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Rural Life Centre

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Rural Life Centre

PRESS RELEASES
6th February 2009

Staying Local and Saving the Pennies

In the current uncertain financial climate, we are all thinking about what we can afford to do during the, hopefully, better weather of spring and summer. Perhaps a traditional holiday away from home in this country or overseas is out of the question and we're even wary of taking too many days out with the highly volatile cost of fuel and public transport.

Perhaps this year it is time to take a second look at all there is to do locally - perhaps places we've been before in the dim and faintly remembered past are worth a second look. Often on our very doorsteps are places we've been past dozens of times but never actually visited. 2009 could be just the year to give these places a try. After all they're local so getting there won't cost the earth - they may even be within walking or cycling distance,

One such place may be the Rural Life Centre at Tilford. Situated in Reeds Road, the country life museum was established in 1973 and has grown tremendously over the intervening years. It now sports an impressive list of annual events to accompany the plethora of exhibits and displays which cover all aspects of our agricultural heritage from the village shop, chapel and school through the blacksmith and wheelwright to the tools the farmer used.

The museum is run almost entirely by volunteers and they have been extremely busy of late, despite the appalling weather, getting ready for the new season which starts on March 11th. Among the new items appearing for the first time this year are the impressive eight foot tall dolls' house formerly at Shalford Mill near Guildford.

Originally built just after the second world war by the owner of the mill for his young daughters, the dolls house became a highlight for young visitors to the National Trust property who were able to enter and explore the miniature building. However it suffered from the tread of many little feet over the years and was removed from the mill because of safety concerns. Given to Rural Life Centre by those very same daughters, the Georgian model has now been restored to almost its original condition by the volunteers and will once again be on show for future generations to enjoy.

While the museum is always open on Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the year, the summer season starting on Wednesday March 11th sees the site open from Wednesday to Sunday each week plus bank holidays from 10am to 5pm each day. The season commences with a special exhibition featuring the history of the twin villages Send and Ripley presented by the local history society there.

Following on from this there is a varied list of events and exhibitions throughout the spring and summer. In fact too many to list here so if you'd like more details take a look at the museum's website at www.rural-life.org.uk. Just to whet your appetite though, the very popular Village at War returns on May 9/10 when around 150 re-enactors make the museum look like a typical local village during the invasion preparations of 1944. Two weeks later a plethora of vintage buses and coaches will descend on Tilford for a rally and visitors will be able to take tours of the surrounding countryside in the classic vehicles.

During the former event, the Old Kiln Café will be offering "appropriate"
menus based on wartime rationing. Fortunately, though, it will be offering a more traditional menu of country fayre for most of the season. Now under new management, the café itself is always worth a visit even if you don't have time to tour the museum.

So this year why not do the 'right thing' by your pocket and environmentally and 'stay local' for some of your leisure time? There's always lots to see and do on your doorstep if you know where to find it.

The Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum of village life, lies mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. It is open from 10am to 5pm each day from Wednesday to Sunday and on bank holiday Mondays from 11th March. For further information telephone
01252 795571.

10th November 2008

Christmas: A Time for Children of All Ages

With the "Season of Wonder" fast approaching, children are beginning to get excited. However they're probably not the only ones. Adults, too, look forward to a period of cheer amongst the winter's damp and gloom.

Epitomizing this spirit of Christmas is Santa Claus and amongst the many places that he visits locally in the run-up to the festive season is the Rural Life Centre at Tilford. Here he is welcomed with open arms by the many volunteers that run the country life museum and they put on what must be a unique celebration enjoyed annually by almost 1,000 children and the 2,000 plus adults that accompany them.

Santa Specials this year takes place just on the weekends of 6/7 and 13/14 December from 11am to 5pm. The only way into the museum on these days is by steam hauled train for which places must be pre-booked. From then on its a journey of adventure.

Visitors will meet fairies, gnomes and elves all hard at work preparing for Santa's Christmas Eve journey. Depending on which day they visit they will also see donkeys, calves, sheep or reindeer. Along the way they will enter a castle and the toy workshop and see a model railway themed on favourite childhood characters. Seasonal refreshments will be served while they wait to visit the grotto and there is much more to see and do during the visit to this very unusual location.

