Syon House is the spectacular London home of the Duke of Northumberland. The house was designed by Robert Adam and  built in the sixteenth century on the site of the Medieval Syon Abbey, and came to the family of the present owners in 1594.The one hundred acres of parkland at Syon is essentially the landscape created over twenty years by ‘Capability’ Brown in the eighteenth century.

Programme for the day visit

9.00 Depart: Goring Railway Station followed by 9.15 at Pangbourne.

10.30 Arrive at Syon Park

11.00 / 11.15 Guided tour of the house (90 minutes in 2 groups)

12.30 / 12.45 Free time for lunch. Avaiable at the clock tower Cafe or Courtyard Restaurent. Also avilabe are picnic facilities by the lake. 

2.30 Guided tour of the gardens (45 minutes)

4.00 Depart 

Cost per person: £35 (Please note our Cancellation policy: More than 2 weeks notice a full refund, less than 2 weeks notice 50% refund, on the day no refun)

Booking a place: Members who are interested in going on this visit, please contact Sally Wicks for more information and / or complete the booking form (under 'our society' in 'documents') and send to Sally Wicks.

Please note  Syon House has stepped access to the Great Hall,  stairs on the principal floor and a large staircase to the bedrooms. The Visitor Centre, Great Conservatory and Grounds include a variety of surfaces including, cobblestones, gravel and can be uneven and steep in places. Unfortunately, due to the historic nature of the building there is no access for wheelchair users or motorised scooters into Syon House

Compton Verney, in Warwickshire, is an Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025 finalist. The museum is set in 120 acres of Capability Brown’s landscaped gardens which is home to a large sculpture park containing works by leading international contemporary artists. 

The temporary exhibition, The Shelter of Stories, curated by Marina Warner, brings together historic objects and images alongside works by leading contemporary artists to explore the questions: why do we tell stories and what do they achieve? In addition there are six permanent art collections – Folk Art, Portraits and Miniatures, Marx-Lambert, Northern Europe and Chinese Bronzes so there really is something for everyone.

A 45 minute - one hour guided tour is included.

Depart by coach: Pangbourne 9.15am followed by pickup at Goring Railway Station at 9.30

Arrive Compton Verney:  11am approximately

Depart Compton Verney: 4pm

Arrive Goring via Pangbourne: 5.30pm approximately

Cost per person: Art Fund members £32 and non-Art Fund members £41

Refreshments: The price includes tea/coffee on arrival. No lunch is included in the price, but there is an excellent cafe/restaurant on site. As we are a large group we need to pre order from the menu for lunch at 1pm.

Members who are interested in going on this visit , please contact Sally Wicks for more information and a booking form.

Please note our Cancellation policy: More than 2 weeks notice a full refund, less than 2 weeks notice 50% refund, on the day no refund.

Inspired by the Baroque palaces of Europe, and owned by one family for over 900 years, Petworth house displays one of the finest art collections in the care of the National Trust. The state rooms feature a vast collection of paintings and sculpture, including artwork by Turner, Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Van Dyck.

The Servants’ Quarters, include historic kitchens.

Outside, the Pleasure Gardens feature formal borders, woodland walks, and architectural features. The 700 acre Deer Park was transformed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and is home to ancient trees and fallow deer.

To include 45 minute - one hour Guided Tour. 

Depart by coach:            8.30am Goring (railway station) 

                                  8.45am Pangbourne (opposite village hall)

Arrive Petworth House: 10.30am

Depart Petworth House: 3.30pm, arrive Goring (via Pangbourne) 5.30pm (All timings approximate)

Cost per person:            £44 (non National Trust Members) and £25 (National Trust Members). Full payment in advance required.       

Refreshments: Lunch/refreshments not included.

Members who are interested in going on this visit , please contact the Visits Secretary, John Raisin at johnraisin@hotmail.com for a booking form.

Please note there is now a waiting list for this tour.

Salisbury Cathedral 

Enjoy the serenity and splendour of this stunning Cathedral, gaze up at Britain’s tallest spire, explore Britain’s largest Cathedral Close and Cloisters, see the world’s oldest mechanical clock and the best-preserved original 1215 Magna Carta – all in one beautiful place.

Salisbury Cathedral is home to the best preserved of only four surviving Magna Carta documents from 1215. You can learn about this extraordinary document and its legacy in a multimedia exhibition that explores our rights and freedoms.  Discover how the parchment on which Magna Carta is written was made, and how it has become an internationally known symbol of freedom and justice. Then, enter the Magna Carta tent to witness this world-famous document up close.

Mompesson House

Explore the entrance hall,  dining room, large drawing room, small drawing room and library and go up the beautiful oak staircase to two bedrooms and a reception room. Some of the rooms which contain magnificent plasterwork and fine period furniture made an appearance in the award-winning adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

Don’t miss the Bessemer Wright collection of 18th-century porcelain and the Turnbull collection of 18th-century drinking glasses which are of national importance.

Entry Fee Payable – Discounts for some e.g. English Heritage

Arundells    

With paintings by Churchill and Sargent, Chinese ceramics from Chairman Mao, David Lloyd George’s writing desk and memorabilia from Nixon and Castro, Arundells is the former home of Sir Edward Heath KG MBE, Prime Minister and Statesman. Located within Salisbury’s magnificent Cathedral Close, the house is one of Salisbury’s most charming destinations.

Sir Edward’s many interests included collecting pictures and other works of art. His art collection includes works by Sir Winston Churchill, WL Wyllie, LS Lowry, John Singer-Sargent, John Nash, John Piper, Walter Sickert and both Augustus and Gwen John.

Entry Fee Payable – Discounts for some e.g. English Heritage

Refreshments:               Members to provide/buy their own refreshments

Depart by coach:            9.30 am Goring Station

                                         9.45 am Pangbourne (opposite village hall)

Cost per person:           £35  Full payment in advance first come/first served.

                                      Cost includes entry to the cathedral.

Return by coach:            4.00 pm  Arriving back in Pangbourne and Goring at around 5.30pm 

Members who are interested in going on this visit, please contact the visit secretaries John or Flavia for a booking form.

Enjoy hours of beauty, peace and discovery at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir – a masterpiece of exquisite Indian design and workmanship in the heart of London. Marvel at the intricate marble and wooden carvings, experience a traditional Hindu prayer ceremony and learn about the world’s oldest living faith from the ‘Understanding Hinduism’ exhibition.

