Woking Lit Fest

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Book lovers’ paradise at the third Woking Literary Festival  

This year’s Woking Literary Festival has something for the entire family with author talks, pop–up bookshops and a masterclass for aspiring authors, literary lovers are in for a treat. 

The festival returns for a third year to The Lightbox gallery and museum with all events supporting the Art and Wellbeing programme at The Lightbox charity which provides creative workshops for those who would otherwise not have access to the arts and heritage services. 

The event runs from 18th to 29th April with something for younger family members to start with, the charming tale of The Bear and the Piano by David Lichfield, the book is complete with real piano sounds played by the bear. 

Among other highlights of the festival are poetry day on the 27th when spoken word performers and poets will take part in an open mic event featuring comic and published performance poet Robert Garnham. Children’s poet Joseph Coelho will deliver his fun interactive poetry experience. 

April 23rd is celebrating World Book Night and William Shakespeare’s birthday with a lunch-time talk by author Marie Phillips on her new book Oh, I Do Like To Be… a silly, modern update of A Comedy of Errors. The evening brings with mystery and drama at the Bestselling Women of Crime Panel featuring authors Amanda Robson, C L Taylor, Mel Sherratt and Katerina Diamond sharing the secrets behind their successes. 

Local history will be in the spotlight on the 24th with author and local historian Richard Langtree who has spent 15 years researching the life story of Woking’s benefactor William Hamilton.  

The Lightbox Thursday Late Opening returns on the 25th with a Joke in the Box Special while the following night it will be all about raising funds to boost the Art and Wellbeing programme  with the Lost in Literature quiz night – show off your literary knowledge, raise money for a good cause and the winning team gets to take home signed books from the featured authors. 

Recent best-selling writer A J Pearce will be talking about her debut novel Dear Mrs Bird and the complex research that went into it and revealing news on upcoming adventures in the forthcoming sequel. 

Historical fiction author Alison Weir is back for the third year in a row with the latest instalment of her Six Tudor Queens series, Anne of Kleve: Queen of Secrets and Alison will be happy to sign copies bought in The Lightbox shop. 

The festival will close with a Guardian Masterclass from publisher Scott Pack who will offer no-nonsense advice for budding writers to help get their work noticed by publishers, write an engaging synopsis and what to include in the all-important cover letter. 

  For more information about the Woking LIterary Festival and to book for any of the events visit www.thelightbox.org.uk or call 01483 737837. 

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Wind in the Willows

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Help save Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad and create a wilder future

Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad are starring in a new campaign from The Wildlife Trust calling for a wilder future.

A Wind in the Willows trailer (below) featuring in cinemas this weekend shows the threats the much-loved characters are facing and what can be done to help our wildlife before it’s too late.

And it’s received backing from Sir David Attenborough as well as the stars who provide the characters’ voices – Stephen Fry as Badger, Catherine Tate as Ratty, Alison Steadman as Mole and Asim Chaudhry as Toad.

The trailer mirrors the reality of creatures such as the badger, water vole, mole and toad with disruption to their lives by roads, river pollution and intensive agriculture.

Kenneth Grahame wrote Wind in the Willows more than 100 years ago and in the time since it was published in 1908 many of the UK’s wild places and its wildlife have been destroyed.

Ratty, the water vole, is the UK’s most declining mammal and despite work to identify the number in Surrey it is unclear if any still exist in the county. It is presumed extinct.

Almost 70 per cent of toads have been lost over the last 30 years too.

The main problems wildlife face in this country are:

• Loss of habitat from intensive farming and places broken up by roads

• Climate change which disrupts breeding patterns, threatens life cycles and creates food shortages

CEO of Surrey Wildlife Trust, Sarah Jane Chimbwandira said: “People move to Surrey because they love the convenience of commuting to work and living within a beautiful county, with leafy neighbourhoods, iconic woodland views form the Surrey Hills and peaceful riverside walks.”

The decline in UK habitats since Kenneth Grahame’s wonderful tale is truly shocking

She added the county’s wildlife is in great decline and in for it to recover it is essential “to create a mass movement of people calling for change”.

