I have just enjoyed a fantastic week of writing at Holland House in Cropthorne and as a thank you I am sharing details of Evesham Festival of Words:
Sincerely Noel: A Celebration of Noel Coward, and so much more
£16.00
Price includes a £1 booking fee via: www.theatrebarn.org
Event Details
Date: 19 September 2026
Start time: 19:00
End time: 21:30
Venue: Bretforton Theatrebarn, Main Street, Bretforton. WR11 7JH
Phone: 07871 285606
Email: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org
About
We are delighted to welcome Festival Patron, Alistair McGowan, and his wife Charlotte Page, to the stunning setting of Bretforton Theatrebarn.
Evesham’s own Alistair, and Charlotte, bring us their personal selection of some of the popular songs and the rarely-heard poems of Noel Coward in a poignant and romantic first half. Think you know Coward? Think again! (With piano accompaniment from Lana Bode.)
In the second half, a further mix of piano music and poetry but this time, Alistair reads from his new volume of poetry (Like Never Before) and plays a selection of classical piano pieces by the likes of Glass, Mompou, Poulenc and Amy Beach with, no doubt a few of his famous and unbettered impressions along the way.
Alistair McGowan is a comedy actor, writer, singer, and impressionist, best known for the BAFTA-winning TV show, The Big Impression. He began his career by providing voices for the puppets on Spitting Image. He has worked extensively as an actor in theatre and television. His piano ambitions reached new heights in 2018. Having gone back to the piano at the age of 49, he released The Piano Album, which reached number one in the classical chart. April 2026 sees the release of his second collection of poetry.
Charlotte Page studied at the Royal Academy of Music. She is well known in opera and music theatre having been a principal soprano with The Royal Opera Covent Garden and other companies. Lana Bode is an American-British pianist, programme and artistic director, highly acclaimed for her performances of contemporary music. She performs as a solo pianist and in collaboration with leading singers and instrumentalists.
The Motor Men: Lord Nuffield and Herbert Austin
£11.00
Speaker: Max Hunt
Event Details
Date: 30 September 2026
Start time: 19:00
End time: 20:00
Venue: Ecgwin’s Club, 117 High Street, Evesham.WR11 4EQ
Phone: 07871 285606
Email: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org
About
Max Hunt’s illustrated talk intertwines the stories of Herbert Austin and William Morris – the two giants of Britain’s early motor industry. Tracing the rise of both men from humble beginnings, Max shows how their contrasting approaches to car manufacture brought motoring to the masses in the 1920s while, at the same time, laying the foundations for the troubles of the British Motor Corporation and British Leyland. Along the way he examines the social impact of the Longbridge works on north Worcestershire and the huge extent of Morris’s philanthropy – the English Bill Gates!
Max read history at university in the 1960s and spent his working life in education. In retirement he combines interests in local history and classic motor cars. Since 2006 he has been a Trustee of the Shelsley Watermill Society helping restore and latterly maintain Worcestershire’s only working water-powered corn mill.
Prince George & Master Frederick
Price includes lunch
£24.00
Speaker: Rosalind Freeborn
Event Details
Date: 9 October 2026
Start time: 13:00
End time: 15:00
Venue: Holland House, Main Street, Cropthorne, Pershore. WR10 3NB
Phone: 01386 860330
Email: enquiries@hollandhouse.org
About
Prince George & Master Frederick, published January 2025, is the debut historical novel of Rosalind Freeborn. In 1765 a four-year-old orphan boy is bundled into a carriage with a woman he doesn’t know. He is taken to the royal palace at Richmond to be a playmate for three-year-old Prince George, son of King George III. His name is Frederick Blomberg, but what is his secret connection to the King?
“Through meticulous research and vivid imagination, Rosalind Freeborn delivers a novel that not only entertains but reveals the identity of an important figure within the Georgian Royal Family. Prince George & Master Frederick provides a historical revelation that will captivate lovers of British history and royal intrigue.” (Alliance Publishing Press)
Rosalind started her career as a book publicist, before moving into PR. In 2002 she followed her childhood dream to become an artist. She was prompted to write Prince George & Master Frederick after investigating a story that she might, in some way, be related to George III.
Two-course lunch is served at 1.00 pm (special diets can be accommodated) but arrive early to get a drink and enjoy the lovely house and gardens. The talk will commence at 2.00 pm.
