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Stapleford Granary news

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Stapleford Granary is holding a Philip Larkin week-end in September.

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Join them for a weekend dedicated to Philip Larkin, one of Britain’s best-loved poets. Their series of events reflects his wit and abiding sadness, his world-weary cynicism, his crustiness and his warmth, and his way of making the ordinary seem like something to aspire to.

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LARKIN'S PHOTOGRAPHY

Thursday 12 September - Tuesday 24 September

EXHIBITION: FREE TO ENTER

Philip Larkin was an enthusiastic and committed photographer, experimenting with delayed action shutters, cropping and enlarging images and gathering his pictures into thematically ordered albums. This exhibition was originally curated by John Osborne, distinguished writer and co-founder of the Philip Larkin Society. It has generously been loaned to us by Hull History Centre and combines family snaps with mature forays into portraiture, landscapes, cityscapes and many self portraits, offering a unique, intimate insight into Larkin's life.

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LARKIN'S ENGLAND

 

FRIDAY 13 SEPTEMBER | 7:45pm

Jonathan Gunthorpe, reader

Ian Buckle, piano

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The lyrical, bittersweet and nostalgic qualities of Larkin's poems are present in the English piano literature by the poet's contemporaries. Ian Buckle's programme intersperses a selection of piano miniatures with Jonathan Gunthorpe’s reading of the poetry to evoke a view of England created by one of the country's leading post-war writers. Poems include An Arundel Tomb, Toads, Dockery and Son, Aubade and Church Going; with music by Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten, Eric Coates, John Ireland and others.

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LARKIN'S PHOTOGRAPHY: CURATOR TALK WITH MARK HAWORTH-BOOTH

SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER | 11:00am

FREE - no booking required

 

Mark Haworth-Booth discusses the prints in our Larkin photography exhibition with Kate Romano.

Haworth-Booth served as a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum from 1970-2004 and, as senior curator of photographs, helped to build up its great collection of photography. A widely published award-winning writer and researcher, he was appointed OBE for his services to museums in 2005.

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LARKIN'S DOODLES: PHILIP PULLEN

SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER | 2:00pm

 

In this illustrated talk, Larkin writer and researcher Philip Pullen explores the way in which the poet’s drawings, sketches and doodles reveals aspects of his personality, his relationship with the key people in his life and, above all, his creative genius.

Philip Pullen is a trustee of The Philip Larkin Society and chair of Larkin100, a charitable organisation set up to promote and coordinate the Larkin centenary in 2022. He is currently working as co-editor for a book of Larkin’s drawings, planned for publication in 2025.

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THE SUNDAY SESSIONS

SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER | 11:00am - 12:00pm

FREE - no booking required

 

Drop in and spend a quiet hour listening to recordings of Philip Larkin reading 26 of his poems whilst perusing his photographs in the exhibition. The Sunday Sessions consist of two tapes recorded by Larkin in Hull in 1980, reportedly on a Sunday, with sound engineer John Weeks. The tapes contain some of Larkin's best known poems and were lost for over two decades. Since their rediscovery, they have been the subject of widespread media attention.

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LARKIN'S BLUES

SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER | 3:00pm

 

Jonathan Gunthorpe & Kate Romano, narrators

 

Larkin’s Blues is a story about two of Larkin’s great loves; his relationship with jazz (constant, deeply rewarding) and his relationship with Monica Jones (complex, evasive). Kate Romano’s new semi-staged production for the Granary brings these two life-long love affairs together, illustrated with a vintage collage of Larkin’s own photographs and a soundtrack of original jazz recordings from the 20s and 30s including Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, Art Tatum and Count Basie.

Posted August 20 2024

Stapleford Granary news

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Summer in the orchard at Stapleford Granary

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The Granary has opened a coffee in the orchard experience.

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This summer, they have opened their old orchard to all visitors where people can buy coffee and cold drinks, cakes and ice cream from their beautifully restored horse box.

