Our visit to Nature in Art at Twigworth includes an introductory talk, then an opportunity to explore the various galleries and garden features at leisure.  On the day of our visit a new exhibition will open.  Called ‘Ancient Yesterdays II’, it will feature work by the artist Elizabeth Gray, who died in 2022.  Her reduction linocuts are from a 15-year series ‘Ancient Yesterdays’, some unsigned and untitled, others not previously displayed.

Light lunches are available at the on-site Hayward Coffee Shop, overlooking the sculpture garden.  You can even bring a picnic and use various spots in the garden to enjoy your lunch.

After lunch, our coach will take us to Hellens Manor, reputed to be one of the oldest dwellings in Britain.  It is a mixture of Tudor and Jacobean architecture that has evolved from  original 12th century stonework.  Here we will have exclusive access to the house and gardens.  Our visit includes guided tours of the house where there are examples of Arts Society supported textile conservation projects, portraits by van Dyck, miniatures by Samuel Cooper, as well as fine examples of works by Hogarth and Gainsborough. 

Access into and within the house may not be suitable for some people with reduced mobility. If this may affect you, please email: visits@theartssocietycheltenham.org.uk.

Reflecting the house’s history, the gardens include a yew labyrinth, a rare octagonal dovecote, physic garden, knot garden and wonderful views to the Malvern Hills

Before we leave Hellens Manor, we will have tea/coffee and traditional scones, with jam and cream – all included in your ticket.

The combined whole day visit costs £45 per member or £50 per guest. 

If you wish to join this visit to Nature in Art and Hellens Manor, click here and an email booking form will pop up.  

Type in the required information; then simply click the SEND button on the email to register your interest, and then make your payment to secure your place.

If you have any queries, please email: visits@theartssocietycheltenham.org.uk

Beneath the floor of St Philip & St James, Leckhampton, lies a lesser known solution where locals have been interred and interned in the crypt over time; the former in catacombs, but the latter in a rare columbarium - the first within an English church since the Reformation.

This visit will include a short talk by a local historian on the connections between memorials on the church walls and those laid to rest beneath this floor.  Then visits to the crypt will be in guided groups, with afternoon tea or coffee and cake served whilst we wait for, or after we complete, our visit to these fascinating subterranean spaces.

Please note: Access to the crypt is not suitable for people with reduced mobility. 

Entry to the crypt is only by a short series of high steps (each step approximately twice the height of normal steps) and, as is often the case with such places, headroom is restricted in parts.  A short illustrated talk about the Catacombs and Columbarium will be available to anyone who wishes to join the visit but cannot easily access the crypt. 

The visit will be between 2pm and 4:30pm and cost £15 per person. 

If you wish to join this visit, click here and an email booking form will pop up.  

Type in your name, your telephone number, and the names of up to two guests you wish to invite; then click the SEND button on the email.

You will receive a confirmation email that will provide more information, including bank payment instructions.

If you have any queries, please contact: visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org

Director Carlos Acosta delivers an explosion of Spanish sunshine, spectacular dance and vivacious comedy in this first revival of his 2022 production of Don Quixote.  Full of thrilling ‘pas de deux’ with delightful music played by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia this stunning 19th century masterpiece should not be missed.

Please note this production includes dry ice and haze.

Our visit includes return coach travel from one of our pick-up points (Racecourse Park & Ride, Royal Well Coach Station or Charlton Kings Six Ways).  You will arrive in Birmingham with time to visit other places of interest (Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Cathedral, Library, and National Trust’s Back-to-Backs – are all within walking distance of the theatre) or you may perhaps enjoy a meal before the ballet. 

Our return will be immediately following the end of the performance.

The cost is £75.00 (member) or £80.00 (guest) for coach and theatre performance. 
If you wish to join this visit, click here and an email booking form will pop up. 

Simply type in your name, your telephone number, and the names of up to two guests you wish to invite.  Then click the SEND button on the email.

