Cricklade Church © 2006 David Hoad

Judith and Elizabeth Tours

  

 

 

Who
 
Where
 
How

 2006
  Wednesday 8th
February 2006		   JUDITH   SNOWDROPS AT BENINGTON AND ROMAN BATHS - HERTFORDSHIRE    
         
      The Georgian house known as Benington Lordship is on the site of a Norman Castle: there is a moat covered in snowdrops. The 7-acre garden overlooks lakes and park-land. Included in the visit is coffee and biscuits. Our afternoon visit is to the Roman Baths at Welwyn Garden City, ingeniously preserved in a vault underneath the A1. We have a guided tour and then visit the Mill Green Museum. The mill will actually be working on our visit. The curator will show us round the galleries which contain roman artefacts and items of local history.  
  Tuesday 14th
March 2006		   JUDITH   CHEAM VILLAGE - SUTTON WHITEHALL & THE LUMLEY CHAPEL     
         
      We have a guided tour of Whitehall, a wattle and daub, yeoman farmer’s house dating back to the 16th century. It is covered by 18th century weatherboarding. We also visit the 13th century Lumley chapel in the grounds of the nearby local parish church. Lord Lumley and his wife Jane, who are buried there, were residents of King Henry Viii’s nearby Nonsuch Palace. Tea and cake are included in the visit.  
  Saturday 18th
March 2006		   ELIZABETH   ISLE OF GRAIN, ROCHESTER AND ISLE OF SHEPPEY, WITH W.I. TEA - KENT    
         
      We visit the church at Cooling, on the way to the Isle of Grain. This is thought to be Dickens’s inspiration for the opening scene of Great Expectations and has a row of infants’ graves. Lunchtime is in Rochester. In the afternoon we visit Minster Abbey on the Isle of Sheppey. Blue Badge guide Bronwen Mills accompanies us throughout on this tour, and regales us with "The Tale of Two Islands". The price includes donations to two churches and a W.I. tea.  
  Tuesday 28th
March 2006		   JUDITH   DUXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE    
         
      We visit this outstanding aviation museum, which has seven acres of indoor displays, from First World War Spitfires to Condorde and Gulf War jets. This museum was once a Battle of Britain fighter base, where Douglas Bader led the famed Duxford Wing. Today Duxford is part of the Imperial War Museum. We also visit Cambridge, with time to visit some of the Colleges or museums. The daffodils on the "backs" of the Colleges should be at their peak at this time of the year.  
  Tuesday 4th
April 2006		   JUDITH   CAREW MANOR, BEDDINGTON - SUTTON    
      (A minimum of 17 people is needed).  
      Carew Manor was once a mediaeval moated house. In 1591, Sir Walter Raleigh secretly married Elizabeth Throgmorton, Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth I. We have a guided tour of this impressive building, which has a Tudor hail. It was the royal female orphan asylum between 1865 and 1939; today it is a school. We also visit nearby St. Mary’s Church, where refreshments may be available.  
  Friday 7th
April 2006		   ELIZABETH   DANSON HOUSE AND PARK - BEXLEY PRIVATE GUIDED TOUR    
      (A minimum of 10 people is needed. There is a maximum number of 20. Please book by 23rd March at the latest).  
      Danson is a fine Palladian Villa, completed in 1766 to the designs of the architect Sir Robert Taylor. The layout and interior decoration of the house reflect themes of love and enjoyment. Following a century of neglect, Danson was described in 1995 as "the most significant building at risk in London". Last year, in July 2005, the restored Danson House was officially opened to the public by HRH the Queen. We have a private guided tour.  
  Tuesday 25th
April 2006		   JUDITH  

THE STANLEY PICKER TRUST - KINGSTON HILL

    
     

Numbers are limited to 12.

 
      This is a private viewing of a collection of 20th century sculptures and paintings in an architecturally designed modern residence. We have a guided tour by the curator who lives in the house. Tea and biscuits are included.  
  Thursday 27th
April 2006		   JUDITH   BLUEBELLS AT SANDY NATURE RESERVE & WOBURN ABBEY - BEDFORDSHIRE    
         
     

The wardens will take us on a bluebell walk on the Sandy Nature Reserve (RSPB). We spend lunchtime and all afternoon at Woburn Abbey. The house is an 18th century palatial mansion, set in a 3,000-acre deer-park landscaped by Sir Humphrey Repton. The abbey was a religious house of Cistercian monks until the Reformation, when it was granted to Sir John Russell, first Earl of Bedford. The present Duke and Duchess of Bedford live at Woburn today. The tour route covers three floors and is acknowledged as one of the best private collections in England.

