Contact us at

Tag: Swanage Town Crier

Categories
blog Events

Silver Saturday Success

Swanage and Purbeck Rotary were delighted to host their annual Silver Saturday event at the end of February, celebrating the older members of our lovely community.

A gathering of over 100 people, including guests, Rotarians and entertainers, assembled at the Emmanuel Church in Victoria Avenue, our usual venue for this event, to enjoy a sumptuous afternoon tea, with sandwiches, cakes and other goodies a-plenty, lovingly prepared by our catering dream-team!

Entertaining those present was renowned local magician and entertainer Kevin Burke, who amazed those present with his sleight of hand, and the Ukelele Band, playing many of their favourite tunes. We were delighted that Swanage Town Mayor Tina Foster was also able to join us and cut the cake celebrating the 118th birthday of the Rotary movement.

Town Crier Andrew Fleming was on hand to ensure that everyone knew what was happening.

Generous donations amounting to over £320 were collected from the attendees, which will go towards local good causes supported by Rotary.

Categories
blog Events Members

Medieval Night Was Legendary!

In spite of the ongoing crisis surrounding the Coronavirus outbreak, it was decided that President’s Night should continue as planned, and a merry band assembled at the superb Kingston Country Courtyard for an event rather different to the norm.

Joined by members of our daughter club Wareham, and visitors from Swindon Old Town Rotary, Ashford (Kent) Rotary, Swanage Rotarians partners and guests, Medieval Night saw a wide variety of knights, peasants, “men of the cloth” and other outfits start the evening with a mead cocktail before being called through to the dining hall for the feast by none other than Swanage Town Crier Andrew Fleming.

And what a feast it was. Starting with a locally sourced vegetable soup, ladelled from large pots by waiting staff equally bedecked in medieval costume, the meal progressed to whole chickens and large pork joints carved at the table with a variety of vegetables and rich gravy in large brown jugs. We then progressed to ‘Britain’s Oldest Dessert’ – custard tart with a fresh rhubarb topping.

Entertainment followed the meal, provided by ‘Kevin The Court Jester’, who entertained everyone with medieval dancing, illusion, some magic and feats of bravery such as the bed of nails.

Huge thanks must go to Rotarian Deirdre Selwyn for her selfless dedication to ensuring that the event still went ahead and to Tony Edwards, the chef and all the staff at Kingston Country Courtyard for putting on a magnificent evening.

In these uneasy times, and with no certainty about anything that might be happening over the coming weeks, this was a welcome distraction and was well received by all present. More photos are available on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

As advised on our home page, Swanage Rotary will now go into lockdown for the next few weeks. Further details regarding our future activities will be provided via our social media pages so please return to them regularly for updates.

Categories
Members

Busy Start to the New Rotary Year

There was a packed agenda for new Club President Ro Clark’s first meeting.

Not only did we have Chris and Hannah from Swanage Gymnastics Club but Swanage Town Crier Andrew Fleming was also present, and two Paul Harris Fellowships were awarded.

To start with, President Ro was delighted to present Paul Harris Fellowships to Paddy Rideal and David Dean for many years of support and endeavour to Rotary and our club. They were extremely grateful to receive the recognition.

Chris and Hannah addressed the meeting next, explaining how they had established the gymnastics club at Swanage School from scratch without having any idea whether it would be a success or not. However, when over 100 people signed up before they even opened they knew that they had identified a much needed gap in the Swanage area. Previously the nearest similar club was either Wareham or Lychett. They now run several classes a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, including classes for adults, and have a waiting list of around 120! They also showed a short video to demonstrate what happens at the club. Swanage Rotary were delighted to present them for a cheque for £1000 which will go towards a new trampette and other equipment. Rotarian Steve Parsons offered a vote of thanks on behalf of the Club for telling and showing us the fruits of their efforts.

Lastly but by no means least, Andrew Fleming addressed the meeting. He explained the history of the role of the Town Crier, which actually dates back to Roman times. More recently, in the 17 and 18 hundreds, the Town Crier would disseminate information to the general public, most if whom couldn’t read, especially when taxes needed to be raised to pay for wars! He held a unique position, however, as the role was protected by the Monarch and it was illegal to interrupt or otherwise interfere with the messages that were being cried.

These days the role is largely ceremonial but there are competitions held up and down the country for town criers to demonstrate their prowess. Andrew has won the South of England competition three years in a row and has finished second and third twice in the National competition, so perhaps this year will be his year. The role is unpaid but is for life so Andrew is looking forward to continuing to do it for many years to come. On behalf of the Club Deirdre Selwyn offered a vote of thanks for a most informative and entertaining address.