27.11.2021
St John’s Church
Shirley Church Rd,
Croydon, CR0 5EE
7pm – 9.30pm TREEFEST 2021 A concert to celebrate the 2021 Christmas Tree Festival featuring a variety of talented musicians
1st Shirley Rainbows
Heidi Acraman – Classical crossover soprano
Eric Brunjes – Classical guitar
Richard Mander – Piano
Kat Welch & Kate Gorman – Vocal duet
The Dotty Crotchets – Close harmony ladies choir
The Sandilands Shantymen - folk group singing songs of the sea
£10 on the door
A fully licensed bar is available
As a courtesy to each other and to help us to provide a comfortable
and enjoyable experience for everyone, we ask you to be mindful of others and their
space and to consider taking a lateral flow test before attending,
Our November Cinema is on the 20th November and we will be showing Fisherman’s Friends
A fast living, cynical London music executive (Daniel Mays) heads to a remote Cornish village on a stag weekend where he’s pranked by his boss (Noel Clarke) into trying to sign a group of shanty singing fishermen (led by James Purefoy). He becomes the ultimate “fish out of water” as he struggles to gain the respect or enthusiasm of the unlikely boy band and their families (including Tuppence Middleton) who value friendship and community over fame and fortune. As he’s drawn deeper into the traditional way of life he’s forced to reevaluate his own integrity and ultimately question what success really means.
Why not get your tickets now
Online ticket sales for this event are closed.
The cinema is a great way to spend an evening, its great fun and we try and keep the costs down so please support us if you can.
Flux capacitors to the ready, the Friday Knights, St. John’s church men’s group, returns in September.
For decades the Knights has provided friendship, fraternity and support to the blokes of the parish and we are always looking for new members and guests.
We have the following following events planned for this Autumn, meeting at 8pm in the Tamberlin room, when at ‘Home’.
Friday 17th September, (change of date) – Call my Blush, wine tasting with Bernard, this will be as popular as ever and a good way to start our year.
Friday 8th October, – Big Lebowski night, Ten-Pin Bowling at Bromley Pavillion
Friday 12th November, – A talk on the history of Croydon, by the local Natural History Society
Friday 10th December, – The Annual Friday Knights Dinner at Shirley Park Golf Club
We look forward to turning back the clock, welcoming you soon and reigniting the camaraderie that the Friday Knights is famed for.
Not a member of The Friday Knights?
If you are male, over 18 and would like to attend then please get in touch. email Paul Binge or Charles Marriott at [email protected]
Our cinema is finally returning on the 18th September 2021. We have decided to reopen with an old feel good film.
We want to take you back to the 1950’s to join the T-Birds and Pink ladies as they make there way through high school – yes you guessed it we will be showing “Grease”.
We’ve been working hard to organise some really fantastic events in the calendar, including talks, a clothes exchange, guided walks, a photography competition and of course – Croydon’s Great Big Green Festival on the 26th September in the high street.
To make the week a success, we need as many people as possible attending the events and the festival. We need your help to spread the word! If you can, please tell your family, friends and networks about the week & share our posts on social media. Attached are two posters that you can print off and place in public spaces near you.
I’m back in Dorset for a few days catching up with what may have changed since I was here during lockdown last summer. It is early summer and nature has produced her early annual miracles again, so all is well. Staying with my son in Winterborne Houghton again I’ve joined the returning swallows. They are swooping over the fish farm collecting flies and the familiar Little Egret is poised over one of the tanks ready to take his meal as well. Last time I was in my son’s garden he was working on the steep bank that runs up to the farmer’s field and his cows. Now there is a zig-zag path and a small seating area where we can relax and watch the wildlife. The buzzards I had previously seen circling above the trees are now venturing much closer and hunting nearer the ground right in front of me. They really are large impressive birds and are now Britain’s most common bird of prey. They are hunting for small mammals or carrion but the young rabbits I had been watching, scurry away just in case they feature on the menu.
Beside the village pond the Great Reed Mace or Bulrushes are growing in the shallows of the still water. They are very tall, about 2 metres at the moment and their iconic brown sausage-shaped seed heads are unmistakeable.
Further up by the river, the mauve flowers of Indian Balsam hang orchid-like, making a splash of colour along the banks. Their shape has given it the common name of Policeman’s helmet but it is also known as Jack- in -the -box due to the way that the seed pods explode when disturbed in the autumn dispersing the seeds up to 7 metres.
We ventured further afield in Dorset spending some time on the heathland and sand dunes of the Studland Peninsula. An important nature reserve where the Marram Grass holds the sand together creating an extensive area of dunes rich in a different range of flora and fauna towards “Little Sea” the RSPB freshwater lagoon but we moved on as time did not allow a visit to one of the hides. We also avoided the naturist beach as we were not dressed appropriately.
We spent some time at Keyneston Mill exploring a collection of gardens dedicated to various fragrances and practical trial beds where unusual varieties are cultivated. The river meadow, bordered by willows, follows the bank of the river Stour where butterflies were fluttering, but the most stunning sight was the abundance of Desmoiselles. Looking like a dragonfly but, in fact, a damselfly, the male has metallic blue wings which flutter to attract the green bodied, females by its dance moves.
I could not capture an image on my mobile phone camera , so I used this one which I credit to The Wildlife Trust.
In what was to turn out to be the highlight of the Euro’s weekend, 25 Friday Knights turned out for our annual Barbecue. The men’s group set up over 25 years ago to provide friendship and support to the blokes of St. John’s has been itching to get back together since their last meeting in March 2020. Excellent fare provided by Shirley’s local new butcher ‘Bashfords’ was seared to perfection by chefs Cotton and Foot and over a few beverages tales of the last 15 months were shared.
The Friday Knights will meet again on 17th September and will welcome any new men to a group which over the years has played a solid role in our church community. We look forward to greeting you.
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