Sarah Jane said: “The Wildlife Trust film is a sad version of The Wind in the Willows – showing how Ratty and Toad have hit the buffers – but it’s not too late to save them in Surrey. We can create strong laws to establish a Nature Recovery Network, which will enable a wider future and help nature make a comeback.”

The aim of the film is to inspire people to help by: contacting politicians to ask for stronger environmental laws; walking in the paw prints of others and imagine what wildlife needs to survive where you live and create a wilder future where you are by playing a part in making changes.

Alison Steadman who plays Mole said: “The decline in UK habitats since Kenneth Grahame’s wonderful tale is truly shocking. Millions of people in this country profess a love of wildlife and we need everyone to be taking it back action to bring about nature’s recovery.

“I wanted to take part in this film to help inspire people to get involved and bring our nature back.”

Sir David gave his support to The Wildlife Trust’s campaign saying: “What we create may not look exactly like the countryside that Kenneth Grahame drew such inspiration from, but our wildlife won’t mind just so long as it has the places it needs to live and thrive.”

Find out what you can do to get involved at www.surreywildlifetrust.org.uk and if you’re going to the cinema this weekend don’t forget to look out for the trailer.

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Surrey Wildlife Trust

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Happy anniversary to Surrey Wildlife Trust!

Surrey Wildlife Trust is celebrating its 60th anniversary of protecting the county’s wildlife this week and has a range of events to mark the milestone.

On 21st March, 1959, a band of naturalists and conservationists founded the Surrey Naturalists’ Trust with two goals – to protect wildlife and educate the public about nature – these tenets are still fundamental to the Trust today.

While much work has been carried out over the past 60 years to ensure they have stayed true to this since securing the first reserve in 1960, Seale Chalk Pit on the Hog’s Back to saving the ancient woodland Nower Wood, near Leatherhead to creating a new reserve in 2013 called Priest Hill.

Today the Trust manages more than 70 reserves, has more than 26,000 members and is supported by in excess of 1,000 volunteers who won The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service last year.

2019 marks a new milestone for the Trust with  new chief executive officer Sarah Jane Chimbwandira and a new strategy to reconnect the landscape with nature recovery networks. Healthy and well-managed hedgerows, rivers, nature reserves and green spaces will help people and wildlife flourish.

Sarah Jane said: “If we all take action now, in 60 years’ time wildlife could be thriving and at the heart of everyday life. If not, we may not even notice that wildlife has disappeared from Surrey’s precious landscape, being replaced by litter and pollution.  And all because we think it’s someone else’s job to look after it; it isn’t.

“We all have to take action and we all have to look after Surrey’s landscape like our early founders and volunteers.”

She adds: “We welcome everyone to get involved. Anyone can be the next leading environmentalist in Surrey. Could it be you?”

The Trust has walks, talks and events planned over the next few months to celebrate its 60 years beginning with an environmental youth summit for 16-18 year olds on 28th March.

There’s still time to enter the Wild Surrey art and photographic competition!

Entries must be submitted by 14th April –  an exhibition will then take place in Guildford from 25th May to 14th June during this time on 1st and 2nd June Guildford Goes Wild on the High Street.

Other events to look out for are Bay Pond open day in Godstone on 15th June; heath week from 28th July to 2nd August and rivers week from 22nd to 29th September.

About

Picture: David Attenborough visits Nower Wood in 1985

For more information about Surrey Wildlife Trust, it’s activities, celebrations and how you can get involved visit surreywildlifetrust.org

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Restless Minds: Ward Thomas

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Ward Thomas – AKA 24-year-old twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy who went to school near Cranleigh – tell us about their influences ahead of their gig this month.

Millennials face a barrage of criticism as well as being burdened with the anxiety social media can cause. So Lizzy and Catherine Ward Thomas come across as a thoroughly refreshing duo.

Lyrically the twins have tackled issues close to their hearts on their new album Restless Minds, with observations on social media, the women’s movement, what “the truth” means today and mental health, which inspired #NoScrollSunday.