From Perfect to Ordinary
Includes tea/coffee and cake
£10.00
Speaker: Rachel Sargeant
Event Details
Date: 17 October 2026
Start time: 10:00
End time: 11:00
Venue: Ecgwin’s Club, 117 High Street, Evesham.WR11 4EQ
Phone: 07871 285606
Email: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org
About
Join us for the first event of our new one-day Autumnfest as suspense author, Rachel Sargeant, discusses her writing journey and her book titles.
Dr Rachel Sargeant is the author of suspense novels—The Perfect Neighbours, The Good Teacher, The Roommates— with HarperCollins; the Gloucestershire Crime Series—Her Deadly Friend, Her Charming Man and Her Rising Star— with Hobeck Books; and, under the penname Rae Starling, the dark thriller An Ordinary House with Hera Books (publishing September 2026).
After many years in Germany, she now lives in Gloucestershire. Her hobbies are visiting country houses and coffee shops, watching amateur theatre and travelling with her husband to visit their grown-up children in various places around the world. She also likes chatting about books with readers and writers on her blog: https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/
My Life and Times as a Film Extra
Includes tea/coffee and cake
£10.00
Speaker: John Kinory
Event Details
Date: 17 October 2026
Start time: 11:30
End time: 12:30
Venue: Ecgwin’s Club, 117 High Street, Evesham.WR11 4EQ
Phone: 07871 285606
Email: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org
About
John Kinory is a former college lecturer. Now he takes part in films, TV shows and commercials as a supporting artist (‘extra’), with the occasional featured speaking part. What happens when you arrive in the morning? Wardrobe, hair and makeup? What is life in front of the cameras like? How do you become a film or TV extra? Do you get paid? Do you meet famous film stars?
Join us for the second event of our one-day Autumnfest as John shares his experiences as a film extra and answers these questions and many more. If you’ve ever fancied yourself in front of the cameras, this is your chance to find out more.
Why not stay on for lunch at Ecgwin’s Club? Menu will be circulated to attendees ahead of the event for pre-ordering menu choices on the day.
The Orwell Tour: Travels Through the Life and Work of George Orwell
Includes tea/coffee and cake
£10.00
Speaker: Oliver Lewis
Event Details
Date: 17 October 2026
Start time: 13:30
End time: 14:30
Venue: Ecgwin’s Club, 117 High Street, Evesham.WR11 4EQ
Phone: 07871 285606
Email: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org
About
Following in the footsteps of one of the world’s literary heroes, speaker Oliver Lewis, set out to visit all the places that inspired and shaped George Orwell, beginning in Northern India where Orwell was born in 1903 and ending at his final resting place in Sutton Courtenay in Oxfordshire. Over three years, he travelled from Wigan to Catalonia, Paris to Motihari, Marrakesh to Eton, and in each location explored both how Orwell experienced the place, and how the place now remembers him as a literary icon.
Oliver Lewis is a travel writer and historian. He specialises in the ‘literary travelogue’, first with ‘The Orwell Tour’ (2023), following in the footsteps of George Orwell; the second with the developmental ‘Steinbeck Odyssey’, which applies the same methodology to the life and work of John Steinbeck. In a separate capacity he is almost at the end of a Doctorate in Modern British History at the University of Oxford, where he researches the privatisation of British Rail ‘as a case study in Public Policy Failure’,. He teaches undergraduate history and politics at Oxford and at Sciences Po, Paris, where he resides each spring. He grew up in South Northamptonshire, was educated at Magdalen College School (Brackley), the London School of Economics, and King’s College London, and lives in Montgomery, Powys.
The Autumnfest is nothing if not varied! Join us for a great day. Why not come early and join us for lunch at Ecgwin’s Club’? Menu will be circulated to attendees beforehand so that menu choices can be pre-ordered on the day.
Libraries of the World. Replacement event.
Includes tea/coffee and cake
£10.00
Speaker: Sue Ablett
Event Details
Date: 17 October 2026
Start time: 15:00
End time: 16:00
Venue: Ecgwin’s Club, 117 High Street, Evesham.WR11 4EQ
Phone: 07871 285606
Email: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org
About
Speaker, Sue Ablett, who has been Chair of Evesham Festival of Words since it first launched in 2016, is a global traveller, having visited all seven continents, has a hugely enquiring mind, loves quirky facts, and absolutely loves giving talks.
Having stumbled across one interesting library on her travels, it got her thinking and prompted her to do more research. This talk, which she describes as “fun and informative”, romps around the world looking at libraries big and small, old and new, curious and quirky, far flung and closer to home, as well as some very out of the way libraries. And not all libraries just stock books – there are lots of other interesting things you can borrow from libraries, if you just know where to look.
