News & Events
Message from Trust Chairman -
Lord Astor of Hever DL
Rochester Cathedral is a marvellous place – steeped in the history of Kent from Roman times to the present day. It serves not only the Medway towns but also the whole of North and West Kent and even some of suburban London. read more
Newsletter
For up-to-date news
Beacon August & September 2007
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
We are very pleased to present a local actors group, United Players, who are coming to the cathedral to do two performances of “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde on the evenings of the 6th and 7th of June 2008. The United Players are based in Walderslade and have been performing for the past 27 years. Their last play. “Inspector Drake and the Perfekt Crime” won two awards in the Kent Drama Association Awards. One for Dave Bassett (who will play Dr Chasuable in Earnest)
as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Role; and the other to Colin and Alan Tolhurst as Best Director. Colin will also be directing in ‘Earnest’. It is a three act play starting at 7.30 in the cathedral (doors close at 7.20pm) with a ticket cost of £10. A complimentary glass of wine or soft drink will be served during both intermissions. For more information on the actors and performance, please go to www.unitedplayers.co.uk
Booking Line — Lynne 01634 810074
Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is one of the most popular plays ever written. Subtitled 'A trivial comedy for serious people', it is bursting with hilarious lines and extraordinary twists of fate and sparkles with the witty dialogue of its genteel protagonists...
Prim-and-proper Jack Worthington is in love with the equally prim-and-proper Gwendolyn Fairfax. His friend, Algernon Moncrieff, is in love with Cecily Cardew.
But both Gwendolyn and Cecily are in love with Ernest. Add the magnificently imposing Lady Bracknell, a nanny with a dubious story about a handbag and the result is a delightful entertainment as fresh and funny as when it was first performed in 1895.
OPEN HOUSE ART EXHIBITION
On Sunday 29th June 2008 and Art Exhibition will be held to raise funds for the Rochester Cathedral Campaign. Read more ....
CHEESE & WINE ENTERTAINMENT IN KINGS ORCHARD
We would love to have you join us in the Marquee in Kings Orchard in the Precinct from 7.30pm on Monday 21st July 2008. Music will be provided by the Balgores Band, 1930's folk style. Wine, soft drinks and snacks will be available at an inclusive ticket price of £12. Tickets are available from the Development Office in Garth House 01634 810074.
AN EVENING WITH THE SANDON'S
Look out for news of an exciting evening with Henry Sandon...and family. Henry will share stories from his eventful life on and off the television screen. He will be joined by sons John and David for an entertaining evening in the cathedral not to be missed. Final date to be advised. Your ticket price is £15 and will also include intermission drinks in the Cathedral Transept. Tickets available from Garth House 01634 810074
WINE AND WISDOM
Wine and Wisdom Evening in the Community Hall at St Mary’s Island at 7.30pm on Friday 19th September. Tickets £10 per person including a Fish ‘n Chip supper. Tickets available from Garth House 01634 810074.
MURDER MYSTERY
Come and enjoy an hilarious adaptation of a play written by Helen Bradshaw and performed in the hall at St Justus Church, Rochester, by members of Chapter!! A fun evening with a Ploughman’s supper and a ‘Who Dunnit quiz’. Bring your own drinks. Tickets £10 are available from Garth House 01634 810074.
BARN DANCE IN KINGS SCHOOL HALL, ROCHESTER
Peter Curry will be on hand as caller at our Barn Dance on Saturday 1st November, together with his band comprising an accordion, fiddle and guitar. Hot dogs will be supplied all you need to do is bring a cool bag with your own drinks! Make it a fun family evening out. Tickets £10 each for adults with 25% discount for under 13’s. Raffle prizes.
AUCTION
It's that time of year again! This year's auction will be held at the King's School Hall in Rochester on Saturday 15th November 2008. We have already started our search for interesting lots to sell. If you have a suitable item or have a service pledge, please let David Sandon know on 07931 572907 or call the Development Office in Garth House if you have any queries on 01634 810074.
HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND GIVES US THE THUMBS UP!
On 13th March we had a phone call from the Heritage Lottery Fund to say that our bid for the Interpretation Plan had been successful, and that Rochester Cathedral has been awarded a grant of £931,000. This is wonderful news! It was a massive piece of work, preparing a bid that other organisations seem to have complete teams of people to put together. But somehow, ours got the nod over a number of other major projects in the South east of England.
In awarding the grant HLF said: "The Cathedral stands as a cultural, spiritual and architectural landmark in Rochester, attracting visitors from near and far. This exciting scheme takes a creative approach to unfolding the Cathedral's past and is designed to offer something for everyone."
The award is a real affirmation from a very hard nosed external funder, that they like the look of what is happening here. The development work for the Interpretation Plan will now begin in earnest, and will take nearly a year to complete.
LEAVE A LEGACY TO ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL
THE ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL BUSINESS GUILD
ENGLISH HERITAGE GRANT
We are thrilled to have been awarded a grant of £42,000 from English Heritage to put towards the cost of creating a digital survey of the Cathedral which will provide a permanent record of the building that can be added to as projects are undertaken. It will save the architect a great of time as at the moment all architectural drawings are produced by hand.
ROCHESTER REMEMBERS
A book is being compiled and edited by Anne Sears of stories from World War II as remembered by our community. The stories do not have to be of Rochester, just written by someone from Rochester. The book will be printed and sold to raise funds for the Cathedral. We would love to have your contributions with photos if you have them (we will look after them and they will be returned). Anne is available to ghost write if necessary. Closing date for articles to be received is 5th June 2008. Please contact Lynne at Garth House on 01634 810074 for further information.
