What’s on in East Cambs
THE GUiDE
Forthcoming Events

FENLAND VILLAGE HOLDS SECOND ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS, FLOWERS AND MUSIC
Wicken artists, musicians and craftspeople celebrate “All Creatures Great
and Small”

The Fenland village of Wicken is holding its second festival of arts,
flowers and music in 2006 with works by artists and craftspeople from across
the area and live music performed by local people.

The festival, to be held in St Laurence’s Church, Wicken, will take place
over the August bank holiday weekend, on Saturday 27th, Sunday 28th and
Monday 29th August. This year focuses on children: the festival theme is
“All Creatures Great and Small”, with a Teddy service at 4.30pm on Sunday
27th August and a competition for children to draw or paint a picture based
on ”zoo animals”, “down on the farm” or “my pet”. All festival proceeds
will go towards the upkeep of the 500 year old church.
The flower arrangements will all be based on creatures – birds, animals,
fish and even creepy crawlies. Many of the crafts and paintings on show
will also have themes drawn from nature, as will the pieces played by local
musicians.

In addition to the art and flower shows, visitors will be able to enjoy
home-made teas, as well as taking home samples of local produce (home-made
cakes, sausage rolls, plants, fruits and vegetables) and trying their luck
at the beanie baby tombola and raffle.

The arts and crafts exhibition is being organised by celebrated local artist
and historian Anthony Day and will include his own works and entries from
Wicken artists Terry Beard, Shirley Covill, Anthony Day, Susie Herbert,
Jennifer Sargent and Richard Sell. Other exhibitors will include Ruth
Beloe, the up-and-coming new Ely-based sculptor, George Charlton, wood
carver Ursula Galloway and Dominick Spencer (portrait artist). Mr Day
explains: “The aim is to show the wealth of talent in the area, with a mix
of amateur and professional artists.”

Among the musical groups playing will be Cantonata, a local amateur string
quartet, performing on Sunday with pieces by Haydn, Mozart and Shield. Bank
holiday Monday (morning) will see the inaugural performance of Octastic, an
eight-piece ensemble, playing Schubert’s Octet in F major, number D803.

Other music will be provided by Eric Cowell of Wicken-based recording studio
Brewhouse Records, with a selection of religious and secular music ranging
from orchestral symphonies to folk songs, jazz and contemporary.
Opening hours will be 10am to 6pm on Saturday and Monday, and 12noon to
4.30pm on Sunday, and entry is free (although donations will be welcomed).
Helen Randall, who is currently training as a lay reader, will preach for
the first time at the 11am Sunday service. The children’s Teddy Service
will be at 4.30pm on Sunday evening.

St Laurence’ Church has a long and distinguished history, with close
connections to the Cromwell family. Henry Cromwell, the fourth son of
Oliver Cromwell and one-time governor general of Ireland, farmed in Wicken
for much of his life and is buried in the church, along with Elizabeth, his
wife, and another, unidentified Elizabeth Cromwell. Maintaining the church
has always been a matter of pride for Wicken’s 700 inhabitants, despite the
high costs, which amount to some £30,000 a year and include £7,000 towards
the “parish share” – the money payable annually to the Ely Diocese..
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For further information, please contact:

Church enquiries

Peter Rash
Church Warden
39 High Street
Wicken
Ely
Cambs
CB7 5XR

Tel: 01353 722008
Editorial enquiries

Patricia Mathieson
May Tree House
The Green
Wicken
Ely
Cambs
CB7 5XR

Tel: 01353 721991
Mobile: 07889 157222
Email: patricia@mathieson.co.uk

Skylark country store is proud to announce its annual summer Maize Maze, for the second year running:

‘Be prepared to be amazed by our amazing 12 acre maze, made out of maize. Open from July we set out to entertain and bamboozle you. The maze is one of the biggest in the Anglian region with three kilometres of pathways and observation mounds. The maze is created over two days using a wide-arm lawnmower and GPS satellite positioning to plot the numerous twists, turns and devious dead ends.

The map of the maze will be for sale at £1 each, 100 % being donated to a different charity every year. The maze is fun for all ages and makes a great day out. The maze is open every day during the summer from 10 am and the last entry will be at 4 pm (Sundays 3 pm).

We also offer tractor rides, bouncy castle plus many other activities to add to that special day out for the whole family.

The Maize Maze space shuttle theme this year marks the celebration of the manned spaced flight and the 25th anniversary of STS-1, the boldest test flight in history.’

