Previous Events
The Bear's Son: Tales of Hidden Bulgaria
Wednesday 20 September 19:30–22:00
Beyond nine green forests, in the borderlands between the wild and the civilised, lies a world of man-bears, deer-women and dog-headed people. Fate and fortune twist and turn as a wife runs wild, a girl falls under a dragon's spell, and a hero searches for his true nature.
“The Bear’s Son” harkens back to a time when people turned from hunting to farming but still walked in the way of animal powers. Interweaving storytelling, ritual and evocative music, A Spell In Time presents earth-stirring tales of transformation from the wild and wonderful heart of Bulgarian myth and folklore.
A Spell In Time is an acclaimed British-Bulgarian storytelling company that brings the power and magic of Bulgaria’s myths and folk tales to UK audiences for the first time. The Company has toured both nationally and internationally, and makes a welcome return visit to Sheffield. Performers are: Moni Sheehan, storyteller, and Ivor Davies, musician.
“Glorious storytelling and music… the stars, the moon and the lamp-posts leaned down to listen” Nell Phoenix, StoryNight at Torriano
Tickets: £6 in advance; £7 on the door. Includes a soft drink. Bring your own bottle for anything stronger.
The Magical De Lyles of Sheffield
Saturday 16 September at 19:30–21:00
Professor De Lyle, whose real name was George Arthur Fox, brought happiness to thousands of local people with his conjuring and Punch and Judy shows, performing at locations across Sheffield, including Meersbrook Park. His grandson David Monks MBE will give an illustrated talk about this dapper little man, with a merry twinkly in his eyes and a smile for everyone, who captivated his audiences with his magic and personality.
Also find out about Winnie De Lyle, from being a child star she went onto tour extensively with her precious doll Jimmy. David will reveal her story including her ventriloquil escapades.
Two great Sheffield entertainers who should never be forgotten.
Free admission, contributions always welcomed
The Diamond Family Archive
Thursday 24 August 7:30 pm for a 8:00 pm start
The Diamond Family Archive are an English lo-fi, psych-folk,multi-instrumentalist duo from The South Hams in Devon.
Live, The Diamond Family Archive craft a mesmeric live-show from drums, acoustic guitars, lots of FX pedals, keyboards set to drone, tape delay, loops and bellows, bows, harmonicas, cosmic harps, toys and broken cymbals. All coming together to create music which holds echos of post-rock, traditional folk, spiritual soul music, psychedelic rock and lo-fi.
Foot-stomping, finger-picking, hollering vs pin-drop hush - fragile, lazy grace.
Video here
Tickets: £6
The Roman Road Project, Sheffield
Monday 11 September 19:30–21:00
This talk will highlight new discoveries that the community has made over the last two years that have questioned 150 years of local archaeological tradition. It will also cover where this research has led and the future direction of the project for 2018, which will be mainly focussed upon the large unpublished archive of the local archaeological pioneer and Roman-ticist Dorothy Greene
Free admission, contributions always welcomed
Modulator ESP / Grey Frequency / Vostok
Thursday May 11th 2017 8pm
Four artists (2 solo, one duo) drawn from the East Midlands area bring a diverse range of sounds to Bishops' House.
Modulator ESP produces improvised experimental soundscapes using synthesizers, sampling, sequencing, looping and processing to create strange worlds of sound somewhere between '70s space music, noise and dark ambient drone. He produces a fortnightly show at electro-music.com called Adventures In Sound, improvising an hour of live music for each episode, all of which are available to download.
He has supported acts as diverse as Emeralds, The Freemen brothers, Formication, Circulus, Eli Keszler, Paul Nagle, Muscletusk, Radio Massacre International, Wolfram der Spyra, Stellar Om Source and Bernhard Wöstheinrich. He has headlined several small US tours culminating in performances at the electro-music festival, the highlight of one attendance was a collaborative performance with the late Richard Lainhart. He has performed in Holland at the e-day festival as part of Booth & Creek.
website
Grey Frequency is the ambient music project of audio and visual artist Gavin Morrow. Through the manipulation of found sounds and field recordings he explores themes of distant and imagined memories, folklore and modern mythology. Soundscapes are crafted using audio cassettes, tape players and effects pedals, creating an atmospheric blend of lo-fi ambient textures, dense drones and abstract musical passages.
website
Vostok = space / kraut / cosmic / psyche / ambient-guitar / synth / fx = lo fi / sci fi / retro / future-sonic exploration.
Tickets £5.00 in advance, available here. £6.00 on the door. Note we have limited capacity and so advance ticketing is strongly advised.
