Mark Bassey, our wonderful Jazz Composition Tutor was honoured by his class when a song was composed for him. Now, the lyric won’t likely trouble Cole Porter, but it demonstrates ingenuity and reflection of the reality: WE FRIENDS CAME FROM BRIGHTON OUR JAZZ SKILLS TO TIGHTEN LEARNING, PLAYING WITH NEW MATES THANK YOU MARK VON
One of our Tutors has written her own book to accompany some of her courses. Viv Philpot has produced a very nice colour publication, Sketching Your Holiday Memories, fully illustrated, taking would-be improving artists through the essentials in a very easy to digest and useful way. Not available commercially, Viv’s book supports the skills and
We recently unearthed some photos of the occasion, 17 years ago, when The Millennium Wall Hanging was created by course attendees at Higham. You may catch sight of some past tutors Elizabeth Prickett (Ruskin Lace), Julie Andrews (Patchwork) and Bridget Rylands (Embroidery) and a number of their students. The Millennium Hanging currently adorns the chimney
Just about got Monty to sit long enough in the new Curve to capture a shot of him with the new plaque, cunningly installed on a tree trunk by Neil the gardener.
Horray! Yesterday, 2nd May, we welcomed a group from the Friends of Alston Hall, some of our own Friends of Higham, our local Setmurthy Parish (St Barnabus’), Trustees students and tutors to the ribbon cutting of our new “Alston Curve”. It was a lovely afternoon and we enjoyed a little celebration to mark the building
Sally Bigwood’s longer extract may ring true for many artists: MESSY AND SERIOUS In recent years Elizabeth had favoured acrylic paint. The colours were bold and bright and passionate and it went on the canvas as smoothly as icing onto a birthday cake. Acrylics were expensive but now, thanks to Stefan’s influence, on each birthday
ELIZABETH’S MURAL Elizabeth waited until Edie and Deirdre left before she got to work. She sat on the side of the old bathtub and stared at the wall for some minutes before she walked up and felt the wall with a splayed right hand. Stefan had stripped off the faded wallpaper and the plaster was
Four months or so on an we’ve done it! The Bungalow Cottage has now been converted to 4 en-suite bedrooms – all ground floor, naturally! The new rooms are: Elva The former kitchen, now a single ensuite with private access to the outside and inside, using the existing fully accessible bathroom as its ensuite. Colour
One of our wood carving students, Eric Breese, has just been presented by Sharon his tutor with a special cake for his 90th birthday. If you look closely at the photo, you will see clues to the tools and work Eric has been involved with on his courses, as well as a sugarpaste representation of
This is an extract from a piece written by Linda Birch following a writing course she attended as a regular student here at Higham with Tutor Nicholas Corder. THE WIDOW’S TALE She caught the bus to town for the first time in forty years, it felt alien. A neat woman in her mid sixties
We are providing the opportunity for students who attend our various Writing courses to submit up to 200 word extracts of what they have produced. We can link to longer versions, if appropriate, but just simply wish to provide a showcase for our students. Work can be sent FAO the Principal and he’ll make it
Alston Hall was, until the beginning of last year, a sister college to Higham based in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. We shared many tutors and, indeed, students, and strived to be true to the same aims of lifelong learning, at one time both being part of the, now defunct, Adult Residential College’s Association (ARCA).
It is with huge sadness we learnt of the passing of one of Higham’s most beloved former Tutors, Irene Coulthard, who taught Calico Gardens for years here up until a couple of years ago. Irene will be much missed both as a tutor and as a friend to many students. Irene was skilled and generous
When something is written down, often it can be erased, deleted or even tippexed out. One exception is when you have something carved in wood. In this case, we are talking about a nice light oak wooden signage with three of the bedroom names for the refurbished Bungalow Cottage, to direct people round to the
Well, we have completed the conversion of three of the bedrooms in the Bungalow Cottage to ensuites on time! There’s never an easy way, but we had to do it and the last couple of months have involved countless hours from several people, both paid and voluntary. Special mention must go especially to (Mrs Principal)
Nowt much can be done to change what has been done carelessly in the past, but the experiences, once realised, can inform the future. For those of you who understand our careful approach to maintenance and repair here, this is perhaps a reassurance that we are doing the right thing. Here’s one example of why.