If for any reason the pop up doesnt work just email the requested information to visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org.  

You will then receive a confirmation email that will provide more information including bank payment instructions.  It will also request your preferred departure and return point and emergency contact details.

If you have any queries, please contact: visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org

Regards,
 
Ash Fawcett
Visits Coordinator – The Arts Society, Cheltenham
 +44 (0) 7472 396294

Christmas is coming and a visit to Waddesdon Manor, the ancestral home of the Rothschilds family, at this festive time is one of the highlights on the National Trust calendar. The visit includes a tour of the House decked out for Christmas, the Christmas Fair and immersive light shows illuminating the House and, a walking light trail through the grounds. Full details on the website. (Waddesdon.org.uk)

The cost, excluding refreshments, is £45.50 for NT members and £64.50 for non-members. Payments can be made by Bank Transfer to  Lloyds Bank Sort code: 30-95-72 Account no: 02351190 quoting reference WADD + your name, or by credit card at a lecture. 

This event is fully booked.

We will stay four nights on a Half Board basis at the 4* Park Royal Hotel in Stretton, conveniently situated for all our excursions to Liverpool and the surrounding area of North Cheshire.  Facilities at the hotel include a restaurant, bar, swimming pool and gymnasium.  All excursions, travel and guided tours are included together with entrance fees to non-National Trust properties.  We will be accompanied by a Blue Badge Guide on days 2 to 4 and will have our own dedicated Executive Coach (Pulhams) and driver throughout.

Visits will include:

Lyme Park

Liverpool - guided tour

Liverpool Cathedral & Metropolitan Roman Catholic Cathedral

Walker Art Gallery - guided tour

Silk Museum and Paradise Mill - guided tour

Quarry Bank Mill and Styall Estate

Port Sunlight Village - guided walking tour

Port Sunlight Museum

Lady Lever Art Gallery - guided tour

RHS Garden Bridgewater - guided tour

For more details and the booking form please click the link below or go to the documents section of this website.

https://www.theartssocietycheltenham.org.uk/DocumentStore/TTM4876%20Cheltenham%20Liverpool%20Cheshire%20lo.pdf

At the turn of the 16th century, three titans of the Italian Renaissance – Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael – briefly crossed paths, competing for the attention of the most powerful patrons in Republican Florence.

On 25 January 1504, Florence’s most prominent artists met to advise on an appropriate location for Michelangelo’s nearly finished David. Among them was Leonardo da Vinci, who – like Michelangelo – had only recently returned to his native Florence.

Starting with Michelangelo’s celebrated Taddei Tondo, this exhibition explores the rivalry between Michelangelo and Leonardo and the influence both had on the young Raphael.

Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in partnership with Royal Collection Trust and the National Gallery, London.''

Transport & Approximate Timings: Executive Coach leaving Cheltenham at 8.30 am arriving at Royal Academy around 10.30 - 11am.  Guided Tour of the exhibition (we’ll be split into two groups) with timed entry at 11.40 and 12 noon. Free time following the tour returning to Cheltenham late afternoon.
Cost:  £45 per person (approx) includes entrance to the Exhibition (£25 for RA members)

If you are paid up members and would like to book places on this visit please email  Colin Hooker at visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org with your name/s also indicating whether you are members of The Royal Academy

Strong interest is anticipated so places will be allocated on a first email reply basis. There will be a wait list after the first 45 applications

Further details, including payment and pick up venues, will be released to those successful applicants in due course.

Rolling hills meet dramatic cliffs in Kent, the garden of England. Orchards & vineyards heavy with fruit demonstrate the fecundity of the land, whicj is dotted with elegant stately homes. A lovely seaside resort provides a perfect base for exploration.

The visit includes a full programme of excursions including:

Standen House & Garden

The Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Hever Castle

Charleston House

All Saints Church, Tudeley

Watts Gallery Artists Village

The Booking Form may be found in the Documents Folder.

