Previous Events
David Bostwick - “Decorative Plasterwork and Carved Woodwork in Bishops House”
Wednesday January 9th 2019 7.30pm
This talk will examine the decorative plasterwork and carved woodwork in Bishops House and explore how it relates to that in other houses in Sheffield and North-east Derbyshire area during the 17th century. It was all being done by a group of craftsmen living in Norton and Greenhill.
Free, but please arrive early to be sure of a place.
Nancy Fielder - “The News of Christmases Past”
Wednesday December 5th 2018 7.30pm
Editor, Nancy Fielder, will talk through stories and photos which have appeared in The Star over the last century throughout Advent and Christmas. Be prepared for a few festive laughs along the way on this tour of Sheffield news in the jolliest of seasons. Nancy also invites readers to bring their old photos which she will look at after the talk and may then use in the paper.
Free but please arrive early to be sure of a place.
Neil Carver - “Wings Over ‘Steelopolis’ Aviation and Sheffield: 1866-1914”
Wednesday November 7th 2018 7.30pm
This talk will examine how Sheffield reacted to the possibility, then the reality that man could fly. It will chart the development of flying clubs in the city and the role played by some well known actors on the Sheffield stage. It will also reveal that Sheffield has unexpected links, not only to some of the most famous (and sometimes eccentric) pioneers of manned flight but also to one of early aviation’s great unsolved mysteries.
Free but please arrive early to be sure of a place.
Mike Higginbottom - “Temples of Sanitation”
Wednesday October 3rd 2018
Sanitation was the prime environmental concern of developing societies in the nineteenth century. The growth of conurbations, especially in London and the industrial north of England and lowland Scotland, presented local and national government with urgent, desperate problems – water-supply and sewerage.
Practical solutions took most of the nineteenth century to achieve, and in the process of engineering the healthy sanitary condition which later generations take for granted, the politicians, managers and designers of the nation’s water-supply and sewerage systems left a wealth of high-quality buildings, gigantic engineering works and attractive landscapes across the country.
The Cunning Woman
Wednesday September 12th 2018
"Elaine Mein, The Cunning Woman. Concealed Objects and written charms: protection in the medieval period.”
More details to follow
James Ewan Tait & Robbie Thompson
Tuesday August 7th 2018
7.30pm
Pigeon Hands present the hometown date on James Ewan Tait and Robbie Thompson's August tour, the rest of which will be announced shortly. Come and join James and Robbie for a special homecoming show in the stunning 500 year old, half-timbered Bishop's House, nestled at the top of Meersbrook Park.
Robbie Thompson
Post-industrial troubadour known for the transportational power of his vivid imagery.
“In his solo work, Robbie Thompson takes several steps back from the Buffalo Skinners’ full-bodied, rumbling storytelling and instead uses songs to pick out moments, giving them room to breathe… Thompson's vocals are striking, a very old voice bristling with fresh emotion."
- Now Then Magazine
"Utterly beautiful" - BBC Introducing
Last summer Thompson released a stripped down collection of his solo material, recorded at Yellow Arch studios:
https://robbiethompson1402.bandcamp.com
James Ewan Tait
Experimental songwriter noted for his unmistakable croon, and deeply personal delivery.
“Like all the best vocalists, Tait allows his voice to become strained and cracked with emotion as he reaches the highs and lows of expression... proving beyond doubt that Tait can master the whole spectrum of honest emotion.”
– Now Then Magazine
“This remarkable songwriter is producing some uniquely enjoyable music.”
- Pink Wafer
Last autumn Tait’s debut EP, recorded with his producer and a selection of local musicians, was released on Tait’s own nascent Pigeon Hands label. https://jamesewantait.bandcamp.com/
Advance tickets are £5 (+£1.10 booking fee) from here. Booking fees go to charity.
£6 on the door, but please be aware that there is limited capacity. BYOB
The Beekeepers, The Gamebirds and Dovercourt Quartet.
The Beekeepers play lovely arrangements of medieval/early and traditional (folk) tunes in harmony, producing a unique blend of music with a mellow feel that everyone can enjoy - ‘chamber music’ with a bit of a difference. The Gamebirds are a women’s quartet singing traditional music in harmony, specialising in close harmony arrangements from the folk repertoire.
Dovercourt Quartet are a line-up of soprano, alto, tenor and bass and will be performing West Gallery Anthems, Barber’s Shop and Madrigals.
All proceeds to Friends of Bishops' House, (many thanks to the performers!),
Free glass of wine or juice
Tickets - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-beekeepers-the-gamebirds-and-dovercourt-quartet-tickets-44525944298?aff=erelpanelorg
Adrena Adrena + Trans/Human
Friday 18th May 2018 7-9.30pm
Adrena Adrena is a collaboration between visual artist Daisy Dickinson and drummer E-Da Kazuhisa, previously the drummer of the Japanese noise band Boredoms and currently British electronic/post-rock band Seefeel (Rephlex, Warp Records).
