Plomesgate Fair

Celebrating the Arts and Crafts in Rural Suffolk

Visual Arts Heritage Crafts & Furniture Rural Writing Music Pop Up Shop

Dates : 18th September - 17th October 2021

Opening Times : Tues / Wed / Thurs / Sat / Sunday 10am - 5pm

No need to book - drop-in and enjoy. Free parking and free entry
Venue : White House Farm, Great Glemham, Suffolk IP17 1LS

Directions : 1 mile from the A12 at Stratford St Andrew. Nearest train station Saxmundham. On the inland stretch of the National Cycle Route.

Walks + Picnics : farm walks open for visitors. BYO picnic to eat in the fields or barns after your viewing.

Contact: enquiries@plomesgatefair.co.uk

Programme

A month-long celebration of rural life in the beautiful Upper Alde Valley of East Suffolk. The home of the Fair, White House Farm in Great Glemham, is just a few miles upstream from the Suffolk Coast AONB and Snape Maltings. The Upper Alde Valley is tucked between the market towns of Framlingham and Saxmundham. This new autumn programme brings together a rich variety of folk music, visual arts, crafts, rural writing and local foods– all rooted in the East Suffolk landscape. A Pop Up Autumn Shop and Woodland Nature Walk are also open - and our small mule ewe / Wensleydale cross wool flock will also be in the fields around the barns. Families and children welcome. Covid regulations and guidance apply for all visits. Children must be accompanied at all times. Free parking and free entry. Come by car-share, bike or foot. No dogs please.

enquiries@plomesgatefair.co.uk

Visual Arts

18 September -17 October 10am - 5pm

Opening Times : Tues / Wed / Thurs / Sat / Sunday 10am - 5pm

Event : From this Landfour solo exhibitions about Suffolk.

Three separate shows explore wildlife and the history of farming in Suffolk. Horses by Harry Becker – a selling exhibition of historic sketches, drawings and lithographs from the Loftus Family Collection with a fully illustrated catalogue. Jason Gathorne-Hardy – new Drawings of Suffolk Punches from The Suffolk Punch Trust. Sarah ButtersAcross the Plough Wool / Land Residency - a spectacular Ploughman’s Cape knitted and crocheted by hand using wool and plant dyes from the farm inspired by a song about Suffolk Punches. Alice-Andrea Ewing – new casts in bronze of wild mushrooms found growing in the farm – part of a new Fungi / Mycorrhiza Residency. Jennifer Hall Woodland Residency.

There will also be a small shows of new works from Galloper-Sands Residencies and Contemporary Collections by Tessa Newcomb, Melanie Comber, Julian Perry, Perienne Christian, Becky Munting, Emma Green, Jane Wormell, Ruth Stage and Jelly Green. Free entry.

For info about Exhibitions : enquiries@plomesgatefair.co.uk

Heritage Crafts & Furniture

18 September - 17 October 10am - 5pm

Opening Times : Tues / Wed / Thurs / Sat / Sunday 10am - 5pm

Event : exhibition of contemporary basketry, furniture and woolwork.

Details : We are presenting exhibitions of craft materials and finished works from Galloper-Sands Handmade Collections. These include baskets by Peter Dibble, beautiful Alde Valley Settles by Jim Parsons, hand-dyed textiles by Jenny Nutbeem, hand forged ironwork by Tobin Murrill and new single-slab dining tables from Galloper-Sands Bespoke. Pottery by Mercury Hare and Steven James Will. Woolwork and wool from the farm’s flock will also be on display.

For more info about Crafts : enquiries@plomesgatefair.co.uk

Rural Writing

Daily : Three new Audio Plays about Suffolk Punch Horses

Info : Playing in the farm’s Old Stables – in association with INK

As part of the farm’s ongoing Writing at Great Glemham literary residency programme, we are delighted to present in a new collaboration with INK three new short audio plays by contemporary script writers: Jane, Joe and the Suffolk Horses by Richard J. Hand; Sound Of Robins by Linda Burgess; and Suffolk Puncha by Al Tilby. All are inspired by the history of Suffolk Punch horses in the local farmed landscape and are linked to the visual arts programme – in particular the exhibitions of drawings by Harry Becker and Jason Gathorne-Hardy; and Across the Plough by Sarah Butters. Free entry + viewing.

A rich vein of rural writing runs through the landscape of the Upper Alde Valley, embracing the work of George Crabbe, HW Freeman, George Ewart Evans, Ronald Blythe, Hugh Barrett and most recently Melissa Harrison. Books by these authors and other contemporary writers who have taken part in the Writing at Great Glemham residency programme will also be on show and for sale in the Pop Up Shop.

Music

Live acoustic folk sessions in the farmyard lambing barn.

2-5pm Saturday Afternoons - 18th / 25th September

Details : Weekly sessions with guest musicians. Details TBC

There is a rich tradition of folk sessions in rural pubs in East Suffolk, most notably in the past at The Low House at Laxfield and now at The Eel’s Foot at Eastbridge, The Ship Inn at Blaxhall and, more recently, The Froize Inn at Chillesford. Folk singing at The Ship Inn featured in the writing of George Ewart Evans and in sound and film recordings held at The British Museum and The East Anglia Film Archive. We will be welcoming guest musicians on Saturday afternoons for informal sessions.

Pop Up Shop

A Pop Up Shop is open during visiting hours selling honey, jams, fruit juices alongside cards, books, jewellery, woollens, sheepskins, pottery, scarves, woodwork, basketry, handmade bags and other heritage crafts. Guest Makers include Mercury Hare, Eilidh Allan, Jenny Nutbeem, Steven James Will, Ilketshall Wensleydales, Herber & Co, Vandertas.

For more info about the Shop : enquiries@plomesgatefair.co.uk

BYO Picnic : We invite visitors to the farm to BYO picnic to enjoy in the barns or fields.You are welcome to use the farm’s Big Picnic Table – at 209m the world’s longest oak picnic table. Built to celebrate the remarkable local food scene of the Alde Valley and The Suffolk Coast, it stands in medieval farm parkland near a short walk from the Plomesgate Fair exhibitions.

We recommend the following shops for excellent selections of local / handmade foods : Juniper Barn, Leo’s Deli, Friday Street Farm Shop

Plomesgate Fair

Plomesgate Fair is a new autumn project managed by The Alde Valley Spring Festival Ltd. The autumn programme is held in association with Galloper-Sands Gallery and its Contemporary and Historic Collections. The Alde Valley Spring Festival works with a set of sustainability criteria for all planning and decision making processes. It is a member of The Suffolk Coast DMO  and has a sister festival Pesta Nukenen / Bario Food Festival in the green Heart of Borneo in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, East Malaysia. The home of the Fair, White House Farm, is part of the award-winning Great Glemham Farms partnership. It is a working sheep farm. Families are welcome to the farm and Fair. Please keep to open access areas and footpaths at all times - ensure children are supervised. As a working farm, we ask that visitors do not bring pet dogs to seasonal open farm events.


H&S + Covid Updates : Families and children welcome. Staff will maintain safe distances and masks are optional. Safe distancing is requested. Please note that the venue is a working farm with uneven surfaces. Please keep to open access areas and children supervised at all times. We look forward to welcoming you for a safe and enjoyable visit to Plomesgate Fair and White House Farm.

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