What's On?

Enjoy the art of decopatch in this festive workshop. Using specialist decopatch papers, create beautiful designs on baubles, boxes and more! You will even have to opportunity to personalize an item to give as a gift.

£20 per person

This talk by Tony Hadland traces the use of the bicycle for military purposes, starting as early as 1817. The story takes us many places, including the USA, Europe and Vietnam, and spans more than 140 years. Along the way, we see how Raleigh became a massive maker of munitions in both world wars, bringing huge financial rewards to captains of industry and revolutionising the lives of the many women who worked as machinists on the shop floor. Tony Hadland is a local historian, co-author of MIT Press's Bicycle Design: an illustrated history, and consultant for the BBC4 film Peddling Dreams.

Tickets are £5

Music will include works by: Elgar, Ord, Miller, Lane, Charlston, Rees, and  Magnificat: Collegium Regale by Howells. Reflections given by Monks of the Abbey.

The now traditional Music and Reflections for Advent at Douai Abbey offer a wonderful opportunity - a little while of uplifting music and words in the beautiful surroundings of the Abbey Church amidst the busy onrush of Christmas. All are welcome.

No tickets  -  retiring collection for expenses

Newbury's First Living Advent Calendar is inspired by an idea that began in Stockholm and will run every day from 1st until 24th December. Like a traditional children's advent calendar, a newly decorated window or door will be unveiled by a local amenity, business or resident, who will entertain you with a surprise festive treat.

The event - which will remain secret until the day and run typically for15 minutes - can include songs, dance, music, food, sketches, poetry as well as more bespoke entertainment, all with a festive twist. Come along and enjoy the magic of Christmas with us.

Please visit our website at https://sites.google.com/view/newburyadventcalendar/home for trail of doors and windows, and interactive map.

Bohun Gallery's superb collection of paintings, collage and etchings explores the diversity and development of this pioneering artist throughout the 20th century. One of the key works in this selling show is 'Tisbury', a collage dated 1937. The 1930s were fertile years for the young Trevelyan who had benefitted from three years spent at Stanley Hayter's printing studio, Atelier 17, in Paris where he met Klee, Picasso and Miro. It was in this atmosphere that he turned to Surrealism and became a founding member of the British Surrealist Group whilst also becoming involved with the Mass Observation Group. Very few remain, but Trevelyan's collages from his involvement with Mass Observation are regarded as a critical part of his development bringing together so many strands of his artistic development during the 1930s.

Bohun Gallery's show includes a number of early oil paintings depicting the views from his home and studio at Durham Wharf on the banks of the London Thames, which became home to Trevelyan and his wife Mary Fedden in 1951. The Wharf became an important focus for London's artistic circles of the time and provided continued artistic inspiration for Trevelyan until his death in 1988. A particularly charming painting dated 1967 depicts the gardens at Durham Wharf, with one of Julian?s beloved cats staring out at us distant views of a Tug boat on the Thames beyond.

Director of Bohun Gallery, Patricia Jordan-Evans first met Julian in 1982 at Durham Wharf and there began a long and happy working relationship. Her words, taken from the Catalogue Raisonne of Trevleyan's etchings, best describe the enchanting and captivating qualities of this pioneering artist:

'I have always found that to be surrounded by Julian Trevelyan's images was a magical experience which has not diminished with time. His work was unlike that of any other artist I knew. Full of ingenuity and insight, it had an unmistakable quirky humour. Julian's images offered me a world of real originality, of spatial paradox and a delicious, intelligent simplicity devoid of cynicism.  His profound vision has resulted in a series of unique achievements which include a wonderful body of paintings, collages and etchings. In the poet Kathleen Raine's words, he was truly:

'a Magician for his time and generation - he was our Enchanter'