The event is now known over a wide area and its popularity means that visitors start to book in July each year. However there are still places available and bookings can be taken by post or telephone on 01252 795571.
The Rural Life Centre is an accredited museum of country life which lies mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. More details can be found on the museum's website at www.rural-life.org.uk.


6th November 2008

Hand Crafted Christmas

Finding different gifts for friends at Christmas can sometimes be very difficult. You want to get them something a little unusual but just don't know where to look. It has to be individual and not a mass-produced item, and also have an interesting story behind its creation.

One place that you can certainly find such items is at the Christmas Craft Fair held at the Rural Life Centre each year at the end of November. Then the Tilford country life museum welcomes back the craftspeople that have demonstrated there over the year to put on a unique display of such presents for you to peruse. From hand-made nativity scenes to oil paintings and photographic prints to wood-turning, many crafts will be on display ranging from the traditional to the modern in both skill and style. Many craftspeople will be in attendance and more than pleased to talk to customers about their handiwork.

Unusually entry to the partially open museum will be free on that day and the museum shop will be selling a mixture of pocket money items and exclusive gifts including books relating to local history. A full range of refreshments will also be available.

The Rural Life Centre's Christmas Craft Fair is on Saturday 22nd November from 10.30am to 3.00pm at the accredited museum of village life on Reeds Road, mid way between Tilford and Frensham, just off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

9th October 2008

Bringing Home the Harvest

Harvest Home traditionally celebrates the end of the farming year with a festival of the harvested fruits of field, tree and hedgerow. It is a time of plenty when preparations are made for the long winter months ahead with apples in barrels and feed for stock being stored in barns and haylofts.

This year has seen a particularly poor growing season due to the variable weather through the summer months and it remains to be seen just what size the harvest actually is. However it is still good to reflect on what blessings we do have in these troubled times.

In celebration of the tradition, Tilford's museum of country life, the Rural Life Centre, will be holding its annual Harvest Home on Sunday 26th October.
Amongst the activities on the day will be demonstrations of rural crafts including basket weaving, corn dolly and walking stick making plus leather working. There will also be children's activities including a pets' corner.

Visitors will also be able to listen to folk musicians, check out the harvest crops and join in a short non-denominational service in the beautifully restored chapel from Eashing.

Harvest Home takes place on Sunday 26th October from 10am to 5pm at the Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum of village life, mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

27th September 2008

The Land Rovers Return to Tilford

Now in its fourth year, the successful Land Rover Rally returns to the Rural Life Centre on Sunday 12th October. The Tilford country life museum will once again be welcoming both classic and modern versions of the British workhorse and their owners for a gathering which over the last few years has seen an impressive line-up of vehicles.

The vehicles on show each year represent a wide range of uses, from fire and ambulance vehicles through to farm vehicles and extended wheelbase models used for passenger carriage across wild terrain. But they are not all civilian utility vehicles.

Amongst the line-ups have been army vehicles from the earliest Mark 1s through to air-portables, and others converted to mobile homes with Dormobile sleeping accommodation. Range Rover variants are also well represented.

The Land Rover Rally is on Sunday 12th October from 10am to 5pm at the Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum of village life, on Reeds Road, mid way between Tilford and Frensham, just off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

12th September 2008

Steam and Vintage Returns

Tilford's museum of country life, the Rural Life Centre, will come alive with the sound of working vintage machinery over the weekend of September 27th and 28th. The occasion will be the return of the popular Steam & Vintage Weekend organised by the Central Southern Vintage Agricultural Club.

Last year, with close on 100 exhibits, there was much for visitors to see and do from miniature steam engines to their full-sized equivalents, cars and commercial vehicles, motorcycles and a multitude of tractors. This year will follow much the same pattern and vehicles in all those classes have confirmed their attendance.

There will also be stationary engines driving assorted agricultural machinery plus a selection of horticultural machines and lawn mowers. The Surrey Association of Woodturners will be in attendance demonstrating their skills on lathes turning wood from the nearby working sawbenches into practical articles of beauty.