Please note that twin/double rooms are available. All single rooms have now been booked.

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Set in the heart of England’s smallest City, Wells is the earliest English Cathedral to be built in the Gothic style and nowhere better displays the increasing skills and achievements of the Master Masons. The Cathedral has been called “unquestionably one of the most beautiful” and “most poetic of all English Cathedrals”. To enhance our visit a private Architecture Tour - Building Architectural Beauty is included. 

There will be free time after the tour to explore more of the Cathedral or perhaps wander the Vicar’s Close the only complete medieval street left in England or possibly pop out to the Wells Street Market held on a Wednesday for some local delicacies for lunch.

No visit to this historical City would be complete without a visit to the adjacent Bishop’s Palace and Gardens. Again, we have a private tour of the Palace booked to learn a little more about the 800 years of its’ history plus plenty of time left to wander their magnificent RHS gardens. 

Please be aware that there is a ten minute walk (each way) over cobblestones from the coach set-down point so comfy shoes please. Otherwise, all areas we are visiting are accessible and other areas can be undertaken at your own risk.

With the normal luxury coach travel and three pick-up points the cost of this visit is just £46 for Members and £49 for Guests. The price also includes coffee/tea on arrival and the two tours mentioned above.  Booking information and how to book can be found in the Documents Folder on our website www.theartssocietycheltenham.org  Any queries before booking please get in touch with Carolyn McQuitty either on visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org or 01242 581291.

This promises to be a day out with lots of options as to what  to do and see as everything is very close by in this England’s smallest City.

The visit is now fully booked but if you would like to add your name to the Waiting List please contact Carolyn McQuitty.

AFTER IMPRESSIONISM

AN EXHIBITION AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON

SUNDAY 4 JUNE 2023    

Likely to be the blockbuster exhibition of the year, an opportunity to include this exciting event during a day at the National Gallery.  “After Impressionism” explores a period of great upheaval when artists broke with tradition and laid the foundation of the art of the 20th and the 21st centuries.

The exhibition celebrates the achievements of three giants of the era: Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin and follows the influences they had on younger generations of French artists, on their peers and on wider circles of artists across Europe. 

With over a hundred works by artists ranging from Klimt and Kokoschka, Matisse and Picasso to Modrian and Kandinsky complemented by a selection of sculpture by artists including Rodin and Camille Claudel, the exhibition follows the creation of a new, modern art, free of convention, taking in Expressionism, Cubism and Abstraction. It includes some of the most iconic works of art created during these decades with important loans from institutions and private collections worldwide.

To avoid the worse of the traffic we will, as we have done before, be going on a Sunday with the three normal pick-up points i.e. Cheltenham Racecourse/Royal Well/Sixways. The cost to TASC members is £65/Guests £69 (see concessions on booking form).

The booking information and procedure can be found on this website under the Our Society tab/Documents. Any queries or help in booking please do not hesitate to contact Carolyn McQuitty on visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org or on 01242 581291.

Our day will be centred on two of the highlights of the Cardiff capital. 

The day will start at Cardiff Castle located in the City centre which dates back to Roman times. There is much to see here. Whilst I doubt many of us will be up for climbing the Norman Keep, I am sure we will thoroughly enjoy our private tour of the Castle's Apartments which are the result of a collaboration between art-architect William Burgess and the 3rd Marquis of Bute in 1865.They are quite amazing. We will have a cup of coffee or tea waiting for us on arrival along with a Welsh cake.

https://www.cardiffcastle.com

We will then move onto the National Museum of Wales (www.museum.wales/cardiff) which is a world-class art and natural history museum boasting something for everyone, whatever their interest and preference. However, as one of their highlights includes Europe's best collections of Impressionism art (allegedly), I am sure that will be particularly appealing to many of us. 

