Wow Oct 2013

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CONTENTS 5 WELCOME 6 CREATIVE RIVERSIDE HUB 7 NEWS 8 IDEAS TEST: CREATIVE PEOPLE AND PLACES SWALE & MEDWAY 10 ROCHESTER PICTURE PALACE

12 MAIN FEATURE: CHATHAM INTRA 14 FILM 16 MUSIC 18 THEATRE & COMEDY 20 VISUAL ART 22 THE BOWERHOUSE

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EDITORIAL: editor@wowkent.co.uk 0845 388 2243 (local rate from BT landlines) FREE LISTINGS: listings@wowkent.co.uk ADVERTISING: advertising@wowkent.co.uk New advertiser & excellent series booking discounts available to all. All ads also appear in the online edition at wowkent.co.uk DESIGN: A Stones Throw astonesthrowdesign.co.uk PRINTING: The Colour Factory Ltd, Sittingbourne, 01795 470 825, www.colour-factory.com PUBLISHER: Emma Dewhurst Current print circulation: 6000 copies Distribution: Medway Towns, Maidstone & Gravesend Copy/listings deadline for November issue: Monday 21 September

WELCOME TO WOW Your guide to the best of What’s On Where Medway, Maidstone and the accessible beyond The magazine is bursting with news of new ventures this month!

Rochester is to have its very own cinema again with the re-opening of the Rochester Picture Palace (see p10); Richard Watts Charities launch a new competition featuring the fascinating area known as Chatham Intra (centre pages); Rochester Literature Festival’s ten day wordfest swings into action on 3 October and over in Maidstone The Bowerhouse is creating quite a stir with its new music and performance space in a converted barn (see p 22).

©WOW Kent magazine All rights reserved. While every effort has been made to ensure that details in this publication are correct, we cannot accept responsibility for such.

Readers are advised to check information listed, to avoid disappointment.

Views expressed by contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect those of the editor and publisher.

Also this month, Sam Froudist spreads the word about Creative People and Places Swale and Medway’s Ideas Test programme (p8).

This is a unique chance to find support for that idea you have in waiting to enhance the lives of those in your local community: if this is you, please get in touch with the good people of Ideas Test using the special link created just for WOW readers: creativepeopleplace.info/wow.

wowkent.co.uk

Emma Dewhurst editor@wowkent.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS COVER DESIGN: PAUL BAKER PHOTOGRAPH OF THE EDITOR BY RIKARD ÖSTERLUND

AMBASSADORS PLEASE! If you love the magazine please become a WOW ambassador and mention it, especially if you use any of its advertised services, or attend an event because you saw it in the magazine. Thank you.

Find us on Facebook facebook.com/WOWMedway @EmmaDewhurst7 WOW magazine is printed on 100% recycled paper

Robert Flood (Music & Features) is a life-long Medway resident. He runs a Rochester based events company called Feet on the Ground which provides technical support for live events. He is a passionate music fan with a love of the Medway scene and a local history buff who is a member of the City of Rochester Society.

Sam Froudist (Features) is a writer and bunting enthusiast. She co-runs bunted!, a bespoke bunting business, and is a card carrying member of the Rochester Vintage Society. You can find her blogging over at hellosamgoodbyesamantha.com.

David Gutteridge grew up in Rochester. His grandmother was married from a house in Chatham Intra and he has taken an interest in the area since boyhood.

Nick Walker (Film) is the director of the Rochester Film Society, screening contemporary world cinema and classics at various venues around Medway. Nick previously wrote for the Guardian, was director of National Schools Film Week and is currently a freelance writer, teacher and film cinema/festival programmer. For more information on the Rochester Film Society please visit rochesterfilmsociety.co.uk

Situated in the very heart of Chatham Town Centre, this new community initiative by Chatham’s longest-serving arts organisation, Nucleus Arts, aims to bring together the Medway Towns’ vast student population and deliver quality, professional development courses for all.

EMMA DEWHURST talked to Nucleus Arts’ founder, Dalia Halpern-Matthews, about the new initiative The first striking fact about the new Nucleus Arts Creative Riverside Hub at 13 Military Road, Chatham (two doors up from the Post Office) is how short a period of time there was between conception of the idea and its launch day opening. “Three weeks!” says Dalia Halpern-Matthews proudly, crediting in particular the combination of her own drive with that of exRochester Coffee Company boss Aaron Telford, who has single-handedly revived the charity’s lovely but previously quiet café off Chatham High Street over the course of the past year.

NUCLEUS ARTS

CREATIVE RIVERSIDE HUB They spoke to the five Universities whose combined total of 17,000 students inhabit the Medway Towns and found a groundswell of support for the idea of a creative hub where all students could meet, work, learn and socialise. Mid-Kent College, University for the Creative Arts, University of Kent and the Universities of Greenwich and Christchurch have all embraced the concept, lending support in kind together with backing from Medway Council, Chatham Town Team and Nucleus Arts to make the idea a reality.

Ranged over five floors, the hub offers a hang-out coffee shop, free wifi, performing arts rehearsal spaces, free computer access to students (currently two PCs, which are to be replaced by Macs in due course), and hopes to act as a signpost to students seeking a creative path.

To that end, the Hub will be offering creative professional development courses of a practical nature, such as art curation and proofreading and it is hoped that the Universities themselves will use the building’s substantial spaces to run courses which will benefit all students, not just those from their own campus.

On the retail front, a pop-up village of useful shop pods is the idea. To that end, arts event provider Creatabot’s Natasha Steer is curating an Urban Art retail pod, as is Dover Books, who specialise in royalty free image books. A selection of their books will be available from the pod direct, with a discount for students and a specialised ordering service.

Upstairs there is plenty of break-out space, room for performing arts rehearsals and band practice and space for a number of creative startups to base their business. In the first instance, the Creative Riverside Hub will be open until the end of December. Go for breakfast from 7am, or have a coffee after hours: the Hub closes at 8pm.

There is good news for Maidstone, too: news about Chatham’s Creative Riverside Hub has spread fast, and Maidstone Council, together with Maidstone’s very proactive Town Team, have asked Nucleus Arts to develop a similar Creative Hub for the Maidstone public, open to all. This will be based a couple of doors down from Nucleus Arts’ Gabriel Hill Shop and Gallery at 7-8 Granada House. If all goes to plan Maidstone’s Hub will open in a month or so.

Nucleus Arts Creative Riverside Hub is at 13 Military Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4JG. Opening hours: 7am-8pm. Tel: 01634 812108. facebook.com/nucleusriversidehub

What if?

Creative Writing Workshop led by award-winning writer Philip Kane, back by popular demand.

