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Things to do: Music in the gardens, the buildings of the Weald & Downland and a circus at the cathedral

Country Life

Keep your diary up-to-date with our selection of unmissable events and things to do in the next few weeks.

Please note that all events are subject to the latest pandemic restrictions — please check with organisers before travelling.

Music in the Garden

Borde Hill Garden, Haywards Heath, 15 August 2021 until 29 August 2021

Molly Scott sings the great female song book.
www.bordehill.co.uk

Circus Cabaret Lates

Norwich Cathedral Close, 24 August 2021 until 30 August 2021

Outdoor performance by Lost in Translation contemporary circus.
www.lostintranslationcircus.com

Living History Weekends

Bolton Castle, near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, various dates

A series of re-enactment weekends, from Civil War battles and falconry to Tudor household experiences.
www.boltoncastle.co.uk

Historic Buildings weekend

Weald & Downland Living Museum, Singleton, West Sussex, September 4-5

Focus on the buildings at the heart of the museum.
www.wealddown.co.uk

Faulty Towers — The Dining Experience

Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury, London, September 2-December 18.

Immersive comedy show with three-course meal.
www.faultytowersdining.com

Thirsk Hall Festival

Thirsk Hall, North Yorkshire, September 3-5

Music, food and fun.

Crafts Alive

Rodmarton Manor, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, September 8-12

Showcase for the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen.
guildcrafts.org.uk

Festival of the Horse

Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Leicestershire. September 11–12

Trick riding, side-saddle jumping, cavalry parade and jousting.
www.belvoircastle.com

‘Farewell to All That’ exhibition

Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire, until September 12.

Renowned sculptor Peter Eugene Ball’s final major exhibition.
www.southwellminster.org

‘Ben Nicholson: From the Studio’

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, until October 24.

A look at the abstract artist’s everyday inspirations.
www.pallant.org.uk

‘Portrait of an Artist’ exhibition

Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, September 11 to February 26, 2022

Major survey of 20th-century British portraiture.
www.laingartgallery.org.uk

2:22 A Ghost Story

Noël Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, London, 3 August 2021 until 16 October 2021

A new play by Danny Robins.
www.noelcowardtheatre.co.uk

Making a Mark: Dutch and Flemish Drawings from the Royal Collection

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, now until 26 September 2021

Rubens, Rembrandt and Van Dyck drawings from the Print Room at Windsor Castle.
www.barber.org.uk

The Great Garden Escape

The Newt, Somerset, now until 26 September 2021

First class rail travel from London down to Somerset followed by a day’s experience at The Newt, enjoying the gardens of this beauitiful spot. Not cheap at £295 per person, but that includes breakfast on the train and lunch at The Newt, as well as a year’s membership to return under your own steam.
thenewtinsomerset.com/great-garden-escape

Family & Friends: Reynolds at Port Eliot

The Box, Plymouth, until 5 September 2021

A new exhibition of original works by England’s most famous portraitist, Sir Joshua Reynolds. 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. Admission is free.
www.theboxplymouth.com

Essex Book Festival

various venues, now until 29 August 2021

Talks, readings and more, including Rowan Pelling, Daisy Buchanan and Jonnie Bayfield comparing notes on how behaviour and attitudes towards sex and relationships have changed because of mass media, technology, social media and economic forces.
www.essexbookfestival.org.uk

Jock McFadyen: Lost Boat Party

Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, now until 25 September 2021

Lost Boat Party comprises 30 paintings focussing on the romance and grandeur of the Scottish landscape alongside the urban dystopia for which the artist is best known.
dovecotstudios.com

Bampton Classical Opera’s Gluck Paris and Helen

30 August at Westonbirt School and 24 September at St John’s Smith Square, London

Paride ed Elena, a music drama in five acts first performed in 1770. Libretto by Raniero de’Calzabigi, English translation by Gilly French.
www.bamptonopera.org

The Nature of Thyme by JamJar Flowers

The Tithe Barn, Southrop Manor, Gloucestershire, now until 12 September

A solo exhibition of botanical pressings selected by JamJar founder Melissa Richardson, who has gathered specimens from the 50-acre water meadows that surround the Tithe Barn hotel, including hundreds of naturalised orchids, and a preview of printed works in collaboration with Adam Lowe of Factum Arte. Entry free, booking essential.
www.jamjaredit.co.uk/exhibitions

Ben Nicholson: From the Studio

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, Now until 14 October 2021

An intimate look at the everyday inspirations for Ben Nicholson (1894 – 1982) who transformed everyday homewares into extraordinary experiments in abstract art.
pallant.org.uk/whats-on/ben-nicholson-from-the-studio

More! Oliver Twist, Dickens and Stories of the City

The Dickens Museum, London, until 17 October 2021

A celebration of Charles Dickens the storyteller, and Oliver Twist his most popular tale. This family-friendly exhibition invites you to explore the writer’s home and find the ingredients for a brilliant and memorable Dickensian novel.
dickensmuseum.com

The Magic of Middle-Earth

Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery, Hampshire, until 16 October 2021

A major new exhibition celebrating the incredible fantasy world brought to life by J.R.R. Tolkien, and the generations of writers, artists, musicians, film makers, environmentalists and game designers it has influenced.
www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/magic-middle-earth

Summer at Snape

Snape Maltings, Suffolk, until 31 August 2021

A series of free outdoor performances – suitable for all ages – at The Dome Stage on the lawn at Snape Maltings, while in August, Snape Maltings Concert Hall will host daily concerts by outstanding artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, folk and jazz.
snapemaltings.co.uk

Unkempt: Shifting Aesthetics in Landscape Painting

Messums, Wiltshire, until 5 September 2021

An exhibition recognising the advent of a changing aesthetic in landscape – one that is by its nature wild, messy and more empathetic to the environment.
messumswiltshire.com/exhibitions

Summer Exhibition

Royal Society of Sculptors, London, now until 19 September 2021

The 2021 Summer Exhibition has been curated by Sigrid Kirk inspired by the possibility of a new exuberant era for the arts. Drawing a parallel between the 1920s and 2020s, Sigrid Kirk looks to the years following World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic as inspiration for a manic flight into sociability.

sculptors.org.uk/whats-on