Previous Events
The Old Weird Albion
Friday 20th April 2018 7:30pm
Tickets: £7 advance / £8 on the door (includes a free glass of wine)
Justin Hopper + Sharron Kraus
With Chris Jones (Longbarrow Press)
An evening of prose, poetry and music
Justin Hopper and Sharron Kraus perform a new collaborative composition inspired by the landscape around Chanctonbury Ring.
Justin Hopper is a writer from Pittsburgh, USA, living and working in England. His new book, The Old Weird Albion, a work of creative non-fiction exploring memory, myth and the landscape of th South Downs is published by Penned in the Margins. Sharron Kraus is a singer of folk songs, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose solo work and collaborations offer a dark and subversive take on traditional music. Her music is influenced by gothic literature, surrealism, myth and magick.
Friends of Bishops' House AGM 2017
Mon 20th November
Dear Friends,
You are warmly invited to the Friends of Bishops' House 2017 Annual General Meeting, to be held at Bishops' House on Monday 20th November at 7.30 pm. This will be an opportunity to reflect with trustees and volunteers on significant developments and successes of the year as well as share plans for future projects.
The evening would also be an ideal opportunity to view an exciting installation at the house: Curious House 2017 by Caroline Claisse (with help from FOBH volunteers) is on display until December and is well worth a visit. Details of this, and a number of forthcoming events: history talks, music events and a poetry reading, can be found on this site.
We hope to see you on Monday 20th November,
The Friends of Bishops' House Committee
The agenda and notes for the meeting are set out below,
1. Welcome
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Previous Annual General Meeting
4. Officer's Reports
5. Election of Officers
6. Election of Executive Committee Members
7. Comments from the Meeting
8. Any Other Relevant Business
9. Closure of Meeting
Nominations for Officers received are:
Chair Nick Roscoe proposed by Ken Dash
Secretary Jenni Sayer proposed by Nick Roscoe
Treasurer Barbara Jenkins proposed by Jenni Sayer
Nominations for Executive Committee are:
Ken Dash proposed by Emily Waterhouse
Emily Waterhouse proposed by Ken Dash
Tabitha Gillard proposed by Liz Ralph
Eileen Littlewood proposed by Nick Roscoe
Liz Ralph proposed by Ken Dash
Chris Griffiths proposed by Tabitha Gillard
Terence Moakes proposed by Nick Roscoe
Further nominations can be accepted up to seven days prior to the AGM. The Committee can co-opt members to their membership or invite individuals to discuss specific matters at any one meeting
Dec 17th Christmas Carols
Sunday December 17th 2pm - 4pm
The Friends of Bishops' House Singers return with this very popular Christmas event. Mince pies and mulled wine will be available! Places limited so please come early to be sure of a seat.
Dec 23rd Christmas Carols
Sunday December 23rd 2pm - 4pm
The Friends of Bishops' House Singers return with this very popular Christmas event. Mince pies and mulled wine will be available! Places are likely to be very limited this year with a lot of public interest and limited space. You will have more chance of a seat if you arrive early but unfortunately we cannot guarantee seats will be available.
Sharron Kraus and Nancy Wallace/ Bell Lungs
Tuesday 21st November
Doors open 7:30 pm for 8 pm start
Sharron Kraus & Nancy Wallace / Bell Lungs
Nancy Wallace is a singer and musician hailing from London and Suffolk, and now based in Montreal, Canada. A guitarist and concertina player, her approach to both instruments, and her interpretations of both traditional material and her own songs, set her apart on the contemporary folk scene. Sharron Kraus is a singer of folk songs, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose solo work and collaborations offer a dark and subversive take on traditional music. As well as drawing on the folk traditions of England and Appalachia, her music is influenced by gothic literature, surrealism, myth and magic. Together their voices harmonise and mesmerise.
Bell Lungs
Bell Lungs, from Scoland, weaves layered vocal harmonies and instrumental loops together into a psychedelic, post-folk soundscape that draws on natural cycles, environmental disaster and the microcosmic aspects of relationships. She is known for collaborating with poets, scientists, kinetic sculptures, artists, dancers, film and theatre-makers, and has performed in the UK, USA, Spain, Germany and Italy, in venues common and uncommon, including art galleries, museums, double-decker buses, ancient ruins, a disused grain silo and a hydroelectric power station.
Tickets £7 available here
Curious House 2017
New exhibition running every Saturday & Sunday from October 28th to December 10th 10am-4pm
Through interactive technology, visitors will have the opportunity to meet characters that could have lived in the house over the last 500 years.
In partnership with the museum volunteers at the Bishops' House, designer and PhD candidate Caroline Claisse has co-created an interactive installation where museum visitors will experience the house in new ways. This exhibition builds on the success of Curious House (2016) where artists created engaging new work in response to the house, its association, and collection.
The exhibition Curious House 2017 was funded by the Cultural, Communication and Computing Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University.
https://curioushouse.wordpress.com/
Frostlake / Red Zoo
Sunday December 17 2017 7.30pm
Frostlake
Returning to Bishops House is songstress/instrumentalist Frostlake, spectral psych-folk with haunting vocals. Guitar, laptop, Korg wavedrum and bassist Terry Todd give an atmospheric, otherworldly touch to new songs and ones from the album White Moon, Black Moon - listen here
" beautiful..atmospheric...ethereal... spooky" Achim Breiling Babyblaue Sieten
Red Zoo
Were a Sheffield band from the 80s who had releases on Polydor without success. Singer Elaine and guitarist Nick recently reunited after 30 odd years and are performing stripped back versions of their songs with just acoustic guitar & vocals.