Alongside all of this activity the Old Kiln Light Railway will have their venerable octogenarian steam locomotive Elouise in action hauling trains full of visitors around the wooded ten acre museum site.

The Steam and Vintage Weekend is on 27/28 September from 10 am to 5 pm at the Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum of village life, on Reeds Road, mid way between Tilford and Frensham, just off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

5th September 2008

Classic Vehicles Return en Masse

The many members and friends of the Surrey Classic Vehicle Club will be descending on Tilford on Sunday September 21st for they bring their very popular Classic Vehicle Gathering to the Rural Life Centre once again.

The museum of country life has hosted this show of everything from bikes to buses for a number of years now, and each year it grows in size and variety.
Last year there were over 350 different exhibits and already this year there are over three hundred pre-booked entries.

Amongst these are three very special cars belonging to just one local exhibitor. They are a rare 1934 MG K3, a V12 1938 Lagonda le Mans and a 1955 Mercedes Gull Wing which has just emerged from a three year factory rebuild in Stuttgart.

Besides the wheeled conveyances there will be much else for visitors to see and do. Of course the museum's regular displays of rural artefacts will be on show plus the Old Kiln Light Railway will be in steam for rides around the ten acre site. Also the very popular Bisley Birds of Prey will be returning and you will have the chance to be photographed holding the live raptors.

The Classic Vehicle Gathering takes place on Sunday 21st September from 10am to 5pm at the Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum of village life, mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.



31st August 2008

Donkeys Return for Another Grand Day Out

As has become a tradition now, the donkeys and their keepers of the Donkey Breed Society will be returning to the Rural Life Centre at Tilford on Sunday September 14th for their annual Donkey Day Out.

For many years the Tilford museum of country life has hosted this very special event with the number of donkeys attending growing steadily year on year. That was until last year. This time last year our part of the country was virtually shut down with regard to animal movements because of the foot and mouth outbreak. This meant that comparatively few donkeys were able to travel to Tilford.

This year they intend to make up for missing out on this important day in their calendar. It presents a unique local opportunity for visitors to get to meet this lovable yet stubborn creature and learn more about the animal's history as both a pet and a "workhorse". It is hoped that at least 20 will take part in the grand parade and there will also be demonstrations of the various ways in which this beast of burden has helped mankind over the centuries.

Museum visitors will also be able to meet the animals and their owners face to face and find out how they are cared for. The event is organised by John and Rosemary Porter of Follyoak Donkeys in Farnham and their animals will be familiar through their appearance at many local events.

If you've not been before, Donkey Day Out is an event not to be missed. It is at the Rural Life Centre from 10am to 5pm on September 14th. The accredited museum lies mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For more information telephone
01252 795571.

21st August 2008

Big Sounds in the Country

"We're playing where? In a museum?" has been the response of numerous band members when approached to appear at this year's Weyfest music festival at the beginning of September. However for those in the know or who attended last year's event this doesn't seem such a strange venue.

As a local musical event, Weyfest has been going for quite a number of years, moving from pub to pub on an annual basis. Last year the organisers decided to try something different and took over the Rural Life Centre at Tilford for the weekend. The country life museum had never seen anything like it before - neither had most of the audience or performers.

The event was an immediate success with around 1,800 people coming along for the day or camping for the whole weekend. The music ranged in date and genre from the 1920s to the world music of today. What made it all so special was the unique venue in which it was performed. The Rural Life Centre stretches across ten acres of land and buildings containing many reminders of how life used to be for country folk. Often the music they made was one of the only reliefs they had from their hard life on the land.

The Weyfest musicians echoed this musical tradition amongst the reminders of a bygone era and this year they are set to return, on September 6th and 7th, bigger and better than ever. Headlining on the three stages will be bands such as Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, The Pirates, The Beat, The Hamsters and Chas n Dave. They will be joined by many more, performing throughout the day and into the evening, providing something to suit all musical tastes.

