|
Events
Visits
are announced and details displayed at our monthly meetings; bookings
with payment are taken at the meetings.
Visits
and Trips
One of our members, Bronwen Mills who is a blue badge Guide, took
a group to Romney Marshes in Kent. We visited two medieval churches
in the morning and, after an excellent pub lunch, we went to Rye
where we visited Lamb House and walked around this rather picturesque
town.
Bronwen gave a running commentary which was crammed with fascinating
facts – a great day out. Henry Moore lived at Hoglands for
over 40 years and the house has been restored exactly as he left
it, full of artefacts and the odd Picasso!! The house guides were
a mine of information and most enthusiastic. After a tasty pub
lunch we were taken on a tour of the extensive grounds and studios
where examples of his sculptures and tapestries were displayed.
Even if you were not a fan of modern art it was a very worthwhile
visit.
Although popular there has been a somewhat disappointing take
up in 2009 one visit had to be cancelled and several others only
had twenty plus members on the coach, the Committee have decided
to reduce the number of trips next year.
We have retained the three perennial visits: Slyfield House on
Sunday 9th May, the London Walk on Monday 5th July visiting Fishmongers
Hall, and the Stanley Picker Gallery on Wednesday 14th July as
these have strict limits on the number of visitors. We have tried
to link visits to the lectures, hence the
trip to Salisbury Cathedral in April and the overseas
trip to Barcelona in September when we will be able to see some
of Gaudi’s work.
Our short haul trip in June takes us to Liverpool and Chester
with Bowens Coaches. Full details of the holidays can be obtained
from John Tiffney our Visits Organiser.
John
Tiffney - Visit Organiser
Visits
2009
We
have arranged the following visits during the year :-
14th October Henry Moore at Hoglands. Visit to the famous sculptors former home and permanent exhibition. Travel by coach.
4th November Corsham Court- Wiltshire. Visit to a historic manor house, lunch and afternoon visit to Elizabethan Almshouses. Travel by coach.
Members
reports on visits
Quick links -
The
Purcell Singers - Waddesdon
Manor - Durham -
Stanley Picker House/Gallery
Report
of visit to the Stanley Picker House
In July a small party made what is becoming an annual visit to
the Stanley Picker House and Gallery on Kingston Hill. This superb
modernist house built in the late 50s retains the furniture, decoration
and fittings of the time and remains at was when Mr Picker died.
Set in landscaped gardens with contemporary sculpture and water
features, the house is a little known gem open only by prior appointment.
The owner was an eclectic collector of paintings and sculpture.
There are two small exhibition galleries with art dating from
pre-Roman to the 1960s; pieces not in the galleries are displayed
throughout the house and gardens. Our tour guide, Mike Smith a
lecturer from Kingston University, was full of interesting and
personal anecdotes about many of the artists whose work was on
show. Even some of those most sceptical of modern art were fascinated
by the visit... but have they really changed their minds?
View 2x photos
in new window
John
Cook
DURHAM - JUNE 2009
Just
after 8 o’clock on Friday 18th
June, twenty five members started off on a trip to Durham with
our driver Stuart.
We broke the journey at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park set in the Bretton Estate near Wakefield. In part sharing the Hayward Gallery, works by Hepworth, Moore, Caro and Gormley are displayed in the Park with others including the delightful Skyspace by James Tufffnel – where you lie back and relax while looking at the passing clouds through a hole in the roof.
Then on to the Royal County Hotel in Durham where some accomplished driving by Stuart was needed to park the coach. However the hotel is well appointed and the rooms were comfortable.
On Saturday we met our excellent Blue Badge Guide Jan Williams who led us on a walking tour of the City Centre, the Castle and the magnificent Romanesque Cathedral. Sharing a strongly fortified position with the Castle above the River Wear, much of it was built in only 40 years and contains the tombs of the Saints Bede of Jarrow and Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. Preparations for the Graduation Ceremony on the Cathedral Green for the University were well advanced.
In the afternoon we visited the Beamish Living Museum of the North which reproduces life as it was in 1913. We traversed the site on old tramcars and buses and explored the old town with its Co-Op. Barclays Bank, garage, Inn, Dentist , Milliner. Sweet Shop and Masonic Hall- all with staff dressed as in 1913.
The Colliery Village gives an insight into the life in the miners’ cottages and an opportunity to go into a real drift mine where candles were the only means of lighting. The only rain of the weekend occurred at Beamish and in a way emphasised the harsh living conditions.
On Sunday we travelled North to Alnwick passing Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North on the way. We saw first the Duchess of Northumberland’s Castle Gardens which she has created from a derelict condition. Water features are prominent and the David Austin Rose Garden was splendid as was the Ornamental Garden. Some brave souls visited the Poison Garden but only in a strictly guided group! The Castle itself has long been the home of the Dukes of Northumberland with a history from Harry Hotspur to Harry Potter.
