Maritime Mix

Maritime Mix – London 2012 Cultural Olympiad by the Sea, the largest creative celebration planned for Dorset and the Jurassic Coast to date, is weeks away. Animating Weymouth, Portland and the Jurassic Coast this unique creative celebration will celebrate the area’s status as the 2nd largest Olympic venue after the capital and host to the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic sailing events. It is the most ambitious creative programme to date with over 80 events across six months (9th March – 9th September 2012). With over 95% of the events free to access there will be something for everyone: visual arts, music, choral performances, outdoor theatre & circus, earth sciences, sound installations, video projection, dance and participative street celebrations. The funding is provided by: Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK, WPBC, Dorset County Council, local tourism partners and trusts & foundations .The programme will help promote the area as a cultural destination and encourage future investment. It will also bring the arts to new audiences and inspire more people to get involved putting local artists on an international stage and generating new partnerships and collaborations, leaving a valuable legacy for the whole cultural sector. Many local residents will be participating in events such as Coastal Voices, b-side, Inside Out, Battle for the Winds, Chalk Legends, The Giant Wall, Dinosaurs Not Allowed and Moving Tides.

Maritime Mix – London Cultural Olympiad by the Sea programme kicks off with Coastal Voices performance (rearrangements of Nick Cave songs by Sonia Slaney) in Poole at the opening of the Twin Sails Bridge, 9th March and continues with events taking place each month until the end of the Paralympic Games.

The opening of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic sailing will be celebrated with a three day mass celebration on Weymouth Beach. This will include; Battle for the Winds (26th July – 28th July) an epic outdoor, theatrical performance from Cirque Bijou and Desperate Men; Coastal Voices (27th July), community choirs present new musical compositions from John Surman, Sonia Slaney, John.K.Miles, Billy Bragg and Marc Yeats, Welcome Songs (27th July) choirs sing Eliza Carthy’s new musical composition and Breathe (28th July), international and national disabled and non-disabled artists presentation of the concluding part of Battle for the Winds.

For the full programme visit www.maritimemix2012.co.uk

Silky Fox Award

Kingston Maurward College launches RFS Silky Fox Handsaws AwardsKingston Maurward College in Dorset will be amongst the first colleges in the Uk to launch The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) Silky Fox Handsaws Awards to recognise outstanding students on courses with a strong practical arboriculture or woodland management element.

The winner will receive a Silky Gomtaro 300mm pruning saw together with a year’s membership to the RFS. The award will be presented y the RFS Dorset and Somerset division and by Silky Fox Handsaws in the summer.

RFS Education Officer Debbie Cotton explained: The annual award is for students on Further Education courses that meet the practical skills criteria. The award will be presented by the RFS Somerset and Dorset Division and by Silky Fox Handsaws in summer.

It recognises the increasing value of Level 2 & 3 Diploma courses in Forestry and Arboriculture in delivering the essential skills to open doors into careers in both the private and public sector.

As an education charity promoting the wise management of trees and woods, the RFS is delighted to recognise the excellent work of colleges up and down the country, and to give recognition to students who have gone the extra mile in their learning.

For Kingston Maurward College, Spencer Gregory, Arboriculture Instructor, said: Concern for the preservation of trees in urban and rural areas as well as high-profile environmental issues has generated an increasing demand for skilled arborists. At Kingston Maurward College we believe it is vital for young arborists to train with high quality equipment and Silky Fox Handsaws are the best in the industry. We are delighted to launch this award.

David Davenport of Silky Fox Handsaws said: The practical skills learned through these courses help ensure we have a skilled workforce to maintain and enhance the country’s trees and woodlands. The successful students form the backbone of the country’s tree experts in the future.

Silky saws enjoy a worldwide reputation for quality, and we hope these will become treasured and useful reminders for the students of the valuable time that they spent in college.The RFS Somerset and Dorset Division organises woodland visits and activities, and welcomes new members. For further information please contact Divisional Secretary Valerie Staley on 01460 78978 or email vjs2009@live.co.uk or visit www.rfs.org.uk

Guest Speaker

DORCHESTER-BORN LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER TO BE OLD HARDYEANS GUEST SPEAKER

Dorchester-born Rt. Rev. Michael Perham MA Hon. DPhil, Lord Bishop of Gloucester, is to be the guest speaker at the Old Hardyeans Annual Reunion Dinner on Saturday 17 March.

“I am delighted that my near contemporary Michael Perham, now Lord Bishop of Gloucester, has been able to accept my invitation to our annual reunion on the evening of Saturday 17 March,” says Old Hardyeans President Michel Hooper-Immins. “Michael was at Hardye’s School from 1959 to 1964- a year below me and our Newsletter Editor Peter Foster. We look forward to welcoming him back to Dorchester, where he will be reunited with many Old Hardyeans who knew him when he was at school here 47 years ago.”

Enthroned as the 40th. Bishop of Gloucester in Gloucester Cathedral in May 2004, Bishop Michael became a member of the House of Lords in 2009, one of only 26 Church of England Archbishops and senior Bishops in the Upper House.

He went to Keble College, Oxford in 1971 to study theology, as he did at Cuddesdon College, now Ripon College Cuddesdon- where he today serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors.

