To be on a cruise ship en-route to a Caribbean island, a Mediterranean port or a Norwegian fjord and have the address on the reverse of your cabin key-ring to be “Ipswich, Suffolk”, is a slightly surreal experience! How did a cruise line with such a strong Norwegian heritage come to be based in Suffolk? The best person to tell me was Nigel Lingard who […]
25 – 29 October 2011 If you go to see a play that you have seen performed several times, including a version with an all star cast, it is important to put aside all expectations and view the performance objectively. The first thing that strikes you when you enter the Headmaster Porter Theatre at Framlingham College is that Framlingham Amateur Dramatic Society (FADS) has created a […]
I have finally got to hear the song with the lyrics “Stir it and stump it and blow your own trumpet.” Why is this memorable? For the past six years I have attended an evening of talks organised by the Ipswich and Suffolk Small Business Association which is called Stir it and Stump it – now I know why! It is one of the songs in Ruddiore by […]
Tuesday 1 November 6-8pm After the success of the ISSBA Meet the Members evening earlier this year, the Ipswich and Suffolk Small Business Association has decided to hold another one, and it is open to non-members. This time we are at the spectacular (and wonderfully named) “Aquarium” at the Eastern Enterprise Hub (EEH), on the Ipswich Waterfront. The cost is just £5pp including VAT. Part of University […]
At one time, when a foreign language was heard on our streets, we assumed it was a tourist – nowadays the immediate response is to think “immigrant”. With asylum seekers, illegal immigrants and economic European migrants too often lumped together in the public mind, it is good to be reminded that each, however they arrived on our shores, is an individual with a story. Invisible, […]
How often have you been to a conference in a great venue, with lovely food and potentially inspiring speakers, yet there was something missing? Perhaps the timing was out, the introductions clumsy or it was just, well, boring? Whether the conference is organised by your company, trade association, a charity, community group or statutory body, it must achieve its aims and objectives and be […]
Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, 30 November 2011 Looking like a rather stern school teacher, Wendy Cope slipped unobtrusively onto the stage at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, sat down next to a small table and with barely a glance around, proceeded to read some of her witty, and thought-provoking, rhyming poems. One of Britain’s most popular poets, she only began writing poetry […]
Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Saturday 3 December 2011, 7.30pm Have you planned where you will enjoy Christmas music this year? And have a great singalong to some favourite carols? The annual sell-out BBC Suffolk Children in Need Carol Concert is back at Snape Maltings Concert Hall this year. The date is Saturday 3rd December and tickets are now on sale! Leading the audience carols […]
London Mozart Players at Festival of Music, Ipswich School, 21 September 2011 When a school arranges a music festival it would be fair to assume that the performances will given by the students. At this, the second Festival of Music organised by Festival Director, William Saunders and his team, there were seven days of performances, some of which included the students but also an impressive […]
Kit and the Widow at Snape Proms Friday 5 August 2011 “Rather rude but very funny” is probably the best description of the music and chat that comprises an evening with the outrageously camp, Kit and the Widow. Fresh from their nationwide tour of “Cowardy Custard” and just before they appear at the first Comedy Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, Kit Hesketh-Harvey […]