Chairman's Newsletter - July 2024
Monday 22nd July 2024
Dear Members,
As the school holidays approach, members will be happy to learn that the shop is again giving Friends of Osborne a 25% discount over the summer holidays. From Monday August 5th to Sunday 11th August, members can take advantage of this wonderful offer to buy gifts and activities for the children or a bottle of gin for themselves. Members just need to show their membership card and photo ID to obtain the discount.
In the grounds, a new children’s trail has been launched called ‘Where is my Shadow?’ and the summer holidays will see the return of Punch and Judy shows from July 20th to August 19th and 23rd August to September 1st. ‘All the Queen’s Horses’ event is on from Tuesday 20th August to Thursday 22nd August and there is an additional charge for this event.
Click here for details Osborne | English Heritage (english-heritage.org.uk)
Our Walled Garden Drinks event on 3rd July was a great success. The weather held out and after an earlier shower the evening was dry with glimpses of sun. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the evening. This was a new venue for our annual drinks party, providing guests with more shelter than the Terraces, which we were unable to use due to various remedial work taking place near there.
Click here for photos and summary of the event Friends of Osborne | Walled Garden Drinks Party
Unfortunately, our other event for July, the visit to the East Cowes Boat Museum, had to be cancelled as not enough members showed an interest. Although an email was sent out to members who had booked, to tell them it was cancelled, regrettably four members turned up at the museum to find it was closed. I am sorry and perhaps we should have made the decision to cancel before I sent out last month’s newsletter, but we hoped some more members would book at the last moment.
We don’t have any events planned for August, as we know it is a very busy time for parents and grandparents and that they can enjoy the grounds of Osborne and what English Heritage offers during the school holidays.
Now is an ideal time to take a photo and enter our photo competition. Osborne is open until 6.00 each evening so there is plenty of time to capture a wonderful picture of Osborne. June’s winner was ‘The House Through the Trees’. The walled garden looks spectacular at the moment and is often overlooked by visitors
Photographs submitted for each month can be seen in the Gallery Section of our website, and the competition rules can be found in the Members Section Friends of Osborne | Photography Competition (username foo, password Osb0rn3H0u5e2023).
Our upcoming events are:
A talk in September. ‘The Making of a Queen – Victoria’s Formative Years: Childhood and Marriage’ by Kevin Shaw on Thursday 5TH September. 11.00
This promises to be a fascinating talk. From her isolated childhood brought up by a domineering mother, this talk, using much of Victoria’s talented art work, follows her life as she became heir to the throne aged 11 and Queen of the most powerful nation on earth when just 18.
Please click here for further details and booking form Friends of Osborne | The Making of a Queen - Talk
Quiz Night. This is a very popular event and will take place on Friday, 13th September in the Terrace Restaurant.
Please click here for details and booking form Friends of Osborne | Annual Quiz Night
An evening of songs from Steve Love Tuesday 24th September. 6.30 – 7.30
This event will take place in the Education Suite, where you can sit and enjoy a glass of wine or soft drink, while Steve entertains you with his original songs. Steve takes an affectionate and amusing poke at Island life.
Please click here for more details Friends of Osborne | An evening of songs from Steve Love
Booking forms will be available in August.
Christopher Warleigh-Lack has agreed to run another ‘Hidden Osborne’ tour in the Autumn. As soon as we have a confirmed date, we will open up bookings, with those members on the waiting list having priority.
An Autumn Walk with Toby Beasley, Head Gardener on Wednesday, 2nd October.
A talk in October. ‘Princess Beatrice – Island Governor’ by Sarah Lang on Thursday 17th October.
More information and booking forms nearer the time.
Please tell us which events you have enjoyed and what events you would like to see on offer. We are always looking for new committee members to join us especially if they have ideas of how we can improve the events we offer to members.
Contact us at allisonr@friendsofosborne.org if you are interested in joining our friendly group.
I hope you have an enjoyable summer.
Best wishes
Allison Rogers