Babworth Arts Festival hailed huge success

On Sunday November 19 at 1pm, The Doncaster Waites gave a performance, combining a talk about the Waites and their instruments, with some entertaining music from the Tudor and Jacobean periods.

The Right Reverend Paul Williams, the Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, called in to meet them and was rewarded with an early preview.

Bassetlaw District Council deputy chair, Cllr Gillian Freeman officially opened the Babworth Arts Festival 2023 at Babworth Church and thanked everyone concerned with organising and running it.

Local tour guides, Maggy and Chris Watkins, gave a talk on “Mayflower, New Beginnings, including fascinating perspectives on life in the early stages of

the Pilgrims’ lives in America.

There were over one hundred artworks including paintings and pottery on display, with prices to suit every pocket, including a display of over thirty quilts.

There was a range of over seventy paintings and pottery from local artists and crafters including Cath Ray, Gerry Fruin, Madelaine Richardson, Joan Saxby, Jenny King, Lynn Hadland, Elaine Nash, Brushstrokes, Cox’s Pippins. Local potter Shaun Clark also showed some eye-catching examples of his work, including a new design.

Rick Brand, chair, of Bassetlaw Christian Heritage (BCH) said: “BCH is very grateful to Cath Ray Studios, Jenny King, Maggy and Chris Watkins, The Doncaster Waites, Dawn Madine, Retford Business Forum, Bassetlaw District Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Peter Swinscoe, Clare Davis, Di Fruin, Gerry Fruin, and all at Babworth Church for their support.”

The Mayflower Pilgrims story has deep roots in and around Bassetlaw, with Babworth forming the “crucible” where the key elements of Richard Clyfton, John Robinson, William Brewster, and William Bradford met and started to form their ideas.

Bradford, from Austerfield, and Brewster, from Scrooby, went on to found and run Plimoth Colony in America, with Bradford writing the definitive record of the events. Robinson, from Sturton le Steeple, supported the expedition from Holland and founded the Congregational Church.

The Babworth Art Exhibition has been a collaboration between BCH, All Saints’ Church Babworth, and Bassetlaw District Council (BDC) for over six years commemorating the story of the Separatists and Mayflower Pilgrims.