Each act will play a set with a break between. Doors open 7.30pm for a 8pm start.
Cost £5.00 in advance, or £6.00 on the door
String Theology / A Collection Of Notes
Saturday December 02 2017 7.30pm
String Theology
A duo consisting of Herve Perez (shakuhachi/laptop) and Nick Robinson (guitar/loops). Both are veterans of the Sheffield improv scene and bring a diverse range of sounds and inluences to the collaboration. Their music is improvised and is a reflective mixture of electronica and organic sounds. A previous recording can be heard here
A Collection of Notes
Classic synth/electro/ambient music created by Sheffield’s Jan Gilhooley using only Apple’s iPad and iPod Touch running a variety of software synths. Originally “A Collection of Notes” was Jan’s name for some early electronic music experiments back in the late 1980s. When he discovered the possibilities of making electronic music using the Apple mobile devices in 2011 “A Collection of Notes” was renewed to provide a vehicle for the new music created. The ability to create music that both incorporates and reflects the physical environment is one of principle sources of inspiration.
Each act will play a set with a break between. Doors open 7pm for a 8pm start.
Cost £5.00 in advance, or £6.00 on the door
Autumn Fayre
Bishops' House Autumn Fayre is back on 7th and 8th October 2017!
Come along to meet Knights in Battle- real life knights and watch them battling. There will be stalls with local produce and crafts plus face painting and music. Food and drink will be available including delicious pizzas, cakes and a barista coffee van.
The Fayre is just £2 entry and children are free (children must be accompanied by an adult)
Saturday 7th October
11:00 Knights in Battle (http://www.knightsinbattle.com/)
14:00 Carfield Choir (http://www.carfieldcommunitychoir.co.uk/)
15:00 Knights in Battle
Sunday 8th October
10:00 Sheffield Bagpipers
11:00 Knights in Battle
14:00 Knights in Battle
Derek Taylor will be performing historical music on the lute and recorder throughout both days.
All Day Knights in Battle will be in the house to talk about their armour, weapons and to bring medieval history to life.
Getting the dates right
Getting the dates right - Tree-ring dating Bishops' House - 1pm Sunday 10th September 2017
How old is Bishops' House? We thought we had a good idea, but the more Ken Dash, our resident local historian, mulled over the structure of the house, the more he began to wonder if the research done in the 1970s had given us the right answers.
With listed building consent in place we commissioned tree ring dating experts to remove samples of wood and get us the facts. Using the latest scientific methods of tree-ring dating (called dendrochronology) we got some very clear (and surprising!) answers. It is fair to say our understanding of the age of Bishops' House and the sequence of its construction has been transformed.
On Sunday 10th Sept at 1pm, as part of Heritage Open Days, we we will have Robert Howard, from Nottingham Tree-ring Dating Laboratory, at Bishops' House with the first opportunity for the members of the public to find out the news that surprised us, first hand from the experts. Robert will be giving a short talk at 1pm and shall be around on Sunday afternoon until 3pm for anyone that would like a chat. We hope to see you there.
We will also have guided tours at 11.30am and 2.30pm. All these activities will be free but do come along early as we have only limited space. There will be more information online very soon about the findings of the study.
Henry Normal
Saturday September 30th 2017 7.30pm
We are delighted to announce a one-off date by Henry Normal: a writer, poet, TV and film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Manchester Literature Festival) and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival. In June 2017 he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to television.
Henry co-wrote and script edited the multi-award winning Mrs Merton Show and the spin-off series Mrs Merton and Malcolm. He also co-created and co-wrote the first series of The Royle Family. With Steve Coogan, he co-wrote the BAFTA-winning Paul and Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan's Run, Tony Ferrino, Doctor Terrible, all of Steve's live tours, and the film The Parole Officer. Setting up Baby Cow Productions Ltd in 1999, Henry Executive Produced all, and script edited many, of the shows of its seventeen and a half year output during his tenure as MD. Highlights of the Baby Cow output during this time include Oscar-nominated Philomena, I Believe in Miracles, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, The Mighty Boosh, Marion and Geoff, Red Dwarf, Uncle, Nighty Night, Hunderby, Camping and Alan Partridge. Since retiring in April 2016, Henry has written and performed two BBC Radio 4 shows, A Normal Family and A Normal Life, combining comedy, poetry and stories about bringing up his autistic son.
Born in St Annes, Nottingham, Henry now lives in Brighton with his wife, the screenwriter, Angela Pell, and their son, Johnny. He was recently given a Honorary Doctorate of letters by Nottingham Trent University and has had a beer named after him in his home city.
Henry will be doing 2 sets with a break between. Doors open 7pm for a 8pm start.
This event is sold out
Think Water: Storytelling for the future of Sheffield
Saturday 16 September 10:30 – 15:30
Do you have an interest in arts, nature, or the natural environment of Sheffield? During a half-day workshop around Meersbrook Park you will have a chance to find out about water-related issues in Sheffield. We will take you on a walk from the River Sheaf, through Meersbrook Park towards Bishops' House, to share a historical perspective of Sheffield's water resources and the relationship between water and plant life. In the afternoon session, we hope you will contribute to a storytelling workshop and tell us about your memories of past droughts, and help us to discover how you think we could manage Sheffield's water resources in the future. Sharron Kraus, a Sheffield-based singer/song-writer will give a musical performance inspired by the themes emerging from engagement with our research.
The event will begin with tea and coffee at the Hardy Pick Pub (parking is available at 10:30am and at 11.00 am the group will set of to walk to the River Sheaf. A free lunch will be provided (for registered participants) at Bishops' House at 1pm, where the storytelling will take place. The event will end at 3:30pm.
