Updates from local groups and activities:
Celebrating 400 years of Grasmere School
We are back at school enjoying the start of the new school year. One important date is the 11th December 6:30pm at Grasmere Village Hall. We will be showing our (short!) film, by the makers of A Grasmere Nativity and A Handy Guide to Cracking the Countryside Code. There will be storytelling. an exhibition, and delicious refreshments. Tickets available soon.
Please watch out for facebook posts, or email [email protected]
A legacy from our 400th year
We have a flagpole! The base is in and we're waiting for the rain to stop, before erecting it and flying our first flag. Many thanks to our village donor, who has paid for the whole thing.
We are trying to raise money for a new classroom. Herdy notebooks and raffle tickets are helping us on our way. Please email [email protected] for raffle tickets.
This will only take us so far... In 1680 the village raised subscriptions to build a school and fund a teacher. In the 1800s the community raised the funds to build our current buildings.
What will be the legacy of our 400th year? Could we build one new eco-classroom? This will enable us to reconfigure our buildings to get a hall and kitchen. Please visit our website: www.grasmereschool.com and click on the 400 to support the future of our village. Can this generation lay down the foundations for the next 100 years of our community school?
Jo Goode, Headteacher
Music Notes
Having had a series of interesting musical events in church over the summer, it is time to step back and consider plans for next year, both concerts and music at services. Concerts are not essential to church life, although there are many references to ceremonial music in the bible. However, as an historic church in a "tourist hot-spot", we perhaps have a dual purpose of both worship and cultural activities, of which concerts help attract visitors and residents.
We have a small Music at Grasmere committee, and if anyone would like to join I would be pleased to hear from you, as many hands make light work and fresh ideas are always welcome.
As well as Grasmere Glee, we now have the St Oswald Voices, and they will be taking part in the Harvest Festival service on Sunday 5th October at 11.00 a.m. and the Carol Service on Thursday 18th December at 6.00 p.m. Again, if there are any singers who would like to join in, please contact me for further details.
Looking more widely, on Sunday 19th October at 4.00 p.m. the Keswick Choral Society will be singing Evensong at St John's Church, Keswick, and on Tuesday 9th December at 7.30 p.m. will have their Christmas concert there.
In addition, on Saturday 13th December Ambleside Choral Society will have theirs in St Mary's Church, and would no doubt also welcome your support.
lan Hare
Grasmere Village Hall
Dark Light - A Musical Mystery by Fool's Gold on Friday 3rd October 7pm for 7:30pm The mystery of Flannan Isle featuring live storytelling, song, and stunning visuals on our brand-new AV system. Tickets on the door £12 Refreshments available or BYO.
Grasmere Village Hall Cinema - Launch Event
Friday 17th October 6:00 pm We're excited to be launching our new community cinema with a free family film night - complete with complimentary popcorn and drinks. Free entry! Film title and further details to be confirmed. www.ticketsource.co.uk/grasmere-village-hall-co-itd
We are also looking for at least one more person to join our cinema committee, please get in touch if you want to be involved.
Christmas Fused Glass Workshop
Thursday 23rd October 10am Tickets £35 Create beautiful glass Christmas decorations. Book online at www.highlightsnorth.co.uk or call 015394 35628
A Year Like No Other – pictorial talk by Steve Watts MBE
Friday 24th October 6:30pm for 7:00 pm A powerful and moving presentation celebrating an extraordinary year in the Lake District. With stunning images and stories that capture the spirit of our community.
Tickets £10 including tea, coffee and biscuits Available at Barney's Newsbox, Sam Read's Bookshop
The Ghost Train - A Halloween "Radio" Play by Grasmere Players
Friday 31st October & Saturday 1st November 7:30 pm
This vintage drama is performed in the style of a 1930s radio play. More details coming soon. See our notice-boards and social media for updates.
Coffee & Chat
Starting 1st October, come and enjoy a warm drink, sweet treats, and friendly conversation. Whether you're new to the village or a familiar face, everyone's welcome. Please note: the hall will be closed for redecoration from 3-30th November. Coffee & Chat resumes 3rd December.
Christmas Fair & Grand Raffle
Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th December 10am - 5pm
The festive season begins with our annual Christmas Fair - two days of food, drinks, craft stalls, and community cheer, along with Santa's Grotto and the Grand Christmas Raffle Draw. If you are interested in having a table at the fair, please email Sharon Savasi at [email protected] Raffle tickets will be on sale soon, with all proceeds going towards building improvements at the Hall.
