Sunningwell Festival
1st - 10th June 2012
About the Sunningwell Festival
Sunningwell Festival's Artistic Director, Vanessa Woodward reviews the 2010 festival
Amazingly, the sun shone for most of this year’s Sunningwell festival, the plan to move to early June proved to be a good decision! It was incredible to witness during the ten days, such artistic talent, much derived from our small community in Sunningwell, Bayworth and Boars Hill.
This year’s festival kicked off to a wonderful start in the blazing sunshine with a superb performance of ‘Wind in the Willows’ from Sunningwell School. Three years ago at the last festival the school wasn’t so lucky with the weather and had to resort to performing in their school hall. I can recall a swirling river running through the village and everyone cramming into the school. This year the pond stage proved an apt location for this wonderfully imaginative performance which was delivered to a very large audience. There were some assured performances from amongst the cast (maybe some music- theatre stars of the future?), the staging, the vivid costumes and props completed a very successful production.
Over the bank holiday weekend of the festival the Art School held its annual exhibition of students’ work, it’s incredible to see the range of work from children as young as five to mature professional artists in many types of media, presented in such fine display.
During the two weekends of the festival Nicki Richards and her team co-ordinated the wonderful arts and crafts café in the Village hall, there was some fine work on sale from local crafts people including Nicki’s beautiful silversmith items. The kitchen team served up mouth-watering homemade cakes and light lunches and the village hall was transformed into a warm welcoming Cafe that one was reluctant to leave.
Just along the road at Geoff and Eileen Cross’s home one could pay a visit to a fascinating museum of items from a bygone age, what an impressive collection Geoff has accumulated! I can’t imagine where he manages to store it all, but it is of great benefit to the community that Geoff wants to share his interesting acquisitions with the public, and generate discussion about rural life in the past whilst sitting in the garden consuming tea and yummy cakes sold in aid of luncheon club funds.
The old telephone box hosted an exhibition of old local photographs; these were magnificently displayed by Charles Frost, who also scrubbed up the ‘phone box immaculately for the occasion. On entering the booth one was transported in a Tardis/time machine to witness a previous age in our locality.
St. Leonard’s church hosted two choral concerts during the festival, both choral ensembles are associated with musicians living in Sunningwell. The first was ‘Colla Voce’ (meaning ‘with voice’) directed by Annie Thomas, this mainly accapella chamber choir expertly performs an eclectic mix of vocal repertoire ranging from Bach to The Beatles and beyond! It was impressive not only to hear them but also to observe how they communicate and listen to each other to attain an extremely tight ensemble.
The second choral concert was performed by ‘The Byrd Chorus’ directed by Mel Houldershaw, as the name implies this ensemble performs the work of William Byrd, many of his contemporaries and other ‘early’ music. The long melismatic phrases of this genre ably executed by this vocal ensemble and accompanying instrumentalists, they created a soaring, atmospheric sound conveyed throughout the ancient, ethereal space of St. Leonard’s.
On the Bank holiday Monday it was folk music day in Sunningwell. Three amazing artists from Yorkshire under the collective title ‘Breaking with Tradition’ travelled down to perform and lead workshops in ‘The Flowing Well’, who were also hosting a beer festival, (very apt for folk music). Later on these musicians performed on the pond stage, sadly the audience was rather small that evening, but I know that all who were present really appreciated the beautiful voice of Charlie Barker, the humour and brilliant songs from Roger Davies and the incredible, innovative guitar mastery of Jon Gomm. Earlier that evening Abingdon Morris dancers brought a lively feel to Sunningwell as they danced in the road and performed the unique traditional Sunningwell Mummers play in their extraordinary costumes constructed from strips of newspaper.
On the Tuesday evening of the festival the village hosted a heart-warming performance of the nostalgic comedy ‘Landgirls’ which was set in wartime Yorkshire. This brilliant play was performed by a cast of two from the Badapple Theatre Company from Yorkshire. The whole evening was extremely enjoyable, abundant with humour and touching too.
The following day the Watermill Theatre Company, who are now regulars in Sunningwell with their excellent touring productions brought ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ to the village hall. This production was of the usual high standard, the three actors, wonderful set and lighting created an energetic, electric performance which was very poignant at times. It’s incredible to think that Jonathan Swift’s book was published in 1726 and his satirising of subjects such as Warfare, politics, philosophy, science and language is as relevant now as then.
The Thursday and Saturday evenings featured performances by ‘Opera Anywhere’ on the pond stage. ‘Opera Anywhere’ are really the founders of the festival, or rather the name of the company was conceived after the first ever ‘Proms on the Pond’ performed as part of millennium celebrations in 2000. It is difficult to be objective about ‘The last night of the pirates on the pond’ as I was in the cast! All I can say is that it was a wonderful experience being part of this production. ‘Opera Anywhere’ have never performed a complete Gilbert & Sullivan operetta before and we’ve never had the luxury of working with an orchestra or employed a chorus before. The combination of professional principals and instrumentalists, combined with young people from Abingdon & Witney college performance arts course taking minor roles and extra chorus and also some members of East Oxford community choir (led by Mel Houldershaw) singing chorus made for a great community project.