With the normal luxury coach travel and three pick-up points the cost of this visit is just £48 for TASC Members and £52 for Guests (although you will be encouraged to make a donation particularly to the Museum and the coach driver too!). Any queries before booking please get in touch with me, Carolyn either on visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org or 01242 581291.

Our first visit of 2023 will hopefully have some spring sunshine and plenty of daffodils on show. There is already a lot of interest in this trip so don't delay and get that booking form off to me.

BOOKING INFORMATION FOR

VISIT TO CARDIFF CASTLE & NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WALES 

THURSDAY 30 MARCH 2023

Timetable

09.00 Depart from Sixways (in front of Co-op store)

09.10 Depart Royal Well Coach Station

09.20  Depart Arle Court Park & Ride*

11.00  Arrive at Cardiff Castle

12.10  Private Tour of the Castle's Apartments

13.30  Move to National Museum of Wales 

16.30 Coach leaves coach park for return to Cheltenham (e.t.a. approximately18.30) 

* There is a £6 parking charge at Arle Court –  for details of how to pay please go to www.gloucester.gov.uk/transport/parkandrideguide 

Tickets:     £48.00 for TASC Members (£35 if an Art Pass Member)

                   £52.00 for Guests (£39 if an Art Pass Member)

Payment may be made by either of the following methods:

Cheque payable to The Arts Society Cheltenham and sent to address below 

or by Bank Transfer to

Lloyds Bank Sort Code: 30-95-72 Account no: 02351190

Please add your surname and quote reference 'Cardiff' which ever payment method you use.

The following information is required to complete your application and comply with AS insurance requirements. To book please send the required information either by e-mail to visits.cheltenham@theartssociety or post to the address given below. Thank you.

Member Name(s)                

Guest Name(s)

Member's E-mail address

Member's Mobile number

For Member - Name and Tel.Number of a contact in case of an emergency on the day

For Guest -  Name and Tel.Number of a contact in case of an emergency on the day

* Please confirm which of the three pick-up points you will be leaving from i.e. Sixways//Royal Well/Arle Court with submission e-mail/letter.

If submitting cheque and/or required information by post and you would like confirmation of the allocation of a place by post please enclose a s.a.e. 

When both payment and information are received a confirmation e-mail of acknowledgement will be sent. As soon as the minimum number of travellers is reached a confirmation e-mail will be sent to all participants.  

Email to:      visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org

Post to: Carolyn McQuitty 59 Century Court Montpellier Grove Cheltenham GL50 2XR            

Telephone:    01242 581291 or 07967638593

Firstly, we will head off to visit the iconic Coventry Cathedral. Included is a conducted tour with time to reflect and admire this symbol of peace and reconciliation in these troubled times.

Then we go onto Compton Verney -  an extra ordinary place filled with beauty and inspiration both inside and out. Our entry here includes not only access to the main galleries and two special exhibitions but also to their Christmas Gift Market holding 20 handcrafted boutique stalls housed in a large heated candy cane striped big top. Also featured is Digbeth Dining Club with some of the West Midlands best street food chefs to warm you from inside and yet more gift ideas.

So, to get your festive season started why not come along for a day of two parts. The tickets are 

TASC Members £56/Guests £61. 

Members of Compton Verney £41/Guests £46.. Art Fund Members £50/£55.

As usual there will be three pick-up points starting at Sixways @ 08.15 and we expect to be back in Cheltenham at about 18.00.

To reserve your place/s please e-mail visits.cheltenham@theartssociety.org. Carolyn will confirm your places and advise re payment etc when the minimum number of  travellers has been reached.

Any immediate questions, you can telephone Carolyn on 01242 581291

On a bright sunny morning 34 members and guests started our journey to finally go on our long awaited tour. Our first stop was at the King Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester and what a treat we were in for. Arriving early, the staff couldn't have been more welcoming and after we had eaten them out of cheese and cherry scones we had an absorbing experience learning firstly the history of Richard III  how they eventually rediscovered his remains and the technology they used to reinstate his place in history. Unfortunately, Leicester Cathedral was closed for restoration but we had an excellent presentation from members of the Richard III Society which completed the story. We all felt that a visit to Leicester Cathedral when it reopens would  be something very worth doing. 

