Visits in 2018
24th March 2019
Windsor Castle
The visit to Windsor Castle will include the State Apartments which are the grand sequence of rooms forming the centrepiece of the Castle. Charles II set out to rival the achievements of his cousin, Louis XIV, at Versailles in France. In the 17th century he modernised the Castle’s interiors, which became the grandest State Apartments in England, with painted ceilings by Antonio Verrio and carvings by Grinling Gibbons. They are furnished with some of the finest works of art from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Holbein, Van Dyck and Rubens.
28th April 2019
Audley End
At Audley End we can admire the interiors of what was once one of the largest and most opulent houses in Jacobean England. Discover its history, wander the impressive great hall, magnificent state apartments, intimate dressing rooms, libraries and 18th century gothic-style chapel with more detail than ever before. The painting collection was mostly put together by Richard, 3rd Baron Braybrooke. It contains a large number of early English portraits, as well as many Old Masters. Additional paintings came to the collection when Braybrooke married Lady Jane Cornwallis in 1819.
19th May 2019
Chartwell
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 studio is home to the largest collection of Churchill's paintings that have been saved for the nation to see and enjoy. With his paints still laid out and a canvas waiting for completion, it looks like Winston has just stepped out the room for a moment.
23rd June 2019
Margate (Turner contemporary)
Our visit to Margate will focus on the Turner contemporary, an art gallery with some of Turner’s paintings and regular exhibitions. We will have a tour of their current exhibition (“Seaside Photographed, a major new exhibition examining the relationship between photographers, photography and the British seaside from the 1850s to the present”) when we are there. You can spend the rest of your day exploring the delights of Margate including its beach!
21st July 2019
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey has been in the Russell family since the mid-16th century and is today the family home of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. Discover an art collection including an unrivalled group of 16th and 17th-century portraits, works by Reynolds and Van Dyck and the largest private collection of Canaletto’s Venetian views on public display, together with a treasury of silver, porcelain and fine English and French furniture. Our visit will include a guided tour of the house. After the tour of the house you can visit the gardens or also rejoin the coach for a trip around the Safari park (extra charge).
15th to 18th September – Holiday - Tamar Valley 4 days, 3 nights - now fully booked
22nd September 2019
Penshurst Place
This is a 14th century Manor House and Gardens once the property of King Henry VIII, was left to his son King Edward VI and granted to Sir William Sidney in 1552. Baron’s Hall - Described by the writer John Julius Norwich as ‘one of the grandest rooms in the world’. The West Solar contains an interesting collection of family portraits, a copy of the famous ‘La Volta’ painting depicting Elizabeth I dancing, furniture and porcelain. Wander along the magnificent Elizabethan Long Gallery, full of royal and family portraits with replica Tudor costumes on display.
27th October 2019
Dulwich Picture Gallery (Rembrandt’s Light)
Note the printed calendar has the incorrect date for this visit. It will be on Sunday 27th October.
The Gallery house over 600 works rich in European Masterpieces including Rembrandt, Canaletto and Poussin. Our visit will include a visit to the newly opened Rembrandt’s Light special exhibition.
2019 is The Year of Rembrandt with celebrations taking place throughout Europe to mark 350 years since the artist’s death (1669). Dulwich Picture Gallery will stage London’s Rembrandt moment with an innovative exhibition that aims to refresh the way that we look at works by this incomparable Dutch Master. Along with many firsts, this show will bring the captivating painting Philemon and Baucis (National Gallery of Art, Washington) to the UK for the first time. ‘Rembrandt’s Light’ will bring together 35 carefully selected international loans that focus on Rembrandt’s mastery of light and visual storytelling, concentrating on his greatest years from 1639-1658, when he lived in his ideal house at Breestraat in the heart of Amsterdam (today the Museum Het Rembrandthuis).
Windsor Castle
The visit to Windsor Castle will include the State Apartments which are the grand sequence of rooms forming the centrepiece of the Castle. Charles II set out to rival the achievements of his cousin, Louis XIV, at Versailles in France. In the 17th century he modernised the Castle’s interiors, which became the grandest State Apartments in England, with painted ceilings by Antonio Verrio and carvings by Grinling Gibbons. They are furnished with some of the finest works of art from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Holbein, Van Dyck and Rubens.
28th April 2019
Audley End
At Audley End we can admire the interiors of what was once one of the largest and most opulent houses in Jacobean England. Discover its history, wander the impressive great hall, magnificent state apartments, intimate dressing rooms, libraries and 18th century gothic-style chapel with more detail than ever before. The painting collection was mostly put together by Richard, 3rd Baron Braybrooke. It contains a large number of early English portraits, as well as many Old Masters. Additional paintings came to the collection when Braybrooke married Lady Jane Cornwallis in 1819.
19th May 2019
Chartwell
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 studio is home to the largest collection of Churchill's paintings that have been saved for the nation to see and enjoy. With his paints still laid out and a canvas waiting for completion, it looks like Winston has just stepped out the room for a moment.
23rd June 2019
Margate (Turner contemporary)
Our visit to Margate will focus on the Turner contemporary, an art gallery with some of Turner’s paintings and regular exhibitions. We will have a tour of their current exhibition (“Seaside Photographed, a major new exhibition examining the relationship between photographers, photography and the British seaside from the 1850s to the present”) when we are there. You can spend the rest of your day exploring the delights of Margate including its beach!
21st July 2019
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey has been in the Russell family since the mid-16th century and is today the family home of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. Discover an art collection including an unrivalled group of 16th and 17th-century portraits, works by Reynolds and Van Dyck and the largest private collection of Canaletto’s Venetian views on public display, together with a treasury of silver, porcelain and fine English and French furniture. Our visit will include a guided tour of the house. After the tour of the house you can visit the gardens or also rejoin the coach for a trip around the Safari park (extra charge).
15th to 18th September – Holiday - Tamar Valley 4 days, 3 nights - now fully booked
22nd September 2019
Penshurst Place
This is a 14th century Manor House and Gardens once the property of King Henry VIII, was left to his son King Edward VI and granted to Sir William Sidney in 1552. Baron’s Hall - Described by the writer John Julius Norwich as ‘one of the grandest rooms in the world’. The West Solar contains an interesting collection of family portraits, a copy of the famous ‘La Volta’ painting depicting Elizabeth I dancing, furniture and porcelain. Wander along the magnificent Elizabethan Long Gallery, full of royal and family portraits with replica Tudor costumes on display.
27th October 2019
Dulwich Picture Gallery (Rembrandt’s Light)
Note the printed calendar has the incorrect date for this visit. It will be on Sunday 27th October.
The Gallery house over 600 works rich in European Masterpieces including Rembrandt, Canaletto and Poussin. Our visit will include a visit to the newly opened Rembrandt’s Light special exhibition.
2019 is The Year of Rembrandt with celebrations taking place throughout Europe to mark 350 years since the artist’s death (1669). Dulwich Picture Gallery will stage London’s Rembrandt moment with an innovative exhibition that aims to refresh the way that we look at works by this incomparable Dutch Master. Along with many firsts, this show will bring the captivating painting Philemon and Baucis (National Gallery of Art, Washington) to the UK for the first time. ‘Rembrandt’s Light’ will bring together 35 carefully selected international loans that focus on Rembrandt’s mastery of light and visual storytelling, concentrating on his greatest years from 1639-1658, when he lived in his ideal house at Breestraat in the heart of Amsterdam (today the Museum Het Rembrandthuis).
