Moving mountains

Liz Nicholls

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Angelina Messenger tells us about her role as a mountain leader and her love for life in the Chilterns

When it comes to aspirations and living life to the full, it’s fair to say that Angelina Messenger sets high standards for herself.

The 47-year-old mum of twin boys who lives in Lane End has a degree in archaeology from Reading University (becoming a member of Mensa many years later), sails regularly at Maidenhead Sailing Club and is an experienced and qualified mountain leader and National Navigation Award Scheme provider.

“As a family, we all climb together at indoor walls and outside on the crags when we can get to them,” she says of her husband and boys, who have just started secondary school in Marlow. “My job and personal hobbies definitely merge into what would be considered mountaineering, but nothing on as grand a scale as Everest, yet…”

Angelina began walking and camping in the hills and mountains as a child growing up in Surrey and has felt the urge to explore ever since. “I later took up mountain biking and adventure racing, kayaking and climbing; I seem to have a never-ending need to try new things. I remember poring over maps, atlases and all things geography as a teenager.

“I love being outside in our beautiful countryside and mountains, and I’m passionate about improving wellbeing through that connection with the natural world.

“I also love sharing my experience and helping other people to achieve new skills and have amazing adventures.”

However adventure starts close to home and Angelina loves where she lives, especially the area around Maidensgrove for some wide open space on the common and its quaint villages… “I’d also pick St Mary the Virgin Church in Radnage,” she adds. “Built far back in the 12th century by the Knights Templar, the inside is always open and tranquil, and it has some fascinating wall paintings that span 600 years. And the views from the hills as you approach it are so picturesque.

“I often use Coffee on the Green in Stokenchurch to meet groups for navigation courses because it’s so well positioned for access from the motorway and the bus service, as well as offering great service and cake! I love the Chilterns’ rolling chalk hills with the special and unique species of plants and animals, the extensive walking network and the conservation work going on to protect our precious natural landscapes.”

This year Angelina is increasing the number of walks and courses she’s running locally, and is looking forward to welcoming people and local groups to gain skills and experience that lead them on to adventures beyond in other beautiful and remote upland areas of the UK.

Please visit angelinamountainleader.com

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Tastes of the town

Round & About

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Marlow Tastes, the town’s excusive safari supper, is now open for bookings to allow hundreds more diners to sample gourmet food while helping charities that support families in need of help.

The three-course mystery tour of some of the town’s finest restaurants was introduced on a limited scale last April and was a resounding success. Places were sold out within a few weeks and the evening raised £8,000 for charity.

This year Marlow Tastes plans to double in size to enable around 400 food-lovers to sample the culinary delights of eight of Marlow’s top restaurants. But the mystery is, they won’t know which three restaurants they will be eating in until they arrive for each course.

A choice of menus will be offered a few weeks before the supper to include dietary needs and preferences. Then the adventure begins with a drinks and canape reception at All Saints Church in Marlow on Tuesday, April 30.

The event is being hosted by Marlow Thames Rotary Club and the website for bookings opens on New Years Day.

The club’s president, Julian Rhodes, explained: “This progressive supper is unique to Marlow, a town gifted with fine restaurants. It’s an opportunity to try out some of our best fare at new venues.

“Rotary is at the heart of its communities but is also quick to respond to worldwide demands. This year our Marlow Tastes adventure will support two leading charities: Marlow United Charities which supports struggling local families, and Parkinsons UK. Further funds will be distributed to other charities supported by Rotary.

Restaurants welcome Marlow Tastes because it enables them to showcase their offerings. Taking part are the Compleat Angler Riverside restaurant, La Cantina del Vino, Cote Brasserie, The Ivy Marlow Garden, , Lavvin, The Marlow Bar and Grill, The Oarsman and Suum Kitchen.

The cost of the reception and the three courses is £65 and much of this amount will be shared by the charities.