We all had fun despite the demands of trying to put the production together in a short amount of time and extreme pressure of having to manage the budgeting constraints. However, everyone got stuck in and worked hard under the direction of Amy Standish and Lyndall Dawson, our stage and music directors, who managed to pull everything together in a very short period.
The fine weather and warm audiences made for a memorable experience which included on the last night a surprise celebration of my impending half-century! I really enjoyed performing the role of Ruth in ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ and was shocked at the effect my blacked out teeth were making (horrified when I saw the image of myself!). A highlight of the ‘Opera Anywhere’ performance was listening to sixteen year old Katie Blackwell sing ‘A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square’ in the last night of the proms, Katie approached’ Opera Anywhere’ to do work experience but we soon discovered her amazing vocal talent.
‘The Limitations’ began Friday evening’s performance with a set of soul and pop classics, this band features Sunningwell’s own Jon Twinn on keyboards and two strong female vocalists, the band travel extensively through the country and it was great to enjoy their music on the pond on an idyllic Summer’s evening. ‘3rd Degree Leburn’ took to the stage to complete the evening, former landlord of ‘The Flowing Well’ Leburn Maddox has been involved in performing at the Sunningwell festival since its second occurrence in 2002 and was welcomed back to great acclaim. Leburn’s band comprise of top-rate musicians performing their inimitable blend of soul and rock and featuring not only amazing guitar solos but fantastic contributions from all members of the band, the audience was soon on their feet and dancing in the street.
This year’s festival featured a fitness work out and a dog show for the first time. Tom Alden, a former marine from Lincombe Lane, and his colleague had adults and children boxing and engaging in other physical activities on one of the hottest afternoons of the year.
The first ever Sunningwell dog show was effectively compeered by Simon Blower (he should have career in television!) The judging was fairly done by the formidable ‘Mrs Goody Four Paws’. About forty dogs and their owners turned up for this Sunningwell version of Crufts! All were well behaved (dogs included!) for categories including cutest dog and dog most like its owner. A smart looking Pug won the best in show.
An impromptu drumming workshop was also enthusiastically engaged that afternoon.
The final day of the festival commenced with an upbeat ecumenical worship service on the pond led by Rev. Pam Mckellan and featured music by Duncan Graham and the band JAM. There were contributions from Bayworth Chapel, St. Leonard’s and ‘Grace Dieu’ church on Boars Hill; this was a great celebration of God’s creativity through our community.
The final events of the festival featured incredible local musical talent. Steve Burgess from Bayworth began the afternoon with a fine performance of some great pop classics, Steve also co-ordinated ‘The Gathering’ open mic session on the pond which displayed some excellent musicians from Sunningwell and Bayworth including the beautiful voice of Rhianna Johnson and the brilliant bluesy harmonica playing from Bill Dring. Later on ‘Rage’ headed up by the fine vocals of Bayworth’s Daniel Hall took to the stage, Cadge, from ‘Skin the Cat’ sang some great soul numbers showing off her strong agile voice and she was a brilliant compeer introducing more local artists.
The festival concluded with a couple of bands that feature Sunningwell musicians, Tony Thomas and Phil Burton in ‘Silver’ with their accomplished performance of classics from the 1950s to the 21st century and the unique mesmerising sound of ‘Braindogs’ fronted by Brian Johnson with his distinctive vocals who must have travelled all of 100 metres from his home to the stage!
Happily, the festival managed to avoid a shortfall this time and no one had to dip their hands in their pockets to bail the festival out, the small surplus will be reinvested in music and arts projects in the village and hopefully another festival in 2 or 3 years time.
I would like to thank everyone who took part in the festival and gave freely of their time and talents; we couldn’t have done it without such commitment. The festival committee have all worked so hard in organising and raising funds for the events and infrastructure, we are extremely grateful to all the sponsors and the many workers behind the scenes. We would also like to thank the hosting premises, St. Leonard’s church, Sunningwell Village hall, Sunningwell School of Art and also the parish council for their support.
Credit Cards
The festival organisers regret that credit card payments can not be accepted for ticket sales at the event itself or at the bar. If you would like to buy tickets by credit card, please do so online in advance. Cheques will be accepted for ticket sales up to a maximum of four tickets and with appropriate supporting identification.
Safety
The Sunningwell Festival is a small, friendly event and is all about you having a good time. To ensure your safety and enjoyment of the event, trained stewards will be present in and around the festival site and a First Aid Point will be staffed by St Johns Ambulance at every event.
Visitors with children are asked to familiarise themselves with the layout of the area on arrival, including the Lost Child Tent. The pond, although shallow, will be carefully monitored by stewards during all events.
