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Forthcoming events in Rode June-July

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:03:50 +0000

Still to come in June:

Friday June 24^th. Butcombe Bike Ride (no further information)

July events:

Sat July 2^nd. School Summer Fete. Details TBC.

Sun July 3^rd. Rode Run (fun run). Organised by & profits to Memorial Hall & Heart of Rode charities

Fri July 8^th. Pop-up restaurant at The Memorial Hall. Organised by & profits to Rode Pre-School

Sat July 9^th. Table top sale at The Memorial Hall. Organised by & profits to Rode Pre-School

Sat July 16^th. Village Fete at The Playing Field. Rocking Rode at The Memorial Hall. All profits to village charities

Open Gardens at Rode Hill

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:20:09 +0000

The 150th anniversary of the infamous child murder at Road Hill House in the village of Rode is being recognised on Sunday, July 4th with a rare opportunity to see the gardens which are being opened to the public.  The murder at Road Hill House was a crime that gripped Victorian England. Recently it has again become infamous because of Kate Summerscale’s best seller, ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. The Murder at Road Hill House’.

This perfect example of a country house murder has inspired novels by many writers including Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon.   The murder in 1860 of a 4 year old boy discovered at the bottom of a garden privy has continued to capture the imagination of the public and turned everyone into amateur detectives. Such is the interest in this murder that yet a further book, Paul Chambers’ ‘Murder Most Foul’ has recently been published about the Rode murder.

Thought to be only the third time in 150 years that the gardens at Road Hill House (now called Langham House) have been opened to the public, this is therefore a rare chance to see the magnificent gardens. The gardens of Langham House will be open by kind permission of Chris & Stephanie Lyons.   A second Rode garden, Rivermead, is also going to be open on July 4th as part of Rode’s Open Gardens. Described as ‘one of the remarkable small gardens in Somerset’, this garden is a series of miniature tableaux and are full of exotic plants. It is the result of over 50 years work by owner Micheal Sparey.   

The Rode Open Gardens Event is in aid of the Heart of Rode Appeal, an Appeal tasked to raise £60,000 to fund improvements to Rode’s ancient village church of St Lawrence. 
Both gardens are open from 14:00 through to 17:00 on Sunday July 4th. Tickets are available in advance at £4 each from Rode Post Office or £5 on the Gate on July 4th.

Pantomonium as Mamma Mia sells out two nights!

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:02:38 +0000

The village Panto, My my, I can’t believe it’s not Mamma Mia, runs from the 11th-13th of February in Rode Memorial Hall. If you want to see it (and you really should), you’ll need to get to Rode Post Office or the Cross Keys pretty quickly. The Friday and Saturday nights have sold out already! Some tickets remain for the Thursday, but at the time of typing only a few remain unsold, so eager is the village to see what could well be Pantoman, Gary Holloway’s magnum opus.

With plenty of audience participation required, and the prospect of your friends and neighbours belting out some Abba classics, you will be kicking yourself if you miss it.

Date for 2010 Village Festival announced

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:45:33 +0000

After the great success of the 2009 Festival, we’re pleased to announce that the 2010 Rode Village Festival will take place on Saturday July 17th.

The festival committee are meeting in the week of 18th January to start planning what promises to be a spectacular event.

More news will follow as it becomes available, and details of how villagers can get involved in the running of the festival.