Saturday 26 October 9.30am – 12.30pm Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre Tickets: £5, booking essential: 01634 332714

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOMETOWN! The quilters’ paradise is five this month. To celebrate, Hometown is running a series of competitions, extra special offers and has a brand new course list out covering all manner of know-how, from beginners’ quiltmaking, knitting and crochet to more advanced patchwork techniques.

Pick one up at Hometown, 62 High Street, Rochester ME1 1JY. Tel: 01634 838880

THE BIG DRAW MAIDSTONE

On Saturday 19 October, Stepping Stone Studios will be participating in this nationwide event. You can drop in and add your vision of what Maidstone will look like in the future to the walls.

Coast

IS THIS YEARS THEME

Kent’S CoastalWeek 26 Oct – 3 Nov

Medway Swale Estuary Partnership has paired up with Light Vessel 21 (LV21) to produce a number of fun events for Kent’s Coastal Week, with further workshops and taking place on the Isle of Sheppey.

LV21 highlights include: Tides of Change Exhibition, Mon 28 Oct – Sat 2 Nov, 11am - 4pm.

Free drop-in family art workshops all week (under 16s must be accompanied). LV21 is at Gillingham Pier, ME7 1RX On the Isle of Sheppey: “Blue Town Sheppey” - local history walk along the coastline. Sat 26 Oct 11am, free.

Meet your guide at Blue Town Heritage Centre, 69 High St, Sheerness ME12 1RW Film screening at Blue Town Heritage Centre’s lovingly restored Criterion Music Hall: ‘Beowulf & Grendel’(2005, Cert 15), Sat 26 Oct 2pm.

Family Day at Sheppey Mill, Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, ME12 4AA. Wed 30 Oct 11am-3pm. Drop in kent.gov.uk/coastalweek lv21.co.uk bluetownheritagecentre.com

Students of local University for the Creative Arts, Maidstone will lead the drawing event, with the aim to encourage the general public to exercise their creative muscles. The studio walls will start the day as a big blank canvas and you are needed to fill them full of futuristic visions! The cafe will open at 11am with food and drink available to buy throughout the event. campaignfordrawing.org 7

GOT A CREATIVE IDEA? TEST IT! SAM FROUDIST INVESTIGATES THE ‘IDEAS TEST’ PROGRAMME AND DISCOVERS THAT THERE IS A GREAT DEAL GOING ON IN SWALE AND MEDWAY TO UNDERPIN AND ENHANCE OUR CORNER OF THE WORLD FOR YEARS TO COME

Ideas Test is a three year action research programme led by representatives from Swale & Medway’s community, voluntary and creative sector, aiming to develop our cultural landscape by increasing the capacity of local arts projects to reach out to a whole new audience. Awarding three types of grants from a pot of £1.47 million of Arts Council England investment as part of the national Creative People and Places programme, this new initiative is finding out how funding can be used to support the residents of Swale and Medway to work together better, more effectively and more creatively.

Funded by Arts Council England, and seen by many as a refreshing new approach to regional engagement with the arts, Ideas Test is clearly distinctive from traditional arts funding pots by having community-led experimentation at its core.

Stephanie Fuller, Creative Enabler for Ideas Test, says that the programme “flips the standard method of funding around, to a demand-led model. We want to know what is already happening [in Swale and Medway], and what the starting points already are, so we can understand how to share these better with a wider group”.

To date, Ideas Test has made a total of 16 awards under three separate strands: Small Experiments, Out of the Ordinary and Community Catalysts, with the second round of awards soon to be released. Projects that were successful in the first round of funding have demonstrated engagement with an audience that don’t regularly participate in the arts, and aim to spark a longer term connection with local happenings: a key outcome for the programme.

THIS FEATURE IS SPONSORED BY CREATIVE PEOPLE AND PLACES SWALE & MEDWAY

A Community Catalyst grant of £5,000 has been awarded to musician Tania Holland Williams to create Davy Jones’ Locker, a programme of live classical music events to be delivered - literally - straight into peoples’ homes. Holland Williams explains: “I’ve often met people who are anxious about attending contemporary classical concerts - they feel they might not know what is going on... and worst of all, they might not be able to escape! I [hope] that my living room hosts and their audience of neighbours and friends will generate a real sense of excitement and good natured gossip about contemporary music making and that this act of neighbourliness will encourage people to share more cultural encounters on a very local level.”

With events such as this set to happen, and the Love Sheppey X art fair and Sheep for Sheppey as part of the Promenade Festival having already taken place, October sees many of the projects from this first round of funding come into fruition. Medway’s favourite experimental sound band Hand of Stabs’ final two shows in their Month of Sundays tour take place in October (see right), presented by the Medway Swale Estuary Partnership.

Photographer Rikard Österlund also winds up his first round of collaborative portraits with goths as part of his investigation into how subcultures allow teens and young adults to assert themselves.

Ideas Test envisions that in ten years Swale and Medway will be known as creative hotspots where demand for quality arts activities is consistently high, and wants to facilitate that development. The programme aims to increase regular arts participation, (defined as three or more times a year per person), and change attitudes about what ‘the arts’ are and who they are for. As a research project in and of itself, Ideas Test aims to quantify this participation and incorporate national statistics, socioeconomic profiles and cultural asset data into a useful Audit Report which will be made available online.

Carl Jeffrey, who has been involved with the project since its 2011 bid, hopes that tangible information such as this will enable communities to tailor their experiments specifically to their neighbourhoods and target audience, and to know with some certainty whether their project is suitable for the area. “It’s not just about providing funding,” Carl tells me, but “creating a solid foundation to build new [arts] activities upon in the future”.

By providing funds to minimise the financial risk attached to creative projects, and developing resources like the

audit which provide benefits over a longer timeframe, Ideas Test will undoubtedly help sectors beyond the arts, and encourage partnerships with arts organisations that may not otherwise have been able to take place. They’re keen to support projects that connect with health and voluntary groups, especially those who might not have considered arts activities in the past, and if you would like to discuss this with the team you’re encouraged to make contact.

Ideas Test is an acknowledgement of the fact that Swale and Medway already have masses going on culturally, but that a little targeted intervention might not go amiss to make creativity a truly natural and sustainable part of our communities.

For more information about Ideas Test and to signup for regular updates, head over to http:// creativepeopleplace.info/wow and pin point yourself on their map!

Hand of Stabs - Final Shows, Month of Sundays Tour Sunday 6 October, meet at car park at 1.30pm Oare Gunpowder Works, Nr Faversham, ME13 7UD. Outdoor performance. Free.