WATCH - NEW VIDEO CYBALS - https://youtu.be/7aeoKVeq3OU
The duo cut a raw blend of drums, noise and organic visual work, featuring in their performances an eight foot white sphere that hangs above Kazuhisa’s drum kit and which Dickinson maps videos on to; her work was described by William Barns-Graham of Fluid Radio as ‘cosmological and transcendental, drawing attention to the wonder of the earth and our sensuality on it’.
As a duo, their debut was at the International Festival of Projections in early 2016 and have since performed at The ICA London, End of The Road Festival, Supernormal Festival, Splice Festival, Zorofest in Leipzig and other shows across the UK and Europe, with Acid Mothers Temple and members of Can, Faust, Wire and Bo Ningen. The pair completed a short film in 2016. ‘Man on the Hill’, which features E-da playing drums on fire in the mountains. The film has since been featured on the British Council Film website and in 2016 was nominated for The BFI London Film Festival, Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival, Vienna Short Film Festival and the London Short Film Festival.
Earlier this month they announced the release of their new record Cybals/Toy. Released via an exclusive pre-order window by Champion Version.
Joining them on the night will be acclaimed former Sheffield noise duo Trans/Human, who are currently based between Gateshead and London. Employing noise making devices including mobile phones, radio, cassette tape, prepared electric guitar, processed drums, strobe lighting, contact microphones, field recordings and feedback systems, Trans/Human’s concerns lie within the physical act of music making and its relationship to environment and audience.
LTD Tickets via - http://bit.ly/AdrenaAdrenaBishopsHouse
Professor John Moreland “Reforming Bradbourne: the impact of the Reformation in the Peak District”
Monday 18th June 2018 - 7.30pm
This presentation will use evidence from Bradbourne’s Anglo-Saxon stone cross and the church to chart the ‘progress’ of Reformation in this part of Derbyshire. The material evidence and the texts speak to us of iconoclasm, destruction, resistance and eventual Reformation. There will be some references to the situation in Sheffield, especially with regard to its Anglo-Saxon cross. In conjunction with the University of Sheffield 500 Reformations
Free entry, but please arrive early to be sure of a place.
Chris Kolonko - Sheffield’s Wartime Anti-Aircraft Defences
Wednesday 4th July 2018 - 7.30pm
Find out about Sheffield’s wartime anti-aircraft defences and the part they played in the defence of the city during two World Wars. This talk by archaeologist Chris Kolonko will investigate the development of anti-aircraft defences, looking at surviving examples in and around Sheffield and how these would have operated during air raids. He will also bring some anti-aircraft gun related items from his collection.
Free entry, but please arrive early to be sure of a place.
Sally Goldsmith - Thirteen Acres: John Ruskin and the Totley Communists
Monday 14th May 2018
A utopian project with a cast of wonderful characters: John Ruskin at his paternalistic best, cycling Quaker Henry Swan, argumentative socialist Mrs Maloy, ex Chartist and Shelley enthusiast Joseph Sharp, brave gay sandal wearing Edward Carpenter. And a little film.
Juxtavoices
Sunday 15th July 2018
4pm
Sheffield's groundbreaking antichoir, Juxtavoices, have created a new piecewritten specifically for Bishops' House. For this composition, Juxtavoices will be using the actual fabric of the building and its mysterious sounds and spaces in order to create an unforgettable sonic experience for the audience - we can't tell you exactly what we're going to do, that would spoil it!
We will be previewing the piece in a brief performance at 3pm, while the house is still open to the public, and then again at 4pm with some extra material.
Juxtavoices is an anti-choir of 25 mostly untrained voices whose repertoire includes members' own compositions and arrangements of classic modernist poems and found texts. The scores provide structure but freedom of pitch allows improvisation to shape the detail so that no two performances are ever the same. Audiences are unfailingly surprised by the Juxtavoices sound. Some try to name-check composers in the avant-garde tradition but none quite fit. Some shudder at the dark theatricality, some hear the humour, some are outraged while others feel an irresistible urge to join the ranks. This is singing on the edge of not-singing or vice versa, a music only previously heard in a sound-poet's dreams. The group enjoys unusual acoustic spaces - furnace floor or bear pit or library stairwell - as well as churches and more conventional concert venues. It hopes to create a chord which will startle the ghost of Thomas Tallis. Directed by Martin Archer and Alan Halsey Juxtavoices uniquely combines the outer reaches of improvised music and innovative poetry.
Admission free