But that won't be all. Besides having the all the regular museum displays to look at, there will also be special activities for children, including their own entertainers, and the Old Kiln Light Railway will be in steam. There will be a lantern parade after dark around the site for the children to show the creations they have been working on during the day and visits by characters from BBC TV's Dr Who and the Star Wars films. Additionally the Bean Car Club will be visiting the event on the Sunday afternoon and their classic vehicles will be on show for all to admire.

Probably the best way to find out more about Weyfest has to offer is to visit the website at www.weyfest.co.uk where you will also be able to listen to some of the bands that are performing. There too you can book your tickets, either for a single day or the whole weekend including camping. Due to the unique nature of the site, places will be limited so it is best to book early to ensure you're not disappointed.

Weyfest 2008 takes place on Saturday and Sunday 6/7th September from 10am each day at the Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum of village life, mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

8th August 2008

Flying the Flag for Farnham and Traditional Childhood Fun

With the Beijing Olympics in full swing, it is all too easy to overlook the fact that London's turn is barely four years away. In fact as soon as the Chinese games are over Britain launches its 2012 handover celebrations on August 24th.

The London organising committee are presenting all local authorities with a special flag to mark the run-up to "our" games. As part of this celebration Farnham Town Council is joining in with the Rural Life Centre, Tilford's museum of country life, in hosting a special event - Sunday Funday.

This special children's event aims to recreate the flavour and fun of Sunday School treats and fetes of our childhood for a whole new generation.
Included among the activities will be fun sports and it is this element that makes it an ideal occasion to mark the start of the London Olympics. The flag will be raised by Farnham's 2007 Young Person of the Year, Evie Ayres-Townshend, a Tae Kwon-Do black belt, and the town mayor Gillian Beel.

Amongst the sports that all visitors will be able to take part in are wheelbarrow, egg and spoon, dressing-up, obstacle, blindfold races and juggling. Joining them will be apple-bobbing, coconut shy, peg doll making, toys-for-free, conkers, skittles and a treasure hunt around the ten acre museum site. There will also be a traditional Sunday School in the chapel and all families are invited to bring some lunch or tea and join in a "Furry Friends Picnic" perhaps with children bringing along their favourite cuddly toys.

Sunday Funday and the Olympic flag raising takes place on Sunday 24th August from 10am to 5pm (with the flag being unfurled at 3.30pm) at the Rural Life Centre mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

1st August 2008

Local Built Classics

One of the largest motor dealers in the Farnham area was E D Abbott Ltd of Wrecclesham. Tracing their origins back to just after the first world war, they dealt in a wide range of British made cars and also hand-built bodies on Rolls-Royce and other chassis to special order for local customers.

During the 1950s they also identified a niche market for estate body conversions to Ford cars. These Abbott conversions came into great demand, so much so that Ford themselves started to build estate versions of their saloons. The Abbott variety, though produced in large numbers, is now something of a rarity as are the local people that helped produce them.

It is hoped, though, that the cars and their makers will have something of a local reunion soon at the Rural Life Centre, Tilford's museum of country life, when the Ford Mk II Independent Owners Club holds a rally there on Sunday August 17th.

The Ford Mk II, better known to many by the names of Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac, was the model most used in the Abbott conversions. The vehicles at the museum will date from around 1956 to 1962 and there should be at least one of the Wrecclesham produced vehicles among the 20 or more of the distinctive classics assembling for the rally.

The Ford Mk II Independent Rally takes place on August 17th from 10am to 5pm at the Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum, on Reeds Road, mid way between Tilford and Frensham, just off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

24th July 2008

The Forestry Business that Grew and Grew

Today the UPM Tilhill name is known throughout the country as a leader in forestry and environmental landscaping, being involved in schemes both large and small. Working for a variety of clients from government and local authority to conservation and community bodies they manage all aspects of forestry from planting to harvesting and everything in between.

What is not generally realised, however, is that this £80 million turnover company grew from very local roots. In 1947 Archie Aitkins, returning from war service, bought Tilhill House at Tilford and 20 acres of land on which he established a nursery to grow the trees he was unable to locate elsewhere. Soon he was supplying young trees to plant vast areas throughout the UK. This necessitated a move to larger premises at Greenhills, still in the village but now with a nursery expanding to over 200 acres to become the largest in Europe.