Sunday 13 October, 2pm St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Harty Ferry Road, Harty, Sheppey. Nearest Postcode ME12 4BQ (The Ferry House Inn). Free Rikard Österlund - Black No 1 Project Free photography workshop and portrait sessions open to Medway and Swale residents aged 16-21 Thursday 10 October, 6pm 351 High St, Rochester More info at facebook.com/collaborativeportraits or email info@rikard.co.uk Christopher Sacre - Family Fun Workshop Workshops for deaf families with children making monsters and tackling outer space. Sunday 27 October & Sunday 17 November Nucleus Arts, Chatham 2-4pm River Voice Community Chorus Marketing and Fundraising Workshops For community and voluntary groups Saturday 12 and 26 October St George’s Centre, Chatham. Free Email t.s.gummer2@hotmail.co.uk for more info To sign up for the Ideas Test newsletter go to: creativepeopleplace.info/wow

9

THE ROCHESTER PICTURE PALACE ROCHESTER FILM SOCIETY PRESENTS… October heralds a terrific new development for local film lovers with a reincarnation of The ROCHESTER PICTURE PALACE So, those waiting for a cinema in Rochester need wait no more: the Rochester Film Society is opening, or rather reopening, The Rochester Picture Palace in the Princes Hall at Rochester’s Corn Exchange on October 15 2013, some 103 years to the month since its first incarnation in 1910.

The Royal Canadian Picture Company operated out of the Corn Exchange, screening as the local newspaper reported, “a full picture programme, showing all the latest subjects”, until 1924. Tickets were priced at 2d, 4d and 6d!

Other early cinemas in the area included the Gem and the Invicta in Strood and later the grandly titled Cinema de Luxe in Chatham. Later great palaces such as the Ritz, the Gaumont or the Regent cinemas were built and subsequently demolished, however a cinema in Rochester is a rarity.

After the original Picture Palace closed in 1924 Rochester didn’t actually possess a cinema until the Art Deco style Majestic, which opened in the High Street on 15 April 1935. This of course became the Gaumont in 1950, before the Rank Organisation renamed it the Odeon in 1962, sadly closing its doors in October 1981: it stood empty and unused until early 1987, when it was demolished to make way for flats.

One film particularly popular at the Palace was the 1921 film ‘The Road Demon’, a “thrilling speedy comedy of western life” starring Tom Mix, often to be found playing a cowboy and sporting surely the largest hat in the history of cinema. The new Rochester Picture Palace will be screening a rich mixture of contemporary World, American and British Independent films, opening with ‘Renoir’ a French period drama that looks at painter father Auguste and filmmaker son Jean just after WWI. The first season also includes Ken Loach’s documentary about the health service, ‘The Spirit of ’45’, the Danish drama ‘A Hijacking’, (which stars a plethora of stars from the television drama ‘Borgen’), Claude Miller’s French period drama ‘Thérèse Desqueroux’ starring Audrey Tautou

(‘Amelie’), Abbas Kiarostami’s beautiful love story ‘Like Someone in Love’ and Olivier Assayas’ look at the radical politics of Paris in 1968, ‘Something in the Air’.

It is a great opportunity to see films locally that were previously unscreened here in Medway, rather than having to travel to Canterbury or London.

The Rochester Film Society has been showing films in and around Medway for five years: there is always a film introduction and a post-screening discussion, giving the audience an opportunity to discuss the film and hear others’ views, over a drink. This format will be repeated at the Picture Palace with refreshments available at the venue for customers before and after the screening.

Local filmmakers’ work will also be screened, with a short film being shown before each feature.

Tuesdays will never be the same…

RENOIR

TUESDAY 15 OCTOBER AT 7.30PM This sun-soaked period drama is set on the beautiful French Riviera in the summer of 1915, as Jean Renoir returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. The estate offers shelter from the horrors of WWI; its pastel and beautiful look matching one of Renoir’s Impressionist canvases.

Writer/director Gilles Bourdos used Jacques Renoir’s (great-grandson of Pierre-Auguste) tale of 15 year old Andrée Heuschling, a sprightly girl with flaming red hair and porcelain skin who was the last model of Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the first actor in the films made by his son, film director Jean Renoir, to fashion a splendid period drama.

Veteran actor Michel Bouquet as the arthritic Auguste and young Vincent Rottiers as war-wounded Jean both give outstanding performances, while the dialogue and cinematography allow the audience literally to soak up the atmosphere as Taiwanese cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing and composer Alexandre Desplat add to this sumptuous piece. A very traditional, old-fashioned picture with a gentle, observational quality, this is a lovely story and a lovely film.

A HIJACKING

TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER AT 7.30PM

Writer/director Tobias Lindholm has utilized the talent currently operating out of Denmark that audiences familiar with great television programmes screened on BBC4 such as ‘Borgen’ (where he wrote many episodes), ‘The Killing’ and ‘The Bridge’ will recognise.

Pilou Asbæk, who was named as one of European films’ Shooting Stars by European Film Promotion (we here in the UK know him as press agent Kasper Juul in ‘Borgen’) is one of the crew-members of a Danish cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates. Dar Salim is also a veteran of ‘Borgen’, while Soren Malling was Sarah Lund’s co-detective in the second series of ‘The Killing’ and appeared in ‘The Hunt’, which was also written by Lindholm.

The escalating negotiations between the pirates on board ship and authorities in Copenhagen are unnerving and tense as this long-distance tension is wracked up and then let loose to be gut-wrenching and playful in equal measure.

Ultimately, time is the key factor as negotiations drag on and on, with characters displaying various emotions and strengths and weaknesses in the more than trying conditions of the brutal ordeal. This powerful and intensely watchable hostage-negotiation drama is claustrophobic and moving – a really smart and compelling film.

Nick Walker Rochester Picture Palace is at the Princes Hall, Corn Exchange (High Street entrance) Rochester ME1 1LX. Screenings take place at 7.30pm every Tuesday evening from 15 October.

For more information please visit rochesterfilmsociety.co.uk 11

CHATHAM

INTRA IS A LITTLE KNOWN RIVERSIDE AREA WITH A FASCINATING PAST

LATELY, THE AREA HAS UNDERGONE SOMETHING OF A RE-INVENTION: CHATHAM INTRA IS HOME TO A GROWING COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS AND CREATIVE BUSINESSES AND THE THEME OF A BRAND NEW ART COMPETITION DAVID GUTTERIDGE gives us an insight into the area’s rich history In the 1830s Rochester formally absorbed a community known as Chatham Intra. It was immediately east of the end of St Margaret’s Banks (roughly where the railway bridge crosses Rochester High Street) and as far as the old Chapel of St Bartholomew.