  
  Wed. 10th May
to Sat. 13th May		   JUDITH   CARDIGAN BAY - WALES 4-DAY HOLIDAY    
   

Our base is the 3* Fishguard Bay Hotel. Highlights include:

Cardiff Bay Millennium Centre, the National Botanical Gardens, Picton Castle, the National Woollen Museum, Llanerchaeron (NT), Aberaeron, Aberystwyth Electric Cliff Railway, Cenarth Falls and Museum and the Mumbles, Swansea. For the full itinerary, please contact Judith.

  
 

Friday 19th
May 2006

   ELIZABETH   IGHTHAM MOTE, KENT (NT)    
         
     

Tucked away in a wooded valley, this remarkable moated

house dates from 1340 onwards and is ranged around a central cobbled courtyard. The main features span many centuries and include the old gatehouse, Great Hall, Tudor chapel with beautiful hand-painted ceiling and drawing room with Jacobean fireplace, frieze and handmade 18th-century Chinese wallpaper. A comprehensive programme of repair and restoration has been recently completed.

  
  Wednesday 31st
May 2006		   JUDITH   COMPTON VERNEY - WARWICKSHIRE & BROUGHTON CASTLE - OXFORDSHIRE    
         
      Compton Verney is now an art gallery, set in an 18th century mansion in South Warwickshire. Remodelled by Robert Adam for John Verney, it has parkiand landscaped by Lancelot Brown. Our visit coincides with a Van Gogh exhibition. Our afternoon visit is to privately owned Broughton Castle. Originally a mediaeval manor house, it was transformed into a Tudor mansion. Broughton Castle has a magnificent moat and has belonged to the Fiennes family for six hundred years. It has often been used as a film set, most recently for the new BBC drama, "Elizabeth I the Virgin Queen".  
  Thursday 8th
June 2006		   ELIZABETH   LAYER MARNEY TOWER - ESSEX PRIVATE GUIDED TOUR    
         
     

Built in the first half of Henry VIII’s reign, Layer Marney Tower is in many ways the apotheosis of the Tudor Gate-house. The building is principally the creation of Henry, the 1st Lord Marney, who died in 1523, and his son John, who continued the building work. What was completed was the main range measuring some three hundred feet, the principal gatehouse that is about eighty feet tall, a fine array of outbuildings and a new church. We are shown around by either Mr or Mrs Charrington, the owners of Layer Marney, and we go into areas of the house that are not open to the public, as well as climb the tower and visit the church, Long Gallery and mediaeval barn. Lunchtime is in Colchester.

  
  Monday 19th
June 2006		   JUDITH   HYLANDS HOUSE, DEDHAM & FLATFORD MILL - ESSEX    
         
      We visit Hylands House on the outskirts of Chelmsford, built in 1730 by Humphrey Repton. The council acquired it in 1966 and it has been restored to its former glory. We have a guided tour and there is a coffee shop. We travel on to Dedham and nearby Flatford Mill, where we visit Bridge House: this houses an exhibition on Constable and his work at Flatford. We see the Mill and Willy Lott’s House, just as it was when Constable painted the Haywain in 1821. The parish church at Dedham and the village is well worth a visit before our return.  
  Friday 30th June
to Sunday 2nd July		   ELIZABETH   FOREST OF DEAN & WYE VALLEY 3-DAY HOLIDAY      
         
      Designated as a National Forest Park in 1938, the Royal Forest of Dean is the largest area of mature oak in the UK. The provisional itinerary includes a visit Speech House, built in 1676 as a courthouse for the Foresters of Dean. We visit Chepstow Castle, towering above the Wye, the earliest stone castle in Wales. We also visit the former Cistercian Abbey at Tintern and the border town of. Monmouth with its unique 13th century fortified gatehouse. For the full itinerary please contact Elizabeth.  
  Wednesday 12th
July 2006 		  JUDITH   LAVENDER VISIT AND GROOMBRIDGE PLACE      
         
      We have a guided tour of the National Plant Collection of lavender and rosemary at Downderry Nursery in Kent, where distillation takes place. There is a lavender maze and a tea room. We then go on to Groombridge Place, located in an area of outstanding beauty and historical interest. There is a restaurant for lunch. The 17th century moated mansion is closed to the public but sets off the various gardens including the famous walled gardens. The grounds are vast with the enchanted forest, long water, waterfalls and sacred pools. There are also falconry displays. The gardens and house were used in the recent film version of Pride and Prejudice as the Bennett’s home.’  
  Saturday 5th
August 2006		   ELIZABETH  

ABINGDON AND MILTON MANOR HOUSE -OXFORDSHIRE

   
         
