Woof! Woof!......All About Dogs is on Sunday 8th September in Warley Woods.
Prizes for the Waggiest Tail, Best Handling by a youngster, Musical sit, Most appealing eyes, Best Trick, Best Rescue, Best Golden Oldie, Best Trick, The Dog The Judge Wants To Take Home, Doggie Dash competition and lots of dog-related stalls, this is a great day out for all dog lovers.
Registration starts at 10am with the event beginning at 11am. Entries to the dog show cost £1 per category.
In plenty of time to knit jumpers, scarves, socks, hot water bottle/tablet/mobile phone covers for your loved ones this Christmas, Sarah Eaton's Learn to Knit classes start next month at Warley Woods Pavillion.
Places are limited and at only £10 per class you'd be a 'knit' to miss out!
Bearwoodstock celebrates its fifth birthday on Saturday 21st September at the Bear Tavern with live music to suit all tastes (everything from top ranking ska to folky acoustic covers) and morris dancers in the line-up too. You can even enter their raffle to win a signed Kaiser Chiefs T-shirt.
Unlimited entry with an all day £6 wristband and money raised going towards Stroke Association, make sure you mark the date in your diary.
With a big thank you to Mark, organiser of the Bearwoodstock events, here's our preview of some of the bands who will be playing.....
With the grand re-opening of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre taking place in just over a week's time, welovebearwood have linked up with the theatre to offer you the chance to win tickets to the first production in their brand new STUDIO.
We're really excited about this as it's the world premiere of Soweto Kinch's new masterpiece, The Legend of Mike Smith. Soweto was good pals with the late great Andy Hamilton and has performed many times at the Silvershine Jazz Club (aka Bearwood Jazz).
Act One Lasted 100 Years, Act Two Starts Tuesday 3 September After celebrating its centenary in Spring, Birmingham Repertory Theatre re-opens to the public this September with a new 300-seat studio theatre created through partnership with the new Library of Birmingham. With an incredible season of entertainment for you, the first production in their new theatre, The STUDIO, will be the world premiere of The Legend of Mike Smith, written by and starring the Birmingham born MOBO award-winning musician Soweto Kinch. Be taken on a journey through the seven deadly sins, with jazz improvisation, a driving hip hop score and choreography from a pioneer of British Hip Hop culture, Jonzi D. A world premiere is also the first production in The DOOR as one of the most exciting young poets and writers working in Britain today, Kate Tempest, presents her new play Hopelessly Devoted. Telling the story of music and its redemptive power, the show combines lyrical fireworks with exhilarating live music. In his first stage role at The REP, Martin Shaw returns to his home city to play the lead role in a new version of Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men and Collective Artistes present Zhe, a show based on the true-life stories of two British Africans living at the crossroads of culture. For Christmas, Bryony Lavery and Jason Carr’s adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol returns to The REP in a new staging. Plus, twenty years after its debut flight, The Snowman soars back to its Birmingham home. The REP’s artistic director Roxana Silbert says of the re-opening season: “This is an historic occasion and I’m thrilled that we are back home. We’re re-opening the theatre with an exhilarating season of classics, new work, great hits, fantastic names, an extraordinary range of local talent and some brilliant collaborative and contemporary theatre making. We’re heralding a new beginning and we can’t wait to welcome audiences through our doors” To find out more, visit the REP's website right here. To celebrate the re-opening of The REP and the opening of the new theatre space The STUDIO, The REP is offering the chance for 3 lucky welovebearwood readers to win a pair of tickets to Soweto Kinch’s exhilarating new show The Legend of Mike Smith on Tuesday 24 September at 7.45pm.