After lunch we headed for Wallington Hall, the Trevelyan home passed to the National Trust on the death of Sir Charles Trevelyan in 1958 and opened to the public in 1968. The house was remodelled by Sir Walter Blackett in the mid 18th Century and left to the Trevelyan’s in 1777. The house is known for the magnificent `central Hall decorated with canvasses illustrating the history of Northumberland from the Romans to the industrial achievements of the mid-nineteenth century on Tyneside.
On Monday we left Durham for home but stopped at the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle. The Museum was built by John and Josephine Bowes in 1869 to house a wonderful collection of ceramics, glass and furniture bought during their time in France. The famous mechanical swan is housed there but sadly we had to leave before it performed at 2 o’clock. A good journey back and home before the scheduled time.
All agreed that this had been an excellent weekend and gave our thanks to John Tiffney for organising and chaperoning us.
Gordon Little
Waddesdon
Manor - June 2009
Most
visitors walk about 400 yards from the car park but we arrived
by coach at the front door of this stunning Mansion modelled on
a French Chateau for a branch of the Rothschild family in the
1850’s.
After a quick comfort break we were taken in small groups on a conducted tour of the State Rooms which were packed with art treasures of every description from paintings, furniture and clocks to artefacts collected by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild who was an anglophile and socialite.
Although
the family continue to occupy part of the house it was given to
the National trust in 1941. The family trust contribute significant
sums towards the maintenance of the House and the grounds- which
are equally impressive.
In
my opinion Waddesdon Manor is the premier NT property in terms
of its decorative and fine arts collection. If you have not visited
Waddesdon you
really must.
Link
to website in new window
John
Tiffney
May 2009 The Purcell Singers Westminster
Abbey
It was a beautiful late spring evening when our group of 30 joined
with Englemere DFAS to be welcomed by a Canon to the Abbey. Our
tour of the Abbey was organised by The Purcell Club, a group of
former choristers of the Abbey, who use the event to raise money
for a variety of charities. Purcell was an organist at the Abbey
from 1680-1695.
As we filed in and sat in the nave, the sun streamed through the
stained glass windows. We were guided through the various parts
of the Abbey by a member of the Choir who linked the history of
the building with a social history of England which was complemented
by a pieces sung by the choir.
The tour commenced with the choir singing plainsong in the nave.
Our guide gave an account of the Abbey’s foundation as a Benedictine
monastery in AD960. We moved into The Quire, the choir stalls, where
we sat and listened to two pieces by Handel. On passing through
the doors at the side of the altar screen, we entered St Edwards
Chapel where the tomb of King Edward the Confessor rests. It was
Edward who was responsible for the first major church built on the
site that was completed in 1065 just before the Battle of Hastings.
Our guide explained that all of the original church was rebuilt
by Henry lll. It is the Gothic style eastern part of the Abbey which
we see today. Here the Choristers again performed.
The Coronation Chair is just behind the St Edward’s Chapel
and we were given an account of its history. Opposite the Chair
is King Henry Vll’s Chapel with its magnificent fan vaulted
Gothic ceiling and is where Henry and his wife Elizabeth are buried.
It is the Chapel of the Order of the Bath and from its walls hang
the multi-coloured banners of members of the order. In side chapels
are the tombs of Elizabeth l and Mary Queen of Scots. The long and
rather tortuous history of the building of the Chapel by Henry was
explained by our Guide and this was followed by the Choir singing
pieces by Samuel Wesley, Mendelssohn and Arthur Sullivan.
Returning to the Nave via Poets’ Corner, we passed the Musicians
Aisle and the Scientist memorials. The organist performed one of
the movements from an organ concerto. Finally, our guide explained
the significance and history of the Tomb of Unknown Warrior and
the Choir made their way to the Tomb to sing their last pieces.
All of us were thrilled with the combination the guide’s account
of the Abbey’s history together with experiencing the Choir
of the Purcell Club in the unique acoustics produced by the Abbey’s
architecture. It was a truly an evening we shall all remember.
See www.westminster-abbey.org
John Cook
Special
Interest Days
Special
Interest Days allow a subject to be considered in more depth than
is possible in a single lecture. We are searching for ideas about
topics that might be of interest.
Last April we had a day on Heraldry. Topics from other societies
have included Victorian Glass, Photography and Art, Rugs, Ballets
Russes, Women Artists, and English Porcelain. One of us wondered
about an Introduction to Modern Art.
If you have any thoughts or preferences, we should be pleased to
know.
Derek Simmonds and John Cook
|