LITTLEPORT SHOW 6th AUGUST 2006

The Rotary Club of Ely Hereward (http://www.rotaryclubely-hereward.org) are hosting a ride in by the Fenlanders HOG of Harley Davidson Bikes starting from the Harley Memorial in Littleport at 12.30pm arriving at the "Old Palace Gardens" Sue Ryder Care Centre at around 13.00hrs The gardens and the bikes can be viewed by the public (no admission charges) from 12.30hrs to around 15.30hrs. Teas and cakes will be available together with a prize draw to raise funds for the Chelsea Garden path project, individual and business sponsors are being sought to finish phase 2 of the project to create a wheel chair friendly path to enable the "Old Palace's residents to have year round access to the award winning Chelsea Flower Show courtyard Garden that was completed last Autumn.

We have launched a "Sponsor a Stone" appeal with the creation of www.chelseagarden.org
and would appreciate it if www.ely.org.uk could create a hyperlink to that site, we are also hoping to organise a team of walkers to raise funds for the path by participating in the Great Ely Walk (www.great-ely-walk.org) on 3rd September. Both websites have been created for us by Jessica Harris a 15 year old who is suffering from ME so you may like to contact her as she is keen to develop her web skills. Please let us know if you would like us to create a hyperlink to your site.

If you need anymore information please contact Mike Anthony on 07990 535170 or avisageint@aol.com

Press release for Jacketflap Productions’ Company by Stephen Sondheim: 23 – 26th August.

A search for life and love

As his friends battle their way through the beautiful trauma that is married life, Robert would be forgiven for clinging to his life as a confirmed bachelor. He’s making the most of all the young and attractive opportunities that such a life can offer. It’s a fun life, and it would be hard to find a happier person than Robert. He’s got three girlfriends on the go at once, a great group of married friends who love him dearly and a stylish bachelor pad.

And yet, being on the outside looking in, he can’t help but wonder if he is missing something. Something his friends all have but which continues to elude him. Something that might not make his life any happier, but which would somehow make it worthwhile.

Alternating between high comedy and deep poignancy and with a score of fantastic songs from Stephen Sondheim, ‘Company’ is the story of a man in search of a dream he doesn’t understand and a life which may not even exist.

This is a great show for the “Sex in the City” generation, the Bridget Jones’ amongst us and those of us lucky enough to have found long-term love already. The music is stunning and there’s a character for everyone to relate to.

With a talented cast of young actors from Cambridge, Ely and Newmarket, Jacketflap Productions brings you this tale of one man’s search for that elusive feeling – the feeling of being alive.

Company by Stephen Sondheim is on at the Kings Theatre Newmarket from 23rd – 26th August at 7.30 pm. Tickets are £10 and can be bought from the Kings Theatre Box Office, 12 Fitzroy Street, Newmarket, tel: 01638 663337; OR from Burrows Bookshop, 9 High Street Passage, Ely, tel: 01353 669759.

Information about the company:

Jacketflap Productions is a local theatre company of young actors based in Ely. We began in 2001 with a production of A Slice of Saturday Night. Since then we have produced City of Angels, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and a devised musical rehearsed in just three weeks, called The Close. For more information please contact the Director, Steph Hogger on 07970 865309 or see www.jacketflap.biz

ELY FOLK CLUB - REGULAR EVENTS

ELY EEL TRAIL OPENED
Saturday 3 April 2004

• 10.30am Start at Oliver Cromwell’s House

• 11.00am Procession around the Eel Trail
starting from Cross Green (next to Cathedral).

• 12 noon - 3.00pm Activities in Jubilee Gardens:
• Time Team Exhibition
• Story Telling
• Puppet Show
• Music and Dancing
• Eel Tasting
• And lots more...

For further information please contact:
Tracey Harding, Tourism and Events Officer
East Cambridgeshire District Council
on 01353 616377

PDF POSTER

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YOUR EVENT HERE
FREE - SEND DETAILS TO events@ely.org.uk
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Viewpoint invites 12 community groups to document and celebrate life in Fenland.

Viewpoint aims to use mobile phones to publish creative writing generated by local communities and generate new visual art works to develop a sense of place and civic pride. With viewpoint we hope to build a living biography of Fenland that comes alive as readers move through the towns and villages using their mobile phones to both access poems as well as add to the archive. People who live and work in Fenland will help generate the poems during creative writing workshops with Ann and Peter Sansom from the Poetry Business.