The Norman architect-bishop Gundulph had established it as a place of refuge, first for the lepers in 1077 and later the Jews no longer allowed to live within the city walls settled beside the leper hospital’s hedge. In those days Chatham was a hamlet north of the Brook (the Bourne River), and the old Roman Road skirted around the bottom of the meander as it approached Rochester’s east gate. The lepers were brought to the Hospital by boat and landed at a jetty almost where Ship Pier is now and they had a special place to cross The King’s Highway into their enclosure. The site of the Sir John Hawkins Almshouses opposite the Chapel was where the monks caught fish in kettle nets for the lepers. And so things were from 1078 to 1541, when the leper hospital lost its income from St Andrew’s priory beside the cathedral in the dissolution of the monasteries.

By 1585 John Hawkins, the Treasurer and then Controller of the Royal Navy, owned much of the land between Foundry Wharf and Medway Street, between the main road and the water. So it became the place where

warehouses were built to hold supplies for the navy’s ships. By the 17th and 18th century the Victualling Office and the limehouse were staffed by large numbers of people. Produce came down the Medway by barge, into warehouses and then supplies were rowed to ships at anchor in Chatham Reach. Eventually Naval Stores moved into the rebuilt and extended Georgian Dockyard. By then the waterfront of Chatham Intra was busy with light industries, wharfing, a brewery, chandlers, and ship repairs.

Wander down into Foundry Wharf, Cooks Wharf, Ship Lane, Hulkes Lane and Boundary Wharf to see the variety of old and new buildings. Venture through the latched gate beside the synagogue and tread the old leper-path into the burial ground to get a view of the “white castle” which was built as a folly at the end of the ornamental garden opposite 351 High Street and which has served as brewery water tower and hospital mortuary. Go into Bingley Road to see the little St Bartholomew’s Terrace cottages facing unusual back entrances to High Street buildings or climb up to New Road, pass the 1863 hospital, and watch the roofscapes hide themselves as you walk down the winding Gundulph Road back to the High Street.

Our river bank is now mainly silted up with decaying broken dinghies and small craft beside rusting metal barges, but see - there is a small community living on the boats and tugs here. Try the waterfront path behind the Anchorage House tax office for a vantage point, or the riverside walk behind the UCA flats at Doust Way. The occasional appearances now of the Edith May sailing barge remind us how the Medway once was thronged by trading vessels under those distinctive maroon sails.

DON’T MISS! Medway Fine Printmakers MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD (Día de los Muertos) festival Boundary Wharf, behind 375 High Street, Rochester ME1 1DA

Drop-in from 1pm-10pm on Fri 1 Nov & from 1pm to 7pm on Sat 2 Nov. Fun activities for all ages to make masks, jewellery, lanterns and shrines. Free/up to £5.

CHATHAM INTRA’S ARTIST COMMUNITY Mark Barnes: illustrator and designer. markbarnesillustration.com Ceem Studio: Wooden artworks and woodwork courses. ceemstudio.co.uk Coal Shed Press: Following a happy merger with Printed Wonders studio to form Medway Fine Printmakers (see below), the Coal Shed Press is re-inventing itself as a publishing press producing small editions of prints, artists books and various ephemera. coalshedpress.co.uk Wendy Daws: Rochester based visual artist who has recently completed a commission from Rochester Cathedral to create a tactile interpretation of the Baptismal Fresco by Sergei Fyodorov. wendydaws.co.uk Medway Fine Printmakers (find them behind the splendid Café Moroc) A collaboration between Adam Piper’s Coal Shed Press and Xtina Lamb’s Printed Wonders, this is an artist-run print studio comprising screen printing, relief, intaglio, offset, letterpress and textile printing facilities, with open access and courses. medwayfineprintmakers.co.uk Jatin Patel: fashion designer for British fasion label Kalika’s Armour. kalikasarmour.com Jane Pitt: artist specialising in sound works and interactive installations in public spaces janepitt.co.uk Vineta Sayer: Equestrian artist. equestrianartuk.com/artists/vineta-sayer-ma

i RICHARD WATTS CHARITIES ART COMPETITION Richard Watts Charities are launching a brand new art competition this month, with the theme of ‘Chatham Intra & Lesser Known Chatham’.

The competition is open to all over 16 years and prizes range from £1000 for first place down to £500 and £250 for second and third places. All entries, regardless of whether or not they are short-listed, will be considered for purchase by Richard Watts Charities to be displayed in their various residential properties in the area. In addition to the cash prizes RWC will be holding an exhibition of short-listed work at Nucleus Gallery in Chatham for two weeks from 4 - 17 April 2014.

Chatham Intra’s rich history is documented in brick and flint and mortar and stone. There is much for entrants to choose from: perhaps a building such as the red brick cottage in Cooks Wharf; or the “white castle”, the weatherboarded back of Café Moroc; or the bonded warehouse where Jatin Patel produces fashion items for Kalika's Amour; or the X-Pilot tug, a waterman's home which is extensively used for filming from the river. Equally, entrants might like to share their discovery of a lesser known corner of Chatham.

All entries should be submitted electronically by the closing date of Friday 28 February, by 1pm. There will be a £10 fee per entry and a limit of three entries per person.

Full details and an application form can be found at www.richardwatts.org.uk or email fleur.boyce@ richardwatts.org.uk, telephone 01634 842194.

Richard Watts Charities Well-known in Rochester for the Poor Travellers’ House in the High Street and for the beautiful almshouses found at various sites in the town, Richard Watts Charities also makes grants to help the needy in Rochester and urban Strood. Less known is the Charities’ presence in Chatham, where it owns a great deal of commercial and residential rental property. It is for the common areas of these properties that some of the artworks entered into the competition will be bought.

FILM THE BOWERHOUSE 20 Warwick Place, Maidstone ME16 8SE

Part of the SHIFT exhibition (see p22) £5 includes popcorn and a drink.

For booking see website or email events@makingart-work.co.uk A COMPANY OF WOLVES (18) 1984 Fri 25 Oct Doors 7pm for 7.30pm Dir: Neil Jordan Cast: Angela Lansbury, Sarah Patterson, Graham Crowden, Brian Glover. Famous reinterpretation of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ adapted by Angela Carter. makingart-work.co.uk CRITERION MUSIC HALL

Blue Town Heritage Centre, 69 High St Sheerness ME12 1RW 01795 662981

Screening is FREE; entrance to centre: £1 BEOWULF & GRENDEL (15) 2005 Oct 26 Oct 2pm Dir: Sturla Gunnarrson Cast: Hringur Ingvarsson, Spencer Wilding, Stellan Skarsgård. Based on epic Anglo Saxon poem. bluetownheritagecentre.com MAIDSTONE FILM SOCIETY: NEW SEASON

Hazlitt Theatre, Earl Street, Maidstone ME14 1PL 01622 753922

A diverse range of world cinema.

Licensed bar. Fixed rate parking in Fremlin Walk after 7pm. Yearly subscription rates: Adult £24; Couples £42; Senior/Student £19; Guest per film £3.50.

