Anne Boleyn in Rolleston
Rolleston on Dove Special
Events Committee (RODSEC)
News 2007
RODSEC’s new association with the Live & Local arts organisation has proved most successful. This is a body funded by the Arts Council and locally, by Staffs County Council and East Staffs Borough Council to bring high quality entertainment to local communities. In November 110 villagers turned out for an evening with the Heart of England Jazz Band held at Rolleston Club.
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RODSEC - Winter 2007
News
(Details extracted from article that first appeared in the Winter 2007
issue of the Rollestonian)
RODSEC Heritage Weekend
This proved to be another of RODSEC’s successful periodic community events (more details here). We managed to find a suitable break in the weather and our contingency plans were not required.
We are grateful to all the village organisations and individual residents who helped to bring the various activities together. This was not a fund-raising weekend but the generous donations in the bottles at each location were welcomed by St Mary’s Fabric Fund, the Rolleston United Foundation and others.
Since the Millennium Celebrations we have established village activities such as the Mummers and Well Dressings that provide new interest on any occasion. We have, however, exhausted “exhibitions” of village archives and artefacts for a few years and need to develop a new format. All suggestions are welcome!
“John Bull”
Did you come to find out about “John Bull” as advertised on the front page of the Autumn issue of the Rollestonian?
He was, of course, Sir Oswald Mosley, the 4th Baronet as he appeared in one of “Vanity Fair” magazine’s “Men of the Day” cartoons by the cartoonist “Spy” in September 1898.
The caption describes him as follows –
Sir Oswald Mosley of Ancoats, County Lancaster, Deputy-Lieutenant of County Stafford, and lately High Sheriff, is descended from Oswald, the second son of Ernald de Moseley, who was Lord of Moseley in Staffordshire in the time of King John; but he is only the 4th Baronet. His motto is “mos legem regit”,[our custom is above the law] which it certainly does with himself; for his habit is so much of the typical “John Bull” that when he is in town the street boys have been known to tell him so.
He lives at Rolleston Hall, Burton-on-Trent, where he is devoted to farming. He is an extremely good landlord, who is particularly popular with the abounding Nonconformist; for he gave them a thousand pounds and a site for a Chapel at Rolleston and laid the foundation stone with his own hands. He is also a successful breeder of cattle, and the only man in Staffordshire who was considered to have a good Unionist chance for the Burton Division. But he preferred the personal supervision of his estate to that of the Speaker and would not stand. He is a natural sportsman who used to box; he is a thoroughly English good fellow; he is an excellent host and good judge of wine; and he owns a jolly grin of his own. His ancestors were Lords of the Manor of Ancoats; but his grand father sold the rights to the municipality.
He has been a very useful and active member of the Committee of the Windham Club; he could have made his living as a veterinary surgeon.
There is no historical evidence for any link between the Mosleys of Rolleston and the Moseleys of Moseley near Wolverhampton but was a popular belief within the family, giving them “heritage”.
Sir Oswald was called “John Bull” not only by the street boys but also by King Edward VII who met him at agricultural shows and when shooting on the Bass estates at Rangemore. That is why “John Bull” appears on the village sign in Brookside.
Live & Local
Please support our February event and help us justify further entertainment from Live & Local’s next year programme.
Unfortunately we have had to change from the play provisionally advertised in the Autumn issue of Rollestonian. This is due to the illness of the script-writer and producer.
Cottongrass Theatre has received good reviews for its production of “Talking Heads” which has been performed around the district.
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Heritage Weekend
14th – 17th September
RODSEC is planning one of its FREE periodic “community events” set in and around the Church, the Old Grammar School, the Croft, the Almshouses and Rolleston Club. A number of anniversaries occur in 2007, not least the 300 years since Isaac Emery built and incorporated “1707” into the walls of the cottages in Beacon Road and Bladons Yard. We hope to spread ourselves around the centre of the village with some old favourites and new interests, with something of a September harvest theme.
We are intending to use the Church and the newly-refurbished Old Grammar School for exhibitions illustrating Rolleston's heritage, we are already collecting items for display and two members of the Village Design Statement Group are working on a three dimensional map of Rolleston around 1770
We are especially anxious to display three dimensional objects to add impact and interest, so please contact Arnold Burston (813457) or Tom Martin (813320) if you have any items relating to the history of the village that you are prepared to lend us. The exhibitions will, as usual, be stewarded during the day and guarded at night.
