THE BORDERS DECORATIVE

& FINE ARTS SOCIETY

(BDFAS)

Member of the Arts Society

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Dear Members,

I am sure it won’t have escaped your notice that in May 2017, NADFAS was renamed the Arts Society. Many societies have followed suit and changed their names too but, after a vote by members, the Borders Decorative and Fine Arts Society opted to keep its original name.

We have had some memorable lectures over the past year. Charles Hajdamach talked about ‘The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851’ to start the season. In October Christopher de Hamel’s lecture about ‘Medieval Illuminated Books of Hours’ was enthralling and beautifully illustrated. A change of mood in November and Barry Venning’s talk was about cartoonists and how they have poked gentle fun at modern art. In December Suzanne Fagence Cooper gave us a Christmassy themed lecture entitled ‘Heavenly Bodies: the Pre-Raphaelites and Stained Glass’. To kick off the new year Stephen Kershaw related the story of ‘The Elgin Marbles’, exploring how and why they were created and how they ended up in the British Museum. Dan Evans returned to the Borders in February with a talk about Cardinal d’Este’s Water Park in Tivoli and consequently, I have put those beautiful gardens on my ‘must see’ list. Lizzie Darbyshire examined Edouard Manet’s iconic painting ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergere’ in minute detail for us in March and in April we had a brilliant lecture by Lars Tharp (best known for his television programmes including the Antiques Roadshow) His talk, ‘The Gate of Heroes - on the China Trail’, traced the epic journey made by millions of pieces of Chinese porcelain that had to be transported from the potteries in Jiangxi Province to Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Neil Faulkner’s talk about Lawrence of Arabia in May, although not strictly an Arts related subject, was very well attended and provided a fascinating insight into how Lawrence’s character was formed and why he acted as he did during the Great Arab Revolt. Finally, in June, Douglas Skeggs made his ninth visit to the Borders (which as I said when I introduced him, sent him straight to the top of the leader board for return visits by lec-turers) and told us about ‘Picasso and Cubism’, explaining how this style of painting developed.

The society had a record number of new members this year and in March, the Committee invited them to a new members’ coffee morning at my house near Jedburgh. It was a lovely opportunity to meet them informally and tell them a bit about NADFAS (as it was then) and its various volunteering groups. It was a great success and we hope to hold it again next year.

I look forward to seeing you again next season and to welcoming our new members. Our first lecture is on Tuesday 12th September when Fenella Billington will be talking about ‘Romance, Realism and Revolution 1700 - 1800’ . This lecture will contrast the different artistic styles in England and France during the 18th cen-tury.

Caroline Donegall (Chairman)

SUMMER 2017 NEWSLETTER

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AND F INE ARTS SOCIETY

HIDDEN GARDENS OF THE ROYAL MILE VISIT

MANY CONGRATULATIONS to committee member and Church Recorder

Shelagh Townsend Rose who was presented with a Marsh Award at the Arts

Society National AGM in May. Shelagh was a founding member of BDFAS and

has been a Church Recorder for twenty one years. She has been the Church

Recorders’ Area Representative for Scotland and Northern Ireland and is also a

member of the Management Committee.

The Marsh Awards are run in association with the Arts Society (NADFAS) and

recognise volunteers from the organisation’s many local societies across the UK.

The Award initially recognised one individual NADFAS volunteer each year but

due to the large number of nominations received, the Awards have expanded to

recognise one person from each of the four principal areas of volunteering:

Church Recorders, Heritage Volunteers, Young Arts and Church Trails (now

called Children’s Trails)

Shelagh with Charles Micklewright

of the Marsh Christian Trust who

presented the award.

There is a saying that ‘there is no such thing as bad weather,

only bad clothing’ but our visit on June 6th to the hidden gardens

of the Royal Mile certainly disputed this! Stalwart society mem-

bers who braved the elements clad in raincoats, hats, boots and

armed with brollies got absolutely drenched as the photograph

shows but it was a real treat to see these tucked away gardens

nevertheless.

The gardens varied in type and size - the last

one we visited being one of the most intri-

guing. Dunbar’s Close Garden was created in

the 1970s by the Mushroom Trust and local

people decided they wanted the garden to

celebrate the Canongate’s aristocratic past. It

was designed by Seamus Filor who borrowed

the 17th century idea of creating several

‘rooms’ with high hedging and also chose

plants that would have been grown in those

17th century gardens. Dunbar’s Close garden

was gifted to the city in 1976 and is now a city

park and well worth a visit if you are in Edin-

burgh. Our enthusiastic guide was EDFAS

member Jean Bareham from Greenyonder

Tours. Jenny Hedgecoe

Dunbar’s Close Gardens

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THE BORDERS DECORATIVE

AND F INE ARTS SOCIETY

CHURCH RECORDING

The Borders Church Recording group is currently comprised of 16 volunteers, several of whom have been recruited over the

past year. Those new to church recording are paired up with an experienced group member. Each volunteer is assigned to

a particular area of the church such as woodwork or memorials etc.so that they can more deeply understand how to describe

items in the church and also learn about the format required for the final record.