See what's on and to avoid disappointment you are advised to purchase tickets in advance through the WeGotTickets website.
How it all started
The concept of the Sunningwell Festival started within a working party at a Sunningwell Parish Council Meeting back in 1999.
The then parish clerk, Norman Baird, inspired us all to think 'outside the box' and 'think big' with our ideas to help the village celebrate the Millennium. The 'crazy idea' of building a stage on the pond to present Opera was mooted and with Norman's enthusiasm and Anna Lever's encouragement we staged two very successful proms concerts on the pond.
The idea was developed further to celebrate the Jubilee in 2002 and this time, under the leadership of Geoff Manning and again with Norman's enormous enthusiasm, we created a real 'festival atmosphere'.
We gained permission to close the road from the Vale Of White Horse District Council which enabled us to accommodate larger audiences. The 2005 festival was bigger and better and for the first time incorporated a schools performance of a musical, a folk band and a local bands night, as well as the regular Le Burn feature and the 'Proms On The Pond' evenings.
The 2007 festival was the largest to date, spanning 10 days and was managed and directed by its founder, Mike Woodward of Opera Anywhere.
The 2010 will be even bigger and better than ever before and represents 10 years since the first festival in 2000, the Sunningwell Festival team are actively looking for sponsorship partners to enable this very special series of events to make a massive impact on the wider community and throughout Oxfordshire. Please email or call Mike Woodward on 01865 735910 to discuss further.
About the Pond
The village pond and its spring source are of great antiquity, the spring comprising the primary source of the River Stert - associated with the legendary foundation of Abingdon Abbey.
In common with many local villages the settlement of Sunningwell appears to have evolved around the spring - the village name featuring such, being derived form an Old English personal name 'Sunna', coupled with the words 'inga' (people of) and 'wella' (spring or stream) - first recorded in 811 AD and later mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086AD. To date, the earliest known reference to the pond itself is contained in a local deed pole of 1447AD.
In former times the source waters of the pond were reputed to be a sovereign remedy for sore eyes, whilst local Catholic references record a shrine in this area visited by many people in the Middle Ages. Especially those who had travelled from abroad to visit the once famous "Sunnyg's Well", which apparently cured the blind!
The following item entitled "The Watercress Man" was written by Jean Williamson who was born in Sunningwell in the 1920's and has lived here all her life. In the 1930's she attended the primary school, which is now the art school, and one of her main sources of entertainment was seeing the watercress man on one of his regular visits to the pond.
The Watercress Man
We were all excited when we were attending Sunningwell primary school during the 1930's. Not much happened to our every day life so the pond became our central focal point to our very idyllic village. Every child went fishing for minnows and stickle backs, the water was so clear one could see the waving green plants under the water, many children fell in - but it wasn't very deep and never ever froze over, even in the coldest winters.
The Watercress man came during the summer months, where he came from or where he went to, nobody knows, he never spoke to a soul.
He arrived on a bike with a pair of waders and a huge piece of sacking and a sharp knife. After propping up his ramshackle bike he spread out the sacking, put his waders and armed with knife walked into the clear water. He cut arms full of watercress, spread it out on the sacking and then tied up the four corners tightly - then heaved the wet mass onto the bar of his bike, took his waders off and then cycled into the blue, he most likely had a very good offer from someone who was willing to buy his wares.
Perhaps they didn't know about the small mixed herd of dairy, shorthorn cows, belonging to Mr Stanbridge who lived at Church Farm next to the school.
When he brought them back from a different pasture they would be driven through the village at a very leisurely pace and would make for the cool water of the pond for a long drink, by wading in up to their bellies, - this was another event that excited us children - we gave each cow a name, one cow I remember was pure white.
Perhaps it was the result of the cows that the watercress was so profuse?
Bill HeineWell-known local personality Bill Heine is patron of the Sunningwell Festival in 2010.
Bill Heine is the Drivetime presenter on BBC Oxford 95.2 fm (Monday to Friday, 4pm-7pm). He has worked for BBC Oxford in its various guises since 1983, and is considered by many to be very opinionated and perhaps somewhat controversial in the field of radio presenting. He is not afraid to speak his mind and allows his listeners to do the same during his phone-in show.
American-born, Heine has lived in Oxford since studying for a postgraduate degree at Balliol College in the late 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, he ran both the Penultimate Picture Palace cinema in East Oxford and the Not the Moulin Rouge Cinema in Headington. He employed the sculptor John Buckley to design a giant pair of hands to adorn the former, and a giant pair of legs for the latter.
Heine employed Buckley again in 1986 to design a 25 ft fibreglass sculpture of a shark that appears to be crashing through the roof of his own house in the Headington area of Oxford, creating a somewhat controversial local landmark.Heine's book, Heinstein of the Airwaves, was published by Chris Andrews Publications on 31 October 2008.