Bookings open on Monday, 1st January on the website Marlowtastes.menu and close on March 25 ahead of the event on Tuesday April 30. Bookings can be made for groups of up to six people, in even numbers. Every effort will be made to place known groups together.

The selected restaurants for all groups will not be announced until arrival following the reception and are always within ten minutes’ walk.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been raised by Marlow’s three Rotary clubs in a variety of ways and the most familiar – and the biggest contributor – is the Santas Fun Run.

Beneficiaries include One Can Trust, Marlow United Charities, Horizon Sports Club, Marlow Opportunity Playgroup, Rivertime Accessible Boating, Wycombe Homeless Connection, various refugee support groups (including Ukraine), Thames Valley Air Ambulance, JAM Theatre, Bucks Young Carers, South Bucks Hospice, South Bucks Headway, Thames Valley Hospice, Alexander Devine Hospice, Thames Valley Adventure Playground, Bucks MIND, Aquabox, Shelter Box and many more.

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Wild life

Karen Neville

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Brian Clews tells us about Wild Cookham which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and how we can help ahead of Big Cookham Wildlife Weekend

This year, the WildCookham team are celebrating our tenth anniversary, during which time we have organised dozens of talks, guided walks and several significant wildlife projects in the Cookhams. These include toad patrols, wildflower meadow creation, the Wild About Gardens awards scheme and the reintroduction of water voles after 30 years of absence.

As is well-known, much of our wildlife is struggling in our open countryside which has needed to be worked hard to produce our food and other country pursuits. But, while there is not much we can do individually about that, the good news is that we can all do something within our own gardens to help our beleaguered wildlife. So WildCookham is challenging us all to help our gardens become havens for as many species as possible.

Ponds.

We are asking our neighbours to do a bit of preparation for the Big Weekend. Firstly, if you don’t yet have a pond or water feature, we recommend you create one early this year. It need not be huge, but it needs to be fish-free and suitably planted up. Advice is available on our web site at wildcookham.org.uk

Wildflowers.

Also we are asking as many of you as possible to create a small patch of wildflowers, perhaps a square metre to start with as a minimum. In memory of much-missed Adrian Doble, who worked with Boston Seeds to create a mix of seeds suited to our area, we will soon have available small packets of seed to create such a patch (2gms per sq m). Our website will advise where in the village these can be obtained from, and how to prepare the area. 

Hopefully, by the time of the main weekend in June these efforts will be contributing to even greater diversity of garden creatures.

And so to the main event itself in June. We would love as many as possible to spend some time that weekend observing and recording as many critters and creatures as possible. Great fun for the whole family as the search in shrubs and bushes, and under leaves, stones etc goes on. You can list all the ones you know, but you can also simply count how many different sorts of birds, butterflies, bugs, beetles, ladybirds, bees and other beasties you find. Our website will list sources of online identification aids of animals to help families, and there are numerous apps one can download too.

So put the dates in the diary, check our website, and get ready for the “holiday safari” of a lifetime! For more info please email [email protected]

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Woking Young Musician of the Year

Karen Neville

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Young talent on show on February 3rd as performers compete for awards

The Woking Young Musician of the Year competition takes place on February 3rd, with outstanding performers aged 14-20 from this year’s Woking Music festival invited to participate.

The adjudicator for the Young Musician of the Year competition will be Paul Barritt who has been leader of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the English Chamber Orchestra and until recently, the Hallé, having performed with this orchestra for the past 20 years.

Cash prizes are awarded to the winners and a bursary is also awarded to study at a summer school. Several of these performers have gone on to be in the finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and, in recent years, two have won this coveted title.

Other awards that will be presented at the event are Woking Junior Musician of the Year, Most Promising Young singer, Most Promising Young Actor, and a chamber music award.

The Woking YM evening is an annual event at which a selection of the best competitors aged 14 to 20 who attended the Woking Music Festival in November 2023 are invited to compete in concert conditions.