This white Hindu temple was built by the Hindu community using entirely traditional methods and materials, making it Europe’s first traditional stone Hindu temple.  Until 2000 it held the Guinness World Record as the biggest Hindu temple outside India.

The temple was completed in 1995. It is dedicated to reverence, adoration, and gratitude and consists of a mandir (the focal point of the complex and place of worship), the “Understanding Hinduism” permanent exhibition, and the richly carved Gujarati Haveli, a cultural centre made of Burmese teak wood.

The construction of the temple posed two major challenges: It had to be built in accordance with the steel-free Vastu Shastras, India’s ancient architectural texts, all while respecting Britain’s strict building code in order to withstand harsh weather. Three thousand tons of Bulgarian limestone and 1,200 tons of Italian Carrara marble were shipped to India to be carved and coded by professionals and were returned to North London two years later.

Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is a must-visit for those with an interest in architecture and London’s diverse culture. The temple is open to people of all faiths and backgrounds.

Refreshments:               A vegetarian Indian lunch is included in the price

Depart by coach:            8.30 am Goring Station

                                     8.45 am Pangbourne (opposite village hall)

Cost per person:             £45 Full payment in advance first come/first served.

Entry  is free  but donations are appreciated.

Return by coach:            3.00 pm  Arriving back in Pangbourne and Goring at                                               around 4.30pm     

Members who are interested in going on this visit, please contact the visit secretaries John or Flavia for a booking form.

“To the Stars” ART Exhibition

A new art exhibition celebrating 50 years since the opening of the museum with 50 key works by important 20th century British and European artists. These works chart early civil aviation at Hendon and the Royal Flying Corps, to the Second World War and the jet and space age of the Cold War. The exhibition explores artists’ perspectives on the operations and culture of the RAF as well as on the broader themes of flight, ambition, myth, conflict, and technology.

Combining tradition with modernity, the paintings and watercolours reflected on war and flight with imaginative and illustrative approaches, drawing on the influences of English Romanticism and Surrealism. Official War Artists of the Second World War, adopted watercolour as both an expedient and expressive medium, heralding a revival of the historically celebrated, and quintessentially British, art form. Figurative compositions representing the people, roles and social life of the RAF reveal not only the diversity of artistic styles over time but raise questions of institutional diversity within the RAF and in approaches to artistic commissioning.

Post-war art in the exhibition includes prints which represent Second World War and early Cold War subjects from the perspective of American mass culture. Some post-war artists, however, looked back uneasily on reputations made and lives lost in the Second World War, while dwelling on contemporary space shuttle missions and the nuclear arms race.

Paintings and watercolours by Paul Nash, John Armstrong, Eric Ravilious, John Minton, Laura Knight, Evelyn Dunbar, Alfred Thomson, Patrick Procktor, Ethel Gabain,  Eduardo Paolozzi, Bryan Organ, Humphrey Ocean and Boyd & Evans

The RAF Museum is contained in six hangars:

Hangar 1 - RAF Stories, The First 100 Years 1918-2018

Discover how the Royal Air Force has delivered missions in its first 100 years. Stories, objects, film and games reveal its extraordinary people, innovative technologies, global alliances and partnerships.

Explore the stories of the people, equipment, partnerships and innovations that keep the RAF at the leading edge of Air and Space Power.

Hangar 2 - The First World War in the Air 1914-1918

The story unfolds from the earliest days of flight here on the site of The London Aerodrome, through four years of World War to the formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918.

Hangars 3, 4 and 5  - War in the Air 1918-1980 plus the latest permanent exhibition: 'Strike Hard, Strike Sure: Bomber Command, 1939-1945'

On 1 April 2018, the Royal Air Force marked its 100th anniversary. In a relatively short lifespan it has become woven into the history of the UK and the world. Discover the aircraft and stories of the Battle of Britain alongside extraordinary bombers, seaplanes, trainers and helicopters.

Hangar 6 - The RAF in an Age of Uncertainty

Recent decades have seen huge and rapid political, economic and technological change. Hear from RAF personnel who have served during this period of change and see how the RAF has adapted its strategy and technology to protect the UK 24/7

Details of the visit:

Refreshments:             Members to buy/provide their own refreshments

Depart by coach:          9.00am Moulsford (bus stop near Ferry Lane)

                                   9.15am Goring Station

                                   9.30am Pangbourne (opposite village hall)

Cost per person:  £29 full payment in advance – 50 maximum - first come/first served basis. Entry is free but donations are appreciated by the charity.

Return by coach:  3.00 - 3.30pm Arriving back in Pangbourne, Goring and Moulsford ONLY at around 5.00pm.

Members who are interested in going on this visit, please contact the visit secretaries John or Flavia for a booking form.

The tour will be at 2.30pm via Zoom and YouTube for 7 days afterwards. Details of how to access the lecture will be sent to members beforehand.

Soho has always been the poorer cousin of London’s West End.  Whilst the aristocracy lived in their large mansions just across Regent Street in the district of Mayfair, it was to Soho that they came to have fun and party.  This vibrant new virtual tour tells the incredible story of how it was transformed from open farmland 350 years ago to an area plagued by prostitution, frequented by European radicals and lived in by some of the most creative people ever to pass through London.

A visit to Waddesdon with pre-visit lunch in The Coach House at

The Five Arrows Hotel

Christmas at Waddesdon is back with magical lights, beautiful displays inside the House and the gardens. Enjoy a festive lunch at The Coach House of The Five Arrows Hotel.  Then step inside the House, festively decorated with sparkling lights and dazzling displays for the first time since 2019. Browse over 80 hand-selected stalls at the Christmas market, housed in charming wooden chalets and surrounded by twinkling trees.  As the sun goes down, walk an illuminated light trail around the Pleasure Grounds with dramatic colour and playful installations. Watch the Manor façade bathed in light set to music and see displays created by local schools. At the Stables, experience Immersed in Light, a new interactive exhibition featuring multiple light installations to captivate and delight the senses.

 Cost per person, please see below.

National Trust Members: Coach £16.  Lunch (to include a glass of wine) £30.  House & Grounds £7.50.  TOTAL £53.50 per person

Non-National Trust Members: Coach £16.  Lunch (to include a glass of wine) £30.  House & Grounds £32.70. TOTAL £78.70 per person

Travel by Coach – departing:

Pangbourne: 10.00am (opposite village hall). 