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Dating back to the 1930s, the fruit grown at the orchard was eaten at Corpus Christi College and used for jam-making by the famous Chivers and sons.

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*The adjoining stable block has an interactive exhibition throughout July and August. The new Natural World discovery room is now open until August 31 - it is free to enter.

Updates July 8 2024

New Stapleford Granary exhibition

 

Unfurl is a group exhibition at Stapleford Granary curated by Contemporary & Country presenting seven artists and makers whose work celebrates the fecundity of flora and fauna in spring.

 

The exhibition includes painting, photography, drawing, collage, ceramics, textile embroidery, hand-blown glass and shell work by significant creative talents based in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

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It starts on February 23 2024.

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Curator talk, Saturday 24 February 11:00am (all welcome, free admission, no need to book)

Posted Jan 22 2024

Stapleford Granary postpones Christmas market

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Stapleford Granary is no longer planning to hold a Christmas Market in December.

 

They invited residents for a drink and to hear a presentation at the Granary on Thursday 7 September 2023 where they shared their proposed plans for a Christmas Market this year.

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But after receiving feedback from neighbours, the event was postponed.

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Updated October 27 2023

Stapleford Granary update

 

Beautiful food boards & platters in May

 

As the days get longer and the weather becomes warmer, we're expanding our bar offer to include occasional early-evening seasonal food. We hope you'll come along and join us in May for a delicious pre-concert appetiser or light meal in the lovely surroundings of the Granary Bar. We'll be offering ticket holders a selection of our own curated Mezze Boards, Smoked Fish Platters and Ploughman's Boards alongside three contrasting concerts of the finest live jazz, folk and classical music.

 

To enjoy our pre-concert food, please purchase your choice of concert tickets online or by phone. Ticket holders will receive an email 5-7 days before the concert with details about the boards and how to pre-order. Pre-concert food is limited to 45 plates per concert.

Posted April 24 2023

Stapleford Granary March 2023 update

 

THREE PAINTERS, ONE SCULPTOR

3 FEBRUARY - 16 APRIL

 

Our new exhibition, curated by Alan Kluckow, showcases the work of four living artists. Whilst encompassing multifarious styles, there are common themes of light, landscape and nature which run through their pictures and sculptures. Susan Laughton's understated landscapes feature vernacular buildings, half seen as if through an early morning mist. Tom Benjamin's seascapes explore the play of light on water and rocks, while Ian Turnock's sculptures in steel and copper trace the shapes of light through leaves and branches. Philip Maltman's expressive, fluid images of flowers are suggestive of a controlled wilderness.

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The exhibition is free to attend, there is no need to book and all of the exhibited works are available to purchase.

Posted Feb 16 2023

Stapleford Granary Storytelling Sundays

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What nicer way, we thought, to while away the long dark winter months than to be tucked up in the Granary's cosy orchard room listening to a story? So they have created Storytelling Sundays; six unforgettable tales in January, February and March especially for our youngest audiences (and everyone who likes stories). Their two 'resident' story tellers are Andy Lawrence (Theatre of Widdershins) and Kate Romano (Goldfield Productions), both renowned for their acclaimed children's productions and their love of a good yarn. Kate's stories are richly illustrated with music and shadow puppetry projected on to a 5-foot screen whilst Andy's stories showcase his glorious hand-held props. Join us as we visit imaginary landscapes and meet memorable characters, beginning on Sunday 8 January.

SEE ALL EVENTS

 

STORYTELLING SUNDAY

CURIOUS ABOUT RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS? 

SUNDAY 8 JANUARY, 10:30am & 12:00pm 

Tickets £4.50 | Age 6+

Posted Jan 3 2023

Stapleford Granary

Do you share our love of the arts? Could your creative practice form part of our vision to be an inspiring, cultural environment for everyone?  We have two beautiful artist studios to let in our historic stable block, overlooking the orchard. Available now, we are seeking artists and creatives who would like to work, create or teach at the Granary's award-winning site.