With support from The Wandering Hearts, they will perform at Guildford’s G Live on Tuesday, 26th February, which is almost a home gig. “We know Guildford very well,” the sisters tell me. “We grew up only 20 minutes away and went to school near Cranleigh. We’ve been to the Borderline a lot to watch fellow musicians play as well as playing there ourselves.”

Catherine and Lizzy grew up in a very musical family. “Our parents were in a band and they played a lot of The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles. Our cousin introduced us to country music and we became obsessed with Dixie Chicks and many others. We’ve listened to a whole range of genres growing up and still do now. We’re drawn to a great melody, an authentic storyline with great lyrics. We also feel strongly that – in this modern digital age – we all crave honesty, authenticity and things that take us back to our roots. So that could also be what’s drawing people into country more nowadays.”

Country music might be enjoying a surge in popularity but the twins dislike pigeon-holing their music when it comes to genres… “So when we write, we go into the room with the attitude of ‘let’s write what we feel today’. Then when we get to the studio we always have fun experimenting with what kind of production works best for a particular song. So we’re always wanting to be open-minded to blending genres together within an album.”

I wonder what it’s like performing and making music as twins? “It’s great! We’ve gone through a lot together growing up but have different perspectives on the same topic or event. So it really works in the creative process. And performing together is a real treat as we have a lot of fun connecting with each other musically on stage and singing together in general. We’re really excited to get back on the road!”

● Ward Thomas will play at Guildford’s G Live on Tuesday, 26th February.

For more information please visit www.wardthomasmusic.com/live

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Bowie & beyond

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Liz Nicholls chats to Woody Woodmansey ahead of the Holy Holy show this month…

Three years on from Bowie’s death, his bandmate Woody Woodmansey still finds the concept of him being “gone” utterly surreal.

“He’s probably in my thoughts most of the time,” says Woody, “but it’s the same for everyone – he doesn’t go away. The music we created has lasted the test of time. We never ever thought the music we made 40 years ago would still be on the radio.”

Together with producer Tony Visconti, drummer and “Spider Man from Mars” Woody are getting set to take their Holy Holy tour around the UK with an all star band including glorious Bowie-esque vocals from Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory. The group will perform Bowie’s material from 1969-73.

I ask Woody about meeting David for the first time, when he arrived at his flat in a big gothic building in Beckenham… “I had all these questions in my head,” says Woody. “Like: was he clever or thick? Could he write? Mick [Ronson] had raved on and on about him. I was expecting this curly-haired folkie from Space Oddity but he opened the door in a rainbow T-shirt, silver belt and red corduroy trousers and shoes he’d painted blue stars on. We chatted about music and I could tell he was intelligent. Then he picked his 12 string up and amazed me with his presence – he never flinched for a moment.”

Woody duly turned down the tempting offer of a managerial job at a glasses factory in his native Yorkshire to join Bowie down in London and make history. “The music industry had become so

boring and we wanted to give it a kick up the ****, which I guess we did!” laughs Woody.

I ask Woody whether his love of music started at school. “No! I didn’t become aware if music until after school,” he laughs his throaty, smoky cackle. “I just played Hendrix, Led Zep and Cream records, putting my finger on the vinyl to slow it down a bit and hear what the drums were doing so I could copy it. I only learned the rudiments later.”

This time three years ago, Woody and the band were playing the High Line in New York, not far from where David lived. “It was his birthday and Tony decided to call him. We played a bad karaoke version of Happy Birthday. The audience joined in and he loved that. He asked them what they thought of Black Star, which had come out that day and they went wild! We said we’d catch up soon but of course never did because two days later his son messaged the news. David had always seemed invincible. On the Ziggy tours he was barely eating and was often really ill but he always got on stage and smashed it. After the news we weren’t sure whether to carry on but David would have so we did, in celebration of him. And here we are now, still celebrating him. Our rider might be a bit less rock and roll but the spirit is just the same.”

● The Holy Holy UK tour runs from 8th to 24th February, including shows at Guildford’s G Live and London Palladium.

Visit www.holyholy.co.uk

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BEAT cancer…

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A Woking couple have launched a “BEAT” awareness campaign for ovarian cancer.

The husband of a Woking woman who realised she had ovarian cancer after reading an article about it, is leading a campaign to make 20,000 women aware of the signs.

