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WHaCS November meeting is now being held in St Leonard's Church

October meeting - A Voice for King Richard III

Our indoor meeting this month takes place on Wednesday 22nd October. Yvonne Morley-Chisholm will present 'A Voice for King Richard III: the search for the real man behind the myths'. This project featured in a fascinating 'History Hits' documentary and we are delighted that she is bringing it to Wollaton!

What started for Yvonne, voice teacher and specialist vocal coach, over ten years ago as an after-dinner entertainment to compare Shakespeare’s character with what we know of the real man, developed quickly into a research project with a unique focus: to explore the possibility of recreating a literal voice for a long dead King. Experts from various fields came together in a pioneering collaboration to build the vocal profile. This vibrant presentation details the incredible story of how archaeological, scientific and ancestral evidence was pieced together, jigsaw-like, to give us a vivid picture of Richard III’s appearance and indeed how he might have sounded!

Yvonne has been established as a versatile voice teacher and vocal coach for over thirty years. She has been involved in actor training for a number of drama schools including being Head of the Voice Department for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art until July 2007 when she decided to return to freelance work. She is an Associate with the Royal National Theatre’s Voice Department, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Doors open at 7.15pm for refreshments and the talk begins at 7.45pm. The meeting is free to members, guests welcome for £3 on the door.

(Further details on all our talks and speaker bios are on our Events page.)

Green Flag Award - July 2025

The Wollaton Dovecote garden first received the prestigious Green Flag award in 2019, recognising the achievement of a national standard for parks and green spaces, and it has continued to do so every year. We are now delighted to announce that we have just won the Green Flag Award for 2025-2026. Thank you to all the hard work put in by the volunteers, Keith, and the Walled Garden team who cleared the overgrown area where the "Dovecote Lady" bench now sits.

Glorious sunshine for a Grand Opening - May 2025

We had a really wonderful afternoon at the Wollaton Dovecote on Sunday 11 May 2025. Over 100 people gathered in the glorious sunshine to witness the official opening by Lord Middleton of our special exhibition for this year, 100 Years of Wollaton Village (1925-2025). The event was made extra special by the unveiling of the new planted area and memorial bench for our "Dovecote Lady" Maureen Jones. The ceremony was performed by Lord Middleton and Maureen's daughter Laura, before a toast was raised to Maureen and her incredible contribution to local history. Following a short speech by Andrew Hamilton on the historic nature of the occasion (it is almost exactly 100 years to the day when Lord Middleton’s grandfather, the 11th Baron Middleton, completed the sale of the estate on 15 May 1925), Lord Middleton spoke of the pride and affection felt by him and his family in their ongoing connections with Wollaton and with WHaCS. He then declared the Wollaton Village Dovecote Museum open for 2025.

The exhibition was much enjoyed and it was particularly lovely to see local residents sat round the table sharing memories and recording them for us in notebooks to be shared with others. All credit is due to Sue Smith and the family history group for a beautifully presented display. Thanks also to Ramsey and Georgina Green who generously loaned two original sets of clothing from the 1920s which looked fabulous on the mannequins upstairs. Daryl Greaves’s display of recreated 16th costumes was, as always, a popular added attraction. As ever, the smooth running of the event was due to many hands working away in the background both before and during the open hours. Thanks to Janet Burnett for serving drinks and to David Gilbert for taking photographs (in spite of the opening time clashing with kick off for the Forest v Leicester game!) and to John Smith who works particularly hard setting up and putting everything away again. Keith & Jean Dinsdale put in endless hours keeping the garden looking its best all year round, and the recent combination of dry weather and delicate new plants has required extra dedication - their efforts are hugely appreciated.