Booking opens at the May lecture.

Please contact Pat Smith for more information:

mayfordsid01@gmail.com
For details of payment press here.

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

         Cost: £48 including lunch & drinks

LONDON IN ART

Lecture 1: Liquid History - London's River Thames in Art

Snaking its way through the capital, the River Thames is the very essence of London. Since the earliest beginnings, the River has fascinated and captivated artists, sculptors and residents alike. From votive offerings and illuminated manuscripts right through to Impressionist paintings and contemporary sculpture, the Thames has been the inspiration for much creative output.  In this lecture we shall look at a number of artistic interpretations which complement and illustrate the history, not only of the River but of London itself.

Lecture 2: The History of The City of London as told through its Stained Glass

London's history is fascinating and full of colourful characters, from William Shakespeare to Dick Whittington's cat!  In this lecture we gallop through almost 2000 years of London's history brilliantly illustrated through the stained glass windows found in the city churches and livery halls.  Often overlooked, these provide a unique insight into the milestones which have made up London's story.  As well as18th, 19th century and 20th century windows we look at some of the most up-to-date and contemporary glass makers.  

Lecture 3: Britain as Workshop of the World : The Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Establishment of The Victoria & Albert Museum

This lecture focuses on the design impact of the Great Exhibition and the need for a 'legacy institution' in the form of the South Kensington Museum. We look at the building as a work of art and explore the work of William Morris, Fredrick Lord Leighton and other influential designers of the Victorian Age.

Anna Warrillow has BA in History of Art & Italian at the University of Sussex and MA in Renaissance Decorative Arts & Design at the Royal College of Art.  Six years as a curator in the Sculpture Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as in smaller collections such as the Henry Moore Family Trust. 

Lecturer at Richmond The American International University in London where she teaches The History of London. 

Blue Badge Guide since 2013.  Bespoke private tours for discerning visitors to London through own guiding company Canvas and Stone Tours (www.canvasandstonetours.co.uk).

CANCELLATION

Please let us know if you have to cancel your booking.  We would hope to find a replacement from those on the waiting list.  In order to give the Members priority such arrangements should be made directly with the organizer. Please do not arrange your own swap.  If your place is filled, a refund will be made subject to a £5.00 cancellation fee. If your place cannot be filled, you should not expect a refund.

Booking opens at the December lecture.

Note the unavoidable date change, it is two days later than that published in the programme.

Please contact Pat Smith on mayfordsid01@gmail.com for more information.

For details of payment press here.

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: £48 including lunch and drinks

Lecture 1 The Wool Road

How did tartan-wearing proto-Celts end up in China over 2500 years ago? We explore how nomads traversed the wool road, a vast corridor of grassland that stretched from Central Europe almost to the Pacific. With little fuel or shelter and winters down to minus 60 degrees, it was houses made from wool that gave these nomads the protection they needed. We focus on decorative felts, carpets and the way in which beautiful nomadic textile were perfectly functional as well. 

Lecture 2 The Silk Road

In this lecture we explore the birth of the Silk Road and how silk fuelled trade in goods, foods, art, inventions, commodities, religions, fashions and so much more, ushering in the first era of globalisation. We explore how silk is woven into beautiful fabrics, such as atlas, velvet and adras, and how fabric was a major signifier of wealth and stratifying sedentary society. How did one item of women’s clothing spark a culture war which led to public burnings of silk? We marvel at the dowry embroideries produced in Bukhara and the magical and amuletic protection woven into most clothing. We explore how silk stratified society, through stunning robes and turbans, and Chris gives a brief overview of the silk carpet workshop he founded in Khiva, Uzbekistan. 

Lecture 3 The Cotton Road

The Cotton Road is inextricably interwoven with colonial exploitation and environmental catastrophe. We explore how British Rule caused the extinction of the most expensive fabric that had ever been woven, and how cotton became a form of anti-colonial resistance, leading to the overthrow of British rule in India. We explore the darker side of Russian chintz and that thieving Laura Ashley! We also witness how cotton has killed a sea, creating an environmental disaster even more devastating to human health than that better known Soviet disaster: Chernobyl, and the experiences of cotton-pickers today.