Kathryn Norris was diagnosed in March 2017. She had been eating less, felt tired and noticed her breasts were swollen. Her GP referred her for a transvaginal ultrasound, but before this she became uncomfortable with abdominal bloating. She remembered a magazine article highlighting the key symptoms of ovarian cancer; B for bloating, E for eating less and feeling fuller quicker, A for abdominal pain and T for toilet changes.

The ultrasound revealed the 66-year-old did indeed have stage 2 ovarian cancer. After a hysterectomy and six months of chemotherapy she is being monitored every three months. “I feel so lucky my disease was caught early enough to be treated and to give me the chance of staying healthy,” says Kathryn who is now a grandmother.

Her husband Graham, the men’s captain at Hoebridge Golf Club, is using his term to spread awareness of the signs of the disease and is leading a BEAT campaign to tell 20,000 women about the symptoms and raise £20,000 for ovarian cancer charities. The idea is that every woman told will tell 10 more and he is starting with the 120 lady members.

Graham and ladies captain Pat Collins aim to reach their target by December helping charities Ovacome and Ovarian Cancer Action and have fundraising events planned including a golf day in July. He says: “If this helps to save one life it’s has been worth it.”

   For more about ovarian cancer please visit www.ovacome.org.uk or www.ovarian.org.uk

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Magic of musicals: Anton & Erin

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Strictly Come Dancing’s “Mr Debonair” Anton du Beke tells Peter Anderson about his upcoming show in Guildford, together with dance partner Erin Boag.

Dance those Magic Musicals will present a marvellous world in which ballroom meets musical theatre with song and dance numbers set to iconic shows which have delighted audiences for decades.

Anton and Erin will be joined on stage by a sensational West End dance ensemble to present dances to Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, 42nd Street and many other well-known musicals. They will be accompanied by the London Concert Orchestra conducted by Richard Balcombe who has also arranged the music, and the brilliant star vocalist Lance Ellington who may well be joined by Anton in some numbers!

I wondered, with this wide variety of musicals, which was Anton’s favourite decade for dance in musicals? “It’s not a choice I could make,” he laughs. “Each had some brilliant points, from the “big bands” of the 1920s, of which I’m a great fan, through to the spectacular choreography of Busby Berkeley to the incredible musicals between the 1950s and more recent times with shows like Wicked and Jersey Boys.”

Anton says this will be more a show-within-a-show with a selection of music from each musical, and then of course all the evenings will conclude with the now popular Q&A session with Anton and Erin. A desire by the couple to stretch themselves means neither of them have choreographed any of the numbers in the show that has fallen to Nikki Woollaston. As well as choreographing a number of Anton & Erin’s recent tours, Nikki has also choreographed many operas and musicals including Oklahoma at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

With all these numbers from musicals, would Anton fancy touring with a musical himself? “Maybe some time in the future,” he tells me. “One of the problems with musicals is they tend to stay at a theatre for a week, and with my twins as young as they are I just don’t want to be continually away from them. Doing the shows like I do, for the most part I can get back to south Bucks and be with my wife and the twins at night.”

Speaking of venues, is there one that Anton would love to take one of his and Erin’s shows to? There can only be one, he says. “The London Palladium! I so loved working with Sir Bruce Forsyth on Strictly and it was a place he made his own.”

Dance those Magic Musicals is on Saturday, 23rd February, at Guildford’s G Live.

For tickets please visit www.glive.co.uk or call 01483 369350.

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Party popper! Abigail’s Party in Woking

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Jodie Prenger leads the cast in Abigail’s Party, Mike Leigh’s ground-breaking play at Woking’s New Victoria Theatre from Monday, 25th February, to Saturday, 2nd March.

Welcome to 1970s suburbia and its heady mix of free-flowing cocktails, classic disco and cheese and pineapple sticks…

Mike Leigh’s iconic Abigail’s Party is one of Britain’s most celebrated comedies and was described by The Guardian as “one of the greatest plays about the human condition ever written”.

Jodie says: “Abigail’s Party is a true British classic and a real bucket list part for me. I’m thrilled to be involved in something so wonderful. I can’t wait to get started!”

