With the BBC’s Springwatch series returning to our screens on Monday, the RSPB is preparing to welcome visitors to a special Springwatch event on the Suffolk coast next weekend (Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 June 2011).

Springwatch at Minsmere is a superb opportunity for Suffolk residents and visitors to discover many of Minsmere’s special wildlife stars for themselves, from avocets with cute fluffy babies to tiny butterflies flitting over the grasslands.

RSPB spokesman, Ian Barthorpe, said: “Springwatch fever is coming to Suffolk again. There are so many gorgeous things to see at Minsmere at this time of year. Our guides and wardens are waiting to show you some of the highlights, including avocet chicks, dragonflies, marsh harriers and stunning views.

Springwatch at Minsmere is a free event, although normal reserve entry fees apply. The event runs from 10 am to 4 pm on both days.

1 - The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten our environment. Nature is amazing - help us keep it that way. Click here to join today www.rspb.org.uk/joinus. Quote Reference FF23
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

2 - RSPB Minsmere is open daily, from dawn to dusk. The visitor centre, with shop and tearoom, opens from 9 am to 5 pm. Entry to the visitor centre is free. There is a charge for non-members to use the nature trails and birdwatching hides.

3 - For latest news from Minsmere, please see www.rspb.org.uk/minsmere and follow the links to our blog. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook (search for RSPBMinsmere).

South African climber Cathy O'Dowd comes to Diss Corn Hall on Saturday 4 June 2011.

Diss Museum is commemorating the Manning family, rectors for 138 years, on the bicentenary of Thomas being the first European to reach Lhasa and meet the Dalai Lama.

300 people have attended the first half dozen events of Friends in High Places : The Manning Story. But there is much more to come. In May there is a Manning Day, a Buddhist clay course and a murder mystery. Look out also for Everest climber Cathy O'Dowd at Diss Corn Hall on Sat 4 June.

Manning Day - displays, presentations etc - at Denny Centre, Thomas Manning Road, from 10.30am on Fri 20 May. Basil Abbott on The Mannings (11.00am). Val Bailey on Tibet (2.00pm)

Buddhist Clay Course - 10am to 4pm on Sat 28 May at Friends Meeting House. £25 a head. All materials provided. Bring veggie lunch to share. (Phone 01379 650618 to book.)

Murder Mystery - the Mannings investigate a real, unsolved 1829 murder - St. Mary's Church, 7.30pm, Sat 28 May. Tickets £8, incl. wine & nibbles, from Parish Office (mornings) or Tourist Information Centre.

Cathy O’Dowd: Everest Climber – Just For the Love Of It. A breathtaking presentation by the first woman to climb Everest from both south and north sides. Diss Corn Hall, 7.30pm Sat 4 June. Tickets £5. Phone (01379) 652241.

Music starts 2:00pm and ends 10.00pm (Doors open 1:00 pm).

Tickets - £10.75 available from www.admusiconline.com or The Fisher Theatre box office on 01986 897130.

An all day Electronica Music festival with specially prepared graphics backdrops and lighting from some of Europes finest artists, along with Real Ale on tap! What could be better than that?

Artists electronica music CDs and merchandise on sale at the event.

The nearest train station is Beccles (7 miles) with public transport and taxis available from the station. Car parking is available on Broad Street in the evening and pay & display car parks are within a short walking distances of the theatre.

Details of local B&B & hotel accommodation can be found at www.bungay-suffolk.co.uk/.

“How to get to Bungay” details on concert page at www.admusiconline.com

This clip of a common Kingfisher was taken along side one of my photographic projects in Warwickshire, England, recorded during August 2009

For a high res image go to: www.wildaboutimages.co.uk
© Paul Bunyard

One of British Transport Films' relatively early travelogues, 'East Anglian Holiday' was shot in Technicolor. Its narration combines clipped patrician received pronunciation with occasional interludes delivered in a strong local accent.

