Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

The Spectator Exhibition

There is a new exhibition on at the Art Gallery to coincide with the the Olympics this summer. As the name suggests though, it's more about the spectators than the sport.

Tonight (Friday) was the launch night and it was also the prize-giving ceremony for the lucky winners of the competition that ran before the exhibition. Myself, Jamie and Jo from the Museum, and Glen from The Courier, all gathered together a few weeks ago to choose the lucky winner and amazingly we were unanimous. You can see their winning entry on the Wall of Fans gallery when you visit.

...including some by the great Martin Parr

I really encourage you to pay this exhibition a visit, there are some wonderful photographs on display, including some by the great Martin Parr. There are also some intriguing sports-related items donated by other museums and local residents for you to enjoy. If the kids get to restless whilst you look around there is also Wii Sports to play with.

When you stop by please take a few moments to read the intro boards scattered around because one of them is mine, and to encourage you to pop along I have reprinted a small fragment of my piece here below:

If there is one name in the world of photography that will polarise opinion more than any other, it’s Martin Parr.
Until a year or so ago the photographic pedant inside me really didn’t appreciate his images, I couldn’t see past the technical imperfections. But I was missing the point. It’s not until I really studied his work that I discovered that his primary objective is capturing moments; he is interested in people and the minutiae of their lives, and he always does it with a healthy dose of affectionate humour.
The images chosen for this exhibition are great examples of his work and perfectly embody what it’s like to be a spectator. Stand in front of these photographs for a few minutes and soak up the emotion emanating from the sports fans. Feel their passion, feel their pain.

All in all a really great exhibition that has obviously taken a lot of hard work to put together and is really well worth you all taking a half an hour out of your day to go along and visit. Let me know what you think when you do.

Click here to see some photographs from the opening night.

The Royal Visit to The Pantiles

The Jubilee Celebrations have begun today in great style with a visit from the Earl and Countess of Wessex to The Pantiles. David and I were there as official photographers to document the day.

Edward and Sophie arrived at the far end of the Pantiles and met local dignitaries before making their way along the large excited crowd. It was really nice to see so many people turned out and in such good spirits. Large swathes of schoolchildren, having the morning off school, were enthusiastically waving flags and screaming quite loudly.

Click the photo or here to see all 90 of my photographs (4 pages).

It was a wonderful, albeit exhausting, morning and a really great event for The Pantiles. A huge thank you to William, Sue and Jo at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for the privileged access.

Royal Tree Planting

To mark the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, a commemorative oak tree has been planted on the very edge of the Common. It's on the meadowy verge at the end of Church Road.

The Lord Lieutenant, Viscount De L'Isle, placed the final shovelful of dirt onto the base of the tree and another in our long line of royal trees is born.

Click to see more photos from the planting.

Richard Bellars: 100 Hours of Magic

There is something magical happening in Market Square, Royal Victoria Place. No Santa Claus is not coming to town, Richard Bellars, the local magician who fooled Penn and Teller, is undertaking 100 hours of non-stop magic. Yes, 100. One hundred. Yes, non-stop. No sleep at all.

The stunt is being done to raise money for the restoration of the Royal Victoria Hall Theatre in Southborough which is being threatened with closure.

The theatre has been entertaining the community for 112 years and to see it closed down during our lifetime is unthinkable. Please help The Friends of Royal Victoria Hall by visiting the magic show and by donating and sponsoring Richard during this 100 hour marathon.

You can see a live feed of the action here but it's much better to pop along and see it for yourself, you can even take part. How cool is that!

I'll try and visit the show every now and again over the next 100 hours and will update this gallery page.

Another Grot Spot Not

Finally we are rid of that eyesore of a grot spot that was the old Morrisons on Vale Road. For now we have a nice shiny new Morrisons on Vale Road. You couldn't make it up.

The scissors have opened every Morrisons store since the very first one.

I was there this morning for the ribbon cutting opening by Greg Clark along with the store management and a nice lady from Save The Children. It's really nice to finally have the area smartened up and get people walking down that part of town again. Don't forget the local independents down there too.

Let me know what you think but it's definitely a lot larger inside now than I remember, and they have these strange misting thingies over the fruit and veg that look like something from The Hound of the Baskervilles, it keeps the food nice and fresh I'm told. Looks cool too.

You can see more photos of the Morrisons Opening Day here.