As the nation marked the 75th anniversary of VE Day, a significant discovery was made at West Horsley Place. Whilst sorting through old papers, a member of the West Horsley Place team came across an envelope containing 18 thank you letters from children evacuated to the manor house in 1939, thanking Lord and Lady Crewe…
Congratulations to children’s author, Adam Baron, who has won the Awesome Book Award 2020 for his novel, Boy Under Water. His Award was announced today via a special online event “I am delighted and honoured to have won with such an amazing shortlist. These events mean so much to authors and I am always stunned at the…
As one of the country’s leading literary festivals that had to be cancelled because of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Stratford Literary Festival has been busy curating activities to keep its audiences inspired and entertained. Following the launch of its Sharing Stories page, which has already attracted thousands of visitors and features best-selling authors and…
West Horsley Place is inviting members of the local community to help create an artwork that explores ‘what makes us glad right now’. Devised by local artist Diana Burch in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the GladRags project asks local residents – including children – to create a small patchwork square that captures ‘what…
The Stratford Literary Festival is excited to launch a free-to-access page of online video content featuring bestselling authors and illustrators – aimed at young children and parents who are at home because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Those appearing include: Jeanne Willis, author of over 150 books, reading The Bog Baby; the popular author-illustrator Steven Lenton…
The Stratford Literary Festival and The Salariya Book Company are delighted to announce the winners of the 2020 Children’s Picture Book Prize. This year saw a record number of entries from across the UK and a very strong field and, after much deliberation, the judges have decided that two winners will share the prize…
Three masterpiece paintings by three of the greatest artists of the Victorian age will be offered for sale at Martin Beisly Fine Art, London this spring. Whispers, 1881 by Frederic, Lord Leighton PRA (1830 – 1896), Isabella and the Pot of Basil, 1867 by William Holman Hunt OM, RWS (1827 – 1910) and The…
Acclaimed author, historian and cultural critic, Daisy Dunn, will be at West Horsley Place on 30 April (7.30pm) to discuss her latest book, In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny. Recognised as one of the UK’s leading female historians, Daisy Dunn lives locally and this will be the first Author Talk to take…
The Board of Trustees of Watts Gallery has appointed two new trustees, Professor Dame Magdalene Odundo OBE and Dr Malcolm Rogers CBE. The appointments are for up to two terms of 5 years from 2019. Professor Dame Magdalene Odundo OBE is an internationally acclaimed ceramic artist, who received her early education in India and…
Opening on 28 February (until 19 April), Watts Contemporary Gallery presents an exhibition of work by Norman Ackroyd CBE, RA, widely acclaimed as Britain’s foremost contemporary etcher and a leading landscape artist and printmaker. Etching the Archipelago brings together more than 40 aquatint etchings – including a number of new prints – inspired by…