The talented young musicians will be performing at St John Church, St John, Woking where the audience would be treated to a delightful musical evening from some of our most talented young musicians.

Woking Music Festival is a celebration of the musical and literary vitality of Woking and the surrounding area. The festival welcomes people of all ages and abilities, who can derive and give pleasure in participating, whatever their tastes or performing standard.

Founded by Nancy Leigh in 1926 and affiliated to the British and International Federation of Festivals (BIFF), the festival is now one of the largest of its kind in the south-east with around 1,000 people taking part each year. Highly respected teachers and performers act as adjudicators, giving valuable advice and guidance to all participants.

More than 90 trophies are competed for in over 200 classes. Subjects covered include musicals, jazz, classical music including opera and oratorio, school choirs, bands, speech and drama.

The adjudicators come from music and drama institutions across the UK who judge winners in each category and give valuable advice and guidance.

Visit wokingmusicfestival.org.uk for information on all events, dates and venues. Tickets £12 per adult, children under 18 free.

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Two operas come to Oxford

Ellie Cox

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Award-winning producer Ellen Kent returns to Oxford’s New Theatre.

The Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv will be presenting stunning classical productions of Bizet’s Carmen on Wednesday 17th January and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Thursday 18th January.

Bizet’s masterpiece, Carmen, is packed with passion, sexual jealousy, death and unforgettable arias. The story of the bewitching gypsy girl whose tantalising beauty lures a soldier to desertion and leads to her own murder, Carmen includes some of the most evocative and best-loved melodies in opera.

The stunning set, built by Setup Scenery, who also build sets for the Royal Opera Covent Garden, reflects the magnificent architecture of Seville with its Roman and Moorish influences.

Carmen will star Ukrainian mezzo-soprano’s Natalia Matveeva and Irina Sproglis.  Sung in French with English surtitles.

Madama Butterfly, the winner of the Best Opera Award by the Liverpool Daily Post Theatre Awards, returns in a new production with exquisite sets including a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costumes including antique wedding kimonos from Japan. One of the world’s most popular operas, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly tells the heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant – with dramatic results. Highlights include the melodic ‘Humming Chorus’, the moving aria ‘One Fine Day’ and the unforgettable ‘Love Duet’.

In Madama Butterfly the fabulous Korean soprano Elena Dee returns alongside Ukrainian soprano Alyona Kistenyova and Ukrainian mezzo-soprano’s Natalia Matveeva and Irina Sproglis. Madama Butterfly will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Ellen personally hand-picks and directs all soloists to create visually beautiful and moving productions. She said of these productions, ‘I am delighted to be working with the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv again after the huge success of the spring 2023 tour. I started working with Ukraine in 2000 and have continued these strong relationships ever since, working with the Odessa National Opera for which I was awarded The Golden Fortune Honorary Medal from the President of the Ukraine, as well as the Kharkiv National Opera and for the last couple of years with the brilliant Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv.’

Tickets for Carmen (17 January 2024) and Madama Butterfly (18 January 2024) at Oxford’s New Theatre are available here.

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West Wycombe Snowdrop Walk

Round & About

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Child Bereavement UK helps families to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies. They support children and young people (up to the age of 25) when someone important to them has died or is not expected to live, and parents and the wider family when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying.

On Sunday 4th February 2024 they will be holding the popular Snowdrop Walk at West Wycombe Park. This annual event is an opportunity to enjoy a walk in the beautiful surroundings. Children can enjoy a treasure hunt and visitors can finish their walk with hot food, cakes, and refreshments at West Wycombe Village Hall, where further children’s activities will be taking place.

Snowdrops will also be available to plant in memory of someone special.

If you’re not able make it along to the day but would like a snowdrop planted on your behalf, please make a donation of £5 and include the reference Snowdrop.

Child Bereavement UK offer free, confidential bereavement support for individuals, couples, children, young people, and families, by telephone, video or instant messenger, wherever you live in the UK. Face-to-face support is also offered from a number of locations.


