Past Activities - 2003-2006
28 September 2003: The Friends organisation was launched with 250 members and a party.
Autumn 2003: Tours of the church and belfry were given by Philip Heath, Friends' Trustee and Heritage Officer for South Derbyshire District Council and Bob Smith, Member of the Friends' Executive Committee, Steeple Keeper and co-founder of Eayre and Smith, Bellhangers. These tours are repeated at regular intervals and are invariably over-subscribed.
25 March 2004: "The Founding of Melbourne Parish Church", a lecture by Professor Henry Mayr-Harting, Emeritus Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Oxford. The lecture is available in printed form, price £2, (£1 to Friends), from the Secretary, c/o the Vicarage, Church Square, Melbourne DE73 8JH.
6 May 2004: "The King's Secret Revealed", an exploration of why the organ is a musical and mechanical wonder, worthy of the name of the King of Instruments. A talk and demonstration was given by Simon Collins, the current Director of Music and his predecessor, Laurence Rogers.
7 August 2004: A Study Day of 900 years of Melbourne Church, including "The Architecture of the Royal Church of Melbourne" by Jenny Alexander: University of Nottingham and "George Gilbert Scott & the Restoration of Melbourne Church" by Dr. Alexandrina Buchanan Archivist of the Clothworkers' Company, London.
1 November 2004: A lecture on "The church, the faith and the future", by the Rt. Rev'd. Jonathen Bailey, Bishop of Derby. The lecture explored the role and future of established church and as such, was of interest to believers and non-believers, as the role of the Church of England in societies like Melbourne has an impact on everybody.
4 February 2005: Michael Ancram, the Marquis of Lothian, the Shadow Foreign Minister and previously Minister of State in the Northern Ireland Office speaking on "Religion, Reason and Reconciliation". His political background made him an ideal speaker to reflect on the world's religious divides.
7 March 2005: A Muslim-Christian Dialogue with Dr Atullah Siddiqui, Interfaith Officer at the Markfield Institute in Leicester and Dr David Thomas, Reader in Christianity and Islam at Birmingham University. This crucially relevant topic was covered in a structured dialogue by two renowned experts and speakers in their fields. A unique event as it was the first formal occasion when a representative of the Islamic faith had spoken in the church in its 900 year history.
19 June 2005: A lunch in the garden of the Dower House. A chance for Friends to simply relax and enjoy this splendid garden on the banks of Melbourne Pool.
8 July 2005: "The Work of the Warden and the Wildlife of the Calke Estate" by Bill Cove, Head Warden of the National Trust estate. Bill Cove is not only an expert on all flora and fauna of Calke, but an enthusiastic and engaging speaker.
17 & 18 September 2005: The Melbourne Festival. The Friends were the first sponsor and supporter of this event led by a Trustee, Phil Dobby. The church was included in the Art & Architecture Trail and many Friends were involved in the planning and the myriad tasks over the weekend.
6 October 2005: Matthew Parris, The Times journalist, author and ex-MP for Derbyshire West, gave the first public talk on his latest book, "A Castle in Spain". This is the story of his involvement in renovating a derelict castle in Catalonia. However, the book is much more than that, and following the talk he answered questions on politics and current affairs in his open, direct and engaging way.
27 October 2005: Dr Peter Groves of Oxford University gave a talk entitled, "Interpreting Archbishop Rowan Williams". The head of the Church of England is not the easiest thinker and writer to understand. This lecture was for all people who have an interest in what the head of the established church has to say about the nation's religious and moral issues.
26 January 2006: 7.30 pm - A tour of the Taylor, Eayre and Smith foundry at Loughborough to show bells being cast and tuned. Melbourne has a splendid ground-floor ring of 12, the only ring of 12 in Derbyshire. This unique feature of the church was explored in depth.
10 March 2006 7.30 pm: The English Parish Church - Sir Simon Jenkins, author of England's Thousand Best Churches and a respected journalist and broadcaster. This was a unique opportunity to hear an authority on this subject.
15 April: Easter Garden - Old Graveyard. This lovely, quiet haven for hedgehogs sits 100 yards from the church and is seldom visited and occasionally walked through. For the Easter weekend, but particularly leading up to Easter Sunday, other churches, voluntary groups and schools were invited to produce a garden and bring it to this peaceful spot.
28 April 2006: Any Questions - the BBC programme was broadcast live in the church under the chaimanship of Jonathan Dimbleby. The broadcast was particularly engaging as it came at the end of a week of spectacular headlines, including an adulterous Deputy Prime Minister, a Home Secretary allowing 1000 foreign ex-prisoners to wander Britain's streets instead of being considerd for deportation, and a patronising Health Secretary being booed by by the Royal College of Nurses.
The three main political parties were represented, a Cabinet Minister, Margaret Beckett; the Tory Party Chairman, Angus Maude, the rising star of the Lib-Dems, Nick Clegg; plus Sir Simon Jenkins, the ex-editor of The Times and a previous speaker at a Friends function. The programme itself was very lively. It was the usual knockabout political stuff and some terrific compliments about Melbourne and the spectacular interior of the church.
18 May 2006 6.00 pm: A visit was made to the Bluebell Arboretum at Smisby and a guided tour by the owner, Robert Vernon. This is a national centre of expertise for trees, their planting and care.
8 June 7.30 pm: 'Bach for All Seasons' - a celebration of his organ music, from the solemn and devotional to the joyous and festive with Dr Laurence Rogers. "The best event the Friends have run", according to David Bellis editor-in-chief of the Village Voice and all-round Good Egg.
15 June 2006 7.30 pm: Dr Jenny Alexander of the University of Nottingham specialising in architectural history, gave a touring lecture of the exterior and interior of the church. This was a reprise of her highly successful lecture at the Friends Study Day in August 2004, with the difference that it she used a torch to point out the salient features.
14 July 2006 7.30 pm: Antiques Roadshow with Nigel Kirk of Mellors & Kirk. Nigel, who is well known from his television work, hosted the event in the church. He discussed the sublime and the jumble with equal knowledge and humour. All who came voted the event as one to be repeated, perhaps annually.
16 & 17 September 2006: Melbourne Festival 2006. The highly successful Festival of 2005, with its combination of concerts, art, buskers and architecture took place over 14 days around the Art & Architecture Trail weekend. Once again, the Parish Church took a central role in this celebration of Melbourne, Art and Architecture.
22 September: The finale of the Festival 2006 was a concert by Fiori Musicali, (www.fiori-musicali.com), an ensemble of strings and harpsichord, under the direction of Penelope Rapson. The programme of Vivaldi's sacred music featured the renowned countertenor, James Bowman; (please see their website for the complete programme). 160 people enjoyed a glorious evening of the highest quality.
2 November 2006 7.30 pm: Another of the extremely popular tours by Philip Heath and Bob Smith took place describing the history of the church and visiting the belfry to learn about the splendid ring of 12 bells. This was the last of these tours in this format for a while. All of the Friends who wished to attend have done so.
2 November 2006 7.30 pm: A double bill! An informal lecture and demonstration on innovative Christmas decorations was held in Church House.
12 November 2006 6.30 pm: Poetry and Music for Armistice Sunday. St Michael's Players and Friends gave readings from poems from the Great War through to the Falklands War. The tragic great poems from Owen and Sassoon were complemented by the somewhat ignored works of female poets expressing the emotions of those left behind. The songs of the periods were played and sung, including two haunting unaccompanied songs by Anne and Ian Payne and a violin solo by Joy Gravestock.
18 November 2006: A visit 'behind the scene' at Lichfield Cathedral, by kind invitation of the Friends of Lichfield Cathedral.
