Calendar

Join your Guide for a historic walk around the Castle grounds and go inside into locked rooms which visitors do not always see. Once completed your ticket will allow you to choose a hot/cold drink plus a mince pie or cake from the Castle Tearoom. The ideal way to see the castle. No need to book but please purchase a ticket on arrival from the Castle shop.

Sit back and relax in comfort as you admire the beautiful Dee Valley in our specially decorated carriages.
Adults receive a mince pie and a tipple and children can enjoy a treat and a drink.
Trains depart Llangollen Station at 10.40am, 1pm & 3.10pm

Sit back and relax in comfort as you admire the beautiful Dee Valley in our specially decorated carriages.
Adults receive a mince pie and a tipple and children can enjoy a treat and a drink.
Trains depart Llangollen Station at 10.40am, 1pm & 3.10pm

Join your Guide for a historic walk around the Castle grounds and go inside into locked rooms which visitors do not always see. Once completed your ticket will allow you to choose a hot/cold drink plus a mince pie or cake from the Castle Tearoom. The ideal way to see the castle. No need to book but please purchase a ticket on arrival from the Castle shop.

Ukey Monster, ukulele ensemble play songs from 1960s to the present

Start your journey to a leaner, healthier lifestyle! – join us for an evening with the nation’s favourite healthy cook and fitness sensation, Joe Wicks aka The Body Coach as he talks food and fitness and introduces his new veggie cookbook, the latest addition to his bestselling Lean in 15 series.
Veggie Lean in 15 brings a much-anticipated vegetarian option to fitness. Complete with Body Coach HIIT workouts and bonus abs training, it’s the meat-free approach to great health. From Smoky Sweet Potato Chilli to ‘Creamy’ Butternut Pasta, Veggie Lean in 15 features a fantastic range of meat-free dishes, all prepared in fifteen minutes flat. The recipes are ideal for full- and part-time veggies, as well as those wishing to cut down on eating meat in a healthy and delicious way. There are also plenty of make-ahead ideas to get you prepping like a boss in no time at all.
Be inspired! Don’t miss the great opportunity to see and meet Joe Wicks, The Body Coach and start your own personal journey to a leaner healthier lifestyle.
Event Format: Joe will be ‘in conversation’ with Clare Ashford from BBC Radio Shropshire. This will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing.
Tickets: £20 (Includes a signed copy of Veggie Lean in 15). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee)

This New Year, number one bestselling author Ruby Wax is here to guide you through the chaos of the 21st century with How to be Human – a user’s manual for surviving life.
Ruby Wax is one of the most readable, inspirational and engaging writers in the field of human mental health, happiness and fulfilment. In How to be Human, with a little help from a monk (who tells us how our mind works) and a neuroscientist (who tells us how our brain works), Ruby answers every question you’ve ever had about: evolution, thoughts, emotions, the body, addictions, relationships, sex, kids, the future and compassion.
Filled with witty anecdotes from Ruby’s own life, and backed up by smart science and practical mindfulness exercises, How to be Human is the only manual you need to help you upgrade your mind as much as you’ve upgraded your iphone.
We’re thrilled Ruby Wax is returning to Oswestry for the paperback publication of How to be Human. Don’t miss this chance to see her and pick up your copy of this wise, practical and funny handbook on life and the lives we lead.
FREE ‘How to be Human’ Tote Bag with the first 100 people to book tickets!
Tickets: £15 (includes a signed paperback copy of How to be Human). Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee)

Join us for an evening in the company of Diane Setterfield as she talks about new novel Once Upon a River, a spellbinding, multi layered mystery set in the 19th Century.
A dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child. Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can it be explained by science?
An exquisitely crafted multi-layered mystery brimming with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Darwinian age, Once Upon a River is as richly atmospheric as Setterfield’s bestseller The Thirteenth Tale.
We’re delighted to welcome Diane to Oswestry for our first fiction event of 2019!
Tickets: £5 (redeemable against a signed copy of Once Upon a River). Includes a glass of wine / soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee).

Details:
Dates: Saturday 26th January 2019. Every Saturday thereafter until Saturday 30th March 2019
Venue:
Oswestry Guildhall,Walford Suite (top of Bailey Head)
Costs:
£50 non refundable deposit and £7.50 each week attended.
Refreshments:
Tea, Coffee and Nibbles included.
Theme of the classes

Drawing studies to get you started, a few tricks to improve shape and form.