Having been Chaplain to the Bishop of Winchester, Michael Perham returned to Dorset as Rector of the Oakdale Team Ministry in Poole in 1984, moving on in 1992 to become a Residentiary Canon and Precentor at Norwich Cathedral. He became the Provost of Derby in 1998, before being appointed Dean of Derby Cathedral in 2000. In January 2004, he was named by The Queen as the next Bishop of Gloucester.

The Lord Bishop is married to Alison, a palliative care specialist. They have four daughters- Rachel, Anna, Sarah and Mary. He says: “I shall be delighted to make a return visit to Dorchester and to the Old Hardyeans. I have happy memories of my school days and some friendships that date back to those days, 50 years ago. I’ll enjoy recounting a tale or two after dinner on 17 March.”

Michael Foley, appointed Headmaster of The Thomas Hardye School last September, will be making his first speech to the annual Old Hardyeans reunion. He will reply to the traditional toast to the new school, which will be proposed by Old Hardyeans President Michel Hooper-Immins.

The Annual Reunion Dinner menu begins with cream of asparagus soup, followed by braised beef in red wine sauce or Vegetable Lasagne. Peach and Sherry trifle completes the dinner. All Old Hardyeans and their wives are welcome to this annual reunion, which takes place in the Sixth Form Centre of The Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester. Book with Treasurer Alan Brown at 40 Valette Road, Moordown, Bournemouth BH9 3JD. Telephone 01202 535034 or email: alan@ajbrown1946.plus.com

Founded in 1905 as the Old Grammarians, the Old Hardyeans- alternatively known as the Hardyeans Club- is one of the most successful old school associations in the county, bringing together old boys of Dorchester Grammar School and Hardye’s School, plus ex-students of the modern Thomas Hardye School. In the times of Queen Elizabeth I, it was Thomas Hardye [with a final "e"] described as an yeoman of Frampton, who endowed Dorchester Grammar School in 1569. Hardye’s [shopping] Arcade today stands on the site. The Grammar School moved to Culliford Road in 1928- renamed Hardye’s School from 1954. The modern Thomas Hardye School in Queens Avenue opened in 1992, encompassing the best traditions of the two previous schools- but admitting girls for the first time since 1569! Writer Thomas Hardy OM, who lived at nearby Max Gate, laid the foundation stone of Hardye’s School in 1927. He was no relation to Thomas Hardye, founder of the school, nor of Admiral Thomas Masterman Hardy!

Dorchester News

OLD HARDYEANS MOVE MONTHLY LUNCH VENUE TO THE KING’S ARMS HOTEL

For some decades, Old Grammarians and Old Hardyeans have met for lunch every last Thursday of the month. From this month, the venue moves to the King’s Arms Hotel, at the top of High East Street, Dorchester.

Next Thursday [26 January,] at 12.30pm for 1pm they will meet for the first time at the new venue, in the front bar overlooking the street. In subsequent months, they will gather in the Conservatory Room, again always on the last Thursday of the month, on 23 February, 29 March, 26 April and so on. The date of the 2012 Christmas Lunch will be advised in due course.

For eleven years, the Old Hardyeans met at Dorchester Conservative Club. “We are very sad not to be meeting at the Conservative Club, where we always received a great welcome,” says Old Hardyeans President Michel Hooper-Immins. “At our last lunch there, last August, Conservative Club Chairman Les Cuff warmly thanked the Old Hardyeans for their loyal support of the club over a decade or more. I said the standard of the food, real ale and the welcome had all been outstanding- expressing our sadness that the club was closing.”

The monthly lunch then moved to the Sun Inn at Lower Burton for three months, but moves again this month to the King’s Arms Hotel in Dorchester.

“It is interesting that early Old Grammarians- founded in 1905- held their celebration dinners in the Casterbridge Room of the King’s Arms Hotel,” comments Michel Hooper-Immins, “so we are returning to our roots. We invite all Old Grammarians and Old Hardyeans, whether resident in Dorset or passing through, to join us at the monthly lunch. We’ve welcomed old boys from all over the globe, from Canada and the USA as well as from within the UK. We are all looking forward to meeting at the King’s Arms and carrying on the comradeship of the old boys association.”

Enquiries to Chairman Colin Lucas at 01305 265446.

Founded in 1905 as the Old Grammarians, the Old Hardyeans- alternatively known as the Hardyeans Club- is one of the most successful old school associations in the county, bringing together old boys of Dorchester Grammar School and Hardye’s School, plus ex-students of the modern Thomas Hardye School. In the times of Queen Elizabeth I, it was Thomas Hardye [with a final "e"] described as an yeoman of Frampton, who endowed Dorchester Grammar School in 1569. Hardye’s [shopping] Arcade today stands on the site. The Grammar School moved to Culliford Road in 1928- renamed Hardye’s School from 1954. The modern Thomas Hardye School in Queens Avenue opened in 1992, encompassing the best traditions of the two previous schools- but admitting girls for the first time since 1569! Writer Thomas Hardy OM, who lived at nearby Max Gate, laid the foundation stone of Hardye’s School in 1927. He was no relation to Thomas Hardye, founder of the school, nor of Admiral Thomas Masterman Hardy!

FURTHER INFORMATION FROM MICHEL HOOPER-IMMINS,

PRESIDENT OF THE OLD HARDYEANS

AT 01305 779705
OR 0785 012 6349.