9 minute read
Frome Open Art Trail
FROME OPEN ART TRAIL 3-11 JULY
Over a number of years the Frome Open Art Trail (which runs alongside Frome Festival) has grown in strength and reputation attracting many visitors who enjoy meeting and buying direct. Artists and makers show a diverse range of beautiful arts and crafts, exhibiting from studios, homes and venues. There is affordable art including ceramics, paintings, textiles, photography, glass, and jewellery.
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Frome supports student, emerging, self-employed and professional artists – many of whom seriously struggled financially through the pandemic. The 2021 brochure has been distributed in Frome and its surrounds and can also be accessed via the website. It gives details of the artists taking part, with images, contact details and links.
The distinctive Art Trail logo is inspired by the Art Nouveau lamps around Frome. Their ornate pattern is a design by the Cockey family, who began by casting church bells in 1685. Frome had street gas lighting as early as 1831. The Listed lamps are unique to Frome’s rich history.
Follow the trail on social media @fromeopenarttrail or email fromeopenarttrail@gmail.com.
• frome-open-art-trail.co.uk
Kate Cochrane’s Aspens by the Coly
HILLY HELMET CHALLENGE RETURNS!
After a year away, the awardwinning Hilly Helmet Challenge running event returns to Westburys’ Leighton Recreation centre on Wednesday 11 August. The scenic route heads out through a quiet lane before climbing up a bridleway to the Imber Range Path. Participants follow public rights of way offering spectacular views across Westbury and beyond towards the Avon Valley before looping back under an imposing avenue of Beech trees and dropping back down the bridleway to head back to the finish at the recreation centre where a warm supporting atmosphere (and unique pottery memento) greets every finisher.
The 4(ish) mile event was created by Robin-Mark Schols based on his experience of having to wear a safety helmet for a year after suffering a brain infection following a brain tumour removal. It is held to raise funds for a Brain Tumour Support charity, selling out each year it has been held and raising over £15,000 along the way. During a tough year for everyone last year, the charity looked set to miss out on the annual fundraiser until Robin was able to convert the event so participants were offered the chance to take part virtually.
Robin successfully gained support for event expenses from local businesses, most of whom have remained loyal to the event each year it has been held, along with many of those who take part. As well as prizes to first man and first woman there is a special prize awarded to the participant wearing the best helmet (in the opinion of the judges)! If you’re up for the challenge and can design some creative headgear, they’d love to see you this year.
Entry is available online and on the night but be warned, this event sells out fast, so don’t delay and sign up today to help Brain Tumour Support.
• www.entrycentral.com/ thehillyhelmetchallenge
The Hilly Helmet raises funds for Brain Tumour Support
Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary
Saving stray & unwanted dogs since 1958
Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary is a small independent animal rescue organisation. We are a non-destruction sanctuary for abandoned and unwanted dogs.
Our dogs are all vet checked, vaccinated, wormed, neutered (if old enough), chipped, and looking for loving new homes OPEN DAILY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
(Office Hours: 10:00-12:30 & 14:00-16:30)
Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary, Priory Rd, Ascot, Berks SL5 8RJ 01344 882689 | pineridgedogs@yahoo.co.uk
Registered Charity Number 256728
A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS FOR TROWBRIDGE MUSEUM
Trowbridge Museum closed in July 2018, making way for the ‘Onwards and Upwards’ project, the fantastic renovation and expansion of the museum supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Trowbridge Town Council, The Friends of Trowbridge Museum and others. The museum has now doubled in size by expanding up into the empty floor of Grade II listed ‘Home Mills’, above the original museum’s footprint.
The new museum tells the story of Trowbridge, and reveals the heritage of its residents through new displays featuring never before seen objects and interactive activities for all ages. In 2019 the redevelopment journey started with designers Smith and Jones, and architects, Architecton to bring Salter’s Home Mills back to life. The museum team have since watched on as Beard Construction made their plans a reality. They have uncovered original gnarled brickwork that has survived mill fires, and sympathetically restored the mill windows, which have flooded the space with light and made way for the innovative displays.