Painting wildlife using Acrylics (For a fee I can supply a basic acrylic set or just bring your own).

Learn to draw in perspective – Buildings and Street scenes adding colour washes to bring them to life.

Maybe at the end of the 10 weeks a small exhibition to show off the finished works to friends and family.

About me:
I’m presently a full time artist selling my own artwork, prints and gifts up and down the country, as well as at Oswestry and Ludlow craft markets every week.

I prefer to work in either acrylics or oils and mainly focus on wildlife, but I do have other collections in illustration (fairytale villages) and steam engines.

Previously I was a fully qualified and trained art teacher with an outstanding class recorded.
Before that a designer.
*** Places are Limited so please book as soon as possible ***

Join one of Britain’s finest thriller writers as Gerald Seymour talks about his latest novel, Battle Sight Zero.
The Kalashnikov AK47. A weapon with a unique image. A symbol of freedom fighters and terrorists across the globe. Undercover officer Andy Knight has infiltrated an extremist group intent on bringing the rifle to Britain – something MI5 have been struggling for years to prevent.
He befriends Zeinab, the young Muslim student from Yorkshire who is at the centre of the plot. All Zeinab needs to do is travel to the impoverished high-rise estates of Marseilles and bring one rifle home on a test run. Then many more will follow – and with them would come killing on an horrendous scale.
Supremely suspenseful, Battle Sight Zero follows Andy and Zeinab to the lethal badlands of the French port city, simultaneously tracking the extraordinary life journey of the blood-soaked weapon they are destined to be handed there.
Gerald Seymour first exploded onto the literary scene in 1975 with the massive bestseller HARRY’S GAME. Many books later he’s still going strong! We’re delighted to welcome one of the iconic thriller writers to Oswestry.
Tickets: £5 (redeemable against a signed copy of Battle Sight Zero). Includes a glass of wine / soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee).

Looking for your next page turner? Join Laura Shepherd-Robinson as she talks about Blood & Sugar, her debut historical crime thriller.
June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock – horribly tortured and branded with a slaver’s mark.
Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham – a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career – is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been about to expose a secret that he believed could cause irreparable damage to the British slaving industry. He’d said people were trying to kill him, and now he is missing . . .
To discover what happened to Tad, Harry is forced to pick up the threads of his friend’s investigation, delving into the heart of the conspiracy Tad had unearthed. His investigation will threaten his political prospects, his family’s happiness, and force a reckoning with his past, risking the revelation of secrets that have the power to destroy him.
And that is only if he can survive the mortal dangers awaiting him in Deptford . . .
Laura Shepherd-Robinson is a major new talent. With Blood & Sugar she has written a compelling and unsparing novel taking us into dark and desperate episodes from England’s history, the consequences of which are still with us today. We’re delighted to welcome her to Oswestry!
Tickets: £5 (redeemable against a signed copy of Blood and Sugar). Includes a glass of wine / soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop, or purchase online (with booking fee).

The Pleasure Ground Wood is always a lovely place to view a stunning carpet of snowdrops, a sure sign that spring is on the way.

Join us at The Orangery for Valentine’s Evening on Thursday 14th February 2019. Enjoy 2 courses for 2 people including a bottle of house wine for £30. Menu choices: Lamb shank with a redcurrant and rosemary jus Salmon en croute Mushroom and brie Wellington Trio of mini desserts Homemade apple pie Homemade sticky toffee pudding Booking essential, along with main course choices. Please call The Orangery on 01691 661234 ext 213 or email bookings@derwen.ac.uk

Here’s your opportunity to see newborn lambs and even to see a live birth. From 16th Feb 2019 our huge indoor animal barn will be home to our lovely ewes waiting to have their babies
There will be lots of farmyard friends waiting to meet you too: Honey the Shetland pony, Rio and Pluto the heavy horses, and adorable rabbits and guinea pigs Don’t forget the massive indoor playbarns which ensure non stop play whatever the weather

Recycle your old favourite socks and have fun doing it !! During the half term holidays we will be having the Treasure Trove Puppet Company performing , providing a fabulous array of interactive shows set in wonderful scenery, using traditional hand-carved rod and glove puppets. So come along and try your hand at making your own puppet using recycled socks. Either bring your own odd socks along or use ours. booking is required and numbers are limited. This activity costs £3 per person.