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (15) 2012 Mon 14 Oct 8pm Dir: Peter Strickland Cast: Toby Jones, Antonio Mancino, Guido Adorni, Susanna Cappellaro. A sound engineer is asked to work on an Italian horror with unsettling results.

92 mins maidstone-film-society.org.uk MEDWAY FILM SOCIETY The Brook, Old Town Hall, Chatham ME4 4SE

MFS project 16mm prints: main feature supported by an intriguing short. Members’ season tickets available. Non-members welcome at £6.50 per screening (concessions £5.50).

Full details on website, tel 020 7638 0012 or email medwayfilm@tiscali.co.uk THE OTHER SIDE [Die andere Seite] 1931 Fri 25 Oct 7.45pm Dir: Heinz Paul Cast: Conrad Veidt, Theodor Loos, Friedrich Ettel, Viktor de Kowa Powerfully eloquent anti-war statement based on R C Sherriff’s classic WW1 play ‘Journey’s End’.

100 mins, b/w With LEONARDO’S DIARY (Czech) 1972 medwayfilm.org.uk ROCHESTER FILM SOCIETY Rochester Film Society screens contemporary world cinema and classics at a number of venues in Medway. There is always an introduction to the screening followed by a post-film discussion over a glass of wine.

CHATHAM ODEON CINEMA Maritime ME4 4LL 0871 2244 007

Weekly screenings every Thursday at 7.45pm. £9.25 Conc £7.00, student £3.50.

PRISONERS (15 ) 2013 Thu 3 Oct 7.45pm Dir: Denis Villeneuve Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal ABOUT TIME (12A) 2013 Thu 10 Oct 7.45pm Dir: Richard Curtis Cast: Rachel McAdams, Domhnall Gleeson, Bill Nighy. Time travelling romantic comedy.

123 mins

RUSH (15) 2013 Thu 17 Oct 7.45pm Dir: Ron Howard. Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde. Rivalry between Formula One stars James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

123 mins

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (12A) 2013 Thu 31 Oct 7.45pm.

Dir. Joss Whedon. Cast: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof ROCHESTER PICTURE PALACE Princes Hall, Corn Exchange, Rochester ME1 1LS

£7, £5 concession, Students £4 (£5 if you display your RFS ticket from the Odeon Cinema screening of that week) RENOIR (12A) 2012 Tue 15 Oct 7.30pm Dir: Gilles Bourdos. Cast: Michel Bouquet, Christa Theret, Vincent Rottiers. See page 10. 112 mins THE SPIRIT OF ’45 (U) 2013 Tue 22 Oct 7.30pm Dir: Ken Loach Documentary about post WW2 years, followed by panel discussion.

94 mins A HIJACKING (15) 2012 Tue 29 Oct 7.30pm Dir: Tobias Lindholm. Cast: Pilou Asbæk, Søren Malling, Dar Salim.

See page 10. 101 mins rochesterfilmsociety.co.uk SCREEN CLASSICS

Central Theatre, 170 High Street, Chatham ME4 4AS 01634 338338

A monthly celebration of classic cinema on the big screen in association with Rochester Film Society. Introduction to the film and post-film discussion over a free glass of wine hosted by programmer Nick Walker. £7, concs available, includes free drink.

CAT PEOPLE (PG) 1942 Mon 21 Oct, 7.30pm. Dir: Jacques Tourneur. Cast: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith. Classic RKO horror tale. 73 mins CENTRAL THEATRE ‘AFTERNOON TREAT’ Screening of CAT PEOPLE Tue 22 Oct 2.30pm Tickets £4 (includes hot drink and teacake, available in the Sandwich Cellar from 1.30pm) medwayticketslive.co.uk

renew and restore stained glass design and restoration based in rochester: design - creation - repair restoration - installation steve harries - 0779 608 0338 steve.harries@blueyonder.co.uk

Rochester’s friendly Designer Florist Same Day Delivery Funerals & Weddings Unique plants and gifts Online shop at sweetpeaandolive.co.uk Tel: 01634 843024

Dance & Theatre Classes for 2 years + New term starts 3rd September First class FREE with this advert!

Laura Dudman Tel: 07939 241105 www.CaterpillarDanceSchool.co.uk

MUSIC Sponsored listing

MUSIC TO WINE AND DINE TO: AWARD-WINNING 144 CLUB THE ROFFEN 41 New Road, Rochester, ME1 1DX

Wed 9 Oct PETE LONG Lively saxophonist and clarinet player + full band. Doors 7.15pm for reception, meals and bar for 8.15pm start. £13 or £23 for 2 course meal.

Book in advance at 144club.co.uk or pay cash on the door.

SUNDAY LUNCH at LARKFIELD PRIORY RESTAURANT 802 London Road ME20 6HJ

(on A20 next to B&Q – formerly Hamlets). Sun 6 Oct: DIGBY FAIRWEATHER Award-winning trumpeter, radio DJ and published author. Doors 12.45pm for 1.15pm service. Tickets include roast meal, £26 for 2 courses, £30 for 3 courses.

To book 144 Club gigs and see menus, call 01634 365453 or go to 144club.co.uk ALSO: FINCHCOCKS MUSICAL MUSEUM Goudhurst, TN17 1HH

Fri 4 Oct: DUNCAN LAMONT Wonderful veteran saxophonist.

Also, ROAN KEARSEY-LAWSON on vibes, marimba and drums. Doors 7pm,7.30pm (meal), jazz at 8.45pm.

Tickets £10, £15 with supper.

For information and bookings: finchcocks.co.uk or 01580 211702 ANCHORIANS RUGBY CLUB, Darland Avenue, Gillingham ME7 3AN

Fri 18 Oct, 8.30pm: JAZZ: THE DEREK NASH BAND featuring LOUISE MARSHALL on vocals.

Derek Nash leads the saxophone section of the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Tickets £10.

Tel: 01634 365352 or 07544 312743

THE BARGE

63 Layfield Road, Gillingham ME7 2QY 01634 850485

Music starts 9pm, free entry Fri 4 Oct: THE ADAM BARRON TRIO Sat 5 Oct: CRYBABY SPECIAL + RICHARD DE SOUSSA SILVA + SOPHIA ASSER + HANNAH LUCY Wed 9 Oct: ALEX TAYLOR Sat 12 Oct: GLENN BARNES + QUESTION 17 Wed 16 Oct: JUSTIN JOHNSON (USA) Fri 18 Oct: THE LONGTAILS Sat 19 Oct: HOWLIN’ MATT Thu 24 Oct: ACOUSTIC SONG CIRCLE Sat 26: THE BUBBLE BAND thebargepub.co.uk BEACON COURT TAVERN

128 Canterbury Street, Gillingham ME7 4RY 01634 853186

BLACK LION COURTIERS (headline) with support from ROKOKO, THE FLYING ISAACS, SWEET EXPECTATION Sat 5 Oct 8.30pm.