Macready! Dickens’ Theatrical Friend
Price includes a £1 booking fee via: www.henrician.org
£15.00
Performer: Mark Stratford
Event Details
Date: 17 October 2026
Start time: 19:30
End time: 21:30
Venue: The Henrician, Victoria Avenue, Evesham. WR11 4QH
Phone: 01386 765588
Email: hello@henrician.org
About
This compelling show – written and performed by Mark Stratford – tells the story of the great Victorian actor-manager, William Charles Macready – the man to whom Charles Dickens dedicated Nicholas Nickleby. A must for drama fans, this remarkable true tale captures the sheer joy, graft and tribulations of a life lived in theatre. With passion, humour, emotion, and an array of characters, we are taken on a journey through the fascinating world of Victorian theatre and the extraordinary, yet conflicted, life of Macready, from his first tentative steps on stage in a tatty country theatre to his final ever performance at the mighty Drury Lane!
This will be a special occasion for Mark as he performed on the Henrician (then Evesham Arts Centre) stage in 1979, in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mark’s dear friend and fellow Thespian, John Raphael, who sadly died in 2025, performed with him. This event is dedicated to the memory of John, and a percentage of ticket sales will be donated to Diabetes UK.
The perfect way to end our first ever Autumnfest!
Emmeline Pankhurst – Angel or Anarchist?
Price includes a £1 booking fee via: www.henrician.org
£15.00
Performer: Liz Grand
Event Details
Date: 27 November 2026
Start time: 19:00
End time: 21:00
Venue: The Henrician, Victoria Avenue, Evesham. WR11 4QH
Phone: 01386 765588
Email: hello@henrician.org
About
Emmeline Pankhurst is one of the most influential and well-known British women to have ever lived. She fought tirelessly for women to have the vote. She was imprisoned several times, often went on hunger strike, and was force-fed on at least three occasions. Having failed to make any impression on the male electorate and parliamentarians for nearly thirty years, she became an advocate of direct action. The suffragettes threw stones at politicians, set fire to letter boxes, torched buildings, chained themselves to railings, and threw themselves under horses. Although they were eventually successful, many brave women suffered terribly during the fight. Emmeline was not universally popular. Many women believed that if the suffragettes had been less confrontational, the vote for women would have come much quicker.
Liz Grand has previously performed in Evesham as Anne Hathaway, Agatha Christie, Mrs Churchill, and Enid Blyton. She brilliantly portrays this complex, visionary woman. This is a story that needs to be told.
Dr Albert Schweitzer and Reverence for Life
Price includes lunch
£24.00
Speaker: Galen Bartholomew
Event Details
Date: 30 November 2026
Start time: 13:00
End time: 15:00
Venue: Holland House, Main Street, Cropthorne, Pershore. WR10 3NB
Phone: 01386 860330
Email: enquiries@hollandhouse.org
About
Albert Schweitzer was one of the most remarkable figures of the twentieth century. Born in Alsace in 1875, his intellectual curiosity and physical energy enabled him to obtain degrees in music, philosophy and theology at Strasbourg University, while earning a living as a Lutheran priest. Before the age of 30, Schweitzer had achieved international renown for his controversial theological conclusions, for his skill as an organist and concert performer, and for his works on JS Bach.
Schweitzer was driven by an awareness of suffering and a feeling that he must pay something back for his happy childhood, which led him to decide, in his early twenties, that, at the age of 30, he would study medicine. He was nearly 40 when he went out to Gabon to work as a doctor. For the next 50 years, he financed and ran a hospital for Africans, which made him famous throughout the world. It was here that he developed his principle of Reverence for Life.
In 1952, Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and, in his acceptance speech, he took the opportunity to launch one of the first major calls for peace and nuclear disarmament. However, by the time Schweitzer died in 1965, attitudes had changed, admiration for his humanity had diminished, with some suggesting that his attitudes were patronising and even racist. His hospital was also seen as outdated compared with the modern facilities that had been established by then.
In this talk, Galen Bartholomew will review Schweitzer’s very full life and consider different opinions about his work and achievements, suggesting that he should be seen as a man of his time, and that his philosophy still has relevance today.
Two-course lunch is served at 1.00 pm (special diets can be accommodated) but arrive early to get a drink and enjoy the lovely house and gardens. The talk will commence at 2.00 pm.
And in December, the free Evesham Christmas Tree Festival. For details: https://www.eveshamfestivalofwords.org/
info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org
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