New British Rural · A programme of art and film

New British Rural.

Art and film in working rural places — in the pub, the barn and the yard, among the people the story is about.

Next edition

Friday 13 November 2026
Film night · 6.00pm

Venue

Vernham Dean Village Hall
Vernham Dean, SP11 0JY · supper afterwards at the pub next door

In aid of

Two charities
The Farming Community Network and Test Valley Arts Foundation

Fourth edition · Book early

Appointment with Venus — a film night, Friday 13 November 2026. Concessions for students and OAPs; discounts for groups and families on request.

Book on Eventbrite ↗

The next film

Appointment with Venus.

A light-hearted romantic adventure, based on the wartime evacuation of Alderney’s cattle. Venus is the cow.

David Niven and Glynis Johns, with George Coulouris and Barry Jones. From the novel by Jerrard Tickell.

Dir. Ralph Thomas · Prod. Betty E. Box · UK, 1951 · Cert. U

The evening

Friday 13 November 2026 at 6.00pm, Vernham Dean Village Hall, Vernham Dean, SP11 0JY. Supper afterwards at the pub next door.

Once the costs of running the event are covered, profits will be split between the Farming Community Network and the Test Valley Arts Foundation.

Book on Eventbrite ↗
A papier mâché horse made by Kate Mieczkowska

Artist Exchange · Papier mâché workshops

Paddock for England.

Build your own papier mâché horse, reflecting your personality, and lead it into our Paddock for England. Every horse joins the community herd, shown as an installation in the Chapel.

Kate Mieczkowska has shared her artist takeover week at Chapel Arts Studios with Maddy and Chris Dobson of Art Shack, Cowes — the beginning of an artists’ exchange between Andover and the Isle of Wight. Come and learn about horses and their colours.

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    Workshops: Friday 13 and Saturday 14 November, 12pm–2pm each day. Materials provided.
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    Closing event and public viewing: Sunday 15 November, 10am–2pm, with pictures and speeches at 12 noon.
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    Where: Chapel Arts Studios, St Mary’s Chapel, New Street, Andover SP10 1DP.
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    Who: Everyone welcome. Children from 12 years, accompanied by an adult.

On Friday 13 November, make a day of it: the workshop at midday, then the film night at Vernham Dean at 6pm.

Book on WhatsApp ↗ Flyer (PDF)

Last time · August 2026

Two Devon farmers. One shared name.

Over the hedge from each other. Derek Banbury has built his father's dairy herd from fifty cows to two hundred — feeding the nation, as he sees it. Derek Gow, an ex-sheep farmer the press call a maverick rewilder, is taking his own farm apart: ponds dug, beavers in the streams, wild boar turning the grass.

They do not agree. Filmed over three years — warm, rude and very funny about how a view hardens, and how it sometimes moves.

Dir. James Dawson · UK, 2026 · 60 mins

The evening

Doors opened at six and supper was served in the village hall. The film ran at half past seven, and the talking carried on at The George afterwards.

Admission to this screening was restricted to agricultural professionals by special permission of the film's distributor. Conditions vary from edition to edition and are set out when each one is announced.

All profits were split between the Test Valley Arts Foundation and the Farming Community Network.

What they're saying

Warm, rude and very funny.

Engagingly eccentric crowd-pleaser

Screen Daily

It's absolutely brilliant! Loved every second.

Isabella Tree, Knepp

It's not farming. It's just a mess.

Derek Banbury, dairy farmer

We need nature to be restored.

Derek Gow, rewilder

Future editions

Register your interest.

Editions are announced a few weeks ahead and places are limited. Tell us you would like to hear about the next one and we will let you know when it is confirmed.

Declared interest. Kate Mieczkowska, who curates New British Rural, is a trustee of the Test Valley Arts Foundation, which receives a share of the profits from these events.

Book 13 November ↗ Register interest

Editions so far

Where we have been.

Artist Exchange — 13 to 15 November 2026. Paddock for England, papier mâché workshops and installation at Chapel Arts Studios, Andover, with Art Shack, Cowes.

Fourth edition — Friday 13 November 2026. Appointment with Venus, a film night at Vernham Dean Village Hall, for the Farming Community Network and the Test Valley Arts Foundation.

Third edition — Friday 21 August 2026. Derek vs Derek, a film night at Vernham Dean Village Hall and The George Inn, in partnership with the Test Valley Arts Foundation and the Farming Community Network.

Second edition — Sunday 7 June 2026. Copse Farm, Kingsworthy, Winchester, for Open Farm Sunday, in partnership with the Test Valley Arts Foundation.

About New British Rural

Art and film where the subject actually lives.

New British Rural puts art and film in working rural places, among the people the story is about — not in a city gallery, but in the pub, the barn and the yard.

The initiative is curated by Kate Mieczkowska, a Winchester School of Art and Chelsea College of Art trained fine artist and Associate Artist at Chapel Arts Studios. Painting on the Hoof sessions run alongside the programme, linking the equestrian and creative sides of Outwith Horses.

Test Valley Arts Foundation The George Inn, Vernham Dean Farming Community Network

Painting on the Hoof. Sessions run alongside the programme at Windmill Hill, Ibthorpe, linking the equestrian and creative sides of Outwith Horses.

Art & Wellbeing → katemieczkowska.com ↗