CALLS have gone out to support Malmesbury's annual celebration of music and history.

73-year-old Julia Bowen's longstanding passion for music, history and the arts is what motivated her to initially set up the Wessex Week in Malmesbury.

Wessex Week is an annual event which celebrates the region’s history, culture and art through the centuries with a particular emphasis on Malmesbury and the Anglo Saxon period.

A plethora of interesting events and activities including talks, exhibitions and a guided walk have been organised for the week, commencing on Saturday, October 14. 

The BBC previously ran a similar history week in the town for several years but this stopped in 2016 so Julia, with the help of some friends, decided to organise the events herself.

Julia said: “It had been so successful that when the BBC decided to move to Winchester, we decided to create our own event. 

"The first year was such a success, we even made a small profit that we decided to re-invest in the 2017 event and the rest, as they say, is history.

“Over the years we’ve had some wonderful speakers including historian and author Tom Holland, historian and broadcaster Michael Wood and Dr Janina Ramirez who is a cultural historian, broadcaster and author.”

Julia is well known in Malmesbury for her voluntary work and is heavily involved in the town's cultural and musical scene.

During her working life, she was a music teacher for Wiltshire Music Service and later became deputy head of South Gloucestershire Music Service.

Julia said: "Music is in my DNA and I come from a long line of string players.

"My great grandfather made and taught the violin and a great uncle was a cellist in the Halle.

"I have always been a performing musician and it very much defines who I am.”

Her love for music and history shines through this year's line-up of events.

For example, live singing will take place in Shan and Martin Graebe's talk about how traditional folk songs reflect the lives and experiences of people in the Wessex region over the centuries at Malmesbury Town Hall on Friday, October 20.

In addition, a guided walk and talk of Malmesbury Abbey by Campbell Ritchie will take place between 10.30am - 12pm on Sunday, October 15.

Archaeologist Richard Osgood MBE will conclude the week of events with an interesting talk about the discovery of an extensive 7th Century burial site on private land near Tetbury.

To look at the full schedule of events visit https://wessex-week.org

Tickets can be purchased on the website or at the Tourist Information Centre based at Malmesbury Town Hall.