There will be 12 viewpoint sites (1 for each group) which will range from skate parks to bus stops with each poem having its own keyword. By sending this keyword as a text message readers will receive a free short SMS text poem. The information will be relevant to the nature of each site i.e. readers waiting to pick up their child from school will be able to read about their memories of childhood, the school or aspects of parenthood.

As well as signage at each site each point will also display an artwork inspired by the poem also generated by the group with the help of a visual artists. This can be a traditional artwork but could take any forms such as flowerbeds or murals.

In addition a 24 hour audio service will be built to enable anyone to access local oral history interviews and leave their own audio messages again while ‘onsite’.

How to get involved

If you are based in Fenland and have a minimum of 10 people in your group who can take part in the creative sessions call now. We only have a few places left and are working on a first come first served basis and can be scheduled for evenings, weekends, during the day – whatever suits you. Remember you don’t need a mobile phone to take part!

After the creative writing workshops are completed we will bring in an artist to suit the needs of the group to work on ways to create an artwork about life in Fenland. Workshops are scheduled to take place this summer and the workshop venues and sites for the artwork will be chosen with the help of each group.

To discuss any aspect of the project please contact Lisa Roberts – Viewpoint Project manager on 07779649027 or lisa@blinkmedia.org

Vanessa Champion, B.A., PhD
Dragonfly Books & Arts, Riverside
PO Box 90, March Cambs PE15 8XD
Tel: 01354 65 33 44
info@dragonflybooks.co.uk www.dragonflybooks.co.uk
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Book and Print Sellers, Publishers of “The Driftwood Review and Listings”
Translation, Editing, Proofing and Copy-writing Service, Layout and Design, Photography and Murals
Trustee of March Museum, Chair of Fenland Visual Arts Collective, Co-opted member Fenland Arts Association
You can subscribe to the Dragonfly Review by sending a cheque for £6 made payable to "Dragonfly Books", this covers you for 6 issues (a whole year's supply!). ISSUE 6 OUT NOW!

Book/Art/Crafts at March Town Centre near Sainsbury's, 1st Saturday of every month 10-4pm monthly, starting July 3rd.

Book catalogue available on request: let us know your interests and we'll email you a tailor-made catalogue.

Fenland Visual Arts Collective - free to join, please ask for further information

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Just to let you know that the promised NEW ARTS PAMPHLET is on sale now..!

Cover price of just 65p, it's a bargain "must-have" for all who want to know what is going on locally (and Cambridge, Stampford, Spalding, Wisbech, Kings Lynn.....)!
The centre pages have listings for anyhting from art exhibitions to talksa t museums, from dance to jazz, Tudor music to wildlife groups. there really is something happening for every interest!
Also in the pamphlet are articles, poetry, children's story for bedtime, crossword, "The Travelling Suitcase", retrospectives and info on galleries, artists and arts people. Age range of contributors also varies from 12 to 85!
If you can't get in to March within the next week or two, let me know and I can post a copy to you for 85p (cheque or po fine!)!

Essential reading for anyone wanting to be in the know!!!
Hope to see you soon!
Best wishes
Vanessa Champion
Dragonfly Books & Arts, Riverside
2a Nene Parade, March Cambs PE15 8TD
Tel: 01354 65 33 44

Dont forget we have guitars in the back room, so come along grab a coffee and feel free to jam! Please forward this to anyone you feel would be interested in finding out what's on, there is so much talent out there, let's help support it! Thanks!

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THE OUTLAWS WESTERN CLUB
NEEDS YOU!
For rootin' tootin' good times!

If you've ever had a yen for the Western life or loved playing Cowboys & Indians, or just enjoy good ol' Country & Western music. Come along and have fun with a family friendly group who raise money for local people, put on C&W dances, do pub raids and perform Wild West Shows (etc)

So come along, all you would be cowboys/girls etc,
membership is just £3.00 per year

Contact: Stuart on 01353 776289 or Mickey on 01353 723148
(or come to a meeting at our 'Cabin' near Ely City Football club, Downham Road, on the first Friday of every month).

We'll be happy to talk to you.

We also need bookings for the shows, requests for Pub raids (with landlords consent), invitations to local events and to hear from people who need our help


WHERE ARE THE OUTLAWS THIS WEEK..? www.theoutlaws.info

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City of Ely Chess Club

We meet on Thursdays at Ely Beet Sports and Social club on Lynn Rd, Ely from around 7.30 pm. For more details please email me at michael.angel@btinternet.com

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Ely Museum Events

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