To be in with a chance of winning, please answer the question below and email your answer to welovebearwood@googlemail.comby Monday 2nd September. The three winners will be chosen randomly and notified by email. Good Luck! Who is the choreographer for The Legend of Mike Smith? a) Jonzi B b) Jonzi D c) Jonzi E
This is fantastic news! Marie Bastable has told us that after a very successfu iPad Summer School, that term time sessions are now planned to commence in September. Marie said "If you have young children and would like somewhere to go once a week why not come along? Small group sessions will be held at The Pavilion, Warley Woods, Bearwood. Individual iPads are provided for the children and the sessions promise to be ENGAGING, EXCITING & EDUCATIONAL." Here's some great feedback Marie has received from the iPad Summer School "Thanks for a fun iPad session today. I'm installing one of the apps as I text. Looking forward to next time." H
"Thanks so much for the pictures Marie, that's lovely. It's really nice to have something which I can show daddy as well. We enjoyed the session this morning and look forward to coming again next week." E "Hi Marie. J really enjoyed the iPad sessions and has told her dad all about it. :) I learnt a few things myself. :). We are both looking forward to next week, thank you." L For more information, call Marie on 07530 695979 or email her at mariebastable@hotmail.com
Elvis, backing dancers, croupiers, roulette tables and a poker tournament! Forget the US of A Las Vegas is coming to Bearwood this Sunday.
With doors opening from 4pm until 1am and FREE entry the big Casino night will be taking over The Bear Tavern. Get your gambling chips and fun money at the ready.
Vicky who helps organises the events at The Bear Tavern told welovebearwood that "this Sunday we're having black jack, poker and roulette starting from 4pm run by croupiers it's going to be for 'fun money' which can be exchanged for prizes and on the evening we have a Elvis tribute with his own dancers stating at 9pm. Although I'm particularly excited as the staff are treating it as a black tie event." We're sure Vicky won't be the one who's excited!
Ok….we have to admit it! Welovebearwood went a bit gooey when Metz Jnr finished his performance at Warley Woods Picnic in the Park with Sinatra’s New York New York, so we just had to find out more about him.
We caught up with Metz to find out about his music, his plans for the future, being Bearwood born and bred and why he thinks there’s a connection between Lightwoods Chippy and aliens.
How would you describe your music in one sentence?
My music is made to inspire the uninspired, relate to the masses and to speak my mind with new perspectives from life experiences, never the same always different. . . .
We understand that you normally perform with a band. Do you prefer playing solo or with other musicians and why? I adore playing with other artists and if I had a choice I would most likely go with the live music scene, working with other artists is packed with excitement and challenges however, I have progressed further in music independently because I can get more done solo with no ties, you'd of thought that working with more people gets you a faster work rate when in fact progress develops slowly. The two bands I am currently working with are seriously starting to put in the work and I have a feeling that my priorities will change to the bands but will never lose touch of my solo abilities. We loved the fact that you finished your set at Warley Woods with New York New York. Why did you decide to finish with Frank Sinatra? Aww thank you, I'm glad you did as it was a last minute selection! Everyone standing out there were so varied in age, it was certainly daunting to begin with. I just knew that with the set I had done I was still yet to touch on the oldest generations musical choice and Frank did it for me, I also absolutely adore Frank Sinatra's music, true legend.
Where does the name Metz Jnr come from?
Well Jnr is down to a senior and since me and my pop shared the same first name 'Metin', Metz was slowly developed into an alias that differed from my Dad’s. That name stuck and then found the stage, not too exciting but there is something hidden in the name.
If you mumble or grumble the JNR as a word rather than an abbreviation you can pull out the word genre, which makes sense as I have always and continue to test my range and boundaries in all different types and styles of music. If you had to choose between Sammy Davis Jnr, Harry Connick Jnr or Ray Parker Jnr (Ghostbusters), which one would you choose and why? Sammy all the way, I mean Harry Connick is close but Sammy was in the Rat Pack, high rolling his way through the charts and world stage. He was one of the three most influential and talented men on the planet in that age and set the standard when it came to singing especially as an African American in that era, he had cojones, he lost an eye and became a Jew in one the most racist of ages, full props to such a man, although Ray Parker fought ghosts...
Why did you decide to film the video for ‘Where did the sunshine go?’ in Warley Woods?
