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What to Shoot & When - 2011
(click on a heading to see more)
World Pooh Sticks Championships
When: Sunday 27th Mar 2011
Where: Days Lock
Cost: £1 to enter competition; Free to watch
Opening Hours: 11am for team races
Hosted at Days Lock in Oxfordshire, the event attracts an international
crowd in fancy dress.
There are individual and team championships. Teams of six drop coloured sticks
at precisely the same time, from both bridges at the lock, and watch to see
whose stick travels down the river fastest.
Started off by lock keeper Lynn David, the event is now organised by the
Rotary Club of Sinodun and continues to raise funds for the RNLI.
A quintessentially English game it may be, but in 2007 the Japanese team won
both the individual and team events. The event has entries from people of all
nationalities
Henry Moore Foundation at Perry Green
When: 1st April - 30th October 2011 not Mon
Where: Henry Moore Foundation
Cost: £12; concessions £10; students & under 18s £5
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, by appointment
Tucked away in Hertfordshire's undulating countryside, Perry Green was
English sculptor Henry Moore's home from 1940 until 1977. The gardens, barns
and sheep fields contain numerous sculptures, drawings and lithographs,
tapestries, working models and carvings made by the artist.
The Henry Moore Foundation was established "to advance the education of
the public by the promotion of their appreciation of the fine arts and in
particular the works of Henry Moore". Perry Green is a testament to this
aim, offering an intimate and relaxed appreciation of Moore's enormous bronze
sculptures as they lie resplendent against the sky, forming shelters for sheep
or majestically occupying prime position on the sculptor's former lawns.
When: Friday 15th - Sunday 17th April 2011
Where: Oxford
The town hall and other city venues play host to a variety of folk
performers and workshops at the annual Oxford Folk Festival.
Please visit the festival website for the full programme.
When: Sunday 17th Apr 2011
Where: London
More than just a sporting event, the London Marathon is the world's longest
street party. Roads along the route come alive with bands, cheering crowds,
entertainers and 30,000 pairs of feet hitting the tarmac of the 26.2 mile
course.
Internationally, London is seen as the biggest and best of the big city
marathons. The race kicks off at Greenwich Park and Blackheath, continues
through Surrey Quays, Brunel Rd, Tooley St, Canary Wharf, the Tower of London,
Embankment, Parliament Square and Birdcage Walk, then comes to a rousing finish
on The Mall by Buckingham Palace.
Many of the world's top athletes are attracted by the fast course and the high
calibre of competition. However, the marathon is not just about the leading
athletes - most of the 30,000 runners are there to have fun and to raise money
for charity while doing so.
It is this level of community spirit that makes the race so special. The pubs,
schools and community groups who provide entertainment or assistance along the
route all play their part in raising over £15 million for good causes. So
put on your running shoes and get into training. However, if this seems like
too much strain, at least get to the course, join in with the party and cheer
on those made of sterner stuff!
When: 23rd April - 30th September 2011
Where: Hatfield House
Cost: See website
Opening Hours: See website
Outdoor exhibition of sculptures by Henry Moore.
When: 29th April (Royal Wedding Day) and 29th April - 2nd May 2011
Where: Blenheim Palace
Cost: See website
Opening Hours: See website
Visitors to this May Bank Holiday event at Blenheim Palace can watch a re-enactment of a jousting contest, picnic on the lawn and enjoy storytelling, archery and falconry displays
Oxford May Day
When: 1st May 2011
Where: Oxford
The night of 30 April starts with parties throughout the town, the best
being a huge outdoor affair at Port Meadow (please confirm that this is
happening before you make travel plans for it), a field that has been common
land since medieval times. Although most forsake the meadow for Magdalen Bridge
during the early hours of the morning, should you stick around till sunrise,
Morris Dancers appear complete with trademark bells round their ankles to dance
in the new day.
Large crowds gather at the Magdalen Bridge from about 5am - it's a good idea to
get there early for a spot. Foolhardy students have been known attempt
spectacular jumps into the rushing river, but as the Cherwell is only about six
feet deep and the bridge quite high, a spate of injuries led to the closure of
the bridge in 2006.
As the choir starts to sing the Medieval Eucharist hymn from the tower of
Magdalen College, the raucous crowd goes quiet. No one knows when the tradition
of May Day dawn singing began, but records go back to the 17th century, and it
could stretch back further still. Whenever it started, the beauty of the
ethereal voices of these little boys soaring out into sudden silence so early
in the morning is very moving.
After the singing the crowd gradually disperses, many flocking to the breakfast
picnics thrown in the college gardens, impromptu cricket matches, and the many
pubs that open especially early by special dispensation to sustain the flagging
revellers.
Hatfield House Living Craft Fair
When: 5th - 8th May 2011
Where: Hatfield House
Cost: See website
Opening Hours: See website
Europe's largest craft fair returns to Hatfield House. Hundreds of
professional craftsman and women exhibit their work, which includes fine handmade
jewellery, ceramics, soap, original works of art, delicious food and drink,
candles and more.
Alongside these familiar products you'll find more unusual exhibits such as
working steam engines, bee keeping equipment and love spoon carvers. Visitors
can watch craftsman and women at work as they demonstrate their skills and
discuss their art.
When: 28th - 29th May 2011
Where: Redbourn (M1-J9)
Cost: See website
Opening Hours: See website
Large two-day show, with the usual agricultural and craft exhibitions and special events.
When: 12th Jun 2011
Where: Stockwood Country Park
Cost: £4; children £1; family ticket £8
Opening Hours: 10am-5pm
Luton was a centre for the British car industry for decades, and one legacy
of this is the annual Luton Festival of Transport, which welcomes scores of
classic, vintage and collectors' cars, vans, lorries and buses to Stockwood
Country Park.
There's plenty of other family entertainment, and a ticket to the show also
gives you a free return bus ride to the Vauxhall Heritage Centre for more
transport wonders.
When: Thursday 1st September 2011
Where: Weedon, nr Aylesbury
Cost: See website
Opening Hours: See website
Large show, with the usual agricultural and craft exhibitions and special events. There is a photographic competition. The RPS will be represented on-site.
When: 28th - 29th Aug 2011
Where: Notting Hill
Cost: Free
Opening Hours: 10am-7pm (until 10pm Mon)
Around a million people take to the streets of Notting Hill in West London
for the Notting Hill Carnival - Europe's biggest carnival. Fabulous floats make
a colourful circuit of the area and sound systems blast out music all day.
The event first took place in 1964, when the area's Caribbean community,
suffering from discrimination, came together to create a festival with calypso
music and steel bands reminiscent of the annual Trinidad carnival. The local
white community joined in with the party and the Notting Hill Carnival was
born.
More than 100 decorated floats, pumping out calypso, soca and steel band music,
parade through the streets over the weekend, followed by troupes of dancers in
flamboyant, shimmering costumes and supporters with whistles and horns. They go
round the carnival route just once, but it takes up to seven hours!
As you dance your way around the sound systems, everything from ska and reggae
to hip-hop, funk, soul and house music keeps the crowds moving. Sancho Panza
and Norman Jay's Good Times are conveniently close together and are always
excellent, and there are a host of fantastic roots reggae sound systems. Buy an
official map of where all the systems are and pick your favourite, or simply
follow your ears and your feet. Make sure you check who is performing live -
big names can often be heard for free.
Sunday is traditionally the Kids' Day of the carnival, while on Bank Holiday
Monday London's party people come to let off steam and dance in the streets
until around 10pm. When you get peckish, there are countless stalls selling
delicious Caribbean food, from jerk chicken to Jamaican patties and goat curry.