Opera in the Orchard grew out of a dream of my father and grandfather to hold a function in the orchards and garden of Bouncers. Over a glass or two of wine on the terrace in the company of Steve Rumsey, our next-door neighbour and a professional conductor, the dream slowly took shape and, before we knew it, Opera in the Orchard became a reality.

We had three months to find musicians, choose the opera, the singers and the production manager, and all the other things required to put on such an event. We all had tremendous fun in the process, helped by the generosity of volunteers-namely family!

The setting for the Opera is stunning. The terrace and lawn overlook the water meadows and the River Blackwater with Danbury in the distance. The view hasn’t changed much since my grandfather built Bouncers in 1935. Bouncers Farm is hidden away down a very narrow lane with high banks on either side, the trees forming a tunnel overhead with their arching branches. This part of Wickham Bishops used to be a thriving apple- growing area and a few of the orchards remain today giving the lane a very rural feeling.

It is very quite, the silence broken only by the sound of birdsong, of which there are many varieties. At nighttime there are the calls of owls and occasionally the bark of a fox-it is a very special place to be, especially on a summers evening. However, on the Friday night before the opera the heavens opened, the sky became black and we were entertained by the most spectacular show of thunder, lightning and rain by the bucketful. We could only pray for a fine weekend