Goring: 10.15 am (at Goring Station).

We will leave Waddesdon at 16.30, stopping at Goring and Pangbourne only.  No individual drop-offs.

The Visit is limited to 45 members and places will be on a first come/first served basis, and is dependent on receipt of full payment by cheque. Please complete the booking form and return to Elspeth Lockwood together with your cheque. The booking form has been emailed to members.  

Berkeley Castle is one of the March Castles, built to keep out the Welsh.  It has all the trappings to match: trip steps designed to make the enemy stumble during an assault, arrow slits, murder holes, enormous barred doors, slots where the portcullis once fell, and worn stones where sentries stood guard.   It is also a fairy-tale Castle with its warm pink stone that glows in soft sunset light. Outside, the battlements drop some 60' to the Great Lawn below; but inside the Inner Courtyard, the building is on a human scale, with uneven battlements, small towers, doors and windows of every shape and size.  The surrounding land would have been flooded for defence. English history has been lived out within these walls. It was the last place of residence of King Edward II, who was imprisoned in the castle and murdered within its walls.  The Castle has been used as a filming location for many period dramas including Wolf Hall and The Other Boleyn Girl.

For more than 850 years it has been the home of the Berkeley family. The Family is the only English family still in existence in England that can trace its ancestors from father to son back to Saxon times.

The terraced gardens are filled with unusual plants.  The Walled Garden Cafe serves hot and cold drinks, cakes, snacks and light lunches and the gift shop is full of a great selection of castle mementos and locally sourced produce.   The Estate consists of 6,000 acres, and includes one of the best examples of a mediaeval deer park in the country.

Please note that this is a Norman Castle retaining many of its original features.  As a result, there is limited wheelchair access due to the many steps, staircases and uneven floors throughout the Castle and gardens.

Cost per person:  £30

Transport:  By coach. 

Depart:  Goring:  08.30 am (at Goring Station).

Pangbourne: 08.45 am (opposite village hall). 

We will depart from Berkeley Castle at 16.00, stopping at Pangbourne and Goring only. 

The Visit is limited to 45 members and places will be on a first come/first served basis, and is dependent on receipt of full payment by cheque. Please complete the booking form and return to Elspeth Lockwood together with your cheque. The booking form has been emailed to members. 

Owned by the Spencer family since it was built nearly 500 years ago, this magnificent family home contains one of Europe’s finest private collections of furniture, paintings and ceramics with each intriguing room having a fascinating story of its own.  There are lovely gardens to explore with the serpentine lake and summerhouse, which is a memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales. The imposing stables are the home of the 'Diana: a celebration' exhibition.

Transport by coach will be from either Pangbourne or Goring.  The cost per person is £38. Places are limited to 40. 

To book please complete the booking form, and send, together with your cheque, to Elspeth Lockwood – address on the form.  Places will be on allocated on a first come, first served basis, and is dependent on receipt of full payment.  Telephone reservations will not be accepted.

The Committee is delighted to offer a new programme of visits after two years, beginning on Wednesday, 11th May to Upton House and Gardens, (near Banbury), the beloved country home of the Jewish philanthropist, collector and Chairman of Shell, Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted, and his family. Remodelled in the 1930s as a weekend retreat, with its modern comforts, gardens and outstanding collections of paintings and porcelain, Upton was about beauty and pleasure.

An elusive, private man but one of great generosity, Lord Bearsted’s concern for people and the world around them is reflected at Upton in his choice of paintings.  Guests of Lord and Lady Bearsted, visiting Upton, were struck by the combination of warmth and charm they encountered in their hosts and which they felt in the house itself. 

By the end of his life the world had changed immensely.  Lord Bearsted wanted the collections and gardens he and Lady Bearsted lovingly created to be kept together for future generations to ‘love, appreciate and respect’, so he gave them and Upton House to the National Trust.  The world has changed greatly again since 1948. We see Upton and the collections through eyes shaped by new technologies, new fashions and cultures.

In addition to exploring the house and gardens, The Pavilion Café serves hot and cold drinks, light refreshments and lunches.  Upton House shop and garden centre sell a variety of goods and plants.

Cost per person:  £20 for National Trust members. (Please remember to bring your NT card on the day).  £32 for non-Trust members.

Transport:  By coach.  Depart: 9 am Pangbourne (outside village hall).  9.15 am Goring Station.

Leave Upton House at approximately 4-4.30 pm

The Visit is limited to 40 members and places will be on a first come/first served basis, and is dependent on receipt of of completed booking form and full payment by cheque.  

  The tour will be at 2.30pm via Zoom. Details of how to access the lecture will be sent to members beforehand.

'Join Sophie Campbell, with her camera for a live jaunt along fabulous Fleet Street'

To most people Fleet Street is synonymous with journalism -  and while the presses, newspapers and hackers have moved on, the buildings remain.

Sophie's walking tour will give us a new view of a very well known Street, fingers crossed it doesn't rain.

The Tour Guide is SOPHIE CAMPBELL a London Blue Badge Guide

Although the Covid-curtain has come down in the West End and we have not been able to physically visit our theatres, we are able to raise the curtain again virtually, as we explore the fascinating story of London’s legendary theatreland.

On our ‘tour’ we will explore the story of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane – birthplace of the ‘West End’ and the oldest theatre site in London.  Visit a theatre that never closed, even during the war.  Take a stroll down Shaftesbury Avenue, the Broadway of the West End, with six theatres on one street.  Look at the ‘Actors Church’ also known as the ‘My Fair Lady church’.  Hear about the movers and shakers whose legacy lives on in theatres named in their honour: Garrick, Coward and Novello.

 Add to this a sprinkling of showbiz gossip and discover the origins of phrases like ‘ham acting’ and ‘winging it’.

 The tour is scheduled to take place at 2.00pm. 

 Join us on a “tour” of one of our Royal Palaces, Hampton Court – all without having to venture into the cold and dark of a January day.  We will be joining Historic Royal Palace Guide Lecturer, Siobhan Clarke, as we step inside Hampton Court Palace. Through a range of visual images we will progress through courtyards, rooms and galleries to discover the food, dress, tapestries and art collections of the Tudor Court and hear how Henry VIII exchanged gifts at New Year.

