Frome Festival commemorates the life and work of Edward Thomas

On 9th April 1917, the poet Edward Thomas was killed on the Western Front in France at the height of the First World War. He has strong connections with the Frome area, often staying at Dillybrook Farm near Rode. He knew the River Frome well, and loved to swim at the weir at Tellisford.

A spectacular Frome Festival gala event on Sunday 9th July at Rook Lane Chapel celebrates Thomas’s life and work. It follows Rook Lane Arts Trust’s major project ‘Home of our Delights’ which charted the impact of the First World War on the village of Mells. The event begins at 7pm, tickets are £15, and go on sale at the Frome Festival box office at the Cheese and Grain hall in Frome on Sunday 21st May.

In 1913 Thomas cycled from London to the Quantocks preparing a book called ‘In Pursuit of Spring’. A recently discovered set of Thomas’ photographs from this trip includes shots of West Wiltshire and North Somerset, and these will be shown in digital form as a slide show in the café at Rook Lane Arts Centre, Frome, on the evening of the performance.

In the first part, Matthew Hollis, author of the award-winning biography of Thomas – Now All Roads Lead to France – will be speaking about the life and work of Edward Thomas. The second half will be a performance by well-known local star actors Stephanie Cole and James Laurenson. They will be reading a range of poems and prose by Thomas, with linking commentary narrated by ex-RSC and National Theatre actor Martin Bax, founder and president of the Frome Festival.

This is not the only event that commemorates Edward Thomas during the Frome Festival 2017. On Monday 10th July at 7.30 the ever-popular Frome Poetry Café at the Garden Café has as its theme ‘That Adelstrop Moment.’

Crysse Morrison says, “It’s one hundred years since Edward Thomas heard birdsong from a train and defined the impact of such ordinary moments in his poem Adlestrop. We want to hear your own profound personal glimpses. An amazing and unusual night of poetry is assured, featuring “astute, witty, surreal’’ Deborah Harvey as guest, plus our popular Open Mic to find the 2017 Frome Festival Poet Laureate.’ Tickets are £5 – on the door only.

On Saturday 15th July, from 2.30-5.30pm, Frome writer John Payne will lead a three-mile circular walk along the River Frome from Rode to Tellisford and back across field paths. John said, “There will be readings of Thomas poems along the way by Crysse Morrison and Martin Bax, and a short talk at Tellisford Mill about its current use to generate hydro-electricity. Tickets cost £3 and booking is essential as the meeting-place at Rode will be printed on the tickets! The stop at Tellisford includes tea, cake and toilets.

There are also two free events, ‘very much in the spirit of the Frome Festival’, according to festival president Martin Bax. On Sunday 16th July from 2pm, the Festival comes to Wiltshire, with the Festival Cricket match taking place on the Common at Broughton Gifford, near Melksham.

“Broughton Gifford Manor was the base for Clifford and Arnold Bax’s legendary cricket tours before the First World War’, Martin explained. ‘This year, the New Bax Broughtonians, at least half of them from the Bax family, will play the village team captained by Tom Gerrish. His great-grandfather Charles played in the 1912 match, when Edward Thomas scored 2 runs for the Bax team. Refreshments are available at the Bell on the Common.

Finally, on Thursday 20th July between 11am and 2.30pm, Frome Festival joins forces with the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty wardens for the ‘I remember Adelstrop’ guided walk. The 6-mile walk starts in Adlestrop (3 miles east of Stow on the Wold) at the Community Hall at 11 am with a reading of the poem, then along picturesque paths around the area before returning to the village. Tea and a talk on Edward Thmas is available afterwards. Please bring a packed lunch. There are full details in the Spring & Summer Cotswold Lion magazine or on their website: http://www.escape tothecotswolds.org.uk/ walking/guided-walks/