In King's Lynn, the region's unique geology is commemorated in the architecture of the Guildhall, whose flints were originally sponges growing underwater. In Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, families enjoy a seaside holiday, rollerskating, riding boats and pedal cars, or watching Punch and Judy shows. Nearby, the local fishing industry is hard at work sorting the latest catches. Suffolk's coastline combines marshes with sandy beaches., and its distinguishing marks are Blythburgh Church, the Southwold lighthouse, and Henry II's Orford Castle.

For more information about 'East Anglian Holiday' see http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/705313/index.html

The complete film is available to buy on the DVD compilation British Transport Films Volume 2: See Britain by Train - http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_149.html

You can watch over 1400 other complete films and TV programmes from the BFI National Archive free of charge in the Mediatheque at BFI Southbank, London and at the new QUAD centre for art and film in Derby - http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque http://www.derbyquad.co.uk/bfi-mediatheque

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts acquires and exhibits a major collection of portraits by the photographer John Hedgecoe who lived in Norfolk for over 20 years

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, has acquired a major collection of portraits by John Hedgecoe, one of the most significant photographers in the history of British photography. Hedgecoe lived in Norfolk for over 20 years and re-developed Oxnead Hall, which was one of the homes of the Paston family. An exhibition of works from this collection, The Face of the Artist: Photographs by John Hedgecoe, will open on Tuesday 21 June and will run until Sunday 4 December.

The exhibition will include portraits of artists and writers, together with figures from fashion design and the stage. A central focus of the show will be photographs of artists such as Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, who feature in the Centre’s collections, alongside their works. Also on display will be portraits of a number of acclaimed literary figures linked to UEA including Sir Malcom Bradbury, Sir Andrew Motion, Rose Tremain and Sir Angus Wilson. During the summer (21 June – 28 August), the exhibition will coincide with a Manchester Art Gallery touring exhibition, A World Observed 1940 – 2010: Photographs by Dorothy Bohm.

“We are very pleased to give the Sainsbury Centre of Visual Art our father’s photographs as we know they will be very well looked after and will be seen by a wide audience. Our father would have been very happy for them to be in Norfolk as he lived there for over 20 years” - Dolly Carter (daughter).

John Hedgecoe (1932 – 2010) was at the forefront of portrait photography for over 50 years. Perhaps best known for his portraits of artists, he also took pictures of the leading figures in the worlds of literature, science and politics from Agatha Christie to Winston Churchill, while his portrait of the Queen taken in 1966 still graces British postage stamps.

The new exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre will feature John Hedgecoe’s photographs together with works from the Centre’s permanent collections. They include Henry Moore with his Mother and Child, Anthony Green with his painting My Mother Alone in her Dining Room, Lucie Rie with a selection of her ceramics, and Lynn Chadwick and Elisabeth Frink alongside their sculptures. A portrait of Francis Bacon by Hedgecoe will sit alongside Bacon’s Sketch for a Portrait of Lisa, 1955, from the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection. The Centre has an outstanding collection of early Francis Bacon paintings and Sir Robert Sainsbury considered Sketch for a Portrait of Lisa to be “one of the most beautiful pictures Francis has ever painted”, stating that he would have bought it even if he wasn’t related to Lisa.

Also on display this summer at the Centre will be portraits by John Hedgecoe of other well-known artists and writers, as well as images of famous names from fashion and the stage. These will include Sir Cecil Beaton, Sir Peter Blake, Sir Malcom Bradbury, Sir Noël Coward, Dame Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Laurie Lee, John Mortimer, Sir Andrew Motion and Mary Quant.

“The physical appearance of the artist, his or her features, mannerisms, eccentricities, and posture has long fascinated us. John Hedgecoe, one of the great society photographers and educators of the last half century, brilliantly photographed many of the greatest painters, sculptors, poets, and cultural thinkers of his age. This exhibition presents these artistic faces, in celebration of a great photographer, and a great artistic age" – Dr Paul Greenhalgh, Director, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

John Hedgecoe’s unconventional and elegant style ranged from the formal, such as posed shots of artists with their work in the studio, to close-ups revealing their various reactions to being photographed. In 1969 he photographed Francis Bacon. The posed shots were taken at the RCA as Bacon had just accidently burnt down his studio. More informal photographs of Lucie Rie were taken in her home in 1980. Hedgecoe recalled, “She invited me to stay for tea, which she’d set out like a Mondrian painting: all the sandwiches were cut into neat squares and triangles, with the plates arranged with precision, while a single tulip stood in one of her pots. It all looked fantastic and I could hardly bring myself to eat it and spoil the effect”.