At the heart of the redevelopment is the newly built Learning Hub, which will enable the Learning and Outreach team to continue their outreach work within the Trowbridge community. They will develop their work with schools, the Lifelong Learning programme, hold history and craft workshops, as well as history talks. With its improved facilities and larger space, the team will be able to increase their programme and reach even more of the community. The Hub will also serve as a meeting space, available for hire to the public.
The museum is also now the home of a brand new Research Library. The library will host over 1700 books, relating to the social history of Trowbridge and the development of the woollen cloth industry in the area. A unique resource that alongside an online database on the museum website, will ensure that the town and wider region’s heritage is available to everyone.
From Saturday 22 May the museum has been open for visitors to return and discover the new museum, as well as explore the brand new exhibition space and shop featuring Trowbridge Museum products, history and craft books, and a fantastic range of gifts.
FATHER’S DAY FUN AT DRIVE-TECH
Drive-Tech Ltd are Skid Control, Karting and 4x4 Off Road experts. Based at Castle Combe Circuit (within easy reach of the M4 & M5) their ultimate driving experiences will help you build individual skills, increase your confidence, improve your personal safety, raise your awareness and provide white knuckle tension, all at the same time!
Any motorsport fan would love pushing their driving skills to new limits and there are options for everyone aged 10 and over – perfect for entertaining the kids during the school break, but with Father’s Day coming up, a great gift too. Their gift vouchers, starting at just £40, are open dated and valid for 18 months. A great option for dads is a 4x4 Off Road Driving Course (starting at £149). You will drive a Land Rover Discovery and their highly skilled experts will show you just what these 4×4 vehicles are capable of. They will teach you how to tackle obstacles that would be impossible for any normal vehicle guaranteeing you a thrilling off-road adventure!
For more details see the website or call their team on 01249 783010.
STUDENT STORIES
FIONA TURNBULL from Lacock Photography tells us more about former pupil, and soon to be tutor, Jane Wiltshire.
Having run Lacock Photography for nearly a decade, we’ve had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people over the years.
Thousands of students have passed through our doors, coming to us for a myriad of reasons; some looking to get to grips with a new camera, others wanting to improve their photography for an upcoming holiday or are keen for a unique day out in a beautiful place like Lacock.
Occasionally a student’s interest transcends that of a hobbyist and a
Lacock Photography workshop is a stepping stone towards becoming a professional photographer. This is a particularly rewarding part of running our training school and we take great pride in helping individuals achieve their ambitions. One such student was Jane Wiltshire, now Jane Wiltshire
CPAGB, BPE1, whose remarkable eye for aesthetics, bolstered by her early interest in film photography and successful career as a graphic designer, gave her all the attributes necessary to become not only a great photographer, but a visual artist with a distinctive voice.
During lockdown, Jane, like many of us, had the luxury of spending more time than usual in her garden. Inspired by the wildlife, Jane invested in a pop-up hide and embarked on an intriguing photography project: combining still lifes of manmade objects like colourful glass vases and hand painted backdrops juxtaposed with images of the garden birds. Jane applied her expert graphic design skills and understanding of colour to make her kingfishers, blue tits and chaffinches appear perfectly at home in their unreal settings. The beautifully surreal photographs soon captured the imagination of her social media following, and Jane is now selling prints and greetings cards on her Etsy shop ‘Still Life Through a Lens’ (@ stilllifethrualens), which is well worth a visit! world and she has featured in Amateur Photographer magazine, Cotswold Life, and won several awards including Bath Architecture Photographer of the Year in 2018 in the ‘After the Georgians’ category and a still life competition for Digital Camera magazine. Returning to Lacock Photography as a photography tutor, we are so looking forward to her brand new still life workshop, the first of which is taking place this September. If you’d like to see more of Jane’s work, please check out her Instagram at @stilllifethroughalens and for more information about her still life workshop please visit our website.
Jane's surreal photographs are available to buy on her Etsy shop
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