New Year's Eve Party: Following last year's fantastic celebration, we're planning another New Year's Eve party to bring the community together and ring in 2026 in style. Details to follow soon - watch this space.
Village Hall Car Park: Over the summer, we added a card machine to the car park so you can now pay by card as well as via the RingGo app. Parking is free for all hall-organised events; just enter your registration on the tablet inside. There's also a 30-minute grace period for short visits, so you can drop off, pick up, or pop in without needing to pay. All proceeds go towards running costs and further Hall improvements.
We're really looking forward to welcoming our community back. As we prepare for the much-needed internal redecoration, your support by attending events means more than ever. Thank you for being part of it.
Pam Moreland
Grasmere Village Hall
Would you like to volunteer with a dynamic local charity?
Would you like to contribute to the local community?
Grasmere Village Hall wishes to recruit additional Trustees to help with our expanding range of activities. Ideally, we are looking for skills in administration, social media, publicity, website management, and building / project management.
If you are interested, please get in touch by 31st October on [email protected]
Grasmere WI
We had a fabulous August meeting at Holehird Gardens hosted by Hayley Davidson with a guided tour of the gardens and our very own GWI Gardeners' Question Time.
Also in August, we threw some pots at a great pottery workshop in Throwing pots at the GWI Pottery Workshop in Keswick and our GWI Book and Culture Group had a fantastic evening at Theatre by the Lake to see Pride and Prejudice with a pre-theatre dinner too, such a great fun evening. We also filled St Oswald's Church with a wonderful flower display in memory of past GWI members.
Our September meeting was with David Nightingale (Community Action Nepal) giving a brilliant presentation on "High in the Himalaya" and his wonderful charity, we are all now planning a trip to Nepal!
Also in September, we threw ourselves into the Westmorland County Show big style as usual. We put in 175 entries, received our highest points score ever and won a prestigious WI Show Trophy. Such an impressive GWI Team win which we are all so proud of, we are looking forward to next year's show already.
Our GWI Cumbria Way Challenge is making great progress with monthly team walks ticking off the different stages. We are now at Hawes End on Derwent Water, just 42 miles to go
Looking ahead.....
Our October meeting is on Thursday 9 October 2pm at the Village Hall when our GWI Programme Manager Nicky Oliver and David Johnson will be giving a presentation on their epic winter journey, completing the 214 Wainwrights in a single winter season.
Also in October we have CPR and Bereavement training courses and day trips to Hilltop and to the fabulous Kelvin Grove Gallery in Glasgow.
Our November meeting is on Thursday 13 November 2pm at Wordsworth Grasmere Learning Centre and is with Diane Hannah telling us the fascinating and inspirational story of the very successful Herdy Company.
In addition to all of this, here's a few of our other extra regular activities.
Our monthly Book / Culture Group at Allan Bank is a huge success, with a packed attendance and lively discussion in Wordsworth's study. We also have our very popular monthly rambles, fabulous practical Art Group sessions, weekly GWI Strong kettlebell classes with our local personal trainer Libby Dixon (we're getting stronger every week!), weekly GWI Badminton, GWI Craft and Garden Groups - and the list goes on!
We are all so proud of this action-packed programme and this amazing group. A huge thanks to all of our 86 members for making Grasmere WI such a vibrant, friendly and fun group.
Come and join in the fun, you'll be made very welcome. Please get in contact, my details are below.
Louise Sykes
President Grasmere WI 07860 299658 [email protected]
Knit and Knat
Time flies, the year has turned and it's autumn already. Our thoughts naturally turn to the end of the year and with Christmas looming up on the horizon our ladies have decided to spread the love a bit further this year.
On hearing that nearly 400 parcels were distributed in Kendal last year by the Salvation Army to children that may not otherwise receive a present, we have decided to provide some items such as hats and scarves towards this project. Very similar to the Christmas shoe boxes but no gloves, we are allowed to give chocolates, crafting ideas reading matter and toys; new items only.
We are delighted to be in receipt of a donation from Grasmere's RAOB which will allow us to buy all the items we need to proceed with the various ventures we embark upon. Our very grateful thanks go to the Lodge members. To find future funding; it is proposed that K&N do the tombola at the Christmas Fair this year. If you can support us in any way with this, we would be very grateful indeed.