AN EVENING WITH THE GODSALLS
As you are all probably aware by now, Canon Ralph Godsall and his wife Ellen, will shortly be leaving the cathedral. He and Ellen have kindly agreed to host “An Evening with the Godsalls” where they will give a photographic talk on some of their experiences. Please come and join us for this relaxed social evening. Tickets for the event will be £7 and this includes a light supper and drinks.
We will hold the event at the Baptist Church Hall in Crow Lane, Rochester, on Thursday 13th March 2008. Please contact Garth House for tickets
THE HENRY SMITH CHARITY
We are very pleased to confirm that we have been advised by the Directors of The Henry Smith Charity that we have been awarded a grant of £50,000 which is to go towards building work to provide disabled access to the Crypt at Rochester Cathedral.
. .. Not long now!
KENT CHURCHES SPONSORED BIKE RIDE
The annual Kent Churches Sponsored Bike Ride and walk is took place on Saturday 8th.September between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The aim was to raise money by visiting as many churches and chapels as possible during that time. Half the money raised from cathedral participants Alan McLean, Peter Best and Anne Sears went to the Friends of Kent Churches and half to the cathedral. The amount that came to the cathedral was £220.30 and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all concerned.The event is annual and open to everybody, including families, and you may either cycle or walk. Members of the cathedral congregation will be taking part again next year, so why not join them.
Further information can be found on www.friendsofkentchurches.co.uk or the Campaign Office
REPORT BACK ON SPONSORED SWIM BY JILL LOVELL
Medimotion Bike Launch
At the end of February this year, Jill Lovell, a Cathedral Lay Chaplain who has secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis, undertook a sponsored swim at the Black Lion Leisure Centre to raise money for two causes very close to her heart. The first was to buy some specialized equipment for the gym run by Medway Council to assist people with neurological conditions. The other was to make a contribution towards the proposed access improvements for people with disabilities at the Cathedral. Below is a photograph showing the archaeological exploration of the Garth which has to be done before any construction work can commence. Each cause received £1,700. Thank you to everyone for making it possible.
Anyone wanting further information on MS visit http://www.mstrust.org.uk/information/aboutms.jsp
CHRISTMAS CD LAUNCHED
The cathedral’s new CD was launched after 15:15 Evensong on Sunday 4 November. The 50 voices of three of Rochester Cathedral’s choirs combine in their first joint recording, featuring Missa Carolæ, a Christmas mass written by composer James Whitbourn to celebrate the 1400th anniversary of the cathedral’s foundation in AD 604. The Dean, Adrian Newman says: “The music at Rochester is one of the cathedral’s treasures and this is a new and shining gem”. The rest of the album is a delightful combination of familiar Christmas melodies alongside newer compositions and also features two solo organ tracks by Charles Andrews.
The money raised from the sale of the CD will go towards the cathedral’s Music Forever Campaign.
TUDOR EVENT IN THE CRYPT
A fun evening was had last week by everyone who came to the Tudor Evening. David Sandon as Court Jester was great, together with Douglas Henn-Macrae with his group of singers providing some glorious music. John and Anne Sears made contributions with readings. There was plenty of food, cider and wine to go round. We would like to say a special thank you to all the helpers and not least the sponsors* who gave generously to the raffle prizes. Net profit for the evening going towards the campaign total is almost £1,200.
*Candy Box; Pastures New; Francis Iles Galleries; Pips; Capon & Son; Ebenezer; Dickens House Wine Emporium; Eikos; Kaizen Jewellers; Tourist Information Centre; Slinders Florist
SEVENOAKS AUCTION REPORT BACK
The Antiques Roadshow's John Sandon helped raise more than £2,000 for Rochester Cathedral at an auction in Kippington Centre, Sevenoaks.
The event was organised by one of the cathedral's trustees, Diana Paul, of Brasted High Street.
Mrs Paul said: "At the moment we're trying to raise £10million - £5million for fabric and £5million for music, like the choir and music scholarships for girls.
"We raised just over £2,000 on Saturday. That's not bad considering there were very few people there."
The 64-year-old added the most sought-after lot was a day on the set of Midsommer Murders with TV star John Nettles. This went for around £100.
WOMEN'S HYDRO ACTIVE HYDE PARK CHALLENGE
Sunday, September 16th
London Hyde Park
We had a great morning at Hyde Park as can be seen from the pictures.
21 women ran representing the cathedral which is 10 more than last year. Hopefully next year we can double up again!
Sponsorship money is still coming in but we are hopeful that we have raised £2,000 for the campaign.
Our congratulations go to Sugina Hesketh who came in first out of the cathedral runners at 32 minutes. Our oldest and youngest runners were Mary Woodfield (78) who finished in 1 hour 15 minutes, and the youngest, Kelli Shephard (13) who finished in 35 minutes.
Runners list as follows:
Mary Woodfield; Anne Sears; Kathleen Chaston; Eileen Coleman; Julie Best; Paula Leitao; Deidre York; Ursula Melhuish; Jill Armitage; Sylvia May; Sugina and Emma Hesketh; Lyn, Kelli and Emma Shephard; Lynne E; Clair Broden; Tania Rapisarda; Angela Mulloy: Anna Kalinowska; Caryn McCall; Joan Pocock
