Registered charity number 1099831
Supporting All Saints Church, Morston
Events 2023
FMC Quiz Night – Saturday February 4th, 2023
Following cancellation in 2021 and a socially distanced event in Blakeney in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Morston Quiz returned home to the Village Hall in early February.
After respectfully remembering Mary Athill, captain of last year’s winning team The Morston Pishmires, the traditional rally cry of “bring it on!” rang out from Mary’s son, Charles, and the quiz began.
A good-natured and lively evening ensued (mobile phone confiscation aside) with hot, delicious, home-made shepherd’s pie and fruit crumble served up as mid-quiz supper. Eventual winners were The Morston Macaroons, led by David Osborne, pictured with the winner’s trophy.
The quiz raised over £1,500.00 for Friends of Morston Church, the charity dedicated to raising funds for the maintenance and repair of All Saints Church. This sum came from entry fees for the quiz, bar sales and the ever increasingly popular raffle.
Huge thanks must go to Sandra Morris for her organisation of both the quiz and the supper, to deputising Quizmaster Richard Longley for his humour and well-paced event, as well as all the helpers who set up the village hall so beautifully, washer uppers and clear-away volunteers.
Impromptu Shakespeare – It’s The Bard, Bill, But Not As We Know It!
A balmy June evening saw the welcome, (and much demanded), return of the Impromptu Shakespeare Company to Morston, following their sell-out improvised show in 2019.
Based on audience suggestions (by way of ping-pong balls scribed with Shakespearean tropes flung into a pair of giant breeches) the fab five, Rosie, Jules, Lucy, Jen and Daniel, conjured up an Elizabethan age tragicomedy of errors, murder, star-crossed love, mistaken identity, power-struggles and a side-dish of nuanced current affairs.
The unpredictability of each scenario left audience members gasping at the rapier-sharp wit and thinking of the cast, whether delivering lines which scholars would find hard to disprove they were not written by Shakespeare himself or seizing upon opportune moments to ad lib in contemporary language for comic effect, break the fourth wall and lighten the mood.
To produce a show on the spot takes fertile creativity, and the players displayed not just a thorough understanding of the way Shakespeare crafted his dialogue but a togetherness and willingness to work with each other, around each other and a fearlessly across each other while keeping the audience always spellbound.
A production for the ages and for all the ages, Impromptu Shakespeare are guaranteed audience pleasers with their sparkling wit, authentic improvisation and sublime stagecraft. A good sign of a successful show is seeing the company with as many smiles on their faces as spectators and this evening’s show was no exception.
Morston ‘Tales & Ales’ would like to thank Gill Kay for generously hosting the performance in her garden; Pukka Pies; The Chequers Inn, Binham; Woodforde’s Brewery (Wherry Ale); Morston Anchor; The Harper Hotel; Blakeney Hotel; Two Magpies, Blakeney; Picnic Fayre, Cley; Sandra Morris; Rob Metcalfe; (for raffle prizes); and our willing team of helpers, volunteers and good spirits who helped with setting the stage, catering and hospitality to make the performance the success it was.
8th July - FMC Annual General Meeting
Our 2023 AGM was held in Morston Village Hall at 6.30pm on 8th July. All members and Friends were welcome.
4th November 2023 - The Shovell Dinner
We were delighted to welcome Jonathan Hooton as the speaker for the 2023 Shovell Dinner, speaking on "The Glaven Ports to 1800". The sold out dinner and talk was held at the Blakeney Harbour Rooms and was said to be the best attended event yet. The author gave a thoroughly entertaining and informative presentation on the history of our local area, particularly around Clay, Salthouse and Blakeney - with interesting facts and bizarre tales from the region's colourful history.
Cloudesley Shovell (1650 – 1707)
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November 1650 – 22 or 23 October 1707) was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and then at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain he fought at the Battle of Bantry Bay during the Williamite War in Ireland.
Born in Cockthorpe, the son of John Shovell, a Norfolk gentleman, and Anne Shovell (née Jenkinson), Shovell was born into a family "of property and distinction" which, although not poor, was by no means wealthy. He was baptised on 25 November 1650. The unusual first name of Cloudesley derives from the surname of his maternal grandmother Lucy Cloudisley, who was the daughter of Thomas Cloudisley.