Indie night from Switchback Music Events. Entry £5 (£3 with NUS card) beaconcourttavern.co.uk BROOK THEATRE

Old Town Hall, The Brook, Chatham ME4 4SE 01634 338338

FOLK AT THE BROOK: GORDON GILTRAP & OLIVER WAKEMAN Thu 17 Oct 8pm. £14 medwayticketslive.co.uk

CANTERBURY FESTIVAL Kent’s largest celebration of arts and culture, this year’s Canterbury Festival offers a vast array of music to suit all tastes; theatre performances; walks; talks; workshops and for the very first time a stunning Spiegeltent (1920s tent with mirrors). Go to canterburyfestival.co.uk for the full programme CORN EXCHANGE (The Queen’s Hall) Rochester ME1 1LX

RAINHAM LADIES CHOIR Sat 19 Oct 7.30pm In concert with the UK Paper Band (Sittingbourne). Raffle/ programmes in aid of Medway Autism Group & Information Centre. £10, child £5 (under 12s).

Call 01634 370797 or 613715. rainhamladieschoir.org.uk EDITH MAY THAMES BARGE

Lower Halstow Dock 01634 365343

HUDSON AND CUTLER Fri 25 Oct hatches open 6.45pm, music from 7.30pm. Tickets £8 from edithmay.com PIZZA EXPRESS MUSIC ROOM 32-34 Earl St Maidstone, Kent ME14 1PF 01622 683548

thebowerhouse.info

AN EVENING WITH PAUL DUNTON & GUESTS Thu 17 Oct, doors 7pm, show 8pm. One of the UKs leading unsigned music showcases. The standard is usually high. WOMAN TO WOMAN: BARB JUNGR & MARI WILSON Sat 19 Oct, doors 7pm, show 8pm.Two songstresses of the highest order.

Book online at pizzaexpresslive.co.uk

CENTRAL THEATRE

44TWO SPORTS & SOCIAL CLUB

THE BOWERHOUSE

20 Warwick Place, Maidstone ME16 8SE 01622 763448

JIM MORAY Sat 12 Oct Tickets, doors 7.30pm. See Rob Flood’s article on page 22. Tickets £10 (+ £1 booking fee)from wegottickets.com

170 High Street, Chatham ME4 4AS 01634 338338

LONDON COMMUNITY GOSPEL CHOIR: 30th Anniversary Tour Fri 18 Oct 7.30pm £18.50 medwayticketslive.co.uk

Featherby Road, Gillingham ME8 6AN 01634 405037

Thu 10 Oct 8.30pm: DONN BARCOTT BAND Big band with guest vocals. Raffle & bar. £6 (no membership required)

KENT If you like to sing you’ll LOVE Rock Choir!

Pop, rock and Motown singing for adults with no auditions, and no need to read music.

Rochester, Kings Hill, Maidstone, Gravesend, Rainham/Gillingham Rock Choir also rehearses in many other locations across the UK.

BOOK YOUR FREE TASTER SESSION TODAY www.rockchoir.com T: 01252 714 276 The Rock Choir name and logo are trademarks of Rock Choir Ltd

Ale OCTOBER

Tues 1st Wed 2nd Thurs 3rd Sun 6th Wed 9th Thurs 10th Sun 13th Tues 15th Wed 16th Thurs 17th Sun 20th Wed 23rd Thurs 24th Sun 27th Wed 30th Thurs 31st

Ukulele Jam Louise Jordan The Mercurials Jam Night We Ghosts Stuart Turner Jam Night Quiz Night Porch Swing Blues Howling Mat Jam Night Keith James Jinski Jam Night Gren Bartley Pass The Cat

Scan the code to download FREE Kent Live Music app ANDROID

APPLE

John St, Rochester

tel: 07772 214315 www.themanofkent.com 17

THEATRE BROOK THEATRE

Old Town Hall, Chatham ME4 4SE 01634 338338

DOTTY THE DRAGON Sun 6 Oct 11.30am and 2.30pm Live music, puppets and storytelling for 3-7 year olds. Adults £6, children £5, any four tickets £20 medwayticketslive.co.uk HAZLITT THEATRE

Earl Street, Maidstone ME14 1PL 01622 758611

UNMYTHABLE by Temple Theatre Sat 19 Oct 7pm. Award-winning blend of comedy, cross-dressing, stories and songs. See unmythable. co.uk. £12, concs £10

production directed by Nicholas Hytner starring Siân Phillips, Brigit Forsyth, Selina Cadell and Michael Thomas. £15 to £33, concs available A CHRISTMAS CAROL Tue 29 Oct – Sat 2 Nov, 7.30pm + Thu & Sat mat at 2.30pm. Popular classic from Northern Ballet. £17 to £39.50, concs available. MARLOWE STUDIO: WASTED by performance poet Kate Tempest Wed 30 Oct 8pm. ‘A day glo trip through the parks and raves and cafes of South London’. £12, concs £11. For 14+ years marlowetheatre.com (booking charges applies via internet) ORCHARD THEATRE

Home Gardens, Dartford DA1 1ED 01322 220000

FAMILY ARTS FESTIVAL for under 5s Mon 21-Wed 23 Oct, Mon & Tue 11.30am-1pm; Wed 4.30pm-6pm.

Activities include drama, dance, arts and crafts. £5 per child orchardtheatre.co.uk GULBENKIAN THEATRE University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NB 01227 769075

EXCHANGE STUDIO: FEMALE GOTHIC by Dyad Productions Fri 1 Nov 8pm Stars Rebecca Vaughan (I, Elizabeth). One woman Victorian Gothic. £12, £10 concs available hazlittartscentre.co.uk

PICASSO THROUGH THE EYES OF LEE MILLER & ROLAND PENROSE by their son Antony Penrose. Fri 25 Oct 7pm. £6.50, concs £4.50. kent.ac.uk/gulbenkian

MARLOWE THEATRE

2A Eastern Esplanade Margate CT9 2LB 01843 221791

The Friars, Canterbury CT1 2AS 01227 787787

TOM THUMB THEATRE

WANTON WORDS & BURLESQUE BOMBSHELLS Sat 5 Oct, doors 7.30pm Burlesque, comedy and cabaret with readings of erotic fiction. £10: tickets from tomthumbtheatre.co.uk TWO BOOK LAUNCHES: BEING MRS RICHARD III Sat 5 Oct at 4pm

Horsebridge Community Centre, 11 Horsebridge Road, Whitstable, CT5 1AF

SLAVA’S SNOWSHOW Tue 8-Sat 12 Oct, 7.30pm + Thu & Sat mat at 3.30pm. Charming global phenomenon of a show. For children 8+. £14 to £33, concs available. Alan Bennett’s PEOPLE Tue 22-Sat 26 Oct, 7.30pm + Thu & Sat mat at 2.30pm. National Theatre

Reading, signing & talk by historian Amy Licence. Tickets £7, concs £5 horsebridge-centre.org.uk THE WARRIOR ON THE WALL

by Lin Tidy . Sun 6 Oct 2-5pm Medway Marina Bar, Manor Lane, Rochester ME1 3HS. Book launch & signing, free entry warrioronthewall.com

COMEDY BILLABONG CLUB

Royal Function Rooms, Star Hill, Rochester ME1 1XB

Last Thursday of the month, £12 on door, £9 in advance Also at the Larkfield Priory Hotel, 2nd Friday of the month.