 The tour is scheduled to take place at 2.00pm.   Members will be sent the link via email two days or so before that date.  Please keep a watch on your mail box.

CANCELLED

Althorp House was built in 1508, by the Spencer Family, for the Spencers, as it has remained for the last 500 years.  Althorp contains one of the finest private collections of art, furniture and ceramics in the world, including numerous paintings by Rubens, Reynolds, Lely, Gainsborough and Van Dyck.

Having one family in one home for five centuries has presented many opportunities for members of the line to leave behind their mark.

Sir John Spencer was the founder of Althorp and provided what was to become a home for the next 19 generations

Sir Robert Spencer, reputed to be the richest man in England was born at Althorp.  Sarah (Jennings) Marlborough was one of the most influential women of her time and married John Churchill (1st Duke of Marlborough). Her daughter Anne married Charles Spencer who was the owner of Althorp and secured the fortunes of the Spencers by bequeathing huge wealth to her grandson, John, father of the First Earl Spencer.

Today Althorp is the resting place of Diana, the late Princess of Wales, her childhood home.

BOOKING  MAY  AND  JUNE

CANCELLED

Madresfield Court has been the home of the Lygon family for nearly 900 years, the first known house being recorded in the C12th.

Madresfield lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills and runs between Malvern and the River Severn.  It was substantially rebuilt and enlarged in Tudor times and again in Victorian times.

Madresfield was also the seat of the Earls Beauchamp whose title died out in 1979 on the death of the 8th Earl.   Mrs Chenevix-Trench, the current occupier with her husband and four children is the great niece of the 8th Earl and her children are the 29th generation of the same family to live in Madresfield Court.

The interior of the house is noted for the many examples of the Arts & Crafts movement and the library contains about 8000 books and with many examples from William Morris’ Kelmscott Press.

The Firs, birthplace of Sir Edward Elgar is most definitely home to “Land of Hope and Glory”.  Set in sight of his beloved Malvern Hills, this small family home in the village of Lower Broadheath is the perfect environment for nurturing a creative genius

BOOKING APRIL AND MAY

CANCELLED

Berkeley Castle was built by the Berkeley family in 1153 who, 27 generations on, still live there today.  Over the centuries it has changed from a fortress to a family home in the town of Berkeley Gloucestershire.

Travel through time and history, from the Keep, with its dungeon and the cell where Edward II is said to have been murdered, to the Drawing Rooms, with their fine upholstery, chandeliers and silver lamps.  Visitors can see superb silver, paintings from the 16th-20th centuries, fine furniture and a unique spider’s-web ceiling. 

Stroll in the terraced gardens, filled with unusual plants, and walk among free-flying butterflies in the Tropical Butterfly House.  Berkeley Castle has  received many royal guests ever since including  Edward II, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, the late Queen Mother and the Countess of Wessex.

BOOKING  MARCH  AND APRIL

Knole is one of the most important historic houses in Britain.  It has passed through the hands of archbishops, kings and many generations of the Sackville family. 

What we see today is a remarkably preserved and complete early Jacobean remodelling of a medieval archiepiscopal palace. From an even older manor house, it was built and extended by the Archbishops of Canterbury after 1456. It then became a royal possession during the Tudor dynasty when Henry VIII hunted here and Elizabeth I visited.

From 1603, Thomas Sackville made it the aristocratic treasure house for the Sackville family, who were prominent and influential in court circles. Knole's showrooms were designed to impress visitors and to display the Sackville family’s wealth and status.

Highlights include paintings by Reynolds and Gainsborough, the Spangle Bedroom with its magnificent textiles embellished with hundreds of silver gilt sequins, rare silver furniture in the King’s Room, the C17 “Kussencasat” discovered in pieces in the attics and painstakingly rebuilt and the famous C17 Knole Sofa with its distinctive high back and sides. 

BOOKING FEBRUARY AND  MARCH

Waddesdon Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild between 1874  and 1885 to display his collection of arts and to entertain the fashionable world.  It opened to the public in 1959 and is home to the Rothschild Collections of painting, sculpture and decorative arts.

The decorated East Wing and Bachelors’ Wing this year takes inspiration from traditional carols to contemporary Christmas songs with dazzling decorations and trees sparkling with lights.  An amazing light installation can be seen in the Coach House and the gardens illuminated with sparkling lights and colour.  Christmas stalls indulging in celebratory foods to tempt you and the Manor’s façade bathed in light with two unique shows.

We first lunch at the Five Arrows Hotel – a Grade II listed building at the gates of Waddesdon Manor, built on the site of an old Coaching Inn.  Its name is derived from the Rothschild family emblem of a shield surmounted by five arrows, pointing upward and tied with a ribbon.  Built in 1887 as part of the Waddesdon Estate and architecturally it is one of the most striking buildings in the village.

BOOKING OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER

Chartwell was the much loved Churchill family home from 1922 and the place from which Sir Winston drew inspiration until the end of his life.

The rooms remain much as they were when he lived here, with pictures, books and personal mementoes evoking the career and wide-ranging interests of a great statesman, writer, painter and family man.

The hillside gardens reflect Sir Winston’s love of the landscape and nature.  The lakes he created, the kitchen garden and the Marycot, a playhouse designed for his youngest daughter, Mary.

Churchill was an avid amateur painter, painting over 500 canvasses in total. A large collection are housed at Chartwell and hang from the walls in the studio.

BOOKING  JUNE  and  SEPTEMBER

The Royal Pavilion is an exotic palace with a colourful history.  Built as a seaside pleasure palace for King George IV, this historic house mixes Regency grandeur with the visual style of India and China.  It has also served as a civic building and First World War hospital.

Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales who became the Prince Regent in 1811.  It is built in the Indo-Saracenic style prevalent in India for the most of the C19th, with its domes and minarets.  The current appearance of the Pavilion, with its domes and minarets is the work of architect John Nash, who extended the building starting in 1815.

BOOKING May and September

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was formed in 1947 on the site of the former Royal Military College from a merger between it and the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, which trained officers for the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers from 1741 to 1939.

Our visit will concentrate on a talk on the History of Sandhurst and the Sandhurst Collection.  We will visit the Le Marchant Room, Indian Army Memorial Room, Grand Entrance, Parade Ground,  Anna Redwood Paintings, the Roman Catholic Chapel and the Royal Memorial Chapel.