It's amazing, I love the woods, it's over the road from me and the day was cloudy and perfect for the shoot, it was a quick vid and is old now, I have two brand new ones coming up this year, one of which was also done in the woods during the Rabbit Hole event we held during the Warley Woods's Mad Hatter Walk.
Which artist/artists inspire you and what’s your favourite album so far of 2013?'
My closest friends inspire me, that's serious, when I say K Chambers and Juggernaught are my best friends and two of my favourite artists, that's nice. Natty, K-os, Klashneckoff, Katie Melua, Lianne La Havas, Ben Harper, The Marleys... All of the artists I hold high up and there are simply too many to name.. And the album of the year hmmm, K-os 'Black on Blonde', get listening.
What do you think of the live music scene in Bearwood?
I think the scene here is below standard, the artists in Bearwood are awesome but there is simply no where in Bearwood offering a place of musical gathering other than the brilliant events at the park or in the Woods, we need a venue for live music and we need it now!
Where can we see you next perform live?
You can catch me at the BMX track in Perry Park for the BMX Brits championship on Sunday August 25th performing live with my band 'Dantanna', that will be awesome, also on September 14th you can catch me on a solo show at the well established Hare and Hounds where I will be supporting One Eye the amazing Birmingham based reggae band, please please come and show some support!
What’s your connection with Bearwood? Born and bred Bearwood boy through and though, despite my different family backgrounds I can safely say when people ask where I am from it's either Birmingham to generalise or Bearwood for the locals :) Please tell us your Bearwood All-Star. In other words what, where or who makes you smile in Bearwood? I have to say it's always been the Lightwoods Chippy!! Although The Dog Pub and Lightwoods Park hold many childhood and adulthood memories I can never seem to shake off those delicious orange chips and why would I want to! Yum! We like to ask everyone this question. What makes Lightwoods Chippy’s chips orange? I always wondered when I was a child and never asked the family because I didn't want to spoil the amazing wonder I had for this strange and tasty chip. I still hold the wonder quite dear to me. However I think I now know.... Aliens.
P.S.If you haven’t guessed it already (that's our excuse for the punny title of this blog post anyway) welovebearwood are big fans of 80s pop!Here’s one of our favourites from Howard Jones!
It’s going to be a sad day in Warley Woods on Monday 19th August.
One of the big beech trees which has been part of the woods for over 200 years and stood next to the long gone Warley Abbey is going to be felled.
Viv Cole, Warley Woods Trust Manager, explained to welovebearwood about the decision and how you can help mark the occasion for Warley Woods' history books.
"We will be saying goodbye to one of our most special trees in Warley Woods, the veteran beech which stood next to Warley Abbey. The Community Trust has tried to prolong its life over the last few years, but it has died and needs to be felled.
This particular tree has been in the landscape for well over 200 years and is included in many historic photographs. It has grown in a particular way with one extending branch arm that also gives it a particular character and makes it instantly recognisable. We have worked hard to try and extend the tree’s life with a range of treatments and even last year made a public appeal for sugar, so we could give it a syrupy feed (a technique often used for saplings, but not used before for aging trees). However, the time to say goodbye has come. The felling will begin on 19th August and members of staff and volunteers from Warley Woods Community Trust will be nearby 10am – 4pm to answer questions and talk about the trees in Warley Woods. Our expert tree advisor, Chris Shortis, from Midland Forestry, will be there to answer any detailed queries. There will be woodworking displays showing three different ways of working with wood and there will be some children’s activities. Of course there will also be the very amazing spectacle of a very large tree being felled by professionals. We will be asking members of the public to take photographs during the felling from one vantage point to be able to put together a “time lapse” slide show of the tree coming down. We will also be collecting ideas about what people would like to see done with the wood from the tree and there is a funding appeal to try and bring some of these ideas to life." Viv added that “I really hoped that this would never happen during my time at Warley Woods, but the Trust has a clear conscience that it has done all it can and the tree needs to come down to keep everyone safe. We hope some local artists will be able to take wood and carve objects from it and we hope to use a chunk to create a timeline of the area. “We are open to other ideas and well and will be pleased to hear from artists, woodworkers or members of the public who have proposals or suggestions. Monday will be a sad day, but it will also be a chance to celebrate the wonderful tree-filled landscape we have at Warley Woods.”
