The Beverley Folk Festival 17-19 June 2011 is set to be another rip roaring success.
There is a long list of performers already booked to appear. As with other folk fests you also get ‘Pub Stuff’ in various hostelries around the town.

Beverley’s Folk Festival Pubs

• The White Horse, or ‘Nellie’s’ to the locals, dates back to the 16th century and was the birthplace of the festival. I am told that the pub still uses the original gas lamps but that the beer is definitely not too gassy.
• The Sun Inn as usual is a strong supporter of live music and fine beer. Cor shine a light.
• Tiger Inn will be a roaring success.
• The Forrestors Arms, Durham Ox, The Monks Walk, Hodgsons and down in the Westwood The Woolpack are all on hand for a good pint or three.
• The Wold Top bar at the festival village will obviously feature the local brew.

After all this why not take a coach home. This Beverley bus was spotted in Volendam in the Netherlands at the week end. I hope all the trippers make it back home for the festival.

Some of the Artists who have appeared in recent festivals performances include:

Bernard Wrigley
Buzzcocks
Chumbawamba
Eleanor McEvoy
John Shuttleworth with ‘It’s Nice Up North’
Barbara Dickson
Ben Lawes
Blazin’ Fiddles
Bowie, Bliss & Cockerham
Charlie Dore & the Hula Valley Orchestra
Dave Burland
Dervish
Eddi Reader (more…)

Disused medieval chapels in York are put to many uses but the Bedern Glaziers Studio is one of the more appropriate. The former chapel of the Vicars Choral, the Bedern chapel in York has been transformed into an open access conservation studio by York Glaziers Trust .

Here you can see conservation of the York Minster Great East Window originally made between 1405-1408 by master glazier John Thornton. It was removed from the Minster in 2008 for a 5 year restoration project. Cleaning the glass and repositioning dislodged pieces will be enhanced by the removal of mending leads from the past which disfigured the window. It will then be encased in clear glass and replaced in the Minster.

Working on four large panels for the Victorian manufactured west window of Beverley Minster, York Glaziers Trust is also devising a conservation methodology. The vast window which depicts figures and events connected with the early history of Christianity in Northumbria was influenced by AW Pugin.

Guided tours are available on Wednesday and Friday afternoon by pre-booking at the Minster. Group visits and Connoisseurs Tours are also available. An interesting and informative experience.

Sources and Other Links

• Stained Glass at York Minster by Nathan Fixler Creative Commons Licence on flickr
• York Glaziers Trust
• York Minster – www.yorkminster.org
• Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Great Britain – www.cvma.ac.uk
• Institute of Conservation – www.icon.org.uk
• Churchcare – www.churchcare.co.uk
• The British Society of Master Glass-Painters – www.bsmgp.org.uk
• Vidimus Stained Glass Newsletter – www.vidimus.org

From Anita363 on Flickr ‘The York Minster has some of the best surviving Medieval stained glass anywhere. It was protected during the Reformation, when many of the great cathedrals in northern Europe suffered major damage. The center panel traces the lineage from Jesse at the bottom and his son King David up to Jesus at the top, outlines by the twining green branches of the family tree. I like the way the sun is just visible.’

Yorkshire has been the location and produced the material for some great television series.

• All Creatures Great and Small based on the vet books of James Herriot set in the 1940′s and 1950′s.

• Emmerdale which had and perhaps still has a farming theme.

• Detectives, Dalziel and Pasco is set and shot in Yorkshire, whilst Frost’s Denton may be in the midlands or  even Oxford but it was shot by YTV in and around Wakefield and Pontefract.

However the number one Cop show in our house was the 1960′s based Heartbeat. The moorland farms quiete roads and North Yorkshire Moors railway gave the film crews a great location for this long running series. (the DVD’s of series 1 & 2 can be bought from Amazon by clicking on the picture).

Questions that need Answers from ITV

• Why has production stopped?
• Why has the ITV website for this show been frozen in aspic?
• Why haven’t we seen some more spin off shows if the writers have got writers cop block?
• When can we have our show back?

This is not a petition to the commissioning section at ITV but adding a comment to our post will show the extent of public feelings.

It is only because I was sent details of these cultural events on the same day that I thought it worth posting them. Doubtless Sheffield, York, Hull etc will have similar claims to our evenings in the first half of 2011.

Georges Bizet’s Carmen at the Leeds Grand is one of the world’s best known operas, with much of the music now hugely recognisable having featured in films, television and adverts multiple times. The story itself is one of passion, sexual obsession and revenge, and has been directed by renowned American director Daniel Kramer.
22, 29 January, 1, 5, 9, 11 February, 7pm £10-£58 Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, LS1 6NZ, 0113 222 6222

The Hallé at Leeds Town Hall are Britain’s longest-established permanent professional symphony orchestra. They were set up way back in 1858 by Sir Charles Hallé and since then they have toured across the world. They’re coming to Leeds this February as part of Leeds International Concert Season. For this concert, the Hallé will be directed by Music Director Sir Mark Elder CBE in performances of Elgar’s Symphony No 1 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 17 with Berlin-born pianist Martin Helmchen as soloist.
26 February, 7.30pm. £12-£30 The Headrow, LS1 3AD, 0113 247 7989

Hamlet at West Yorkshire Playhouse by Northern Broadsides in partnership with the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, this production of one of Shakespeare’s most well-known and revered plays should be one of the best dramatic performances in Leeds this year. Northern Broadsides are known for adapting Shakespeare with a rare wit and energy – and broad northern accents – and their performances seldom draw any less than rave reviews.
19-30 April, times vary, £16-£26 Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, LS2 7UP, 0113 213 7800

Leeds Art Gallery will host an exhibition by Damien Hirst who has long been recognised as one of the world’s most famous, and controversial, artists. Hirst grew up in Leeds and studied at Leeds College of Art & Design before finding fame in the mid-90s with a series of works featuring animals preserved in formaldehyde. This exhibition, part of the Artist Rooms programme which will see collections of modern and contemporary art held by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland going on display at venues around the country, is the first major exhibition of Hirst’s work in his hometown and will trace his whole career, including the seminal ‘Away from the Flock’.
July – September, opening times vary, The Headrow, Leeds,

Source and for more information see the Leeds Guide
Leeds Grand
West Yorkshire Playhouse

Yorkshire Telly film artists of all genres (Poets, Musicians, Bands, Writers, Visual Artists, Dancers, Actors, Craftsmen / Craftswomen, Storytellers, Puppeteers etc etc) and host them on their website.
The idea is to take the Artists out of their normal surroundings and film them doing their thing out and about around the magnificent county of Yorkshire as a celebration of “Gods Own County” and the massive amount of talent on offer here. Videos have included areas from the banks of River Wharfe to Emley Moor Mast and Hyde Park Allotments.

Filming for Yorkshire Telly.

Yorkshire Telly have only been up and running 5 weeks and have received over 4000 plays and tons of great feedback. Artists involved have the opportunity to network with each other, collaborate and be a part of a growing online community that reaches a wider and more diverse audience by working together.

We at God’s Own County say – Great Stuff!
Visit:

• Yorkshire Telly.com

Some Selected Videos

• Nick John Henry on the Banks of the River Wharfe
• Henry Heath of Oxford Street