News and What’s On

FRIDAY 20 to SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER

St Mary’s Meeting Room
Apuldram Church and Community Centre
What better way to celebrate the opening of our brand new hall than with a spectacular
Autumn Fair and Festival of Flowers
“All the World’s A Stage”

Patron: The Very Reverend Stephen Waine, Dean of Chichester

The Festival marks the 900 years since the building of St Mary the Virgin as a Chapel of Ease for the Bosham Collegiate in about 1100 AD. The hamlet of Apuldram and the harbour at Dell Quay was big enough to warrant the cost of building a church and for ten centuries it has remained very much part of our rural community. The church is set amidst the peace and quiet of the ancient fields of the Manhood Peninsular, close to Chichester Harbour.
Taking our title “All The World’s a Stage” from Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, our theme for the Festival is music, dance and drama with over twenty individual designs ranging from Chaucer to Kipling, Holst to Copeland, from productions that have appeared at Chichester Festival Theatre to new musicals and operas; all are included in the repertoire. We hope that we have a good mix of Christian based shows alongside secular productions and a few more obscure ones. Each design has been chosen to enhance the beauty of our Parish Church and for our visitors’ enjoyment.
We have a cast of over 50 experienced, creative and generous flower arrangers, many of whom have been involved with the Cathedral flower festival over the years, including our two designers, Tessa Cox and Jose Morum-Pound. Jose designed both the 2014 and 2018 flower festivals respectively at Chichester Cathedral. The arrangers come from all over Sussex representing churches, flower clubs, The Apuldram Centre and of course our home team.
Alongside this festival we are working with the Apuldram Parish Meeting and local residents to stage an Autumn Fair. Our Pop-up café, ‘Tea for Two,’ will provide cakes and teas all day, stalls will include yummy cakes and preserves made with local produce. You can buy a Posie-in-a-Teacup, buy or order a ceramic poppy to remember a loved one or have your questions answered at the ‘Rose Clinic’ run by Apuldram Roses. Other stands will represent local clubs and charities including The Apuldram Centre and St Wilfrid’s Hospice. Both the walled garden at Rymans and the original rose garden at Apuldram Manor Farm will be open at set times. Take part in the Children’s Quiz and Treasure Hunt, or win an Ascot hat in the Grand Raffle; there is something to engage everyone.

Upcoming PCC Meetings can be found here.