Before their debut at the Edinburgh Festival David Rees Jones and his fellow comedians are bringing their comedy showcase to Thimblemill Library next Tuesday, 20th August.
At only £3 per ticket the price will bring a smile to your face too!
Here's a video of David Rees Jones to get you in the comedy mood. Enjoy!
After much deliberation from Alys Fowler (The Guardian's resident gardener) and three local judges the prize winners of the Let's Get Bearwood Blooming competition were announced to great excitement yesterday afternoon at Lightwoods Park Bandstand The competition organisers would like to thank Alys Fowler and the three local judges for their great judging skills, Wordwright Editorial Services Ltd for kindly sponsoring all of the prizes and Webb's of Bearwood for all their support. The competition has been such a success that there is already great demand for it to be held again next year. We would also like to say well done to all the prize winners and a big thank you to everyone who entered! The main prize winners: (all prizes sponsored by Wordwright Editorial Services Ltd)
1st prize 200 Galton Road (£500)
2nd prize 7 Pargeter Road (£300)
3rd Prize 86 Galton Road (£200)
Highly Commended by Alys Fowler: 29 Richmond Road (Rosemary Bush)
The Local Vote:
Winner: 25 Rathbone Road (£25 voucher from Webbs - thank you Webbs!)
Did you know about the fantastic Judgestock Music Festival happening at Sandwell Valley on 24-26 August? Find out much much more here and here!
Boyband Blue, RnB singer Lemar, local band The Twang, rockers The Quireboys, Alabama 3 and Mitchel Emms from The Voice plus lots more are already confirmed acts.
There's also loads of tribute acts on the bill with tributes to ABBA, Foo Fighters, Elvis, Kings of Leon, Madness, Slipknot, Lady Gaga, Pink to name but a few.
You can buy tickets for either Saturday, Sunday or Monday at £12 per day or get a weekend pass for all three days for £30. Tickets from Ticketmaster. Tickets for children aged five to 16 are £6 per day or £15 for all three days. Booking fees apply.
All proceeds raised from the event will go towards BUDS (Better Understanding of Dementia for Sandwell), the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital and Macmillan Cancer Support. This is part of this year's annual Sandwell Show. Please pass onto your friends, family and anyone you know.
Kim and Joe performing at this year's Warley Woods Picnic in the Park
Hello Kim and Joe. Thanks to agreeing to an interview with welovebearwood. It's very kind of you.
Let's begin by asking when you started performing together.
Joe: We've been performing together since 2008. We were in a 5pc alt-rock band, 'Over the Line'. Kim: It was Joe's band with his friends that I'd joined as a backing singer. We've been performing as a duo since doing an open mic night at the Yardbird in 2011. Wow! So how would you describe your sound? Joe: Fledgling. We haven't got much of an idea of our own sound as yet, it seems to be pretty amorphous at the moment. The one thing for sure is it'll be centred around the strength in Kim's voice. Kim: We're influenced by so many different genres, we're still finding our own sound. Somewhere in the vein of an angsty Adele. You've got a little girl now. What impact does that have on your songs? Do you get much time to work on your own songs? Kim: I've certainly had more inspiration and surges of creativity but with much less time with which to use it. Joe: I would say, if anything, Evie has raised our own standards.
Your set includes a really good range of different songs. Do you have a favourite song to cover and why? Joe: Billie Holiday - Summertime, I lifted a pretty nice, finger-picked version a couple of years back and played it out back all summer long. Kim: For me it has to be the gospel version of The Beatles - Let It Be from the film 'Across the Universe'. Lots of fun runs and top notes for me to play around on. I've still never managed a satisfying performance of it because it is so challenging for me. We've enjoyed your performance at Warley Woods Picnic in the Park and at the Bearwood Shuffle. What do you think of the live music scene in Bearwood? Kim: It's brilliant. There are so many different opportunities to see live music at Lightwoods Park, the Woods, all the pub nights, and now Thimblemill Library is putting on live music! We spotted you in the queue outside the Institute waiting to see Amanda Palmer. Which artist/artistes influence you and what is your favourite album so far of 2013 and why? Joe: 2013?! I'm still stuck on Alt-J 'An Awesome Wave'. True turn on, tune in and drop out music. Kim: Likewise. I've gotten as far as Amanda Palmer - 'Theatre is Evil'.