Steve Tilston, BBC award-winning singer-songwriter

With numerous live concerts across all genres taking place at The Hermon throughout the year, the venue is truly excited to welcome now also young musicians under the age of 15 who will share with our audience their enthusiasm and joy of music in the context of Oswestry Youth Music Festival 2019.

At this occasion The Hermon is hosting fifteen young brass soloists who will perform their chosen pieces in front of Christina Thomson (qualified ABRSM-examiner and adjudicator for the British & International Federation of Festivals) who will provide encouragement and objective advice on every participant’s performances and ultimately identify this year’s winners of the Vernon Carter Memorial Trophy and the Oswestry Cattle Auction Shield. Whilst the trophies provide an incentive, the aim of the festival is to encourage the young performers to value and share the joy of music and to dare following their dreams and ambitions with determination. Festival organiser Sue Turner says: ‘We like to think of our festival as providing an opportunity to perform in front of an audience in a friendly, welcoming environment. Although it is a competition, it is more about developing confidence in performing, and listening to constructive feedback from our adjudicators.’

Over the course of five days the festival continues to draw approximately 1000 young people to Oswestry. Many are local, but performers also come from Wrexham, Chester, Welshpool, Shrewsbury, Telford and surrounding villages. Competitions take place at Oswestry’s Methodist Church, Christchurch, The Hermon and Holy Trinity Church.

Please support the young musicians by attending their performances – we hope to see many of our Hermon audience as well new faces! Entry is free but if you have a minute, please help us with our planning by registering for attendance via the Book Now button on this website! Many thanks.

IMPORTANT:
Non-alcoholic refreshments can be purchased from our in-house bar ONLY between 1pm and 1.30pm. The bar will be closed during the performances and there will be no interval. If you would like a drink, please arrive early.
1.30pm Performers Registration
2pm Start of Performances

More about Oswestry Youth Music Festival (OYMF) & 2019 Programme:
https://www.oswestry-tc.gov.uk/council-services/oswestry-youth-music-festival.html
The Festival is sponsored and organised by Oswestry Town Council.
Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Oswestry on Friday 1 March 2019
Doors Open at 1:00PM
From 2:00PM to 3:30PM
Ticket Price: £0.00
Box Office: 01691662196

Come and join OJO every Tuesday evening from 8pm-10pm and experience the wonderful process of the rehearsals with a full 19+ members on stage.

This a free event for the public to come and watch or if you are feeling inspired, maybe you would like to join the band or just give it a try!

We are currently looking for string players (violin, viola, cello), vocals, tenor sax, trumpet, electronics and any other wonderful sound making devices!

Bar open as usual and free entry!

Doors 7.30pm for an 8pm start to 10pm finish.

Frank Foucault.

Simply put, Frank will redefine how you see comedy.
After successfully touring his solo show “Shoes” around various comedy festivals (including a wondrous, 4 star performance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival), he has decided to come to Oswestry… because he’s a maverick like that.
Shoes featured stories about dating and relationships, told via the medium of shoes.

As Frank says himself, “It’s better than it sounds.”
No shoes will be harmed during his performance, although we take no responsibility for sides getting split.
•”A tiny work of comic genius” – The Scotsman

•”The audience watched him indulge in an intimate relationship with a vase of flowers… ☆☆☆☆” – Broadway Baby

•”Frank will make you laugh or feel like the world is missing something tremendously funny that only he can show you” – Welsh Unsigned Stand Up Awards

•”Stupidly funny” – Chortle.co.uk
•Chortle Student Comedy Award 2017 finalist

•Nominated Magners New Act of the Year 2015

•Welsh Unsigned Stand Up Awards finalist 2014 & 2015

Nigel Lovell

What have Russell Howard, Miranda Hart and Tim Minchin got in common?
They have all had 1 star reviews.
Nigel holds a yearly show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival called “The Worst Show on the Fringe” – a compilation show for acts who have received such reviews – usually due to drunken audiences, technical failures, miserable reviewers… or because they were rubbish.
•”Wonderful ☆☆☆☆” – The Scotsman.

•”Painfully Funny ☆☆☆☆” – TheWeeReview.com
•UK Pun Championships finalist 2016

•Appeared on BBC’s Charlie Brooker’s Election Wipe

Paul Campbell
There’s no real way to describe Paul.

He loves drinking milk.

He’s a new comedian who is already barging his way onto quality line-ups (such as this one).

He really loves drinking milk.

His choice in knitwear is fabulous.