The great expansion brought with it the need for many seasonal and full-time staff. So, many locals were "called up" into Tilhill service. They worked largely as gangs so built up a camaraderie which has not diminished over the years despite the main company moving away to allow even more growth and diversification.

Now the Rural Life Centre, Tilford's museum of country life, is to hold an exhibition showing the growth of this remarkable company which did so much to improve the lot of the forester in moving away from the hard manual labour represented by artefacts in the museum's collection to the new machines developed by Tilhill. As a result of this work, Archie Aitkins received an OBE for services to forestry in 1975.

Already much interest has been shown by former staff of the company and a reunion is being planned as a result, sponsored by the current UPM Tilhill.
For further information about this please contact the museum.

The Tilhill Economic Forestry exhibition opens at the Rural Life Centre on August 10th and continues until October 26th. The accredited museum of village life lies mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the
A287 three miles south of Farnham. It is open from 10am to 5pm each day from Wednesday to Sunday and on bank holiday Mondays. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

18th July 2008

Stationary But Full of Movement

Today the farmer has a range of vast and complex machines at his disposal to help him work the countryside. Originally, though, it was human muscle that provided the motive power followed by the horse and then the steam engine.
However the real revolution for agriculture came about with the invention of the internal combustion engine.

This new technology dramatically changed the working lot of the farmer and labourer for ever. All of a sudden quite a small, self-contained machine was able to provide all the power that was necessary for many arduous tasks. The stationary engine had arrived. It could be mounted on existing machinery or moved around the farm to wherever it was needed.

Perhaps "stationary" is a misnomer because the power-plants were quite portable and, when working, their moving parts were anything but "stationary". Today there is a large following of enthusiasts who collect these vintage machines and exhibit them at rallies around the country. At the beginning August many of them will be moving their stationary engines towards Tilford and the Rural Life Centre.

There, at the museum of country life, they will be demonstrating just what the engines were capable of, driving a variety of bygone machinery, in a rally organised by the Central Southern Vintage Agricultural Club. This annual event last year attracted around fifty engines as the ten acre museum site echoed to their very distinctive sound, and proved equally popular with the visiting public.

The CSVAC Stationary Engine Rally takes place on August 2nd and 3rd from 10am to 5pm at the Rural Life Centre, an accredited museum, on Reeds Road, mid way between Tilford and Frensham, just off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.

12th July 2008

What is Rustic Sunday?

The Rural Life Centre at Tilford was opened in 1973 so this year celebrates
35 years of telling the country history story to an ever growing appreciative audience now totally around 21,000 people per year.

It does this through its permanent exhibitions and an extensive programme of special events. The latter are particularly important because they allow the visitors to see many items from the collections in use in the hands of skilled craftsmen and women, themselves a rapidly vanishing breed. This tradition of "living history" at the accredited country life museum goes back to its very beginnings when Rustic Sunday was the only event in the embryo centre's calendar.

Of course craftspeople have come and gone in the meantime but the organisers have managed to continue the event and this year's looks set to be one of the busiest ever with crafts that haven't been demonstrated here recently once more reappearing. Amongst these are basket making, flint knapping, charcoal burning and felt making joining the regular blacksmith, wheelwright, sheep shearer, cobbler and coppice workers alongside many "domestic" crafts including spinning, weaving and knitting.

During the day visitors will also be able to watch the firing of a reconstruction Romano-British pottery kiln, demonstrations of dog agility or get advice on tracing their ancestry with the help of members of the West Surrey Family History Society. They will be holding a mini family history fair as part of the event. All of this will take place to a background of live jazz and folk music throughout the day.

The museum has always found this event difficult to describe but "an experience of rural life" seems to sum it up admirably. Rustic Sunday takes place on Sunday 27th July from 10am to 5pm at the Rural Life Centre mid way between Tilford and Frensham in Reeds Road off the A287 three miles south of Farnham. For further information telephone 01252 795571.


Rural Life Centre: Reeds Road, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 2DL.

Tel:
01252 795571 (Fax. 01252 795571)

More Information can be found at: www.rural-life.org.uk
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