Gloucestershire is 1000 years old

You may have heard that the county of Gloucestershire is 1000 years old this year, but what you might not know is that there are a series of exciting exhibitions, workshops, parties, performances and events scheduled to celebrate the occasion in true style.

The year 2007 marks the 1000th anniversary of our fine county, and the organisation Gloucestershire 1000 has been established to ensure the millennium year is given the attention it deserves – with a variety of local and countywide events to be held from April 2007 to the summer of 2008.

Realising that 2007 was a significant year in Gloucestershire’s history Alfred Morris, the High Sheriff for the previous year, promptly called together a grand jury at the County Council’s offices – where a number of historians confirmed that 1007 was the date when the county was first established.

Gloucestershire 1000 hopes that drawing attention to the line-up of events and acting as the catalyst for new ideas to celebrate Gloucestershire and its heritage, this big birthday year for Gloucestershire is the perfect an opportunity to celebrate the history of the county and the achievements of its residents. Plus it is also a good chance to look to the challenges facing the county in the future.

As Alfred Morris put it, it’s a ‘splendid excuse for a party’ and as the county’s leading online magazine, SoGlos.com couldn’t agree more. While more information will be added as soon as it becomes available, the scheduled celebrations include the following events:

Write Around Gloucestershire
From July to Sunday 25 November 2007
For budding writers living, working or studying in Gloucestershire who want to put pen to paper, the ‘Write Around Gloucestershire’ competition could be just the break you’re looking for. Entries can take the form of a short story, poem, anecdote, play, traditional tale, speech, essay or any other literary format, with the only limit being a length restriction of, you guessed it, 1000 words.

My View
From Thursday 18 October to Sunday 11 November 2007
The aptly titled ‘My View’ is a photography competition being launched to celebrate real Gloucestershire as experienced by the people who know it best – its residents. Gloucestershire is a county which is complicated and diverse and much more than the advertising snapshots of the idyllic rolling Cotswolds Hills, which the competition hopes to highlight. Entrants are welcomed on a diverse variety of subjects and an exhibition of the entries is planned for the final four weeks of the competition.

Gloucestershire’s Traditions and History
Tuesday 13 November to Sunday 16 December 2007
Nature in Art hosts a contemporary crafts exhibition towards the end of each year, and in 2007 the celebrations commemorating the 1000-year history of Gloucestershire will form a key part of the show – revealing the long and varied history of crafts in the county, whilst presenting the very best nature-inspired work of today.

1000 Trees
Wednesday 21 November to Sunday 2 December 2007
A green-themed part of the Gloucestershire 1000 celebrations, will be the planting of 1,000 native trees across the county – and businesses and organisations are being invited to sponsor a tree to make our county a greener place in which to live in and work. The ‘1000 Trees’ event will be officially launched during National Tree Week which takes place during the dates above, and The University of Gloucestershire is planning an exciting event to coincide with more details to follow.

Poet Laureate
Gloucestershire 1000 has appointed a Poet Laureate in the form of Peter Wyton, to assist in the celebration of Gloucestershire’s history. The poet has written a brief poetic history of the county, in a similar vein to a reduced Shakespeare play, and will be unveiling a new poem every month – each exploring a different aspect of Gloucestershire’s history or heritage.

For more information about all of the above events, and to find out more about Gloucestershire 1000 and the county’s rich history, visit gloucestershire1000.org.uk.

SoGlos.com
25 August 2007