Knitwear and milk do NOT mix.
•”Absolutely brilliant” – Rhyl Comedy Club
•Cheshire Cat Comedy new comedian of the year 2018 runner up

Roger Swift.

He’s been performing on the comedy circuit for over 9 years and has developed a following for his uber-alternative, prop-based pun-lunacy.

Cringy levels of sheer genius at 100 MPH with more home made props than you’ve ever seen before.
Expect corny jokes, don’t expect observational humour.
If you don’t “get” Roger Swift, then you don’t “get” comedy.
•”A couple of people were laughing that hard, I worried for their health. He’s a demented genius” – Notts Comedy Review

•”He is a cross between Tim Vine, Timmy Mallet and Charlie Chuck… People try to work out if he’s play-acting or going through some kind of trauma. The jury is out so you decide” – Chortle.co.uk
•One of Dave’s Top jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe 2016

•UK Pun Championship finalist 2016 & 2017

•Midlands Comedy Awards ‘Best Alternative’ winner

•Midlands Comedy Awards ‘Outstanding Contribution’ winner

Thursday March 7th
Hermon Chapel Arts Centre
Oswestry
SY11 1LF
www.hermonchapel.com

SPECIAL OFFER: Purchase all five sessions (March to July) and save £5!

The Hermon welcomes back Kate Allan who offers an informal approach to singing in the comforting setting of the chapel space with its amazing acoustics. Come and join us for a joyful gathering of vocal fun and experimentation every second Saturday of the month from March to July!

‘Enjoy the freedom and satisfaction of creating music in the moment beyond ideas of right and wrongdoing. No experience needed. Everybody is musical and there are no wrong notes in music.’ – Kate Allan

Kate is a freelance singer songwriter who works in Arts and Health and established Wild Singing, a weekly, leaderless singing group that meets in wild places in and around Oswestry to share songs and stories.

Just bring your voice and an open mind – the rest will take care of itself!

PLEASE NOTE: Prior booking helps us with the planning, so please register and purchase tickets for this series of events as early as you can! Many thanks.

GIFT VOUCHERS: Gift vouchers are available only for the Five Session Ticket, not for individual sessions. Vouchers can only be purchased over the phone on 01691 662196 and can be picked up in person at the venue. For delivery by mail, postage & packaging costs of £1 apply.

All Spring/Summer 2019 Dates:
Saturday, 9th March 2019
Saturday, 13th April 2019
Saturday, 11th May 2019
Saturday, 8th June 2019
Saturday, 13th July 2019

The Hut People, that’s instrumental duo Sam Pirt and Gary Hammond, are back at The Hermon for the third time to assist the Oswestrian audience in emerging from their winter hibernation by presenting them with a quirky celebration of our rich musical heritage.

‘This is a brilliantly unique sound – a duo of piano accordion and percussion defiantly unbounded by British traditions as they stride into world music.’ – THE SCOTSMAN

‘There’s so much going on that you hear something new each time. Sam Pirt’s accordion leads all the tunes, whilst percussionist extraordinaire Gary Hammond provides an amazing array of textures and colours. Routes certainly brightens up the dull grey days of winter, but will be just as good a listen for the rest of the year…remarkable’ – THE LIVING TRADITION

‘The Hut People are not afraid to play around with sounds and rhythms whilst remaining true to the spirit of the slips, jigs and reels, creating a refreshing and toe tapping set of contemporary folk that puts a smile on your face.’ – ROCK SOCIETY MAG

‘The only band to have been asked back 8 times consecutively – because they’re so good!’ – Swaledale Festival

Mixing global rhythms with folk tunes from Quebec to Spain, Scandinavia to Sussex and everywhere in-between these two originals take the audience on a musical journey around the world laced with feel-good dancing tunes, Quebecois foot-percussion, step dancing and humour aplenty! This show is like nothing you have ever seen before and don’t dare to feel save in the back pews or up on the balcony, as audience participation is a guaranteed ingredient to this invigorating concert!
The Hut People have firmly established themselves as one of the most unique, entertaining and best-loved acts on the UK folk scene today. Last year, they released their 4th studio album on the Fellside label entitled ‘Routes’. They also supported award-winning trio The Young’uns on their 21-date, nationwide tour, in the course of it gaining a plethora of new fans up and down the country.

Join us for our first concert of the spring 2019 season here at The Hermon – dance shoes optional! The first 30 ADV-tickets are on offer at the Early Bird price of £10 – you better be quick!!

Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Oswestry on Saturday 9 March 2019
Doors Open at 8:00PM
From 8:30PM to 11:00PM
Ticket Price: £5.00 – £13.00*
*booking fee applies
Box Office: 01691662196

We are very excited to announce a new series of events coming to the Hermon for the Spring and Summer season.

N-Ex-T (New Experimental Tones) is a brand new series where we have drawn inspiration from the underground scene and publications such as The Wire.

N-Ex-T explores the adventures nature of live performance through the mediums of composition, improvisation, motion, sound manipulation as well as the abstract visual and avant-garde.

ELDA is a longstanding duo collaboration between piano/keyboard player Andrew Woodhead and trumpeter Aaron Diaz (The Destroyers, Sid Peacock), mixing acoustic sounds with live electronics and soundscapes.

For their latest project they are collaborating with Norwegian vocalist Kari Eskild Havenstrøm (Trondheim Voices, Kristoffer Lo), with whom Andrew first performed at Cheltenham Jazz Festival as part of a Trondheim/Birmingham musical exchange.

This trio explore the boundaries between the worlds of jazz, improvised music, electronica and folk as well as the ever-changing relationship between composition and free improvisation.

Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Oswestry on Sunday 10 March 2019
Doors Open at 6:30PM
From 7:00PM to 9:00PM
Ticket Price: £5.00 – £8.00*
*booking fee applies
Box Office: 01691662196

Homefront Heroines is a two year Heritage Lottery Funded project exploring the lives and roles of the women of World War One. Told through digital stories, poetry and craft work, the exhibition is a culmination of the research uncovered.

£20 for 2 courses, or £25 for 3 courses, with a free glass of Bellini for mum.

Hand Drums & Percussion – A Full Day Course with Rick Wilson

GIFT VOUCHERS: For this event gift vouchers are available. Please contact us on 01691 662196 for more information on this offer.

This day is a wonderful opportunity for newcomers as well as seasoned hand drum and percussion enthusiasts of all ages to work intensively on developing their understanding of rhythm and exercise their manual dexterity under the guidance of professional drummer and percussionist Rick Wilson.

Rick is an experienced tutor of many years, drawing from his extensive repertoire of Indian, African and South American rhythms, which he makes accessible in astonishingly creative ways whilst providing a joyful and focused learning experience.

The workshop is designed around aspects of percussion such as the sounds of the drum, hand and finger techniques, solid, basic timekeeping, body rhythms, spoken words as a basis of rhythm, call and response rhythms, 2, 3 and 4 part rhythms, as well as a variety of other rhythmic activities that, besides drums, involve the use of bells, gongs, chime bars, shakers and more or less anything else that comes to hand and springs to mind.

Schedule for the day:

10.30am – 1pm Morning Session

1pm – 2pm Free Lunch in the Pews: Your hosts at The Hermon will serve a delicious, vegetarian lunch of homemade soup, bread and fresh salad for all participants to enjoy – a lovely opportunity to socialize and regain strength for the afternoon session! Drinks can be purchased from our in-house bar.

2pm – 4pm Afternoon Session

Please bring your own drum and percussion instruments if you have any, but no worries, there will be plenty of instruments at hand! Whatever your experience, plenty or none at all, be sure to bring your enthusiasm – come and make a joyful noise!

DRUM CIRCLE FORECAST: Rick will continue his monthly drum circle at The Hermon with 2-hour sessions on 20th April, 18th May, 15th June and 20th July – plenty of opportunity for extending your gained skills in this friendly group!

More about Rick that’s well-worth a read: www.eastorywilsound.co.uk/rick.htm

Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Oswestry on Saturday 16 March 2019
Doors Open at 10:00AM
From 10:30AM to 4:00PM
Ticket Price: £26.00*
*booking fee applies
Box Office: 01691662196

The Hermon Chapel welcomes in its four walls locally well-known concert promoter Offa Events who brings you live and direct from Belfast Craobh Rua! ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’, that should be their motto. No strangers to these shores, where they have delighted audiences on all their previous visits, Belfast’s finest are back for a compelling St Patrick’s celebration of Irish music and song. Catch them while you can on their 2019 St Patrick’s Tour!

