Autumn programme: Unveiled programme, exhibition, Quiet Day, and concerts

 

Unveiled is the regular Friday night arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church, 7.00 – 9.00 pm (11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN). Here's details of our Autumn programme. See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information.

Autumn Programme 2025

• 19 September (7.00 pm) - Exhibition viewing evening. See ‘Lily and the Masters’, an exhibition by David Crawford, and hear David speak about his work and also read his poetry. David’s exhibition has a series of colour studies of the Edwardian singer and actress Miss Lily Elsie and versions of some of his favourite paintings by the Old Masters.
• 3 October (7.00 pm) – An evening with the Ladygate Scribblers. Hear poetry and prose from a long-established Wickford-based writers group.
• 17 October (7.30 pm) – David Crawford in concert. David is a singer songwriter who is Wickford born and bred. He has been writing and performing songs for over 30 years, but the last few years, in particular, have been very productive. He will be performing new and recent material in this unique acoustic space where his paintings are also on show.
• 31 October (7.00 pm) – Adam Atkinson is the Bishop of Bradwell. Hear him read a selection of his poetry which has been used in public and liturgical settings. A series of sonnets for Lent and Easter were published in ‘Who Do You Say I Am?’ in 2024.
• 14 November (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night organised with John Rogers. Everybody is welcome to come along and play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!
• 5 December (7.30 pm) – Eva Romanakova and Andrew Palmer in concert. Hear Mezzo-Soprano Eva Romanakova and pianist Andrew Palmer perform a wide selection of music including musical theatre, classical, opera, pop, jazz, folk and songs from the movies.

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs. See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

Our latest exhibition is 'Lily and the Masters', an exhibition of paintings by David Crawford from 19 September – 19 December 2025 at St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN.

View the exhibition and hear David speak about his work at ‘Unveiled’, the arts & performance evening at St Andrew’s Wickford, Friday 19 September, 7.00 pm.

David is a Wickford based artist and singer songwriter. The works in this exhibition are a selection of paintings completed in the last 3 years. He is exhibiting a series of heightened colour studies of the Edwardian singer and actress Miss Lily Elsie and versions of some of his favourite paintings from Old Masters such as Da Vinci, Vermeer and Caravaggio.

St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm.

Our last Quiet Day of 2025 is on Saturday 27 September and is about Lancelot Andrewes: Discover the influence and example of Lancelot Andrewes (who lived in Rawreth) who helped define Anglican doctrine, translate the Bible, and shape the liturgy. Led by Revd Jonathan Evens & Revd Steve Lissenden. 

To be held at St Nicholas Rawreth. Reflect in the beautiful and historic surrounds of St Nicholas Rawreth. St Nicholas provides times of quiet and reflection in a beautiful setting. 

Cost: £8.00 per person, including lunch (pay on the day). To book: jonathan.evens@btinternet.com / 07803 562329. Parking available: Village Hall (Rawreth). Nearest station: Battlesbridge (for Rawreth).

We also have concerts at St Andrew's including: TLC Ensemble on Satuday 4 October at 2.30 pm; and Men to Sing on Saturday 6 December at 2.30 pm.

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David Crawford - The Unwritten Story.

Unveiled Spring 2025 programme & 'The Way' exhibition

 

Here's the Spring 2025 programme for Unveiled, our fortnightly Friday night arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church (7.00 – 9.00 pm, 11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN), plus an exhibition entitled 'The Way' by Steve Whittle:

Spring Programme 2025

• 17 January (7.00 pm) – ‘The Way’ exhibition viewing evening. Meet artist Steve Whittle, see his exhibition & hear him interviewed. This artist, based in Westcliff-onSea based, uses collage to create Stations of the Cross & a range of other scenes, both religious and landscape.
• 31 January (7.00 pm) – ‘Four Essex Trios’. An evening of poems and photographs with Jonathan Evens exploring thin places and sacred spaces in Essex, including Bradwell, Broomfield, Pleshey, and Runwell.
• 14 February (7.00 pm) – An evening with the Ladygate Scribblers. Hear poetry and prose from a longestablished Wickford-based writers group.
• 28 February (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night. Everybody is welcome to come along & play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!
• 14 March (7.00 pm) – Simon Law in concert. Simon has fronted the rock bands Fresh Claim, Sea Stone and Intransit, as well as being a founder of Plankton Records and becoming an Anglican Vicar. This will be his final concert for us before retirement.
• 28 March (7.30 pm) – Dave Crawford & friends in concert. Popular local musician, Dave Crawford writes engaging/melodic songs in Americana/ Alt-Rock/IndieFolk. He has performed at the Leigh Folk Festival, Pin Drop Sessions, & Music for Mind together with Kev Butler. This will be Dave’s third concert at Unveiled. We have also enjoyed his powerful vocals & guitar at our Open Mic Nights.
• 11 April (7.30 pm) – Tim Almond in concert. ‘Around the World in 60 Minutes’ featuring songs and stories from Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ecuador and Bangladesh.

See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html and https://basildondeanery.co.uk/index.php/news/ for more information.

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs.

Our churches are places to enjoy cultural programmes including concerts and exhibitions as well as being places to see art and architecture.

