that you would like to draw on our map, please bring them along.
You are needed to help with this project: GOOD LUCK!
Alison Ridgeon
Arts at St Marks…
…how it all came about
There’s something creative happening in Upper Hale. Our friends Dave and Helena took one look at St Mark’s and declared that it would be just the place for art workshops and an exhibition.
Musicians had been playing for Sunday worship for a while and there have been concerts held in the past to raise fund for Emily (the organ), to socialise and generally to make music for the pleasure it brings.
I love all kinds of music, but since I have been licensed as a lay minister, I have been wanting to share the variety of religious songs, gospel music and folk hymns; and may be to see if I could put them together into a completely musical service.
Creativity was bubbling up throughout our parish and I am not sure who first thought, “We could have a festival to celebrate all of this”, but the idea took hold. People offered time and expertise, musicians looked through their repertoire to select the right pieces and suddenly, it is all taking shape very quickly.
Perhaps in years to come, when Arts at St Mark’s has grown to the size of Glastonbury or Edinburgh, people will wonder how it all started, but it really was just the spark of creativity which lit up simultaneously in a group of friends and the desire to make it happen for our neighbourhood.
Lesley Shatwell
Apple Day
Come and celebrate the fruits of our community orchard from 10:00 until 11:00am on 1st October at St Mark’s. We have a juicer so if you would like to turn your apples into juice then bring apples that are in good condition, washed and picked from the tree along with clean two litre plastic milk cartons including the lid to put the juice in. We will be having some entertainment including apple tasting and apple-y music (and possibly dance). If that isn’t enough apply-ness there will be pancakes with apple filling to eat! Afterwards, you are welcome to stay for the 11am service if you wish.
Informal Festival Service – Sunday 22nd October, 11am
At St Mark’s Church on 22nd October there will be a special Festival Service at 11am. By this time we should have a highly decorated church as the output of the workshops will be on display! The service will be led by Lesley Shatwell. As she is a lay minister, it won’t be a communion service. However, it will be highly unusual, if not unique, in that it will be almost entirely a sung service, including the Gospel reading and sermon! We will make sure the melodies are accessible to all – no weird phrasing or unusual cadences designed to catch the uninitiated. The Music can be found here.
We will finish with a bring and share lunch. All welcome.
Music and Art Workshops – Saturday 21st October
At St Mark’s Church, Upper Hale there will be workshops in the morning 10 – 12:30 and the afternoon 2 – 4:30. We’re still finalising the times and contents, but there will be a come-all-ye music workshop where musicians of any standard and any instrument are welcome to come along and join in. There will also be a singing workshop, run by Veronica (Nonny) Tabbush, an experienced choir leader who has organised choirs in Aldershot and Bordon. She presently lives in the Bristol area and runs choirs there.
There will be painting and arts and crafts workshops, possibly with photography and stone masonry. We will also be re-drawing the map of Hale.
Concert – Friday 20th October, 7pm
In the evening there will be a concert starting at 7pm. We’ll have a couple of pieces on Emily (the pipe organ), songs to piano accompaniment, a rock band, a choral group and a rock-a-billy/country band. There will be an interval and tea, coffee etc. half way through.
Ceilidh – Saturday 21st October, 7-10
Saturday night ceilidh 7 – 10pm at St Mark’s Church, Upper Hale, GU9 0LT.
The band will be the one that plays for the annual Candlemas barn dance at St Georges, with Kris Lawrence as caller. There could also be a variable number of additional musicians, as those attending the workshop during the day will be welcome to sit in with us. We will also hopefully have a performance from the choir workshop and displays of art and photography generated during the day.
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 