“The mighty Northern style of Irish Traditional Music cruises through their veins” – FROOTS

“Craobh Rua – a free advertisement for everything that’s good about Irish Traditional Music – they play it from the heart and they play it superbly!” – BELFAST TELEGRAPH

“Craobh Rua have a sure touch with tunes, sensitivity with songs and a way with words that is legendary.” – IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE

Firm favorites on the European festival and roots circuit, this exciting acoustic four-piece take a refreshing un-pretentious and uncommonly skilled run at some of the greatest music in the world. Craobh Rua (pronounced ‘Crave Roo-Ah’ meaning ‘Red Branch’) plays Irish Traditional Music from the heart. A rich sound, acoustic driven, this is traditional Celtic fare at its finest, mixing rousing jigs, reels and polkas with tender ballads and airs. Theirs is a music driven by uillean pipes, fiddle, whistles and the exciting banjo and mandolin playing of group founder Brian Connolly with passionate vocals from Jim Rainey.

Regarded around the globe as true ambassadors of Irish music, they are impeccable musicians with arrangements that are all their own and have been likened to the first wave of the Irish folk revival of the sixties and seventies. On stage they have performed with De Dannan, Alan Stivell and even taken the stage in Italy in an Ireland meets Mongolia collaboration with Egschiglen from Outer Mongolia! On television they have appeared in the BBC TV series The Shetlands Sessions, S4C TV and also on BBC Music Live when they played live in front of millions of viewers on BBC2.

Recent tours and festival shows in the UK, Spain, Ireland, Holland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium, USA/Canada and Australia to delighted audiences has earned the band wide appreciation and recognition. Sell-out shows in the UK over the last nine years have seen the band build up a large and loyal fan-base. They have released five albums to date worldwide, their current offering is entitled ‘If Ida Been Here Ida Been There’. Come and raise a Guiness or two with us, ….book early it’s gonna be busy!

Please note: Tickets can be purchased from Offa Events (offaevents@aol.com or 01691 650293) or via The Hermon online, by card over the phone 01691 662196 or directly via the chapel door!

More about the band: www.craobhrua.com

Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Oswestry on Saturday 16 March 2019
Doors Open at 7:30PM
From 8:00PM to 10:30PM
Ticket Price: £12.00*
*booking fee applies
Box Office: 01691662196

The Hermon Chapel welcomes in its four walls locally well-known concert promoter Offa Events who brings you live and direct from Belfast Craobh Rua! ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’, that should be their motto. No strangers to these shores, where they have delighted audiences on all their previous visits, Belfast’s finest are back for a compelling St Patrick’s celebration of Irish music and song. Catch them while you can on their 2019 St Patrick’s Tour!

“The mighty Northern style of Irish Traditional Music cruises through their veins” – FROOTS

“Craobh Rua – a free advertisement for everything that’s good about Irish Traditional Music – they play it from the heart and they play it superbly!” – BELFAST TELEGRAPH

“Craobh Rua have a sure touch with tunes, sensitivity with songs and a way with words that is legendary.” – IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE

Firm favorites on the European festival and roots circuit, this exciting acoustic four-piece take a refreshing un-pretentious and uncommonly skilled run at some of the greatest music in the world. Craobh Rua (pronounced ‘Crave Roo-Ah’ meaning ‘Red Branch’) plays Irish Traditional Music from the heart. A rich sound, acoustic driven, this is traditional Celtic fare at its finest, mixing rousing jigs, reels and polkas with tender ballads and airs. Theirs is a music driven by uillean pipes, fiddle, whistles and the exciting banjo and mandolin playing of group founder Brian Connolly with passionate vocals from Jim Rainey.

Regarded around the globe as true ambassadors of Irish music, they are impeccable musicians with arrangements that are all their own and have been likened to the first wave of the Irish folk revival of the sixties and seventies. On stage they have performed with De Dannan, Alan Stivell and even taken the stage in Italy in an Ireland meets Mongolia collaboration with Egschiglen from Outer Mongolia! On television they have appeared in the BBC TV series The Shetlands Sessions, S4C TV and also on BBC Music Live when they played live in front of millions of viewers on BBC2.

Recent tours and festival shows in the UK, Spain, Ireland, Holland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium, USA/Canada and Australia to delighted audiences has earned the band wide appreciation and recognition. Sell-out shows in the UK over the last nine years have seen the band build up a large and loyal fan-base. They have released five albums to date worldwide, their current offering is entitled ‘If Ida Been Here Ida Been There’. Come and raise a Guiness or two with us, ….book early it’s gonna be busy!

Please note: Tickets can be purchased from Offa Events (offaevents@aol.com or 01691 650293) or via The Hermon online, by card over the phone 01691 662196 or directly via the chapel door!