BOOKING MARCH AND APRIL2019

This major exhibition brings together 40 works by Vincent van Gogh to reveal how he was inspired by Britain and how he inspired British artists

Van Gogh and Britain presents the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings in the UK for nearly a decade. Some of his most famous works will be brought together from around the world – including Shoes, Starry Night on the Rhône, L'Arlésienne, and two works he made while a patient at the Saint-Paul Asylum, At Eternity’s Gate and Prisoners Exercising. They will be joined by the very rarely lent Sunflowers from London’s National Gallery.

Van Gogh lived in England as a young man for several crucial years. He walked the streets alone, dreaming of the future. He fell in love with British culture, especially the novels of Charles Dickens and George Eliot. And he was inspired by the art he saw here, including paintings by Constable and Millais which are featured in the exhibition. They affected his paintings throughout his career.

The exhibition also looks at the British artists who were inspired by Van Gogh, including Francis Bacon, David Bomberg, and the young Camden Town painters. It shows how his vision set British artists on the road to modern art.

BOOKING FEBRUARY AND MARCH

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (otherwise known as The Indian Temple Neasden) is Europe’s first traditional Hindu Temple and a masterpiece of traditional Hindu design and exquisite workmanship that rises serenely amid London's iconic skyline.

Using 5,000 tonnes of Italian Carrara and Indian Ambaji marble and the finest Bulgarian limestone, it was hand-carved in India before being assembled in London, a masterpiece of exquisite Indian design and workmanship in the heart of London.  Marvel at the intricate marble and wooden carvings, experience a traditional Hindu prayer ceremony, and learn about the world’s oldest living faith from the ‘Understanding Hinduism’ exhibition.

BOOKING NOVEMBER AND JANUARY

Strawberry Hill House was purchased by Horace Walpole in 1747 (then a couple of cottages  on the banks of the Thames in fashionable Twickenham) and transformed them into his vision of a “little Gothic castle” with pinnacles, battlements and a round tower and Strawberry Hill House was born becoming a tourist attraction in Walpole’s lifetime and beyond.  The popularity of Strawberry Hill House was a key contributing factor in the emergence of Gothic Revival architecture that grew throughout the C18th and C19th, taking its inspiration from gothic cathedrals around Europe. 

This exhibition brings back to Strawberry Hill some of the most important masterpieces in Horace Walpole’s famous and unique collection.  Horace Walpole’s collection was one of the most important of the C18th.  It was dispersed in a great sale in 1842.  For the first time in over 170 years, Strawberry Hill can be seen as Walpole conceived it, with the collection shown in their original positions.

BOOKING  NOVEMBER  AND  JANUARY

Osborne House was built between 1845 and 1851 to provide Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with a private family home.  It was built in the Italianate style in order to fit its setting on an island whose temperate climate and panoramic views over the Solent reminded Prince Albert of the Bay of Naples.  Osborne has all the elements of an Italian house: the palazzo style, the picturesque silhouette with its pair of towers and the terrace connected by flights of steps.  The terraces with their outstanding views are one of Osborne's most successful features.

The Indian collection contains gifts and acquisitions to celebrate Queen Victoria's role as Empress of India and the Swiss Cottage in the grounds was built as an educational tool for the royal children for them to grow fruit, flowers and vegetales.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent many enjoyable hours with their family on the beach at Osborne.  Enjoy the magnificent views across the Solent.

Queen Victoria is the only woman ever to have ruled over a third of the earth, and she and Albert bought Osborne in 1845 away from the bustle and prying eyes of London.

It was here Victoria and Albert raised their children, and where Victoria retreated to grieve after the death of her beloved husband and where she died on 22 January 1901.

Kings Cross Station was built as the London hub of the Great Northern Railway.  The first temporary passenger station opened in 1850 in the Midland Goods Shed.  Among the passengers was Queen Victoria who left for Scotland from here in 1851.

It has now been renovated and expanded to accommodate the unprecedented numbers taking to the railways.  The bright new concourse is the largest single-span structure in Europe.  It opened in March 2012 to welcome the world for the Olympics.

St Pancras Station was built in 1866-8 as the London terminus of the Midland Railway.

The Midland Grant Hotel was a gothic masterpiece, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and the last and most extravagant of the great railway hotels.

An £850m investment has established St Pancras as a major transport hub and now the glamorous new home of Eurostar.  The Midland Grand has been restored and is now the five star St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.

Andrew Davies will guide us through the extraordinary transformation of "old railway lands", inside the hotel and the fabulous visitor centre.

Arundel Castle is a well preserved Norman Castle and has the same figure of 8 plan as Windsor Castle.  The Castle was founded on Christmas Day 1067 when William the Conqueror, having successfully invaded England and won the throne, held his first Christmas Court at Gloucester.  There he rewarded one of his trusted supporters, Roger de Montgomery, a third of Sussex on condition he built a defensive castle.  His supporters built Arundel on the south coast, Dover in Kent and Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight as a deterrent to future cross-Channel invasions.  Since 1138 the Castle passed through three related families.  It came to the Howards in the reign of Quee Elizabeth I through the marriage of Lady Mary Fitzalan, daughter of the 12th Earl of Arundel, to the 4th Duke of Norfolk who founded in 1380 the Fitzalan Chapel at the Caste, the burial palace of the Dukes of Norfolk.

The present house within the Norman fortifications was developed in the C18th and C19th by successive Dukes of Norfolk and is now full of the treasures brought from their former family homes.

The gardens are a special feature and in May Arundel is renowned for the wonderful tulips.

Highclere is an area that is believed to have been inhabited since prehistoric times and the Castle itself stands on the site of an earlier house, that in turn was built on the foundations of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Winchester, who owned this estate from the C8th.  After the Reformation, Highclere passed to the Fitzwilliam, Kingsmill and Lucy families and purchased by Sir Robert Sawyer (Attorney General to Charles II and James II).  He bequeathed the house and estate to this daughter in 1692 and her marriage to the 8th Earl of Pembroke brought Highclere to the Herbert family, ancestors of the Earls of Carnarvan.

The 5th Earl of Carnarvon participated in funded excavations in Egypt from 1907 until his death in 1923 and the Exhibition recalls the discoverey in 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Highclere has history, the Egyptian Museum, wonderful gardens and, of course, Downton Abbey!