For more information click here

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New Exhibition: Letters from Liberation

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A new permanent exhibition, opening on 27th January 2023 at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, tells a story of how a small act of kindness can have a life-changing impact. Naomi and Arthur: Letters from Liberation focuses on two people from different worlds – Arthur Tyler, a soldier with the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, and Naomi Kaplan, a Polish Jew who survived both Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.

When the Oxfordshire Yeomanry liberated Bergen-Belsen on 15th April 1945, they found prisoners living in appalling conditions of disease, starvation and cruelty, with many thousands of unburied dead. Naomi Kaplan was one of the survivors who had endured several years in the Nazi camp system. She approached soldier Arthur Tyler and asked him to write to her family to tell them she was alive. Her mother, husband and sister-in-law had all perished in Auschwitz, but Naomi remembered the address of her Uncle Bill in Houston, USA. Arthur wrote a letter straight away and began a correspondence with Naomi’s sister Elizabeth Brandon, who was also safe in Houston.

In her response Elizabeth thanked Arthur saying: ‘I am infinitely happy to know that she is alive and well and I will not rest until we are reunited.’ Naomi herself described the effect of being reconnected to her family as ‘a continuation of wonderful experiences’, as her brother-in-law and other US Army soldiers were soon able to visit her in Germany.

When Naomi eventually reached the USA, she also wrote to Arthur, to thank him saying: ‘I met very many British soldiers and I asked everybody to write about me to my family, but nobody did it – only you.’

Her optimism and courage were clear from her attitude to her new beginning in the USA, reunited with her remaining family: ‘I try to forget my sad past, I am thinking about the fine present and the beautiful future.’

Naomi became a highly successful businesswoman in Houston, bringing up three children and running an international meat import and processing company. She remembered Arthur’s kindness throughout her life, telling her family of the soldier who had helped her. Her retirement was filled with philanthropy, sharing her experiences with young people and supporting Holocaust Museum Houston. For her 80th birthday and to celebrate her extraordinary life, her three children established an education programme – the Warren Fellowship for Future Teachers – based at Holocaust Museum Houston, which continues to teach and inspire. Arthur led a modest life in London after the war. But he never forgot what he had seen at Bergen-Belsen.

Almost 50 years after the liberation he protested against Holocaust denial, standing shoulder to shoulder with survivors, and being interviewed for several national newspapers. Both Naomi and Arthur had their lives changed by their meeting at Bergen-Belsen. Now a new generation has been touched by the story. Research by Dr Myfanwy Lloyd has enabled the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum to connect with Naomi’s children and grandchildren in Houston. Through their generosity, visitors to the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum can see the original letters, family photographs and newspaper reports that tell the story of Naomi and Arthur.

Ursula Corcoran, Director of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum said: ‘Letters from Liberation is a war-time story with a difference – focusing on an act of kindness, and the courage of survival. Through Naomi and Arthur we can remember the devastation that the Nazi regime inflicted on so many families. But we also see that humanity can shine through in the bleakest of situations. The story is also a powerful reminder that we need to be vigilant against Holocaust denial and the rise of authoritarian rule. The new display gives a human face to the Holocaust Memorial Day theme for 2024 – the ‘Fragility of Freedom’.

‘Naomi and Arthur: Letters from Liberation’ goes on display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum from 27th January 2024.

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New year clothes swap in Abingdon

Round & About

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Bring along items you no longer wear & exchange them for something new to you!

New year, so how about a ‘new to you’ wardrobe? Let someone else love your unwanted clothes and take home some new ones for yourself.

The clothes swap on Friday, 2nd February, 7pm, Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road OX14 1NS, is exactly what it says – bring items you don’t wear and swap them. It is the most sustainable way to update your wardrobe!