For details of October gigs, please go to billabongcomedyclub.co.uk COMEDY AT THE HAZLITT

Exchange Studio, Earl Street, Maidstone ME14 1PL 01622 758611

PAUL FOOT Wed 16 Oct 7.30pm. £12.50 JEREMY HARDY Tue 22 Oct 7.30pm. £14, £5 for unwaged (from box office only) hazlittartscentre.co.uk JOKING WITH INTENT

The Good Intent, 3 John Street, Rochester ME1 1YL

OPEN MIC COMEDY CLUB First Thursday of the month.

Thu 3 Oct, 8-10pm. Line-up tbc. £2 admission. Find Joking with Intent on Facebook MARLOWE THEATRE STUDIO The Friars, Canterbury CT1 2AS 01227 787787

THE MARLOWE COMEDY CABARET Sat 26 Oct 8.15pm.

Top stand-up and quirky cabaret (includes adult themes & language) £13 marlowetheatre.com (booking charges applies via internet) STEPPING STONE STUDIOS 2 Museum Avenue, Maidstone

THE COMEDY CLUB Every third Friday of the month. £5 in advance, £8 on door. Call 07787 470495 or go to wegottickets.com.

Doors 7pm. Food available. steppingstonestudios.co.uk THE WOODVILLE

Woodville Place, Gravesend DA12 1DD 01474 337774

LAUGHING BOY COMEDY CLUB presents: ROB DEERING, RACHEL PARRIS AND DAN EVANS Thu 31 Oct 8pm. Tickets £12.75 or £18.25 with curry! woodville.co.uk

THU 3 OCT: ME4Writers’ presents POETRYMON. Find poemcards around the Medway Towns! FREE

MON 7 OCT: PLAY:WRITE, The Good Intent, John Street, Rochester 8pm FREE

THU 3 OCT: READING: MAGGIE HARRIS, Rochester Library 7.30pm FREE

TUE 8 OCT: CITY WITHOUT A HEAD Book Launch, Ye Arrow, Rochester High Street 8pm. FREE

SAT 5 OCT: POETRY WORKSHOP THU 10 OCT: WRITE AROUND with Maggie Harris, Strood Library TOWN Creative writing journey 10am FREE with ME4Writers. FREE SAT 5 OCT: A NIGHT AT THE THEATRE, Rochester Visitor Information Centre 7pm.

Tickets £6 SUN 6 OCT: THE SKYWATCHER INVESTIGATION, Rochester High Street from 2pm. Tickets £6

SAT 12 OCT: THE HERO’S JOURNEY: AN EVENING WITH BILL LEWIS Gordon House Hotel, 7.30pm. Tickets £5 SUN 13 OCT: RLF FINAL EVENT: ALICE Royal Function Rooms, Rochester (entrance in Victoria St) from 2pm. FREE

OTHER WORLDS, OTHER SAT 12 OCT: POTLATCH Creative VOICES EXHIBITION at Rochester writing workshop, 161 High Street, Library runs from Sat 5 to 12 Rochester 11am. Tickets £3 October SAT 12 OCT: FROM SORCERY Please note that while most events TO STARSHIPS Sci-fi/fantasy are free, they may still require workshop, 161 High Street. booking.

Tickets £3

VISUAL ART

INTRODUCING THE RALPH STEADMAN SCHOLARSHIP

scenes (see originalportraitart.com and steveorino.co.uk). gilbertandclark.com

NUCLEUS ARTS, MAIDSTONE

CHALK PARISH HALL

Open 10am-5pm Mon-Sat; closed Sundays. Contemporary gallery space.

Lower Higham Road, Chalk, Gravesend DA12 2ND

CHALK PARISH HISTORY GROUP 40th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION Sat 19 Oct 10am-5pm, Sun 20 Oct 10am-4pm. Village photos and memorabilia. Entrance £1 DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE BEST OF… ART COMPETITION You could own a Ralph Steadman original!

A new art competition launched by a happy partnership of WOW magazine, Rochester Independent College and University of Kent School of Arts.

Head Judge: Ralph Steadman Competition Theme: NOW Categories for children (8+) and adults Great prizes, including a framed Ralph Steadman original ‘Thought Sheet’, arts materials vouchers and for one exceptional aspiring artist the chance to win the Ralph Steadman Art & Design Scholarship: a 2 year full scholarship for A Levels to Rochester Independent College OR a bursary of £2000 per year for three years towards their visual arts degree ENTER NOW! Download an application form from wowkent. co.uk or rochester-college.org BELOW 65 GALLERY

Gilbert & Clark Frame & Print 65 High Street, Maidstone ME14 1SR 01622 685146 Free entry

Open 9.30am-4.30pm Mon-Sat BEN DICKSON & STEVE ORINO Tue 1-Thu 31 Oct. Fantastic linocuts

by Ben Dickson and photographic work by Steve Orino. Quirky celebrity portraits to vibrant street

DEAF CAT COFFEE BAR & GALLERY

83 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX

Open all week 9.30am-5pm ROLLING EXHIBITION by local artists, cleverly curated by artist Matt Bray. thedeafcat.com FRANCIS ILES GALLERIES

103 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX

Opens Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm AUTUMN EXHIBITION: RETROSPECTIVE SCARLAND featuring the work of John Scarland plus new works from the Gallery Artists. To 9 November. Free entry.

RESTORATION DAY Sat 19 Oct. Bring in your watercolours and anything on paper only: free consultation by Francis Iles’ highly qualified restorers. THE CHRISTMAS ROOM Opens Sat 19 Oct. francis-iles.com NUCLEUS ARTS

272 High Street, Chatham ME4 4BP

Gallery opens Mon-Sat 10am5.30pm, Sun 11-5.30pm. Free entry ART OF RECOVERY: Various Artists Sat 5 Oct to 1pm on Thu 17 Oct To celebrate World Mental Health Day: work by artists with experience of mental health issues. Preview: Friday 4 Oct 6-8pm, all welcome.