Discover the legendary art collection of Charles I.  For the first time since the C17th King Charles I amassed one of the most extraordinary art collections of his age, acquiring works by some of the finest artists of the past - Titian, Mantegna, Holbein, Durer and commissioning leading contemporary artists such as Van Dyck and Rubens.

Following the King's execution in 1649, his collection was sold off and scattered across Europe.  While many works were retrieved by Charles II during the Restoration, others now form the core of museums such as the Louvre and the Prado.

Charles I:  King and Collector will reunite the greatest masterpieces of this magnificent collection for the first time.  Celebrating its breadth and grandeur, it will include over 100 works of art, ranging from classical sculptures to Baroque paintings, and from exquisite miniatures to monumental tapestries.  In showing these works together, the exhibition will demonstrate the radical impact they had at the time and shed light on how they fostered a vibrant visual culture that was hitherto unknown in England

The American Museum in Britain opened to the public in 1961 - the achievement of four colleagues: Dr Pratt (an American psychiatrist and collector) , John Judkyn (a British born antiques dealer), Nick Bell Knight (a furniture restorer employed at Judkyn's business in Britain) and Ian McCallum, the Museum's first Director - a transatlantic alliance.  Collecting for the Museum began in 1958, each piece testifying to the artistry of Americans and how these people lived in the past.  Panelling and floors were shipped over to Britain, enabling period roms from demolished buildings in America to be reconstructed within the spacious interiors of Claverton Manor.

Many decades on, the American Museum in Britain remains the only Museum outside the United States to showcase the decorative arts of America.  It takes you on a journey through the history of America from its early settlers to the C20th.  With its remarkable collection of folk and decorative arts, the Museum shows the diverse and complex nature of American tradition.  The only Museum of Americana outside the United States, it was founded to bring American history and cultures to the people of Britain and Europe.

The Bath Christmas Market is one of the most popular events in the UK with more than 170 beautifully decorated wooden chalets in the heart of Bath's World Heritage Site.

The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Museum in London tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain's first home for abandoned children.  The museum houses the nationally important Foundling Hospital Art Collection as well as the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, the world's greatest privately amassed collection of Handel memorabilia.

The museum examines the work of the Foundling Hospital's founder Thomas Coram, as well as the artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frederick Handel, both major benefactors of the institution.  It also illustrates how the Foundling Hospital's charity work for children still carries on today through the child care organisation Coram.

Hogarth House is the former country home of the C18th artist William Hogarth in Chiswick.  Hogarth's House contains an extensive collection of Hogarth's prints and engravings and has been restored to tell the history of his life and the building.

Rodmarton Manor is the supreme example of a house built and all its furniture made according to Arts and Crafts ideals and was one of the last country houses to be built and furnished in the old traditional stye when everything was done by hand with local stone, local timber and local craftsmen.

Ernest Barnsley and the Cotswold group of Craftsmen, who built and furnished the house for Claud and Margaret Biddulph, beginning in 1909, were responsible for the revival of many traditional crafts in the Cotswolds which were in danger of dying out over the twenty years that it took to build the house.

Owlpen Manor, home of Sir Nicholas and Lady Mander, has long been recognised as one of the most romantic Tudor manor houses in southern England.  The house dates from 1450 to 1616, with careful Cotswld Arts and Crafts repairs of 1926, when the house was saved from ruin after over 80 years of dereliction.  

This visit follows our lecture on 'The Good Life' - Gimson and the Barnsleys - Inventing the Cotswold Style.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is home to three historic British warships: Henry VII's doomed flagship Mary Rose, Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, and the world's first iron battleship, HMS Warrior.

The Mary Rose is the only 16th century warship on display anywhere in the world.  Explore Henry VIII's favourite warship - raised from the Solent and carefully conserved for future generations.  The story of the Mary Rose is one of the most fascinating in naval history.  Battles fought against the French for over 30 years before sinking off the coast of Portsmouth in 1545 and then being raised from the seabed more than 470 years later and of her meticulous conservation.  Her dramatic story is revealed inside the purpose-built Museum (opened in May 2013).

Visit the National Museum of the Royal Navy and enjoy a Harbour tour to complete your day.

We begin our day with a visit to Charleston, home from 1916 to Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, and the contemporary retreat for artists and writers known as the Bloomsbury Group.

The second part of our day will be a visit to Farley Farm House in Muddles Green which became the home to Roland Penrose and Lee Miller.  These two houses conjure up a wonderful picture of almost a centure of British Modernism and Surrealism.  

This visit follows our lecture last year with Anthony Penrose, son of Roland and Lee Miller on Farley Farm.

Shakespeare's Globe and Tate Modern:  Bankside's foremost attractions, have teamed up to offer a very special cultural joint package for DFAS groups.

The Globe Theatre, founded by Sam Wanamaker, is a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Elizabethan playhouse.  The Exhibition explores the story of the theatre bringing Shakespeare's world to life, using displays and live demonstrations.  A guided tour of the Globe Theatre is included recreating colourful stories of the 1599 Globe, together with an Elizabethan dressing demonstration using clothes from the Globe Theatre wardrobe.

After lunch we visit neighbourng Tate Modern, housed in the former Bankside Power Station, where we have a private one hour tour of the galleries with an expert Tate Guide.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is one of the three towering genuises who created the style we know today as the "Baroque" - together with Caracci and Bernini.  The Exhibition is devoted to the remarkable influence he had on European artists who descended on Rome in the late C16 and C17.

This major exhibition (Beyond Caravaggio) explores the influence of Caravaggio on the art of his contemporaries and his followers.

WAITING LIST ONLY.

GADFAS

THE WALLACE COLLECTION

FRIDAY  8 JULY 2016

Our visit to The Wallace Collection follows our lecture in May on “The Founders and Treasures of The Wallace Collection” with Stephen Duffy.  The Collection, housed in an historic London town house, contains 25 galleries of unsurpassed displays of French C18th painting and porcelain with superb Old Master paintings and world class armoury.  

We will have a guided tour of the highlights of the Collection, followed by lunch (not included) in The Wallace Collection's stunning courtyard restaurant, the glamorous location for Peyton and Byrne's French-style brasserie, in a sublime setting.  After lunch, you are free to revisit the collection of your choice at leisure.

