Chairman's Newsletter - September 2022

Dear Members,

All of us have been saddened by the news of Queen Elizabeth’s death. She was a remarkable monarch and woman and no one can fail to be moved by the outpouring of love shown by people all over the country. Flowers have been laid by the gates of Osborne House and there is a book of condolence at the exit from the Durbar Rooms.

I feel Autumn is upon us and the recent rain has been very welcome. However, we were very lucky to have a beautiful evening at the end of August for our 360-degree event. Fifty of our members enjoyed the spectacular views from the rooftop, where we were able to see the glorious views of the grounds and across the Solent where the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales was at anchor.

This is a very popular annual event and sold out very quickly. Next year we will try to give priority to those members who applied and were unable to get tickets this time. Also, it will return to being held earlier in the year, in June.

Bookings for our two events in early October are proving very popular and over twenty people have booked to attend Stephan Roman’s talk. In the past this would have caused a problem as the seating capacity in our old rooms was for only twenty guests. The new Education Rooms can accommodate at least double that number, taking away the need to sometimes hold the same talk in the morning and afternoon as happened in the past when Toby, our head gardener, gave a talk.

The rooms are almost finished; only needing a coat of paint and electricity installed! If this is not finished by 6th October, Stephan’s talk will still go ahead as we have a contingency plan! The rooms have been restored to how they were when used as servants’ quarters and dining room.

I am also looking forward to Sarah Burdett’s talk and walk at St. Mildred’s on Monday 10th October, which promises to be extremely interesting.

There are two more events in October, for which tickets can now be booked. Toby’s Trafalgar Day Walk on Friday 20th October and Toby’s talk on the Walled Garden in the Education Rooms on October 27th.  Please click on the links for more information and online booking forms or use the pdfs at the end of this newsletter if you wish to printout the forms.

Trafalgar Day Walk information

Trafalgar Day Walk online booking form

Toby’s talk on the Walled Garden information

Toby’s talk on the Walled Garden online booking form

Other dates for your diary are

A talk on East Cowes Blitz by Sarah Burdett on November 3rd

The Remembrance Service at St. Mildred’s on November 13th

A Christmas Tree Festival at St. Mildred’s – date to follow

Carols in the Courtyard on December 14th (not yet confirmed)

Several members commented about how much they enjoyed the Quiz Evening, so we are trying to organize a Christmas Quiz in early December.

As mentioned in a previous newsletter members are able to play golf at Osborne Golf Course for a concessionary rate of £12 for either 9 or 18 holes. Please click on the pdf below for details of Book-Pay-Play scheme.  This is a private arrangement between Friends of Osborne and Osborne Golf Club.

Osborne is planning to introduce guided tours of the house this winter. Plans are that the tour will be trialled with members of Friends of Osborne. The committee approved the purchase of two historically accurate costumes costing £4000. One is for a housekeeper and one for a footman.  EH have photographs and the census of 1861 so the tours will be led by ‘real’ characters from this time at Osborne, a time before Prince Albert died and before everyone wore black and was in mourning. The costumes will be authentic but practical for easy cleaning and maintenance. It is hoped that some members of Friends may want to be trained and involved with making and repairing costumes. Please see the pdf below for the photos of the housekeeper and footman who will be the characters leading the tours.

If any members who donated books, artefacts or paintings to Friends want to claim them back they need to do so by the end of the month. The books are being incorporated into Osborne’s existing library and will be used for reference and research. The library catalogue is nearly complete. Once it is finished the library will be relaunched and a decision will be made as to how members of Friends will be able to access it. Various paintings are going to be used for educational purposes and the new curator, Christopher Warleigh-Lack who started on September 12th will look through them. It is hoped that he will come to one of our meetings so we can all meet him.

I look forward to meeting some of you at our next events.

Allison Rogers