Caught by the River

MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

17th March 2023

Poster: Lally MacBeth

Last September a group of like-minded souls gathered in the village of Kingston just outside Lewes for a Caught by the River Day Out — a mixture of talks, music, films in the Parish Hall interspersed with frequent visits to the next door pub. It was so much fun that we thought we would do it again. We would love it if you could join us. It will start around 11am and the pub stops serving at 11pm. The line-up is as follows…

MC for the day is John Andrews, author and vintage fishing tackle dealer.

Stanley Donwood is a graphic designer, artist and writer. He will be talking about his latest book Bad Island which was described by Robert Macfarlane as, “an extraordinary unsettling document”. Stanley has worked with the band Radiohead since 1994 producing artwork for all their albums.

Danny Hammond is a film maker living in Brighton. He will be showing his latest short film, set in the South East, that uses poetry and music to explore the psychedelic nature of train journeys.

Lucy Jones will be talking about her bestselling book Losing Eden: Why our minds need the wild, a fascinating exploration of the new science of our connection to the natural world. She will be interviewed by the author Julian Mash.

Originally from Newhaven, Ian Marchant is an author and broadcaster. He will be in conversation with Mathew Clayton about his latest book One Fine Day that explores an 18th century farmer’s diary written in Hurstpiepoint by one of Ian’s ancestors.

Maypole dancing. There will be maypole dancing. Everyone will be encouraged to join in.

Stone will Answer is stonemason’s Beatrice Searle’s moving account of an unconventional 1,300-mile journey to Trondheim Cathedral pulling a 40kg stone she calls the Orkney Boat on a converted sack truck she names Marianne.

Founded by artists Lally MacBeth & Matthew Shaw, The Stone Club was set up as a place for stone circle enthusiasts to share their love of Megalithic Britain. They have put on events at ICA, the Tate and they hold a monthly residency at the Social.

Alex Woodcock is a writer, artist and former cathedral stonemason with a background in buildings archaeology. His last book, King of Dust, was published in 2019 by Little Toller Books.

The Pillars of Wonder is a collaboration between the Lewes based musician Richard Norris, Matthew Shaw from the Stone Club and the artist Jamie Reid.

Thee Bald Knobbers are your standard anarchist magi avant ritualists.

Also featuring… To mark the 50,000 year return of the Green Comet (and the release of The Hurdy Gurdy Song on Heavenly Recordings) Local Psycho and the Hurdy Gurdy Orchestra will be standing a stone in the top field of Lovebrook, Kingston, followed by an attempt to activate the stone and ingrain the music within its molecular structure by means of high-powered transducers. Warning: this operation could go horribly wrong at any point, please be ready to adjust your expectations. Welcome to the New Stone Age.

Tickets are £25 for the whole day. There are only a limited amount and it sold out last time so please book now to avoid disappointment.

Stella will be running the tea and cake stall again. There will be a bookstall. Harvey’s will be served.

Discounted tickets are available to Kingston residents and Lunker-tier Caught by the River subscribers — check the village WhatsApp group and your email inbox respectively for codes.

Tickets available here.