John Hedgecoe was friends with many of his subjects. He knew Henry Moore for over 40 years and photographed him extensively in many settings and produced 4 books. Richard Calvocoressi has described the books as “an exceptional range of incisive and insightful photographs. These are among the most important visual records we have of Moore’s life and work”.

An internationally acclaimed photographer, educator and writer, John Hedgecoe studied photography at Guildford School of Art. Following a period as an aerial photographer in the RAF, he joined Queen magazine as staff photographer. In the mid-1960s he persuaded the Royal College of Art (RCA) to allow him to create a department of photography and in 1975 he became the first Professor of Photography. He was powerful creative force at the RCA, a dynamic personality, determined to place the study of photography on an equal footing with other arts and to make the institution one of the most significant artistic institutions internationally. His photographs have appeared in leading newspapers and magazine titles and can be found in major collections around the world. Hedgecoe was also best-selling author of over 30 books on photography, selling millions of copies world-wide during his lifetime. His ‘how to’ books provided the first educational building blocks for amateurs and professionals alike.

“My father photographed thousands of people from all walks of life. He travelled around the world visiting countless extraordinary places. I know he would be very pleased to know his photographs will live on and be seen by other generations of people. I'm sure they will inspire future photographers” – Sebastian Hedgecoe (son).

The John Hedgecoe exhibition will coincide with A World Observed 1940 – 2010 (21 June – 28 August), the first comprehensive retrospective of the work of London-based photographer Dorothy Bohm. The exhibition will bring together over 150 images, tracing an exceptional career which spans 7 decades. Bohm’s visually striking photographs focus on the human figure in its natural setting and document the rapidly changing world of the last 70 years.

Dates, Times and Information
The Face of the Artist runs from Tuesday 21 June to Sunday 4 December 2011. The exhibition will be open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, closed Mondays including Bank Holiday Mondays

T 01603 593199
www.scva.ac.uk

Admission (includes entry to the coinciding special exhibition)
£4, concessions £2
Family admission (up to 2 adults and 3 children) £8, concessions £6

The popular 'Not Strictly Ballroom' dance returns to Kessingland Sports & Social Club on Saturday 28th May. This is the first of the dances' new regular 4th Saturday of the month slot at the venue.

With its Saturday Night Out‚ feeling, using modern upbeat and recent chart music that has suitable dance timing and some fun dances too, Not Strictly Ballroom guests have an enjoyable social evening as well as being able to dance. Whatever level of dancing skill - learners or more advanced - there is something for everyone.

Entry is just £5.00, there is a licenced bar and ample parking. More information on the event, which runs from 8pm - 11pm is available on the Not Strictly Ballroom website below for by calling Roy Gough on 0777 556 1664.

http://www.ballroomdances.co.uk

The proposed merger with Suffolk Mental Health Partnership (SMHP) will be on the agenda when the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust's board of directors meet in public in Lowestoft next Thursday (May 26, 2011).

At the public board meeting the Trust’s acting chief executive, Andrew Hopkins, will present an update about the proposed merger with SMHP and provide an update on the cost improvement programme. The public will hear details of the Trust’s Annual Plan 2011-2012.

The public board of directors meeting will start at 10.00am in The Kirkley Centre, 154 London Road South, Lowestoft, NR33 0AZ. The meeting is anticipated to finish at 12.40pm.

The board of directors hold their meetings in public quarterly and the papers for the public meeting can be accessed on the Trust website at: www.nwmhft.nhs.uk/en/AboutUs/Freedom-Of-Information/How-we-make-decisions/Board-of-Directors-meetings/