More about the band: www.craobhrua.com

The Chirk estate is one of the finest examples of ancient wood pasture estate in Wales, and since 1996 has been a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for veteran trees, deadwood invertebrates, bats and grassland fungi.

ou can use it to make a salad dressing, pickle with it, marinade meat or fish, or toss through roasted vegetables or fruits but there is so much more to vinegar than shaking on your chips. Join award winning food writer and historian Angela Clutton as she talks about her fascinating and unique book The Vinegar Cupboard and demonstrates the many great ways vinegars can be used to balance and bring flavour.
The range of vinegars on the market are expanding rapidly, and you can easily find fruit, herb, sherry, cider, malt, rice, balsamic and many types of red and white wine vinegars (from rioja through to champagne) on your supermarket shelves. There aren’t too many ingredients which manage to bring flavour and adaptability to recipes and are actively good for you.
Tipped to be the hottest cooking ingredient of 2019, this event will encourage all you home cooks out there to work with the many varieties of vinegar in your kitchen and highlight how we can all benefit from vinegar in our diet!
Tickets: £5 (redeemable against a signed copy of The Vinegar Cupboard). Includes a glass of wine or soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee).

Join us for an evening with the award winning and bestselling nature-writer, John Lewis-Stempel, as he talks about his new book Still Water: The Deep Life of the Pond.
The Pond. Nothing in the countryside is more humble or more valuable. It’s the moorhen’s reedy home, the frog’s ancient breeding place, the kill zone of the beautiful dragonfly. More than a hundred rare and threatened fauna and flora depend on it. Written in gorgeous prose, Still Water tells the seasonal story of the wild animals and plants that live in and around the pond, from the mayfly larvae in the mud to the patrolling bats in the night sky above. It reflects an era before the water was polluted with chemicals and the land built on for housing, a time when ponds shone everywhere like eyes in the land, sustaining life for all, from fish to carthorse. Still Water is a loving biography of the pond, and an alarm call on behalf of this precious but overlooked habitat. Above all, John Lewis-Stempel takes us on a remarkable journey – deep, deep down into the nature of still water.
Widely regarded as one of the best nature-writers of his generation and twice winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing we’re delighted to welcome John Lewis-Stempel back to Booka.
Tickets: £5 (redeemable against a signed copy of Still Water). Includes a glass of wine or soft drink on arrival. Tickets available from the bookshop or purchase online (with booking fee).

Crowd Of Two Theatre Company celebrate their tenth year by proudly presenting their eleventh and most exciting production to date, ‘Crossing’, a new play written and directed by Russell Kennedy. Following its two very well-received preview performances in October 2018, the play will tour to venues in Northern England and Ireland during 2019. Russell Kennedy performed his version of Jekyll & Hide at The Hermon in 2018 impressing the audience with a captivating performance that displayed great attention to detail and kept everybody engaged to the very end.

About Crossing:
The play follows Harry (Nicola Haldane), a lonely thirty something who is seemingly trying to cope with the loss of her partner Jem, following a car crash. A somewhat eccentric psychiatrist, Doctor Pete (Russell Kennedy), who prefers to think of himself as her ‘personal guide’, is the person tasked with helping her through this difficult time.

Russell Kennedy’s reflections on his new play Crossing:
‘When somebody close to you passes away unexpectedly, you quite often find yourself reminiscing with loved ones, discussing the good times spent with the person that you’ve lost and talking about some of the challenges you have had to deal with in the immediate wake of their death. The reminiscing in this case came about during my borhter’s 60th birthday celebrations over a few glasses of the red stuff. The writing began the following day. What started out as a way of relieving the pain and anger felt from what I saw as mistreatment and failings in patient care, which, in my opinion, were caused by the manufacturing approach to medicine, chronic under-funding and under-staffing, bureaucratic red tape and the need to seemingly avoid taking responsibility for one’s actions, resulted in this two act piece. The pain will never completely fade away, but having been told by audiences just how much they’ve enjoyed the show, Crossing has been and will continue to be a thoroughly worthwhile experience.’

