Chairman's Newsletter - October 2022
Saturday 1st October 2022
Dear Members,
Autumn is truly with us but we have been lucky to have had beautiful blue skies for the first two events this month. We met in The Duchess of Kent Suite for our talk by Stephan Roman on 6th October as the new education rooms were still not finished. The DOK suite is a glorious venue and was full as we had to limit the numbers to thirty. Everyone enjoyed a fascinating talk entitled ‘Isle and Empires’ where we learnt about the shared history of Russia and Britain and especially the Isle of Wight. The new curator, Christopher Warleigh-Lack popped in to listen to the talk and to meet a few of the members.
Today I have just returned from Sarah Burdett’s guided walk around St. Mildred’s graveyard. Twenty-nine members took the opportunity to learn about all the interesting people buried here. The views across the Medina were beautiful and Sarah pointed out just a few of the many tombstones of Royalty, royal servants, military personnel and influential designers and engineers before we went into the café for a delicious coffee and cake.
Our next two events fall towards the end of the month and both events still have places available. Toby’s Trafalgar Day walk is on Thursday 20th October when members will raise a glass to Nelson. Toby will guide members down to the beach sharing his extensive knowledge of the trees and plants as they stroll along the Valley Walk past magnificent trees planted by Albert. For more information and booking form click on Trafalgar Day – walk to the beach with Head Gardener Toby – Friends of Osborne.
On October 27th Toby is giving a talk about the Walled Garden. This will be in the education rooms if they are ready in time, otherwise the talk will again be held in The Duchess of Kent suite. It is over 20 years since the Walled Garden was opened to the public for the first time. The talk consists of a bit of the garden’s history, the restoration and what plantings have worked well and those that haven’t. For more information and booking form click on A Talk on The Wall Garden by Head Gardener Toby – Friends of Osborne.
Our last talk of the year will be November 3rd when Sarah Burdett, from the East Cowes Heritage Centre, will give a talk on the East Cowes Blitz. The talk will give first-hand accounts from people living in East Cowes at the time. Details and booking forms for this talk have just been released. Click here for details. This will be a popular talk so book early. For more information and booking form click on A talk on The East Cowes Blitz by Sarah Burdett – Friends of Osborne.
Anybody wanting to go to St. Mildred’s for the Remembrance Service on November 13th can find details on the website. A member of Friends of Osborne will give a reading and a wreath will be laid.
After October half term the opening days for the Estate will be Wednesday to Sunday. The planned guided tours of the house have now been pushed back to January 2023. Before we know it, the year will have passed and we will be planning events for next year. If you have any ideas or requests for events or talks, please get in touch. Several suggestions were made at today’s event with one member offering to give a talk on St. Mildred’s Church next Spring and one member requesting a talk on Norris Castle. Or if any of you would like to come on the committee, we would love to welcome your input.
Kind Regards
Allison Rogers