You can drop off up to 10 items of adult clothing (no children’s please) from 7pm and then relax to allow time to sort into size order and type for easy swapping before doors open officially at 7.30pm. See what takes your fancy, try it on, and take it home – it’s that easy.

Between 7-7.30pm, refreshments will be available to purchase and there will be stalls from local, sustainable businesses.

Please only bring freshly washed items in good condition. Ask yourself ‘would you give this to your best friend?’ – if the answer is yes, please bring it along!

Tickets just £5.

Also, if there’s any suitable workwear items still looking for a home, organisers willl take them to Smart Works Reading, a charity that provides women with the clothing, coaching and confidence they need to succeed in interviews and get the job. 10% of the profits will go to Smart Works, Reading.

All other left over items will be donated to local charity shops or kept for the next swap! More datils & to buy tickets, visit Clothes Swap!

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Grayson Perry at The Lightbox

Round & About

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Grayson’s tapestries visit Surrey for the first time. For those with good taste. Possibly.

Grayson Perry’s The Vanity of Small Differences – six large-scale tapestries exploring the British fascination with social class, created by the Turner Prize-winning artist as a result of his acclaimed TV series – go on display at The Lightbox this January. The tapestries, which are part of the Arts Council Collection, are touring the country and this will be their first public display in Surrey.

Inspired by the characters, incidents and objects the artist encountered during the making of his Channel 4 documentary series, All in the Best Possible Taste, the tapestries evolved from drawings and photography Perry made whilst travelling around England in search of what is – or isn’t – deemed to be ‘good taste’. 

Grayson Perry is one of Britain’s most celebrated artists and cultural figures.  He is recognised as a great chronicler of contemporary life, tackling subjects that are universally human: social status, identity, sexuality, religion and more.

In The Vanity of Small Differences, Perry shares a story of 21st century social mobility. The tapestries chart the life of a fictional character, Tim Rakewell, whose ‘class journey’ has parallels with that of his 18th century namesake, Tom Rakewell – the central figure in William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress (1732-34). 

As Hogarth told his tale in a series of eight paintings, Grayson Perry shares the rise and demise of Tim Rakewell in this series of six, 2m x 4m tapestries – an art form traditionally associated with grand houses for the depiction of great historical, religious and military scenes.  In The Vanity of Small Differences, Perry plays with the idea of using this ancient allegorical art to elevate the commonplace dramas of contemporary British life.

Art historical references within contemporary scenes feature throughout the series.  In The Adoration of the Cage Fighters,in which the infant Tim reaches for his mother’s smartphone, there are echoes of Mantegna’s Adoration of the Shepherds (c.1450), and Perry’s second tapestry, Agony in the Car Park, is described by the artist as a “distant relative” of Bellini’s Agony in the Garden (c.1465).

The Annunciation of the Virgin Deal shows Tim as a wealthy man having sold his business to Richard Branson, with the convex mirror and discarded shoes recalling the famous Arnofilni Portrait (1434) by Jan van Eyck; and in The Upper Class at Bay, Tim and his wife, now owners of a mansion in the Cotswolds, resemble Mr and Mrs Andrews walking through their estate in Thomas Gainsborough’s celebrated painting.

But the story ends in tragedy.  In Perry’s final, dramatic tapestry, Lamentation – which takes inspiration from The Lamentation (c.1441) by Rogier van der Weyden – Tim’s life comes to an end following a car accident.  This image also reconnects the series with Hogarth, whose final painting in A Rake’s Progress records Tom Rakewell’s death.

Grayson Perry said: “The tapestries tell the story of class mobility, for I think nothing has as strong an influence on our aesthetic taste as the social class in which we grow up. I am interested in the politics of consumerism and the history of popular design but for this project I focus on the emotional investment we make in the things we choose to live with, wear, eat, read or drive. Class and taste run deep in our character – we care. This emotional charge is what draws me to a subject”.