St Andrews Church in Wickford provides regular art, culture and heritage events and we are looking to develop this further. We think that to do so will benefit the Town by bringing more people to the Town Centre. As part of a Feasibility Study exploring what might be possible that is funded by UKFSP Feasibility Fund, we are asking people locally to share what art, culture and heritage activities they are interested in and what they are looking for. 

We would be very grateful if you could complete the survey and tell others about it. The survey can be found at https://forms.gle/dmPH7uzAafuAqLzDA. We are keen that as many people in and around Wickford complete the survey as possible.

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Dave Crawford - My Last Lullaby.

Unveiled - To date and upcoming

We've been enjoying a great Unveiled programme at St Andrew's Wickford this Autumn and have more exciting events still to come. 

Our first event was an exhibition viewing evening for the 'Trials & Tribulations: Modern Interpretations of Iconography' exhibition at which artist John Paul Barrett spoke about his work. He spoke about his career to date, how he became an artist, the spirituality that informs his work and his interest in Eastern European iconography. His work has a sculptured and textured look and he told us about the technique he uses to achieve that look. He also spoke about some of the artists that have inspired his expressionist style and why they are important to him. He ended by telling us about some the other themes and topics he addresses.

To view the exhibition, St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. See https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information.

The next event saw Dave Crawford in concert with friends. Popular local musician, Dave Crawford writes engaging/melodic songs in Americana/ Alt-Rock/Indie-Folk. He has performed at the Leigh Folk Festival, Pin Drop Sessions, & Music for Mind together with Kev Butler. We have also enjoyed his powerful vocals & guitar at our Open Mic Nights. This was Dave’s second concert at Unveiled. He was ably supported by Ben (on bongo's), Jimmy Sharp and Mr Shed.

Robson and Tony Coke gave a fascinating presentation about the Napoleonic Wars and historical re-enacts. Robson (2nd 95th Rifles & Drum Major of the Band of 1st Foot Guards 1815, Napoleonic Association) talked about the Napoleonic Wars, explained how re-enactments are organised and showed uniforms and equipment used in reenactments.

In her concert Eva Romanakova performed a wide genre of music - Musical Theatre, Arias, Pop, Jazz, Movie Songs and also Folk - in her concert. She also sang music from various countries and different times. She performed with accomplished pianist Andrew Palmer.

Our upcoming events are:

• 8 November (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night. Everybody is welcome to come along & play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!
• 22 November (7.00 pm) – An evening with Steven Turner. Hear about the career of local dancer Steven Turner, who has trained in a variety of dance styles, including contemporary, street, mime & moving with props. Steven founded his own organisation, Next Step Creative, to promote collaboration between dance & other creative arts. He also regularly choreographs & teaches for Dance 21 (a dance company for children & young adults with Down’s syndrome). He has performed across the UK and Europe including Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, & France.
• 6 December (7.00 pm) – Broomfield artists in the Basildon Deanery. Find out about artworks in Basildon & Nevendon by Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones & Rosemary Rutherford. An illustrated talk by Jonathan Evens.

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs. See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

I will be talking about Unveiled in a HeartEdge EdgeExchange - Art in and for churches together with Laura Moffat on Tuesday November 26th at 2pm. Register in advance for this meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rcOihqTMvHtRJy25xYAAnEVMlCyYCcOt0. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

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Dave Crawford - My Last Lullaby.

Unveiled: Arts and performance events at St Andrew's Wickford

Unveiled: A regular Friday night arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church, 7.00 – 9.00 pm, 11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

See below for our Summer programme and http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information

• Exhibitions, open mic nights, performances, talks and more!
• Unveiled – a wide range of artist and performers from Essex and wider, including Open Mic nights (come and have a go!).
• Unveiled – view our hidden painting by acclaimed artist David Folley, plus a range of other exhibitions.

Summer Programme 2024

• 19 April (7.30 pm) - Eva Romanakova in concert. Eva sings a wide genre of music; Musical Theatre, Arias, Pop, Jazz, Movie Songs and also Folk. She will sing music from various countries and different times.
• 3 May – Exhibition viewing evening. See ‘Brand New Day’, an exhibition by members of Runwell Art Club and meet artists from the Club.
• 17 May (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night organised with John Rogers. Everybody is welcome to come along and play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!
• 31 May – Poets Tim Harrold & Jonathan Evens share a selection of poetry and prose from their own collections & those of their favourite poets. Tim is a poet who creates images of profound challenge and change. Jonathan’s poems & stories have been published by Amethyst Review, International Times & Stride.
• 14 June – Simon Law in concert. Simon has fronted the rock bands Fresh Claim, Sea Stone and Intransit, as well as being a founder of Plankton Records and becoming an Anglican Vicar.
• 28 June – Infusion Physical Theatre with Dance 21 perform a curtain raiser to ‘Soothe’, a thoughtful and rambunctious exploration of the three modes of emotional regulation: threat, drive, soothe. This is off-balance, emotive dance theatre embodying the hormones that push, pull and drag us through life.
• 12 July – Depeche Mode: Songs of Faith & Devotion. Jonathan Evens talks about Christian influences in the music of Basildon band, Depeche Mode.

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs. 

See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

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Simon Law - The Haven.