K&N is an informal bi-monthly gathering in the Reading Rooms on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month, where Nat is the order of the day and some crafting is done! Refreshments are on hand and company is delightful. Come and join us, if you have a free Tuesday afternoon sometime.
For further info please contact Sharon on 07957073255
Thank you for reading this - Carrie 07584036544
Wordsworth Grasmere
In October and November we are open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm.
Entry to Dove Cottage, the Museum, exhibition and grounds is free to Grasmere residents and workers.
Twilight Tales
Are you ready for a spooky Halloween? Join us for hot chocolate, ginger-bread, and Halloween crafts in our cosy Learning Space. At twilight we'll all head over to Dove Cottage and listen to some creepy Cumbrian stories. For families with children aged 5+. Booking is essential - don't de-lay! Watch our social media for announcements about our new series of Twilight Tales for grown-ups...
Families
Join us this autumn in crafting your very own magical memory book at Make and Play: The Time Lab and get messy with ink and paint! This free drop-in workshop takes place on 28 October from 10.30am-12.30pm and is suitable for families with children of all ages.
The Litcraft team are at Wordsworth Grasmere for Minecraft family fun!
These free half-term events are themed around The Boy Who Climbed into the Moon by David Almond. 27 October, for families with children aged 7-11 years old.
Little Wanderers, our creative play sessions for under 5s, takes place every Thursday morning at 10.15am during term time. Free for all families. We thank Grasmere School & Nursery for supporting this event.
The Time Lab: Exploring a Living Prelude
Inspired by William Wordsworth's explorations of memory in his poem The Prelude, our exhibition 'The Time Lab: Exploring a Living Prelude' brings together your stories and Wordsworth's verses and transforms them into a continually changing, interactive artwork.
Step into artist and guest curator Stacey Joy Rossouw's studio laboratory and contribute your own 'spot of time' to the exhibition. 'The Time Lab' runs through to 1 November and will look different every time you visit.There are tie-in creative workshops and events - visit our website to book.
Events
Join The Poetry Business on 4
October to celebrate the winners of the 2025 International Book & Pamphlet Competi-tion. The winners lan Harker and Annina Zheng-Hardy will be reading poems from their prize-winning pamphlets, alongside runners-up Sally Baker and Ilse Pedler.
Discover Poetry with Polly Atkin and Dove Cottage Poets,
our poetry reading and writing groups, continue to take place on Zoom and as a hybrid meeting respectively.
For more information and to book, please visit wordsworth.org.uk
Hannah Catterall, Events Officer, Wordsworth Grasmere
Grasmere Book Group
August's book group travelled through space and time, tackling Alastair Reynolds' gothic fantasy Eversion (2022). The story follows the crew of a schooner in the arctic circle attempting to find a mysterious object, up until disaster strikes and the crew of a steamship take over the narrative, only to be superseded again by those on an airship. What can be going on? Many found the book an enjoyable read, both innovative and well-written. It's always a good sign when those who don't make the meeting get in touch to say how much they have enjoyed reading a book.
In September we read two different graphic novels ahead of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Bowness, where both artists were speaking. Cumbrian Mollie Ray's Giant (2024) is a wordless journey through one character's life, where suddenly becoming a giant is used as a metaphor for illness in a family. This is Mollie's first book and the group found it poetic, if oblique, with individual scenes and images really drawing us in. Craig Thompson's Ginseng Roots (2025) is a comic book memoir, about growing up in rural Wisconsin where ginseng crops lead to surprising ties to China.
Lavishly detailed and essayistic, the group were impressed by the book, with many surprised at how engaging the book makes a seemingly distant topic like the ginseng industry. While some wondered if Ginseng Roots was too detailed, many wanted to see more detailed world building from Giant, having enjoyed the occasional panoramic scenes that appear in that story.
Upcoming meetings:
OCTOBER 9th - Alan Hollinghurst, Our Evenings (2024)
NOVEMBER 13th - Chloe Dalton, Raising Hare (2024)
Book group meets online at 8pm on the second Thursday of every month.
All are welcome to join... do email us and we can send you a Zoom link. All book group books are available from Sam Read's at 10% discount off the r.r.p.
Two additional upcoming bookish events ...
Wednesday, October 8th 7.30pm at the New Hall - Prof. Sam Rayner from University College London will be giving a talk on "Women Booksellers from the Twentieth Century." Free and open to all.
Tuesday, October 28th 7pm at Westmorland Hall, Kendal Leisure Centre - Sam Read's are hosting Rory Stewart in conversation with James Rebanks.