Amanda Palmer, what a great choice. We're big fans too! Which direction would you like to take with your music? Kim: At the moment, we're working on more original material. We eventually want, at least, a complete album worth of original material and for people to want to listen to it. Joe: Sooner or later we'll stumble across some upbeat material so we won't be half an hour of downer. You work really well together. Who are your favourite musical duo and why? Joe: It's got to be PJ and Duncan for their gritty deconstruction of the system. (Mrs B: Hee! Hee!) Kim: I'm drawing a blank. All I can think of is the Dresden Dolls but that could just be my obsession with Amanda Palmer again. Their song 'Delilah' is possibly one of my favourite songs...ever. Brillant! So what's your connection with Bearwood? Kim and Joe: It's our hometown! Yeah! Please tell us your Bearwood All-Star. In other words who, what or where in Bearwood makes you smile? Kim: I love all the events that are on throughout the year. And all the support we've been able to get since having Evelyn.
Finally we always like to ask everyone this question. What makes Lightwoods Chippy’s chips orange? Kim: Fake tan they must be reem. Joe: Haha... I've asked. It's radium.
We would like to say a very big thank you to Joe and Kim for being such good sports and for being a lovely couple too.
Ooooh this sounds good....the Silvershine Jazz Club (Corks, Bearwood Road) have got the fantastic Richard Hughes Quartet tonight on the bill.
Our favourite jazz club told us that "It’s great having a musician like Richard Hughes on our doorstep as you can rely on him to bring something a bit different each time he plays at the Silvershine Jazz Club. This time he brings a more conventional Jazz line up than the Celtic fusion of last time, but it comes with one of the most exciting sax players in the region.
Chris (Beebe) Aldridge’s blistering sax style has earned him CDs issued on general release. When he played at Corks in his own right 2006 he had the likes of Bryan Corbett and Levi French in his band. This time he joins up with Miles Levin (drums), Simon (Smudge) Smith (bass) and, of course, Richard Hughes (piano) to form what is a red hot Jazz line up." So if you're in Bearwood tonight please do your best to make it.
On welovebearwood we love that we get to meet great Bearwood folk and we can't wait to share all our exciting news with you.
The recent news, however, from Warley Woods that five of the park’s memorial benches have been destroyed, four had been set on fire and one smashed, has saddened us deeply. How or why anyone would want to do this is inconceivable. Please join Warley Woods in their appeal to replace these benches. Viv Cole, Warley Woods Trust Manager, explained how “we are encouraging people to use the text donation system WWCT22 £[amount} to 70070 It can be gift aided as well this way. Nigel Lloyd of the Warley Woods Pacers is running the Great North Run in September and getting sponsored. We have a sponsor form on the counter in the shop and I’ve put one on Facebook. I know some people have said they’ll be taking them around work to get more sponsors for him." Don’t miss the Bearwood Blooms Picnic this Sunday afternoon by Lightwoods Park Bandstand. The fun starts at 2pm.
They’ll not only be announcing the winners of the front garden competition but selling cakes (including Jo-ann Lloyd of the famous Bearwood Shuffle cake stall fame) to raise money for the Warley Woods Bench Appeal.
The Front Gardens Comp - will you be a judge? Or perhaps you'll join our picnic?
The Local Vote! The entries are in - all 45 of them! The gardens are looking beautiful and the official judges have started pacing the streets of the 'wood, marvelling at all the love and care that has gone into the gardens. Become a judge yourself - take part in our local vote by following this map, then tell us which is your favourite garden via BearwoodBlooms@outlook.com. The deadline for votes is 10th August 2013.