      Lunchtime in Abingdon, a Thames-side town with an interesting 19th century artificial ruin, which, incorporates stone from the destroyed abbey church. In the afternoon we visit Milton Manor House, a tall, classically inspired mid-l7th century red-brick house, nine miles south of Oxford. Milton Manor stands on the edge of the village and the first view of the house is across a lake. The main block is five bays wide and has three storeys and a hipped roof. The main facades have Ionic pilasters and further decoration is provided by the white-painted eaves cornice. Each floor has four rooms. Many of the rooms were remodelled by Bryant Barrett in the 18th century, but the carved wooden chimney piece in the Hall is contemporary with the original house. The Drawing Room has a plaster ceiling, with oak and laurel wreaths, which is also original. We have a guided tour and also visit the grounds, where there are some fine old trees and two lakes.  
  Wednesday 16th
August 2006		   JUDITH  

BOAT TRIP ON RIVER THAMES & HOLLOWAY COLLEGE - SURREY

    
         
      We have a relaxing boat trip from Runnymede through the Castle grounds to Windsor. Free time for lunch in Windsor. Our afternoon visit is to the Royal Holloway College at Egham, which was opened by Queen Victoria in 1886. It was originally for women but today is part of London University. The architect William Crossland designed this flamboyant building in a grand French style of architecture. We have a tour and see the picture gallery which is especially opened for us. It has an extraordinary collection of Victorian paintings including Frith, Fildes, Millais and Landseer. A cream tea is included in this visit.  
  Saturday 2nd
September 2006		   ELIZABETH  

MAPLEDURHAM HOUSE & WATERMILL WITH BOAT TRIP - BERKSHIRE

   
         
      We take a river cruise from Caversham along a beautiful stretch of the Thames, which provides a picturesque approach to Mapledurham, where we spend all afternoon. Mapledurham House, still the home of the descendants of the original family, is an Elizabethan Manor House idyllically situated beside the Thames. There is a collection of portraits, great oak staircases and original plaster ceilings. The house has literary connections with Alexander Pope, Galsworthy’s "Forsyte Saga" and Graham’s "Wind in the Willows". Our visit also includes the watermill, the only surviving working watermill on the Thames.  
  Thursday 7th to Sunday
10th September 2006		   JUDITH   4-DAY HOLIDAY NOTTINGHAM & DERBYSHIRE    
      Our base is the 3* Moat House Hotel in Nottingham, which has a leisure centre.  
      Highlights include: Birthplace of D.H. Lawrence, Newstead Abbey (the home of Lord Byron), Belvoir Castle, Nottingham Castle and Haddon Hall, Bakewell. For the full itinerary, please contact Judith.  
  Thursday 21st
September 2006		   JUDITH   AUDLEY END (EH) AND SAFFRON WALDEN - ESSEX    
         
      Audley End was built on the scale of a royal palace and is surrounded by one of Capability Brown’s finest landscaped parks. An outstanding Jacobean House, it was built for the Earl of Suffolk and was later purchased by King Charles II for £50,000. Baron Braybrook altered the house with the architect Robert Adam in the l760s, making the harmonious building we see today. We have a guided tour and time to have lunch and visit the gardens. We also visit Saffron Walden with its historic buildings, market place, gardens and museum.  
  Friday 29th
September 2006		   ELIZABETH   ST MARY’S BRAMBER & LANCING COLLEGE CHAPEL - WEST SUSSEX, WITH TEA    
         
      Prior to lunchtime in Worthing, we visit the huge, Gothic revival chapel of Lancing College. Lancing College was founded in 1848 by the Rev. Nathaniel Woodard. Today Lancing College is a public school which follows a high church Anglican tradition. Work began on the chapel in 1868. In the afternoon we visit St Mary’s Bramber. In the fifteenth century St Mary’s was a monastic inn for pilgrims. Today it is a Grade I listed mediaeval house, classified as "the best example of late 15th century timber-framing in Sussex". We have a private guided tour. The price includes a donation to Lancing College Chapel and refreshments at St. Mary’s.  
  Tuesday 17th
October 2006		   JUDITH   AUTUMN COLOURS AT WAKEHURST PLACE (NT) & SHEFFIELD PARK (NT)    
         
      Our morning visit, combined with lunch, is to Wakehurst Place, which is managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The gardens surround a 16th century manor house and are an inspiration of colour at this time of the year. The Millennium Seed Bank can be visited here and there is a new Visitors’ Centre. In the afternoon we visit Sheffield Park in the Ashdown Forest. Here the autumn colours are offset by four lakes. The gardens were designed by Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton. The magnificent house has been converted into luxury apartments.  

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 04/01/2008