Rolleston Civic Trust is preparing a Heritage Trail, with refreshments at the Methodist Chapel provided by Chapel members and ladies from St. Mary's Mothers' Union.
We hope that outdoor entertainments will include Rolleston’s own Guizers, Uttoxeter Morris Men, Country Dancing, a Wandering Troubadour, the Hurdy-Gurdy Man, Stocks and Traditional Games on the Croft, Autumn Well-dressings at the Almshouses, etc.
The Allotment Society is organising a children's "Monster Marrow" competition.
Rolleston on Dove WI is organising a Sunday evening ticket event, "An Evening with Queen Victoria", in Rolleston Club
The proposed schedule of events can be read here.
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RODSEC - Autumn 2007
News
(Details extracted from article that first appeared in the Autumn 2007
issue of the Rollestonian)
RODSEC teams-up with “Live & Local”
“Live & Local” is a community arts organisation funded by the Arts Council of England and locally by East Staffordshire Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council. The function of L&L is to provide quality, affordable, live entertainment to local communities. RODSEC has signed up as an event promoter for Rolleston on Dove and through St Mary’s Church we have already held an evening story–telling evening as part of ESBC’s story-telling fortnight.
With the assistance of Rolleston Commemoration Club we are sponsoring two events in L&L’s 2007–8 season.
Sunday 18th November @ 7.30pm in Rolleston Club - Heart of England Jazz Concert. Tickets £6 Bar. Look-out for Posters in the Autumn for details.
On Sunday 3rd February Cotton Grass Theatre will be presenting “The Unknown Land”, a one-man show based on the tales of heroism and foolhardiness of the early Victorian explorers of the North American Arctic. More information in Winter Rollestonian.
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RODSEC - Summer 2007
News
(Details extracted from article that first appeared in the Summer 2007
issue of the Rollestonian)
Rolleston on Dove Special Events Committee’s last fund-raising event, an evening with Lesley Smith of Tutbury Castle, was a great success both socially and financially, thanks in part to a generous grant from BADAC, the Burton and District Arts Council. Lesley performed her new role as Anne Boleyn to a capacity audience of 180 in Rolleston Club, and tickets had sold out three weeks before the event. The money raised has enabled RODSEC to pay for the installation of an external electricity supply from the Old Grammar School for use at events on the Croft, as well as to support the free admission to exhibitions and performances by Mummers or Guisers, Morris Men and other traditional performers at our Heritage Weekend in September.
Our Chairman and Secretary have recently become involved with "Live & Local", an organisation funded by the Arts Council, and by several County and District Councils, including Staffordshire and ESBC. As RODSEC representatives, we are facilitating the opportunity for Rolleston groups to bring performers of national and international importance to the village. The first of these events, "Ghost Stories by Candlelight" by the professional storyteller and children's author, Cat Weatherill, will have taken place in St. Mary's Church on 25th May. We are planning another "Live & Local" event for next autumn/winter in association with Rolleston Club.
Arnold Burston
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The latest event organised by the Rolleston on Dove Special Events Committee (RODSEC) was an Evening with Anne Boleyn, performed by Lesley Smith of Tutbury Castle, in Rolleston Club - held on Sunday 25 March. There was a capacity audience of 180, and tickets had sold out three weeks before the event. Lesley had previously appeared in Rolleston as Mary, Queen of Scots, "Gloriana" and Nell Gwyn. This new performance was, as she put it, "darker in tone" for the first half hour, as she was depicting Anne's last hour of life before her execution. The hall was dimly lit and the tragic Queen was dramatically illuminated by candles on a small table. The lights were then put on again and Lesley launched into her usual happy, bubbly and entertaining mixture of historical fact and amusing anecdote.
After the performance, there was a savoury buffet prepared by Beryl Toon, followed by a choice of thirty different home-made puddings, provided by Verity Conner and friends. Tom and Sylvia Martin ran a well-supported raffle. That the evening was a financial as well as a social success was due in part to a generous grant from the Burton and District Arts council (BADAC). This covered most of Lesley's fee and enabled RODSEC to keep the ticket price down to £5, including the buffet. All proceeds from the evening will go towards the Heritage Weekend to be held in the village from 14th to 17th September. The picture shows Lesley Smith with the new RODSEC Chairman, Arnold Burston.
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Last updated: 15 March 2008