DRAWN: Rebecca Lehmann Sat 19 Oct to 1pm on Thu 31 Oct Beautiful wildlife pencil drawings, pen and ink studies and colourful digital artwork. Preview: Sat 19 Oct 6-8pm, all welcome. nucleus-arts.com NUCLEUS ARTS, ROCHESTER 75 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX

Open 10am-5pm Mon-Sat; Sun 11-5pm Eclectic not-for-profit gallery shop.

2-4 Granada House, Gabriel’s Hill, Maidstone ME15 6JR

NO.1 SMITHERY:

The Gallery, The Historic Dockyard Chatham, ME4 4TZ 01634 823800

Open 10am-6pm. Entrance to gallery included in normal admission: Adults £17.50, Children £11, concs available - gives unlimited return to all Dockyard attractions for one year. FROM SHORE TO SEA: PAINTINGS BY SIR JOHN LAVERY RA Runs to 1 Dec. Evocative paintings depicting WWI from a naval perspective. thedockyard.co.uk ROCHESTER ART GALLERY

Visitor Information Centre, 95 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX

01634 338319 Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10.30am-5pm Free entry ADRIFT ON LIFE’S TIDES: Jessie Brennan A solo exhibition of drawing, video and installation by London-based Brennan, who was commissioned by Medway Council in partnership with Lightship LV21to make site-responsive work exploring the stories of the River Medway.

BIG DRAW WORKSHOP – TIDAL DRAW! Sat 26 Oct 10.30am12.30pm or 1.30pm-3.30pm. Jessie Brennan will lead family drop-in workshops for the Big Draw 2013.

Accompanied children 7+ CRAFT CASE Intriguing artefacts relating to the River Medway’s history donated by local collectors.

RECOMMENDED: UPDOWN GALLERY Satis House, 11 Elms Ave, Ramsgate CT11 9BW 01843 588181

Tue - Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 11-6pm.

Mon by appt. SCHOOL OF PARIS To Fri 25 Oct. A fantastic opportunity to view and buy works by Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Modigliani, Matisse and more made between c19001940. Free entry updowngallery.co.uk

The perfect gift is just around the corner!

21

THE BOWERHOUSE

DO IT YOURSELF

ROB FLOOD INTRODUCES NEW MAIDSTONE VENUE, THE BOWERHOUSE

In recent months, a couple of people had mentioned a new venue in Maidstone that was very much following the DIY ethic. Quietly set up in the spring by Sandy and May Farrell, the Bowerhouse is a not-for-profit music and arts space on Warwick Place, five minutes up the Tonbridge Road from Maidstone West Station.

ALSO AT THE BOWERHOUSE… 17 - 26 OCTOBER 2013 Thursday to Saturday only, 11am-5pm (Free entry) The new exhibition from Making Art Work promises to colonise the Bowerhouse performance space, creating interplay between the artworks and building, encouraging investigation, inquiry and play SAT 19 OCT: ASHA, a live performance and video installation by Korinna McRobert. 6.30-8.30pm, free entry THURSDAY 24 OCT: Late Night Shift, 5-8pm FRI 25 OCt: Film Night: A Company Of Wolves (1984: Cert 18). Doors 7pm for 7.30pm screening. £5 including popcorn and a drink.

Also, a ‘macabre theatrical life drawing workshop’ with Angela Wooi is planned!

Full details and booking: makingart-work.co.uk

Tim Wilkinson

One of my favourite albums from my youth is ‘Dirk Wears White Socks’ by Adam and the Antz. Released in 1979 on DO IT RECORDS, this album is notable as the first ever number one on the UK Independent Records Chart. As a spotty impressionable 13 year old, I found the whole idea of making your own record and releasing it yourself fascinating (I was yet to be introduced to Billy Childish’s Hangman Records). This concept has stuck with me through the years and I’m full of admiration for people who just get on and do things.

As folk music enthusiasts, the Farrells wanted to bring the best of British folk and traditional music, Americana and storytelling to their local area so have converted a barn near their home into a wonderfully intimate candle lit performance space. Since opening, the likes of Martin Carthy, Ewan McLennan and the Emily Portman Trio have graced the stage. All door money goes to the performers and there’s a bar offering the best local ales.

On 12 October, the Bowerhouse welcomes Jim Moray.

Jim is an ace face of the UK folk scene who last year released his fifth album. He’s just celebrated the 10th anniversary of his BBC Folk Award winning debut ‘Sweet England’ and received critical acclaim at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe with ‘The Islanders’, a lo-fi musical that he wrote with his friend and Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos.

Jim is followed at the Bowerhouse on 2 November by storyteller and musician Ursula Holden Gill. You might recognise Ursula from her portrayal of Alice Dingle in Emmerdale but if you see her live show, it’s as a storyteller that you’ll remember her. Influenced by 19th century music hall, folk tradition, good humour and original song, she released her first collection of songs ‘The Handless Maiden’s Daughter’ in May this year.

All Bowerhouse shows begin at 7.30pm and tickets can be reserved on 01622 763448 or at thebowerhouse.info. Capacity is limited so advance booking is recommended. The Bowerhouse, 20 Warwick Place, Maidstone ME16 8SE

RICHARD WATTS CHARITIES

art competition RICHARD WATTS CHARITIES

i Theme: Chatham Intra* and Lesser Known Chatham *the area between the east end of St. Margaret’s Bank, roughly where the railway bridge crosses Rochester High Street, and the Chapel of St. Bartholomew

Entries will be accepted in any 2D medium, including photography

PRIZES: 1ST - £1000 2ND - £500 3RD - £250

All entries will be considered for purchase

by Richard Watts Charities.

In addition to the cash prizes RWC will be holding an exhibition of short-listed work at Nucleus Gallery in Chatham for 2 weeks from 4 - 17 April 2014.

For further details and application form please visit www.richardwatts.org.uk.

Email fleur.boyce@richardwatts.org.uk or telephone 01634 842194 for more information.

Closing date: Friday 28 February 2014.

There is a £10 fee per entry, with a maximum of three entries per person.

23

A major loan from Imperial War Museums A major loan from Imperial War Museums

FROM SHORE TO SEA 1914 -1918 FROM SHORE TO SEA 1914 -1918 PAINTINGS BY SIR JOHN LAVERY R.A. PAINTINGS BY SIR JOHN LAVERY R.A. 15 September - 1 December 2013 | No.1 Smithery: The Gallery 15 September - 1 December 2013 | No.1 Smithery: The Gallery

CL thedockyard.co.uk/lavery CL thedockyard.co.uk/lavery

Main Image: The Entrance, Dover Harbour, 1918, Lavery (Imperial War Museums) Main Image: The Entrance, Dover Harbour, 1918, Lavery (Imperial War Museums)