BOOKING  MAY  AND  JUNE

GADFAS

BATH – A WORLD HERITAGE CITY

 WITH  JANE  TAPLEY

THURSDAY  9 JUNE  2016

A tour of Bath with NADFAS lecturer, Jane Tapley, including a guided tour of the Theatre Royal, a visit to the Roman Baths and the Abbey, and a panoramic City tour finishing with tea at the Holburne Museum.  This visit follows our Study Day with Jane Tapley on “Bath – A World Heritage City” in March.

BOOKING APRIL AND MAY

GADFAS

CHENIES MANOR  and  HUGHENDEN MANOR

“Royalty and Politicians”

THURSDAY  5 MAY  2016

It is appropriate in our 30th anniversary year to visit Chenies Manor, a charming Tudor Manor House, with its award-winning gardens, where NADFAS was founded 50 years ago by Patricia Fay.  Chenies Manor was built by Sir John Cheyne in 1460.  Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, accompanied by their Courts, visited on several occasions.

Hughenden Manor offers a vivid insight into the charismatic personality and colourful private life of the most unlikely Victorian Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who lived here from 1848 to 1881.  A secret wartime past is revealed in the Second World War room in the cellars, and we discover why Hughenden was high on Hitler's hit list.

BOOKING  MARCH  AND  APRIL

GADFAS TRIP TO ELTHAM PALACE AND RANGER’S HOUSE

 Wednesday 13 April 2016

This trip was advertised as ‘Glamour and Glitz’.  What to expect??

When we arrived at Eltham Palace we walked over the North Moat bridge and found extraordinary buildings.  One was a medieval royal palace and the other an ultra-modern design using the latest technology built in the 1930s by the Courtaulds.

Potted History of Eltham Palace

The manor of Eltham was recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 as being in the possession of Odo, bishop of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror.  By the early 14 century, Eltham had become one of the largest and most frequented royal residences in the country.  Edward III spent much of his youth here.  He established the Order of the Garter in 1348, the oldest surviving order of chivalry in Europe.  Richard II created a garden on the south side of the palace 'for the king and queen to have dinner there in the summer time', as well as a dancing chamber and a new bathhouse in the king's apartments.

Henry IV spent Christmases as king at Eltham.  After 1450 he built a set of two-storey lodgings for his queen, Joan of Navarre.  In 1450 lightning destroyed part of the west front, including Bek's hall.  As Eltham was a favourite residence of Edward IV, he tasked Roger Appleton to repair the building.  He removed the remains of Bek's hall and built the surviving great hall between 1475 and 1480.  Edward IV also rebuilt the timber north bridge in stone.  One of the most lavish feasts ever held in the palace was at Christmas 1482 during Edward IV's last visit to Eltham.

Eltham continued to be frequented by the court until well into the 16th century.  During Henry VII's reign the palace served as a nursery for the princes and princesses and by the 1520s extensive works were in progress for Henry VIII.  Cardinal Wolsey took the oath of office of lord chancellor in the chapel at Eltham before the king on Christmas Eve 1515.  Eltham was one of only six palaces large enough to accommodate and feed the entire court.  However, during the 1530s, Henry VIII had a preference for Hampton Court and the court moved westwards.  He was the last monarch to spent time at Eltham.  Queen Elizabeth I only visited Eltham occasionally and James I found the palace in decay by 1603 so he had substantial repairs carried out.  Charles I was the last king to visit the palace.  During the 17th century its buildings were poorly maintained and in 1660 the palace reverted to the Crown.  In the 18th century the palace remains were put to agricultural use and in the 19th century two gentlemen's residences, Eltham Court and Moat House, replaced the farm.  In 1903 'temporary' props were removed and the roof trussed up with steel beams bolted on to the timber.  Between 1911 and 1914, the great hall roof was dismantled and reassembled with steel braces added to strengthen the weakened timbers.  However, the hall was not fully restored until the Courtaulds acquired the site in the 1930s.

Stephen and Virginia Courtauld

In 1933 Stephen and Virginia Courtauld were looking for a more rural property but within easy reach of central London and they took a 99 year lease from the Crown on Eltham.  They commissioned two young architects, Seely and Paget, to design a modern Art Deco house on the site of the 19th century buildings and to renovate the medieval hall.  Their proposal of the exterior was inspired by Wren's Hampton Court Palace and their plan was to conceal the modern exterior materials such as reinforced concrete etc.  Stephen and Virginia also employed a good friend of theirs, Peter Malacrida, to design various parts of the interior of their new home. 

Stephen was one of six children of the Cortauld family empire (manufacturing rayon, then known as artificial silk).  He was educated at Rugby School and King's College, Cambridge but did not join the firm.  Instead he used his inherited fortune to pursue a variety of cultural and philanthropic interests.  Stephen fought in the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross but his time on the battlefield left him with, what today is known as, post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Courtauld's new home had all mod-cons, such as an advanced electricity supply which enabled them to use downlighters, spotlights and concealed lighting to full advantage.  There was a centralised vacuum cleaner system in the basement and the kitchen had two electric cookers as well as a refrigerator (appliances which were rare at that time).  There was also gas used to power the hot water central heating and underfloor heating was installed in the downstairs room layouts.  Guests were delighted to be offered the luxury of en suite bathrooms – very modern.

The entrance hall is lined with Australian blackbean veneer incorporating marquetry panels by Jerk Werkmaster, showing the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence and the church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice.  The hall is triangular in plan with curved sides and the concrete and glass domed roof is spectacular.  An ideal space for entertaining their many ‘great and the good’ guests.  The dining room, designed by Peter Malacrida, exemplifies the sophisticated 'Moderne' style, characterised by geometrical shapes rather than the organic forms of the earlier Art Nouveau.  Malacrida may have been influenced by designs such as the dining room at the Galeries Lafayette, shown at the seminal Paris 'Exposition des Arts Decoratifs' of 1925, from which the term 'Art Deco' came.  The design relies on contrasting tones and textures for effect.  The walls are lined with paper-thin maple flexwood, as are the ceiling cove and picture frames.  A large portion of the ceiling is covered entirely in aluminium leaf on a blue background, with built-in concealed lighting to make the metal shimmer at night.  The striking ebonised doors feature animals and birds and are applied as ivory coloured raised decoration.