We'll announce the winner at the Bearwood Blooms Community Picnic Please join us in Lightwoods Park by the bandstand on Sunday 11th August at 2pm. We'll be hosting a Bearwood Blooms picnic, at which we'll announce the winners. Share food, share company. Whether you love gardening or prefer admiring other people's hard work, or if you just want an excuse to share some cake with your neighbour, we look forward to seeing you there. If the forecast looks a bit rubbish, check this blog for a wet weather venue!
Thank you to Avalon Landscapes, Wordright Editorial Services (chief organisor and sponsor) and Webbs of Bearwood and Thimblemill Library staff for supporting this competition for us lucky Bearwood folk.
So why have people entered the competition? Here are a few reflections from some of the entrants. We'll do a prize for the first person to guess which comment refers to which garden!
We love our garden but it is challenged by deep shade across most of the area during the day. Even though the pressure for car parking is
great, we wouldn’t consider paving the garden as we get a lot of pleasure
watching things grow and change. We enjoy looking at all of the gardens as we walk around the area. Last minute entry here. I'm a novice gardener with not
much knowledge and even less money. Inspired by the competition though and that
someone cares enough about the community to put up the prize money and organise
the whole thing. Thank you.
I started with a yard. A cobbled yard covered in scraggy weed suppressing
fabric and a bit of gravel. And my smelly food recycling bin. An untidy eyesore
really.
I help run a food cooperative and I'm a keen cook so I wanted to grow edibles
and also recycle containers and do it all as cheaply as possible. I started by
collecting all the old pots from my back garden, managed to save a couple of
plants that had been left over winter, and then a neighbour offered me an old
storage bench with a broken seat. Perfect for spuds! I've planted tomatoes and
they're doing well (I've never successfully grown tomatoes before) and herbs
too and I've been given cuttings and flowers by generous friends keen to
encourage me. I don't think I have an award winning garden, but wanted to enter
to show my support for the initiative more than anything and let you know that
you have made a difference.
The most positive thing? My neighbours reactions. My immediate neighbours have
supported me and teased me in equal measure, and strangers from further down
the road have stopped for a chat, keen to talk about my flourishing potato crop
and thriving tomato vines. It's been a great way of getting to know a few more
people in my community and I feel a little bit proud every time I approach my
front door now. Just need to sort out the house next!
We
only started our pink and purple garden last year, shortly after moving
in, so it is very much a work in progress! Anderson Road is a mixed use
area and our house is opposite a car park so we are trying to create an
all year round attractive, colourful space that creates cleaner air,
better health and homes for wildlife.
Evergreen
laurels, camellias and climbers provide permanent structure, and we
have added several perennials that are easy on the purse strings and
require little maintenance (we are expecting our first child any day
now.). The camellias, daffodils, alliums and tulips bloomed in the
spring; azaleas and digitalis pupurea foxgloves, which provided much
pleasure for bumble bees, have just finished flowering, and now it’s the
turn of the roses, shocking pink dahlias, blazing stars, campanula,
lavender and Jaggeresque-salvia hot lips. Petunias have also been added
for constant seasonal colour.
The
majority of the plants have been sourced from Bearwood, cutting down on
our carbon footprint, and they are watered, when possible, with rain
water collected in buckets in the back garden. Weeding is done by hand
rather than chemicals.
I love my front garden, not
least because my mom does a lovely hanging basket for me each year and I
do window boxes too. It's been built from scratch and when you're
outside deadheading the flowers, all sorts of people talk to you.
Gardening is so intergenerational.
My front garden is not large, but I feel I have made it as attractive as possible and hope it provides a colourful and refreshing scene for people walking past, and a pleasant change from front gardens populated by recycling bins. It is left to grow wild and spread as opposed to being a high maintenance garden, or a garden that looks overly managed.
Now wasn't that inspiring?
Here are some more photos for you to enjoy - not necessarily linked to the comments above, nor in any particular order! They're not as good as the real thing though - take a wonder around the neighbourhood with our map of competition entries (to be posted here very very soon!)
