Friday 15th December 2023
A most enjoyable morning was spent creating Christmas Wreaths from a wonderful array of foliage supplied by Toby and his team from the grounds of Osborne. Sue Swaby lead the session demonstrating various techniques for producing eye-catching wreaths suitable for both indoors and out. I'm sure that we all left left delighted and amazed with our creatations.
Friday 3rd November 2023
Sun, Clouds, Showers and Toby’s Potting ShedRescheduled after storm warnings the Autumn Walk finally took place on Friday 3rd November and we were met by Toby and proceeded to the Terraces.
Toby explained that due to storms, Babet and Ciaran, the lower half of Osborne Estate including the beach would be out of bounds for the foreseeable future.
At the Terraces Toby explained the new ways of drill planting as ecological considerations progress. We looked down the Broad Walk, which had been mowed in the new ‘eco’ way to reflect the process of animal...
Friday 29th September 2023
A new quiz mistress, new winners, and our youngest player ever.
A sausage and mash supper was back on the menu at the Terrace Restaurant for our annual Quiz Night, provided by Osborne’s new catering manager, Victoria, and her team.
Our new Quiz Mistress, Carolyn, provided four rounds of searching questions on General Knowledge, Food and Drink, Sport, and Popular Music. With Jokers to be played and Table Questions of Island features to be answered, this led to a most stimulating evening.
New overall winners, the Moore’s together with the...
Tuesday 15th August 2023
In August we had a very successful talk by Emma Hallums and Kirsty Huggett, who are responsible for the Conservation of the Royal Collection, about the way they protect the Royal Collection from sunlight, heat, humidity and bugs, to name but a few. Forty-five members attended the talk and found it very informative.
Friday 21st July 2023
Fifty of our members, in 2 groups of 25, enjoyed the stunning 360 degree view of the Osborne Estate and beyond, from the Pavilion rooftop, on a beautiful sunny Friday evening.
Cameras were in abundance, together with binoculars, as our members took numerous photographs from this unique viewpoint
Our EH host for the evening, Dr Welstead (Therron), gave an informative talk about the history of the construction of the House, with many insights into Prince Albert’s involvement with the innovative ideas on the heating and plumbing of the property.
A fruit...
Tuesday 11th July 2023
Our talks continue to be very popular. We had thirty-seven members who came to listen to Mark Earp talk in June about the Royal Children. This was an interesting insight into each of the nine children, their personalities and achievements.
Friday 23rd June 2023
Even Britannia stopped to listen to the music
The sun was shinning as our guests boarded the fleet of electric buses which ferried them down to the beach.
Tables and chairs were set up with lavish picnics, including at least one from Fortnum & Mason’s, as our new 15 piece band, The Freshwater Ukulele Group, prepared to play their ‘Songs of the Sea’
Food was consumed and the drinks began to flow as we all relaxed enjoying the view while listening to the jolly music.
Three great ladies of the ocean glided past the beach, with...
Wednesday 31st May 2023
Talk at St. Mildred’s Church, Whippingham
by Janet McNeal
Our talk at St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham at the end of May was excellent. Janet told us so many fascinating facts and stories about the church. We really enjoyed our afternoon there and chatting afterwards in the tearooms. For anyone who has never visited the church it is well work a visit. Inside the church are several information boards and booklets for sale, telling the history of St. Mildred’s. One of our members on the tour remembered his time as a choir boy there and explained...
Thursday 18th May 2023
Many members came to the Education Suite to listen to a talk by Peter Jackson about the Isle of Wight German Twinning Association. This was full of interesting facts about Queen Victoria’s visit to Coburg, with extracts from her journals describing her thoughts about the trip. Osborne’s new curator, Christopher Warleigh-Lack, attended and it was nice for members to put a face to a name. The twinning association are planning a trip to Coburg in October and if any members are interested to find out more, please email Peter on redsand@roselake.co.uk.
Tuesday 16th May 2023
Today Brading Roman villa welcomed a group of members to enjoy a guided tour of the wonderful historic remains. We were greeted with cake and refreshments in the glorious sunshine sitting on the cafe deck followed by a wonderful tour Which was not only informative but amusing.
Members were then given the freedom of the grounds on such a beautiful day to enjoy for the remainder of their stay.
Wednesday 26th April 2023
Toby, Head Gardener, greeted a full party of 30 members for our ‘Walk and Talk’ and we moved off for a quick inspection of the fallen Cedar of Lebanon.
Next, we sauntered off to the Terraces, with the tulips of red, pink, and yellow standing to attention. Toby explained about how a traditional ‘ribbon’ layout was adopted by the crew of gardeners… bright and colourful.
Our walk resumed from the Lower Terraces via the Grand Walk, where we spotted hosts of purple orchids. Then, on to the wooded area near the Ice-house where we saluted an...
Wednesday 19th April 2023
Sarah Burdett gave a very interesting talk about the impact that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had on East Cowes and Whippingham and in particular on the architecture and the very many houses that still remain in the area today. Over twenty of us enjoyed the talk and I think we all learnt something new about East Cowes!
Friday 31st March 2023
On 31 March we held the first of our fundraising events in the newly revamped Education Suite at Osborne where members enjoyed a demonstration of flower arranging by Sue Swaby. Sue, who is responsible for many of the amazing floral decorations in the House, showed us how to create a simple, yet effective, arrangement using tin cans, hessian and spring flowers. Some very impressive arrangements were subsequently created by members in a relaxed and sociable environment. A special thanks to Gill Jackson for her help in the organisation of the event and for her delicious...
Wednesday 8th February 2023
It was a pleasure to meet some new members and see some more familiar faces at Carisbrooke Castle. It was a beautiful frosty day with blue skies and those of us that went up onto the ramparts had glorious views. We had a very informative talk about the castle and enjoyed looking at the many fascinating items in the museum. Sarah, one of the EH volunteers then talked to us about the donkeys and showed us the well house. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the morning there.
With great delight Friends of Osborne held our relaunched Quiz Night on Friday 24th June in the splendid Terrace Restaurant. Teams amounted to 6 tables of four players and 2 of five. Quiz mistress, Ms McDoom and her trustee sidekick, Wisden the scorer, kicked off the evening with Round 1, Hobbies and Leisure. Round 2 covered questions on TV Gold for memories of old.
The supper was served during the interval and it was a most generous Isle of Wight cheese ploughman’s with alternatives for dietary reasons. Delicious.
The Living World Round was pitched rather too...
Actually, the temperature down at the beach was rather balmy.
Forty members arrived on foot or were transported in the brand new electric minibus to the beach, with picnics to hand.
Captain Paul and his shipmate, Lindsay, entertained us with amusing sea shanties as we sat shore side next to the blue waters of the Solent.
The Beach Cafe was open to cater for our guests and we thank Debbie and Hilary of EH for their service.
At the end of the evening our driver, Fiona, was on hand to ferry our guests back to the car park.
Toby arrived and the sun come out.
After rain for most of the morning, as soon as 20 of our members were met by Head Gardener, Toby, then the sun began to shine.
Toby’s Autumn Walk lead us via the icehouse, down the valley path to the beach. Taking approximately an hour, with various stops along the way. Toby explained the various Flora and Fauna to be seen on the Osborne Estate at this time of year. As a trained arborealist his extensive knowledge of the history and planting of the trees by Prince Albert made for a fascinating talk, with plenty of photo...
The Brazier was lit at 6.00 and this year’s annual festive Carols in the Courtyard was under way. Glühwein and hot Chocolate were poured, while Stollen and mince pies were served in the new Education Rooms.
Our new ukulele band ‘Uke can Sing’ from Cowes, braved the cold and started with some traditional carols together with festive favourites. Our guests gathered around the brazier, with the chestnuts roasting/burning on an open fire, singing with hearty voices, in the cold night air.
Back into the warmth, Secret Santa made her appearance and...
Dame Judi Dench attended the Friends of Osborne Gala Dinner as the first Patron of Friends of Osborne. Guests at the sell-out event enjoyed a drinks reception in The Durbar Room (with the opportunity to view costumes from the ‘Victoria & Abdul’ film), followed by a wonderful four-course dinner in the Terrace Restaurant.
Dame Judi was accompanied by her co-star in the film Victoria and Abdul, Eddie Izzard, who played Bertie, Prince of Wales. Dame Judi, who had already been presented with a commemorative glass paperweight containing a flower from the Osborne...