Stephen used the house to provide a setting for his art collection including Italian old Masters (Tintoretto, Bellini, Mantegna etc) as well as contemporary artists (classically trained artists from the British School at Rome and Paul Nash etc).  He was also a board member of Ealing Studios and made a significant personal and financial contribution towards the construction and development of the Studios.

Stephen met Virginia Peirano at Courmayeur and they were married in August 1923 in Fiume.  Virginia was born in Romania, the daughter of an Italian father and a Hungarian mother.  They were complete opposites, Ginie was vivacious, unconventional, impulsive and chic.  Stephen, on the other hand, was intensely intellectual, cautious and reserved.

Their mutual passion was to travel, especially on their yacht (Peter Malacrida also designed the interior of the yacht).  They kept detailed diaries of each journey, took photographs and made cine films and Ginie showed the films to the Royal Geographical Society in London.

The Courtaulds also conceived ambitious plans for their gardens at Eltham.  They are a fine example of a 1930s garden still incorporating elements of the medieval palace.  They developed a variety of garden features, including a rock garden, formal rose gardens and a series of garden 'rooms' typical of the period.

They left Eltham in 1944 and the site was occupied by Army educational units until 1992.  English Heritage took over the site in 1995, repairing and restoring the 1930s house and gardens.  In 2015, the rooms of Ginie's nephews, Peter and Paul Peirano, her walk-in wardrobe and the basement rooms were opened to the public, giving a fuller picture of life at Eltham in the 1930s.

We were given an exciting tour of the house by a young English Heritage guide.  He not only gave us a fascinating, detailed and anecdotal account on both Eltham and the Courtaulds but also gave us a sense of Stephen and Ginie's eccentricities and lifestyle.  He was heard to say to one of our party "When I walk across the North Moat bridge every day, I can't wait to come to work in such a wonderful place”.  This might be thought cliche'd but, in his case, he meant every word – lucky English Heritage!!

Afterwards we had an opportunity to walk around the stunning gardens and moat to enjoy and admire the view over to the City.

We came away delighted and awed by what we had seen.  Definitely a place to recommend to others and probably to return.  'Glamour and Glitz' indeed!

RANGER'S HOUSE

Ranger's House is a medium-sized, elegant red-brick Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, adjacent to Greenwich Park.  Since 2002 it has housed the Wernher Collection of art.

We were given a guided tour of the collection.  The Wernher Collection was amassed by the German-born diamond magnate Sir Julius Wernher (1850-1912) in the late 19th and 20th centuries.  There are about 700 works of art on display, occupying twelve rooms, some of which have been decorated to evoke the way the collection was displayed when it was at Bath House, Piccadilly.

The collection includes early religious paintings and Dutch Old Masters but the larger part of the collection consists of an eclectic mix of decorative art, including Renaissance bronzes and silver treasures, tiny carved Gothic ivories, tapestries, furniture and Sevres porcelain, as well as a life-size marble sculpture by Bergonzoli of an angel kissing a semi-nude woman entitled 'The Love of Angels'.

Although the collection was, in the main, chosen by Sir Julius Wernher, we were told by our guide that it was his wife who, being 'upwardly mobile', chose pieces that would reflect their wealth and position.

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This GADFAS trip provided us with an insight to a mixture of styles, personalities and a feast for the eyes and senses.  Thank you for arranging such a successful day, Elspeth.

GADFAS

THE WORLD OF WEDGWOOD

TUESDAY 15 MARCH 2016

The World of Wedgwood opened in July 2015 following a £34M redevelopment.  This award-winninbg museum traces over 250 years of ground-breaking design where we discover Josiah Wedgwood's lasting influence on industry and society.  Designs for the pottery by Eric Ravilious, Jasper Conran and Vera Wang are on display, alongside examples from the Victorian period and notable commissions, in particular one for President Theodore Roosevelt.

We also visit the remodelled factory and see skilled craftsmen shaping, modelling and firing the Wedgwood ware.

BOOKING JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2016

GADFAS

NATIONAL GALLERY – GOYA: THE PORTRAITS

1 DECEMBER 2015

Francisco de Goya is one of Spain’s most celebrated artists and considered a supremely gifted portrait painter, who took the genre of portraiture to new heights through his ability to reveal the psychology of his sitter. 

This landmark exhibition, the first ever focusing solely on Goya’s portraits, will trace Goya’s career at the Court of Charles III in Madrid to his appointment as First Court Painter to Charles IV, through the difficult period under Joseph Bonaparte and Ferdinand VII and his final years in France.  The exhibition brings together more than 50 of his most outstanding paintings from around the world. 

BOOKING  OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER

GADFAS

HOUSE OF LORDS WITH LORD BRADSHAW

MONDAY  9  NOVEMBER  2015 

A privileged opportunity for a guided tour of the House of Lords with Lord Bradshaw, whilst Parliament is sitting, including a talk in a Committee Room, and the opportunity to visit the Gallery to hear the debates of the day.

BOOKING SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER

Snowshill Manor was the property of Winchcombe Abbey from 821 until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 and later became the home of Charles Paget Wade, architect, artist-craftsman, collector, poet and heir to the family fortune from the sugar estates in the West Indies.  Discover his eclectic collection and explore the lovely gardens, including Charles Wade’s uncomplicated home - the Priests House.

Lacock Abbey started as an Abbey and Nunnery and then became a Tudor family home, the last owners being the Talbots. Lacock Abbey is sometimes known as the birthplace of photography where Henry Fox Talbot took the first photographic negative. Step into the atmospheric medieval cloisters and walk back in time. Imagine how the nuns would have spent their days here 800 years ago. Bowood, with its beautiful "Capability" Brown designed parkland gardens, has been home to the Lansdowne family for over 250 years and houses a unique collection of historical artefacts, including Queen Victoria's wedding chair to Napoleon's death mask.

A walking tour of Kenwood House with Andrew Davies, remodelled and extended by Robert Adam, famous for its stunning art collection with works by Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Vermeer, to name but a few. Be awed by the breathtaking interiors and the beauty of Robert Adam's library. After lunch at Kenwood we will walk along Hampstead High Street to see the best parts of Hampstead where the rich and famous live, and the Church where Constable is buried.

The Museum of the Order of St John tells a unique and fascinating story - the story of the Order of St John - from its origin in eleventh century Jerusalem, through to its role today with St John Ambulance and the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem.