Chairman's Newsletter - November 2022
Tuesday 1st November 2022
Dear Members,
After the most glorious October it feels as if Winter has arrived with a vengeance. The rain, high winds and dark evenings of November have come as a real shock.
Members who took part in the Trafalgar Day celebrations in mid-October were lucky as there was a break in the weather and the rain stopped. Everyone was able to enjoy a really informative talk by Toby as he guided members down to the beach before raising a toast to Nelson. The following week the Duchess of Kent suite was full for Toby’s talk on the walled garden. It was fascinating to listen to the history of the garden and see pictures of how neglected it looked when Toby started here and how decisions were made on what to plant in it. As the new education rooms are still not finished Sarah Burdett also gave her talk in the DOK suite at the end of October. This was on the East Cowes Blitz and was a moving description of the event, told in the words of people who had lived through it.
All the talks this Autumn have been extremely popular and well attended and we hope to bring some more fascinating speakers in to talk to members next Autumn.
We still have events to look forward to in November and December and the committee and trustees met earlier this week to discuss and start to organise events for 2023.
This Sunday, November 13th, members of Friends of Osborne attended the Remembrance Service at St. Mildred’s Church and laid a wreath.
The Christmas Tree festival at St. Mildred’s Church has been confirmed. Trees will be decorated on Monday 19th December with exposition of all trees from 20th to 23rd December. For more details click here Christmas Tree Festival – Friends of Osborne.
Carols in the Courtyard on Wednesday 14th December promises to be a really good evening. Join us for some festive songs and carols around the log burning brazier in the courtyard. There will be gluhwein, mince pies and stollen. For more details and booking forms, please click here Carols in the Courtyard – Friends of Osborne.
Members will be pleased to know that the amalgamated library of FOO and Osborne is now completed. We have not organised an official opening yet but members can get in touch with Therron, who will arrange access for members to visit the library to do research or borrow books.
There have been a few occasions when members have had problems visiting Osborne because they have not had photo ID. If providing photo ID has caused any member difficulty, please get in touch with the membership secretary who will provide that member with their own ID photo card.
The Winter guided tours of Osborne are due to start in January. Members will be invited to be the first visitors shown around the house to trial these new tours.
We received sad news earlier this month that Helen Wilkinson had died. She was an invaluable member of the committee for many years and took a very active part in the running of Friends of Osborne. She will be sadly missed.
I hope to meet some of you in December at Carols in the Courtyard.
And finally – STOP PRESS – English Heritage are offering FOO members a 25% discount in the shop as a Xmas offer between Weds 16th November to Sunday 20th November. Members will need to show their membership cards and photo ID to get the discount.
Kind Regards
Allison Rogers