“A detailed, subtle and wryly amusing character drama performed by two very fine actors.”
“Haldane is especially good at showing the vulnerability that lies behind Harry’s front.”
– Daniel Thackeray, Life is about Fiction (WordPress)
Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Oswestry on Friday 22 March 2019
Doors Open at 8:00PM
From 8:30PM to 10:30PM
Ticket Price: £5.00 – £10.00*
*booking fee applies
Box Office: 01691662196

Come and see Peppa at Llangollen Railway on the 23rd & 24th March 2019. The cheeky little piggy will be appearing at intervals between 10:30am – 3.30pm on both days… don’t’ forget your camera!
Take a train ride to Carrog to see the magic show.
Face painting available at intervals on Platform 1 at Llangollen Station.
colouring sheets available
All the above is included in the ticket price

Join us for a morning with international bestselling children’s author Francesca Simon as we celebrate 25 years of Horrid Henry with the publication of Horrid Henry Up, Up and Away.
Number One for fiendish fun! Horrid Henry is back and naughtier than ever in this brand-new book from Francesca Simon.

Imagine if the circus was only for grown ups…

Cirque du Vulgar is a night of risqué live entertainment, featuring stunning strip-tease routines, electrifying daredevil stunts, filthy comedy, nipple-tassels and naughty aerial acts, alluring hula-hoops and sexy strong men which will take you on a journey to another world.

For one night only under the Big Top, this adult show blends modern circus acts with feather dances and insane stunts you won’t forget!

VIP tickets £25 each (Ringside tables, includes interaction from Vulgar characters and one free drink)
Individual Tiered seating tickets £15 each

This is an over 18s event so please bring ID with you.

Tickets available NOW from www.cirquevulgar.com

Come and see Peppa at Llangollen Railway on the 23rd & 24th March 2019. The cheeky little piggy will be appearing at intervals between 10:30am – 3.30pm on both days… don’t’ forget your camera!
Take a train ride to Carrog to see the magic show.
Face painting available at intervals on Platform 1 at Llangollen Station.
colouring sheets available
All the above is included in the ticket price

Hermon Folk: Hannah James & Toby Kuhn – UK/France Collaboration
One year into the Hermon Folk series, we are delighted to open the 2019 season with Folk duo Hannah James & Toby Kuhn. In this small but beautiful tour, award-winning folk musician, dancer and composer Hannah James debuts her brand new duo collaboration with outstanding French cellist Toby Kuhn.

‘Their music is soulful, original and conversational. The combination of accordion and cello allows for a huge palette of sounds and textures which lift James’s pure voice and deeply honest song writing. In the next breath they switch to choppy rhythms and joyful interplay between cello and percussive dance. This duo delivers a diverse, playful and hugely original performance.’

BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Winner Hannah James has been beguiling audiences for over fifteen years with her breath-taking performances in solo format as Jig Doll, as well as in numerous group projects such as vocal harmony trio Lady Maisery and the ‘Folk Super Group’ Coven. Marrying expressive accordion playing and beautiful vocal stylings with inventive foot percussion and clog dancing, she is regarded as one of the most innovative and entertaining performers on the UK folk scene. Her great spirit for creative exploration finds ever new outlets and has seen her in recent years rising to challenging project participations such as the Arts Council of England funded cultural diversity project ‘All Together Now’ commissioned by Shrewsbury Folk Festival, in which she was one of the lead artists.

Toby Kuhn is a trained classical musician with a Diplôme d’Etudes Musicales from the Conservatoire in Dijon and a double B.Mus. Degree in Performance and Music Theory from the McGill’s Schulich School of Music in Montreal. His fairly recent encounter with the vast world of folk music has provided a further platform for his love of experimentation and led him to collaborations with artists such as Daniel Wall, Sofia Högstadius and Matija Solce. He is performing all across Europe as part of Scottish singer and fiddler Kate Young’s string quintet and is also a member of the trio Wild Strings. He currently resides in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Hannah and Toby’s collaboration is still young, yet full of musical chemistry with an interplay that suggests a much more long-standing history of shared musical exploration. Join us at The Hermon for the return of the remarkable Hannah James in this new duo constellation – a rare and intimate concert well-worth your attention!

PLEASE NOTE: There will be an ‘Early Bird’ ticket offer for the first thirty tickets!

About Hannah & Toby’s Duo:

Hannah James and Toby Kuhn

About Hannah:

Home

About Toby:

Toby Kuhn

Sound Samples:
Hush Now/Dayspring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrg3ZL8GB4E

Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Oswestry on Sunday 24 March 2019
Doors Open at 6:30PM
From 7:00PM to 9:30PM
Ticket Price: £5.00 – £14.00*
*booking fee applies
Box Office: 01691662196