Jodie landed the role of Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s revival production of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane after winning BBC One’s I’d Do Anything.

She has guest presented for Elaine Paige and Paul O’Grady on many occasions with BBC Radio 2. Other BBC Radio 2 appearances include Wogan, co-hosting Going Out With Alan Carr, Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, The Olivier Awards 2010 and Children in Need 2009 with Graham Norton. Recently, Jodie starred in the one-woman UK tour of Shirley Valentine and has just finished playing the role of Kelly in the production of Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends on its UK tour with music written by Nick Lloyd Webber.

● New Victoria Theatre is in the Peacocks Centre, Woking, GU21 6GQ.

  To book tickets call 0844 871 7645 or visit www.atgtickets/woking

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Child’s play: comedy with Sam Avery

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Sam Avery will tackle parenthood at Aldershot’s West End Centre on Thursday, 28th February. Peter Anderson quizzes him on how he devised the show.

Parenthood is a crafty beast. The second you master something, it changes the game, so you are rubbish at it again. So says stand-up comedian, viral blogger and best-selling author Sam Avery (aka The Learner Parent) and he brings his tales of twin toddler tantrums, and the sleep-deprived route from first-time parenthood that got him there, to Aldershot this month.

As to how Sam discovered his love for comedy, we have to go back to his own childhood and of course the paper round. “I always liked comedy and making people laugh as a child. When others were doing their paper round listening to the pop songs of the day, I was listening to comedians like Ben Elton.

“I was shy when I first started, I was 25, the first gig was rough, then the next two were good, I thought I was getting the idea then I bombed again.

“Afterwards, one of the more experienced comedians came up and said – don’t worry it’ll probably take you five years to get the hang of it”.

So, who was his inspiration? “My family definitely, all of them are funny. But then probably Richard Pryor; I saved up about £90 I think for a CD box set of his career, from when he was starting out very much in the Bill Cosby mould to when he had created an identity of his own.”

What can audiences expect from Sam’s show? He tells me it was a kind of pseudo-sequel to the book, covering the twins so far. It’s an old chestnut but I wondered if he had struggled to tell them apart? Initially he had been saved the embarrassment, as he tells me…

“When they were born it was actually easy because one of them had to have an operation so had pipes and then a scar. Now they are three years old and most of the time I can get it right, but if I get it wrong, they happily correct me.”

Was writing the blog something that helped him through the lows of that first stint of parenthood?

“I really did find it useful because through doing it not only was I able to pick up good advice, but it helped me realise I wasn’t the only person going through these things.

“Perhaps what was the nicest thing was that some people rather than giving advice were getting the same strength and support that I got, and they said it was really useful for them.”

  For your chance to hear Sam’s tales of bringing up the twins, he is at the West End Centre on Thursday, 28th February. For details visit www.hampshire culturaltrust.org.uk/west-end-centre

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Grape expectations: Albury Vineyard

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Enjoy a wine time at Albury Vineyard and take a bit of the vine home with you.

If your passion for wine goes beyond just enjoying a glass or two then how about taking a bit of a vineyard home with you?

Albury Vineyard in the beautiful Surrey Hills produces organic English wines without the use of chemicals under the watchful eye of owner Nick Wenman and vineyard manager Alex.

Join Alex, one of the few female vineyard managers in England, for an informative and insightful pruning demonstration on Saturday, 16th February, have a go yourself and then take a bit of Albury Vineyard home with you in the form of a vine cutting and who knows where that could lead…

Find out about what goes into planting and maintaining a vine to produce the perfect wine such as the still rosé and the sparkling whites at Albury. The vines are the traditional Champagne varietals of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, as well as some Pinot Gris and Seyval.

Nick planted the vineyard in 2009 having retired from the IT industry to fulfil his dream of owning a vineyard and believes the commitment to organic production together with the winemakers themselves are the key to their success.

The vineyard is situated on the southern slopes of the North Downs, just outside Guildford.

Tickets include a glass of Albury Estate Sparkling Wine to enjoy after the demonstration.

For more information about the vineyard go to www.alburyvineyard.com and to book tickets go to www.eventbrite.com

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