Sarah Brown, Director of The Lightbox, said: “We are thrilled that The Lightbox will host this exhibition, which marks Grayson Perry’s first solo exhibition in Surrey and is also the first time that The Vanity of Small Differences have been on public display in the county.  Creating local opportunities to experience the best contemporary and modern art is at the heart of what we do, and through our exhibitions, activities and community events we work hard to ensure that as many people as possible can benefit.”

“We share with Grayson a firm belief that “art is good for you”, and never have we needed it more. This exhibition will provide inspiration for the New Year and we look forward to welcoming visitors.”

Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences opens at The Lightbox, Woking on 27 January (until 2 June). A programme of events for visitors, schools and community groups accompanies the exhibition.  For further information: lightbox.org.uk

Image credit: GraysonPerry: The Adoration of the Cage Fighters 2012, Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London ©GraysonPerry Gift of the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery with the support of Channel 4 Television, The Art Fund and Sfumato Foundation with additional support from Alix Partners



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Go stargazing with Red Dwarfs

Ellie Cox

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Tony Hersch of Newbury Astronomy Society shares with us what to expect in the skies in January

This month spectacular Ursa Major (the “saucepan” or “plough” shape) stands vertically above the horizon in the North.   

Follow an imaginary line joining the two stars at the end of the saucepan shape downwards and the next brightest star is Polaris, the pole star. This variable star (it changes its brightness over a period of four days) is about 433 light years away, is visible all year round and its position in the sky is such that it always points towards magnetic north and is a useful marker if you’re lost at night!  

Near the highest point above your head is another bright star called Capella, the fourth brightest star in our northern hemisphere after Sirius, Arcturus and Vega and part of a constellation called Auriga. It’s only about 43 light years away and is one of the strongest sources of x rays in the night sky. Although it appears to be a single star to the naked eye, Capella is actually a quadruple star system organized in two binary pairs.  

Keep a look out for meteors during the first 12 days of January when the Moon is only a crescent, because the Quadrantid meteor shower that started late in December continues. Look in the direction of Ursa Major about half way up the sky after midnight and you might see a meteor every few minutes. The peak happens around January 3rd. Regarding planets, Venus is bright this month in the mornings and can be seen just above and to the left of the crescent Moon at about 7am on January 8th. Saturn is shining in the evening sky. An easy time to spot it will be around 5pm on January 14th when it will be just to the right of a beautiful thin crescent Moon and well worth a look if it’s clear.

Topic of the month: Red Dwarfs

We tend to think we can see millions of stars in a dark clear night sky but in fact, unaided, even people with exceptional vision can only see at most 10,000 stars in a perfectly dark sky. There are many, many more stars we can’t see without a telescope. In fact of the 60 nearest stars to Earth, 50 are too dim for the unaided eye. These are red dwarf stars, the most common type of star in the universe, which glow a dull red and far less brightly than bigger stars. Red dwarf stars form just like other stars out of a molecular cloud of dust and gas. Gravity pulls the swirling gas and dust together, and it begins to rotate. The material clumps in the centre, and when it reaches a critical temperature, fusion begins. However red dwarfs have very low mass compared to brighter stars. As a result, they have relatively low gravity crushing material down, a low nuclear fusion rate, and hence, a low temperature and so they emit relatively little light. Even the largest red dwarfs have only about 10% of the Sun’s luminosity. Their low rate of nuclear fusion means they use up their fuel much slower than brighter stars and some are thought to have existed since the beginning of time, 13.8 billion years ago, far longer than other brighter stars. Because of their longevity and constant heat output astronomers are interested in the many planets which can orbit red dwarfs because these planets will have had constant conditions for far longer than Earth. If these planets have the right conditions for life to have evolved, like liquid water, they might be more likely to support life simply because of the duration of the constant conditions.

NewburyAstro welcomes everyone to their monthly astronomy meeting and beginners meeting (£2 for adults, free for under 18s) and also to star gazing and other events. See newburyastro.org.uk for details.    Questions to [email protected]

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