New Dover Guidebook!

Calling the people of Dover! We would love to hear your Dover stories, as Strange Cargo is making an Everywhere Means Something to Someone, people’s guidebooks to Dover. Not an ordinary guidebook, but one filled with hundreds of local stories and photos about places in and around the town that you know well.

We’ve already made four guidebooks for other places and are extremely excited to be making a Dover version to capture all the things about your town that make it feel like home. Please tell us the kinds of interesting family stories and local anecdotes about places that you’d tell your best friend visiting for the first time.

Please send us a message or email us info@strangecargo.org.uk if you want to know more about getting involved. It’s fun, easy and together we can make something very special for Dover. Everyone that contributes will have their name printed in the book. Please share with your friends.

Thanks to Dover Town Council.

 

Our new people’s guidebook to Romney Marsh is now available through Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway station in New Romney, Romney Marsh Visitors Centre, The Warren Inn, Balance Bar, the Fish Hut at Dungeness, Kirsty’s Kitchen and Brew At 32 in Lydd. Only £12.

Gravesend Lights

After being postponed from last January, Strange Cargo is delighted to be delivering a new light festival event for Gravesend. On 29th and 30th January 2022 between 5pm and 8pm, artists Ross Ashton and Karen Monid, Richie Moment, Greg Stobbs, Fabric Lenny and others will be displaying a series of fabulous artworks to illuminate the Heritage Quarter and enchant visitors on the riverside.

The commission by Gravesend Borough Council is Strange Cargo first light event in the town and our team of artists will be training local creatives in the skills needed to build large-scale lantern sculptures, on this occasion inspired by the Edward Lear poem The Owl and the Pussycat. Lear had close links to the town and his pea green boat was the inspiration for the towns crest.

Do you live or work in Cheriton?…

… or do you have a connection to the town? Strange Cargo together with sculptor Andrew Baldwin are running a series of FREE workshops at our gallery to create the first of 12 community bronze sculptures to be sited on the little ledges at Folkestone West Station. You will be making a small wax model at the workshop. Places are limited.
Workshop dates are:
•6-8pm Thursday 11th Nov - Fully booked
•11am-1pm Saturday 13th Nov - Fully booked
•1-3pm Wednesday 17th Nov
No previous experience necessary. For more info or to book a place please email info@strangecargo.org.uk The Resident Platform is a series of artist residencies at Strange Cargo in Cheriton. Our first resident artist is Charley Vines and her exhibition Folly in Plum can be seen during the workshop.

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Folly in Plum - Open Friday & Saturday

12-4 till 28th November 2021

Folly in Plum is the first in the series of The Resident Platform artist residencies at Strange Cargo that will develop an unusual approach to making public art, through actively pairing a resident artist with people from the local community. 

Artist Charley Vines is the first The Resident Platform artist at Strange Cargo in Cheriton; working across painting, sculpture and installation, Charley obtained her BA HONS at UCA in 2012 and PGD at The Royal Academy Schools in 2019. Recent exhibitions include Sub Rosa at Lungley Gallery, London and Gargle at Bow Arts, London. Folly in Plum will be open to the public from 16th Oct until 28th Nov 2021. Based in Kent. www.charleyvines.co.uk

 
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In Darkness Let Me Dwell

Performed by the Benyounes Quartet, the second evening of artists’ responses- in the form of videos, installations and performance art- to John Woolrich’s music, exploring darkness and light, farewells, memory, shadows and disappearance.

The artists are Chelsey Browne, Gayle Chong Kwan, the Brothers Quay, Terry Smith, Mick Williamson and Richard Wilson.

8pm on 25th September at Strange Cargo in Cheriton. The event is directed by Tim Hopkins.

click to buy tickets
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Telling the Otterpool Tale

We had our big open day at Westenhanger Castle! Hundreds of people turned up for or free workshops and treasure hunt in the castle grounds.

 
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Having Fun with Art - Strange Cargo & Age UK

Are you over 55? We have been invited by Age UK to create Having Fun with Art and are very excited to be at their Cheriton HQ to deliver a series of eight creative workshops starting Tuesday 3rd August. Don't be put off if you are a total beginner - we've made it so that everyone can take part. Please come and join us, it will be lots of fun

 
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Charivari Day 2021 - Picnic on the Leas

Strange Cargo is delighted to invite you to bring your egg sandwiches and ginger beer and join us for a fab afternoon of music to celebrate our 25th Charivari Day at the Bandstand. Covid restrictions mean there is no carnival parade this summer, but that won’t stop us all having loads of fun and there will be free craft activities on offer too!

Enormous thanks to supporters: The Chambers, Arts Council England, Folkestone & Hythe District Council, Folkestone Town Council, Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, Creative Folkestone, Kent County Council, Kent Community Foundation, Channel Rotary Club Folkestone and Folkestone Festivals for their support.

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Telling the Otterpool Tale - Workshops at Westenhanger Castle this half term

Strange Cargo is delighted to have been commissioned by the Otterpool Park team to explore the heritage of Otterpool Park. On Tuesday 1st and Thursday 3rd June between 11am and 3pm, Strange Cargo will be running a series of free family-friendly workshops at Westenhanger Castle, as part of our community outreach project to encourage learning about the history and heritage of the Otterpool Park site. 

 All children must be accompanied by an adult. Free parking.

Covid safety: Please be patient, as only limited numbers will be allowed into the workshop area at any one time. Please bring a picnic and enjoy the castle grounds while you wait to join the workshop.

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Everywhere Means Something to Someone

The people’s guidebook to Romney Marsh is our latest guidebook in the series and is currently in production. The invitation is out for people to send us their family stories, local knowledge and interesting facts about places on Romney Marsh. Tell us something that you would tell your best friend about this fascinating corner of the country, we are still collecting contributions and would love to hear from you. With support from Magnox plc, Arts Council England, Little Cheyne Wind Farm, Lawson Endowment, Kent Community Foundation and Folkestone and Hythe District Council

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Bag of Doings

Strange Cargo’s free activity kits inspired by the work of famous artists. With funding from Arts Council England, we have designed a series of activity kits and so far more than 800 have been distributed throughout the community free of charge, for people to produce their own piece of artwork. There are more to come, so keep an eye on social media for how to get your hands on your very own #bagofdoings

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Free Christmas wreath kits

To spread a little Christmas cheer, Strange Cargo assembled 100 free kits for people to make a Christmas front door wreath. The first 50 kits were dropped off to Rainbow Centre to be distributed through their food bank and we arranged to leave the other 50 kits outside the Factory so that they could be picked up by local families.