Tickets are £11 from betterboxoffice.co.uk
Polly and Will - [email protected]
Cultural Landscapes Lecture
A talk by Dr Polly Atkin: 'Companions of Nature:
from sickbed consolations to mimic hootings'
The talk will explore ideas about nature, disability, health and consolation, and how we might learn from disability history about benefitting from connection with the natural world without exploiting it.
Ambleside campus Tuesday 7th October 6.30 pm Further details about the talk and a link to book a place at the event can be found here: https:// www.ticketsource.co.uk/
Grasmere Players Present: The Ghost Train
Come along to Grasmere Players' autumn production for some seriously spooky fun! This year the Players are performing The Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley, first staged in 1925.
A group of mismatched rail passengers find themselves stranded in a dark and isolated station, having missed the last connection of the night.
Tales of superstition prevail as the local station master - unable to persuade them to leave - reveals that very night, twenty years ago, a train crashed leaving a number of passengers dead. Legend has it, that the station is still haunted as the train relives its final moments as it roars through the station to its demise.
The passengers begin to panic as the body of the station master is found on the platform, and a mysterious young lady arrives, foretelling the oncoming of the Ghost Train...
The Ghost Train will be performed as a radio play, with Grasmere Village Hall transformed into the headquarters of Grasmere Broadcasting Company. With a live foley artist creating the sound effects, and our cast of actors in period dress with scripts in hand, you'll certainly feel as if you've stepped back in time to a 1930s radio studio!
For two nights only! We encourage the audience to dress up and join us for an imaginative and entertaining performance.
Friday 31 October & Saturday 1 November, 7.30pm at Grasmere Village Hall. Tickets are £12 and can be purchased from Barney's Newsbox or online at https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/93114
St Marys Hospice
As part of Hospice Care Week on the 9th October we are delivering Bereavement Champion Training in Grasmere Village Hall.
The session lasts for 2.5-hours and is free to those attending. It will focus on having positive conversations, learning how to support, neighbours, friends and colleagues who have been bereaved.
It is proving extremely popular, and we have already delivered the sessions to 150 people since April, both in open community sessions and to community groups and local businesses.
Next year, we are launching a train the trainer programme which will support those who attend the initial training to roll out the pro-gramme in their own communities or locations.
We hope the next result will be about supporting the development of compassionate and resilient communities.
If you would like to know more or to book a place my contact details are opposite.
Alison Alger
Cross Bay Walk in Memory of David Perrem
Thank you to everyone who sponsored me. In total I raised £2030.05 and St John’s Hospice raised more than £23,000.
Amanda Perrem
How Our Beautiful Red Squirrels Spend the Cold Months
When frosty mornings sparkle and woodlands fall quiet, you might imagine red squirrels curled up in a long winter's sleep. But unlike some woodland neighbours, these fiery-tailed charmers stay active all season-just in a slower, more careful rhythm. No hibernation for Reds Red squirrels they remain awake through the winter, venturing out even on icy days. Their thick, russet coats grow denser and their ear tufts fluff up into striking, frosted plumes —perfect for extra insulation against biting winds.
Living off hidden treasure: the frantic nut-gathering of autumn now pays off. Using a remarkable memory and keen sense of smell, red squirrels dig through snow and frozen leaves to retrieve their carefully buried caches of hazelnuts, pine seeds, and fungi. These secret stashes are vital, as fresh food is scarce until spring.
Quiet days, cosy dreys: short daylight hours and cold temperatures mean conserving energy is key. Red squirrels often spend long stretches tucked inside their dreys-snug, ball-shaped nests high in tree forks-lined with moss, leaves, and feathers. On milder days you might spot them sunning briefly on a branch before retreating to warmth. If you're out for a crisp winter walk, look for those tell-tale tufts and flashes of chestnut fur. Our red squirrels remind us that even in the coldest months, life in the woods continues with quiet determination and charm.
IF YOU SEE A GREY or a sickly looking red anywhere around Grasmere PLEASE Text: Stuart Dickson 07980 893459, David Birkett 07775 904236, Stewart Sutcliffe 07817 326524, Trevor Cooper 07884 404794; or email [email protected] If you would like to donate, please visit https:// bit.ly/3yX6FC5 to donate via PayPal or Bank transfer: Grasmere Red Squirrels | 63002884 | 01-09-75 |
Follow us on Facebook @GrasmereRed
Kelly Taylor