More than just a redecoration, this one. Those familiar with the Bungalow will recognise that this 1960s one 3 bedroom, one bathroom house originally built for the Warden when Higham was a girl’s school, was hardly up to scratch for modern needs, although it did boast one advantage – that it offers the only ground
As ever, with an old building – an ours’ is nearly 200 years old – there have been challenges with our redecoration. Because we are stubbornly refusing to compromise and do things by halves, we are facing these challenges head-on. In the long run, it will cost less money, but in the short term, we
Our trusty old workhorse which takes students and tutors to some of the wonderful locations around the area on courses has had a bit of TLC! Our 2005 Peugeot Boxer Lightweight minibus, with under 60k on the clock still had plenty of life left in him and so, rather than waste money, we have given
The week commencing Monday 16th January 2017. 5,500 of you will receive a hard copy of the new brochure in the post that week – and nearly 300 new courses up till the end of September 2017 will be on the website from that date. If you wish to see an online version of the
Those of you who know Higham may be familiar with the end of the Dining Room where tea and coffee and some food is served. It was blue for a long time, clashing with the rest of the Dining Room. So we decided to bring it into line and match it up. We chose a
The Pictures tell the story really. There is always something else to do, whatever the job here at Higham. People who think it is just a case of a lick of paint are mistaken. Behind the job of redecorating the Study at the top of the main stairs have been two other major jobs: Repairing
We have had over 90 applications for the admin post which closed on 11th Nov. Naturally we want to make sure we find the right person and are fair to all candidates who have been so good as to make an application. We expect shortlisting to be completed by next weekend, after which we shall
One of our largest ensuite bedrooms in the Hall is having some TLC. Room 15 boasts two wonderful gothic arched windows facing the front. Unfortunately, it also has boasted leaks from both the roof through the window surrounds and the ceiling (due to condensation in the attic). These issues having been addressed, our professional decorator
Art Tutor Robert Dutton works tirelessly behind the scenes not only promoting his own courses, which take place in several locations other than Higham, but also recording what has gone on so both previous and prospective students can get a feel for what goes on. Robert is one of our Tutors who put so much
We’ve finally sorted the majority of work on Rooms 4 and 5. If you remember, these both were in need of brightening up and we took on the challenge of improving them acoustically and aesthetically. The result is very pleasing, especially now the headboard and shelving have been fitted for each room which is now
In the interests of equality, following our notification of Frances Winder’s Calendar being available for sale, we also have had our annual delivery from our Birdwatching and Wildlife Photography Tutor Keith Offord of his ‘Wild Insights’, which is FREE due to the fact he uses it to plug the courses he offers both at Higham
Due to retirement – a rare opportunity to join the team in the office here at Higham! Jobs At Higham
Tutor Frances Winder has produced some very nice calendars, with a month to a view, showcasing some of her exceptional artwork. Usefully, Frances has made sure these calendars, one a narrow format, one large, both have space for notes to be made against each date – so very useful for keeping appointments and significant dates
Those students who are familiar with these two bedrooms may identify with the fact that they both suffered from ‘snore-bleed’ through the adjoining wall. This was due to the fact that when the rooms were originally divided many years ago, the wall between them was just a stud partition. Now, however, it has been enhanced
Housekeeping Assistant Bedroom and Premises Housekeeping in co-operation with a team of 3 others. Someone who will help us maintain our high standards and friendly welcome. Average of 8 hours pw, with possibility of holiday cover. £7.76 ph This job could possibly be combined with a Kitchen Assistant role for the right person to give
For a long time the wafer-thin wall between 4 & 5 has allowed deep snorers to keep their neighbours awake. Well, we are eliminating this problem, prior to a redecoration, by putting up an acoutsically-dampening wall between these two bedrooms. Room 5 has also over the years suffered from a bit of water ingress –
Finally we have managed to put up new curtains in the redecorated Room 2. The choices of colour and pattern have been very, very deliberate for reasons of both usability and aesthetics. The material chosen reflects the scheme’s queues taken from the framed piece of wallpaper on the feature wall, itself of a colour dictated