Wed March 8th Valerie Bayliss ‘Old Town Hall: Past Present and Future’
Sheffield’s Old Town Hall, the neglected building on the corner of Waingate and Castle Street has been empty for over 20 years and is just a bit of very dirty wallpaper for the people who pass it every day. It has been allowed to get into a very poor state. Yet this building had a part to play in Sheffield’s history and lots of potential for new use. Valerie Bayliss is Chair of Friends of the Old Town Hall and a distinguished speaker. The talk is illustrated with images of its past and present, including the damaged interior.
Weds 8th March, 7.30pm - Admission free. Places limited so please come early to be sure of a place
Castles in Yorkshire, defending God’s own County since 1066
Wednesday 5th July 2017
A talk by John Pilkington on “Castles in Yorkshire, defending God’s own County since 1066”
A lot of people think that they are familiar with Yorkshire’s medieval castles, but there are many more castles in this county than most people realise. There are so many that it is not feasible for someone to visit them all, and because little survives at some of them it can be a disappointing visit for most. Following a brief look at how the county’s fortifications fit in to our history this presentation covers how to visit castle sites from the comfort of your armchair.
7.30 start
Free entry but seats are limited so please arrive early to avoid disappointment
Mary Queen of Scots
Monday 12th June 2017 7.30pm
A talk by David Templeman on “Mary Queen of Scots – from Sheffield to Fotheringhay – the Final Journey 1584-7"
An Illustrated Talk by David Templeman,
We follow Mary into further seclusion under her new zealous custodian, Sir Amyas Paulet. She is involved in the Babington plot at Chartley Manor and the charge is High Treason.
This talk relates the compelling tale of the events leading up to and including Mary’s trial and execution. Mary’s courage and conduct come to the fore as she takes her tragic story through Wingfield Manor, Tixall and culminating in the climax at Fotheringhay Castle where she is tried and executed for High Treason.
Was she guilty? This is the question this talk addresses.
This is the final installment in the story of one of the great historical figures and all Mary’s qualities come to the fore in this exciting last chapter of her life. Do not miss it!!
Free entry but seats are limited so please arrive early to avoid disappointment
The Romans at Whirlow and the forgotten frontier
Monday 8th May 2017
A talk by Clive Waddington.
This talk will describe the unexpected discovery of a complex of Roman sites around the Whirlow area and the archaeological investigations. The findings are then related to the broader context of the Roman invasion of Britain and the re-discovery of an early Roman frontier running right through Sheffield.
7.30
Archaeology in Orkney
Wednesday 26th April
The excavations at the Ness of Brodgar on Orkney have made the news and been part of a recent BBC2 documentary.
Last year, FOBH trustee and virtual Bishops' House inhabitant Ken Dash took part in the dig. Ken will talk about his time there and what the discoveries there and elsewhere on Orkney are revealing about our ideas of settlement and culture five thousand years ago
Starts 7.30pm - entrance is free but please arrive early to be sure of a seat.
Howlaround + Nick Robinson in concert
Friday 24th February 2017
Howlaround
A Sheffield-based outfit consisting of Adam Woolf, John Jasnoch, Damion Wright and Tim Tozer. They play a stream of improvised musical consciousness music that will take you places you have never been to before. The band will play an opening set, then a solo set by Nick, then Howlaround will close the evening with Nick joining their ranks. Here's a recent session with the 5 of them.
Nick Robinson
A former member of Sheffield bands as diverse as Typhoon Saturday, Dig Vis Drill, They Must Be Russians and the Comsat Angels, Nick has for many years offered a range of soundscapes and other looping guitar pieces. Using just the guitar and a laptop, he takes you via the power of improvisation to distant planets. Nick is half of the "Lost Garden" duo, who have a CD "Cotyledon" out now.
www.looping.me.uk
Tickets £5 Book here
Owl Light Trio
27th May 2017
Doors 7:30 for 8:00 start.
Tickets £7
Click here to buy tickets
We are delighted to announce this rescheduled date for Owl Light Trio
Owl Light Trio are Jim Penny on concertina, Jane Griffiths on fiddle and Colin Fletcher on guitar. All three have deep roots in traditional music and share a passion for tunes from northern Europe, particularly those from Ireland and Brittany, and they draw upon their combined experience and influences to produce spell-binding arrangements. As the instrumental core of Telling the Bees, they have performed at folk festivals throughout the country, among them Sidmouth, Moseley, and Priddy. Jim has toured all over Europe with renowned French dance band Red Dog Green Dog, Jane has played and recorded with numerous artists, including Maddy Prior, and Colin has performed extensively with Nancy Kerr and Tim van Eyken.