Find out more via the link below or email us at hello@staplefordgranary.org.uk

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Granary gift shop

Discover beautiful prints by Kate Heiss, ceramics from Chalkstone Pottery and Little Shop of Pots, books, homeware and locally-made candles and cards. Located in the cafe, we're open 7 days a week.

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Exhibitions

We have a year-round programme of contemporary, thought-provoking exhibitions. Our current exhibition - The Natural Eye - is a selection of 90 works from 20 artists, curated by the Society of Wildlife Artists (free admission)

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Resident artists 

The arts of bookbinding and stained glass are taught in stable block Studio 1 by Helen Perry & Michelle Mativi. We love seeing the  development of their work in the calm, peaceful, environment they have created.

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Classes and courses

Learn a new skill with independent art tutors who teach from the stable block Art Studio. There are classes in printmaking, painting, drawing & mixed media taught by highly experienced artists. 

Posted Nov 28 2022

Much Loved Classics & a thirst for something new as our Concert Hall Season opens for Autumn

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We promise you great music played by great musicians in our Autumn concert series. Whether it’s classical, folk or jazz, you’ll find a mixture of brilliant established artists and the finest of the younger generation within an overall programme that combines much-loved classics with a thirst for something new.

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A note from Kate Romano, CEO of Stapleford Granary 

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‘There’s something especially nice about returning to the Granary’s beautiful concert hall in the autumn. Our summer season largely took place outdoors in the courtyard, with fantastic folk and jazz events, BBQs and our much-loved Village Day. But as the nights start to close in, I find myself drawn back to that wonderfully intimate space -  the smell of the douglas fir wood, the cosy yellow brick walls -  to experience the unforgettable thrill of live music created before our eyes and ears. As one of our audience members said to me..’its the best place for the best live music’.

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As ever, we aim to bring the finest classical, folk and jazz to the Granary; a blend of much-loved repertoire and familiar faces alongside newer sounds and artists we hope you’ll want to discover. Pianist Cordelia Williams opens the season on 9 September with an exquisite programme of light and shade, featuring music by Mozart, Schubert, Tomkins, Evans and Schubert. The Gesualdo Six trace the evolution of the Italian Madrigal on 16 September with works by Monteverdi, Palestrina and Marenzio and Martin Roscoe, one of the UK’s best loved pianists, brings a glorious programme of Haydn, Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven to the Granary on 22 October. 

 

The Norwegian Espen Eriksen Trio present their unique brand of lyrical and ambient jazz on 14 October and superstar trumpeter Laura Jurd brings her brass-fuelled party band to the Granary on 30 September; expect Big Friendly tunes and grooves-a-plenty! Catch acclaimed folk band Dallahan on 1 October for music forged in Scotland and Ireland drawing on traditional music from the Balkans and North America. 

 

I’ve very much enjoyed seeing our Sunday lunchtime concerts become so popular over the last 6 months. Now that our beautiful new cafe is open, you can come along for a delicious cup of Butterworth’s freshly roasted coffee and a cake followed by your favourite live music. We’ve got the fabulous and inimitable jazz clarinettist / saxophonist Mark Crooks and his quartet on Sunday 18 September, cellist Gemma Rosefield and pianist Nicola Eimer on 25 September (a wonderful programme of Chopin, Janáček and Mendelssohn) and the innovative and experimental Liam Noble Trio on 9 October. 

 

And if you're seeking something really different, the exceptional Apollo Saxophone Quartet on Friday 7 October might be just what you are looking for. The Apollo Quartet have created new soundtracks for some of the most quirky silent films from the Georges Méliès era, all performed live, reacting and responding to the images on the screen in the absence of any dialogue. 

 

I do hope you’ll find something to enjoy or discover at Stapleford Granary this Autumn.. Whatever you choose, you are always guaranteed the warmest of welcomes at the Granary from our staff and the musicians who play here. We look forward to seeing you soon. 

 

Kate Romano, CEO

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www.staplefordgranary.org.uk/whats-on/events/

 

September Event Links:

October Event Links:

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