The record for Our Lady & St.Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in Galashiels was presented to the church as part of a spe-

cial service in May 2017.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

While these records were being compiled a new

church was identified for recording. This was Holy

Trinity Episcopal Church in Melrose and the field

work started in the autumn of 2016 and will contin-

ue throughout 2017.

This delightful church was founded in 1849 with the

help of the then Duke of Buccleuch and originally

comprised one plain aisle. In 1900 extensions to

the east of the church gave it its present format

with the addition of two transepts and a chancel.

The church contains many items of high quality

and interest including eight figurative stained glass

windows by leading makers from throughout the

United Kingdom and unusually, seven of them are

signed by the artists. Ray Cartwright

If anyone would like to know more about church recording and what it entails or come along and see

the group in action at Melrose please contact Ray Cartwright at braesidelanglee@gmail.com

Ray Cartwright presents the completed church record of Our Lady & St.Andrew’s,

Galashiels to Father Kevin Murray and Mrs Margaret Grierson (Sacristan)

Children’s Trails (formerly known as Church Trails) have been designed to be an interactive adventure for 8 -12 year

olds, taking them around the contents of churches. They comprise a double sided A4 sheet which has a central plan of the

church and questions about items that might be found in it. There is also a comprehensive answer sheet for the adults who

might be accompanying the children. The Church Recording group has recently constructed a trail for St Cuthbert’s

Church, Norham which has many interesting features to focus the minds of young people including a Medieval stone effigy

of a knight and a stained glass window showing St. Cuthbert with the severed head of St. Oswald under his arm. There is

also a copy of the Pedwell Prayer in which salmon fishermen ask God to send big fish for them to catch and a memorial to

Daniel Laidlaw V.C. the Piper of Loos. Presenting the trail in the format required by the Arts Society was slightly more chal-

lenging but accomplished with the help of John Elcock who is working on a trail for Holy Trinity, Haddington. Thank you

also to Ray Cartwright, many of whose photographs featured in the trail, Judith Knight , on whose knowledge of St. Cuth-

bert we drew heavily and Jennifer McDowell the Scottish Coordinator of Arts Society Children’s Trails who guided us

through the whole process. Agnes Mather & Sue James

Children’s Trails have previously been completed for St.Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Kelso and St.John’s Episcopal

Church in Jedburgh. If you are looking to entertain young relatives these trails are great fun as well as being educational.

THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF THE NORTH

The Great Exhibition of the North will run from 22nd June 2018 until September 2018 in Newcastle/

Gateshead. Its aim is to showcase the art and culture of the North of England through a programme of

visual arts, musical performances as well as digital, design and science displays and installations.

The Borders Decorative and Fine Arts Society has many members from North Northumberland and I have

been asked to join a committee along with the Chairmen of the Arts Societies of Hexham and Tyneside,

Area Chairmen from NW and NE England and the Arts Society chief executive, Florian Schweizer to draw

up a programme of events to promote The Arts Society during its Golden Jubilee year, at the exhibition.

We have discussed hosting a series of lectures and looked at potential venues including the Art Deco

Roxy Cinema in Newcastle city centre as well as possibly creating Art Trails around the city. You will be

hearing a lot more about the Great Exhibition in coming months. Caroline Donegall

PAGE 4 THE BORDERS DECORATIVE

AND FINE ARTS SOCIETY

THE ARTS SOCIETY SCOTLAND & NORTHERN IRELAND AREA VISITS

Friday 1st September 2017

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh at 5pm

‘The Extraordinary Life and Times of Caravaggio’ lecture by Andrew Graham Dixon

Followed by private view of the Beyond Caravaggio exhibition

at the Royal Scottish Academy 6.30 to 8.00pm

Booking forms and full details on www.bordersdfas.org.uk

Friday 6th October 2017

The Japanese Garden at Cowden Castle

Visit to garden preceded by lecture by Amanda Herries - 11.00am at Dollar Academy

‘Japanese gardens in the West; 100 Years of Eastern Influence’

Booking forms and full details on www.bordersdfas.org.uk

Tuesday 31st October 2017

The National Museum of Scotland

Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites exhibition

‘Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Rise and Fall of the Jacobites’

lecture at 11.30am

12.00 - Conserving the Jacobites talk

followed by visit to the Jacobite exhibition

Booking forms available in September