The Flower Festival held at Higham recently from 2-5th Sept 2016 was supported superbly. So many people bothered to pop in over the four days to see the wonderful displays created in many of our public areas by members of our local parish, St Barnabus, Setmurthy. We’d like to say ‘Thank you’ on behalf of
FLOWER FESTIVAL at HIGHAM HALL Friday 2nd to Monday 5th September 2016 10am to 5pm Refreshments Available Proceeds to Setmurthy Church Higham Hall & St Barnabas Setmurthy have had a long association which continues today & over these four days we celebrate in flowers all the learning opportunities that Higham provides with all the donations
Higham Hall is an old building and, consequently, has traits which throw down challenges. Water is one thing which features greatly. If the wind is blowing in a certain direction, it can seem to creep in through windows and walls. This not only inconveniences, but it can ruin decor and pose problems if we wish
We are pleased with what we have managed to do with Bedrooms 1 and 2. We took a 19th Century wallpaper design as a cue and took heritage colours from it. An example of the wallpaper itself has been put in a black metal frame on the wall that has the feature colour. We decided,
My late father had a stairlift installed at 84. They came to him on an invited visit one day and it was installed by lunchtime the next. That is not bad service and he seemed pleased with it. Of course, it relieved him of the immense worry of ‘having to face the stairs’ and also
Nearly half a century on, as a country we still have some quarters regretting the drastic cuts made to the British railway system by Dr Beeching. It involved the recommended closure of over two thousand (over half of) stations and 30 per cent of routes. Of course, there were solutions to help remedy the situation,
FLOWER FESTIVAL at HIGHAM HALL Friday 2nd to Monday 5th September 2016 10am to 5pm Refreshments Available Dare we imagine a world without flowers? We would be deprived visually, but but also biologically as flowers represent the ability to attract the opportunity to propagate new life. Appreciating what flowers give us in life is terribly
It might sound like a small thing, but this banister will make all the difference. This is Bedroom 6, and you will notice that the entrance is up a slight slope – we think the idea was that a slope was better than a step. However, we have added the rail as a hand hold
Following on from Part 1… If we are to reinvent Lifelong Learning in the modern context, we have a wide range of questions we can use to develop answers that should help us construct our solution. Some of these are not easy to answer, and most require a depth of investigation that will consult many
What can you do? Your volunteer system is working very well on the whole. The majority of people are motivated and engaged and seem to know what needs to be done. Most individuals turn up regularly, perform their duties, even give a little extra, and objectives are achieved. In time, routines are established and those
What follows will end up becoming a vision of the future… (in dreams) Society is getting obsessed with model or version numbers for certain things. We crave the latest technology, whether hardware of software and for the latest model of car. Version numbers have been used in the specialised industries to denote improvements to existing
Let’s get serious for a moment. By the time you read this, our country will have voted on whether to stay in the EU or not. Whichever way you might feel about this monumental choice, it is a positive thing that we in this country have the freedom to discuss, debate and decide on major
In the UK, we will have a particular view of what life stages are like based upon our experiences. The majority of people would probably look back on their childhood in a certain way, even perhaps romanticising as to how things used to be before the pressures of adulthood kick in, or remembering with dread
A recent phone call from someone’s erstwhile other half gave a little smile and suggested a good plot for a sitcom. The conversation went something like this: OFFICE PHONE RINGS “Good afternoon, Higham Hall.” “Oh, hello. Strange request but I’m looking for my wife, I’m hpping she might be there.” At this point, it was
I’m sounding some people out at the moment with a rather controversial idea. It is based upon countering the argument for the cost of lifelong learning and whether some people could be excluded from opportunities due to the cost. I am trying to develop ideas for other ways that people might be able to contribute
One of the by-products of being involved in something in life can be simply joy. It does not really matter what you do, as long as it is acceptable and gives you some kind of fulfilment. Even better when others share that experience and you know that you are not on your own. We all
I am starting to understand now some fundamental criteria sociologists know and I, personally, have not really questioned before. One set of criteria is the difference between ‘Community’ and ‘Society’. This is important, as the word ‘community’ has come up time and time again in my work, and will continue to do so – yet