When we arrived at our hotel, where we would stay for four nights, we discovered it was adjacent to the Harrogate Convention Centre where a congress was being held. This made the hotel very busy and as we experience elsewhere it is taking time for establishments to get back to full capacity. However, the staff were cheerful and worked hard so apart from a long wait at the bar that first night it proved a good central location to enjoy this lovely spa town which had more than one reference to an earlier spa town – Cheltenham! 

The next day, firstly we visited Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens. The ruins of the former showed it's magnificence and our excellent guide drew a wonderful picture of  its previous life  and how the monks lived their lives. Studley Royal Water Gardens  are elegant Georgian water gardens created in the 18th Century. The vistas were breathtaking and the gardens were a wonderful display of formal landscaping. In the afternoon, we moved onto Harewood House – one of the ten magnificent “Treasurer Houses of England” and the arts collections displayed here are some of the finest to be found in Britain as we can vouch for. 

On the Saturday, we were in for totally different experiences leaping into 20th Century and able to enjoy work by some some of its very best British exponents. With the benefit of a very excellent Study Day held in Cheltenham before we went, it was particularly exciting to see works by Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Henry Moore at first hand. The Hepworth at Wakefield is set within Wakefield's historic waterfront and as well as its permanent displays we were able to see a specialist exhibition by Sheila Hicks one of the world's foremost investigators of colour form and texture which was of much interest to many of our members. We then moved onto the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, an open-air gallery set in the parkland of Bretton Hall, presenting an innovative display of “art without walls”. Blessed by a warm sunny day, we enjoyed the fresh air and had plenty of that as most of us found the map too confusing to find our way round to put it mildly! 

On Sunday, we had an optional tour to RHS Harlow Carr which the majority enthusiastically joined. Obviously spring comes a little later in North Yorkshire and the gardens and displays were a feast of colour. The fact that it was also our first opportunity to visit Betty's Tea Room wasn't something lost on our members either and many enjoyed their morning coffee there often accompanied by a fat rascal! The afternoon was at leisure and many took the chance to discover more about Harrogate or explored it's rather smart shopping centre and oh yes – yet another visit to Betty's for afternoon tea and cream cakes!!

Monday came around all too fast and time to make our way back to Cheltenham but not without discovering more about Wakefield Cathedral which apparently boasts the tallest spire in Yorkshire, It also had an unique mobile pulpit which, if not seriously used, could make the Bishop look like a Dalek on a mission! And our final gem was the Chantry Chapel on the original toll bridge over the River Calder. One of just three surviving Bridge chantries remaining in the country it was a delightful conclusion to our trip. 

Boarding our coach for the last time, our driver gleefully announced that as we were leaving a little early we should miss the worst of the traffic on the way home so with a bit of luck could be getting back an hour or so earlier. Never tempt fate  – an incident had just closed the M1 at Sheffield so instead we were two hours later than hoped!! However, nothing could dampen our spirits after such a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting tour. Having first proposed the tour some 30 months earlier, it was rewarding that so many committed to coming. It was even more rewarding to see how people came together and the happy and friendly group we became. Everyone was co-operative and everything went so smoothly as a result. Our Society certainly benefited from the friendships forged and goodwill felt by the group. Feedback from participants was very complimentary and most can't wait to do something similar next year!

Thanks must also go to Success Tours who devised our programme for us and in particular Lisa Starr who worked diligently to ensure every detail was covered and supplied copious notes so we knew what we had to do. Also, our ever cheerful and helpful coach driver from Pulhams – Justin. His efforts to ensure our journeys were not only safe but we used the best route to get to our destinations made all the difference.

Carolyn McQuitty

Visits Organiser