Chris Aslan was born in Turkey and was raised there and in war-torn Beirut. He has lived in Central Asia for 15 years. He started off in Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in town. He was deported as part of an anti-Western purge, and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent several years in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next a couple more years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut wood and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Chris returns to Central Asia to lead tours whenever he can, having left a large chunk of his heart there.

CANCELLATION

Please let us know if you have to cancel your booking.  We would hope to find a replacement from those on the waiting list.  In order to give the Members priority such arrangements should be made directly with the organizer. Please do not arrange your own swap.  If your place is filled, a refund will be made subject to a £5.00 cancellation fee. If your place cannot be filled, you should not expect a refund.

Booking opens at the September lecture. Please contact Robina Grimmer for more information: mayfordsid@gmail.com

For details of payment press here.

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: including lunch & drinks: £48 pp

We look at the enormous changes in our homes over a hundred year period, encompassing aspects of household taste from Victorian clutter to the psychedelic ‘throw away’ furnishings of the 70s. Although in many ways light-hearted, social upheaval, war & technological advances transformed our houses. From the 1880s, when each interior was governed by strict convention & the home was regarded as a shrine to family life, we look at how change gradually came about. The coming of electricity & central heating altered appearance and comfort and other major developments in design all changed our interiors.   

Booking opens at the May lecture. Please contact Robina Grimmer for more information: mayfordsid@gmail.com

For details of payment press here.

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: including lunch & drinks £48 pp

The Ancient Greeks were the founders of Western Civilisation. Rupert explains how key cultural achievements would never have occurred without the Athenian victory at Marathon in 490BC. He describes the invention by Greek sculptors of the human portrait, their work being the basis of European art. The day concludes with a thrilling account of the Battle of Thermopylai in 480, with visits to Sparta and Delphi along the way. 
 

Rupert Willoughby is an historian and classicist with a First Class Honours degree from the University of London. He is the author of the best-selling Life in Medieval England  for Pitkin and a series of popular histories of places, including Chawton: Jane Austen's Village  and Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture. An experienced lecturer, he is known for his light, humorous touch, his love of narrative and his vivid evocations of the past.

Booking opens at the December lecture. For more information or to book please email mayfordsid@gmail.com

For details of payment press here.

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: £48 including lunch & drinks 

Beside the Spanish Seaside

The Study Day will take you to coastal Spain where you will explore Pablo Picasso in Malaga, Joaquin Sorolla in Valencia & Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona. Each artist will take his place in his home town & we will explore how Picasso learnt his trade from his father in Andalusia, how Sorolla adored the light of Valencia & could hardly bare to leave the city & how Gaudi shaped the city of Barcelona with his quirky architectural style which drew heavily on nature itself & the sea. 

Booking opens - September lecture. 
 

Please contact Sarah Wynter Bee for more information: tasmsids@gmail.com

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: including lunch & drinks to be announced

1 ‘Dear green place’ The Glasgow Story – an architectural tour

We trace Glasgow’s rise from medieval royal burgh and religious centre to become the ‘second city of Empire’ through some of its landmark buildings and period images. Medieval cathedral and university, 18th century ‘tobacco lord’ mansions, 19th century shops, businesses and tenements evoke the personality and vibrancy of the late 19th century city centred on the River Clyde. This was a period when increasing wealth among great patrons (such as Sir William Burrell) and the rapidly expanding middle classes provided opportunities for architects and artists. 

2 Charles Rennie Mackintosh, ‘the Four’ and the Glasgow Style

This talk presents Mackintosh’s architecture and design in the wider context of his closest professional and personal connections – the Macdonald sisters and fellow architect Herbert McNair who were known as ‘the Four’ –  the work of contemporaries notably fellow students at Glasgow School of Art and his patrons. All were working in Glasgow’s commercial and industrial heyday around 1900.

Glasgow’s industrial and commercial might during the late 19th century was accompanied by a surge of creativity and patronage in the fine and applied arts. This centred on Glasgow School of Art under the brilliant directorship of Francis Newbery.  On his watch the School of Art moved to its new premises designed by Mackintosh. His liberal approach fostered the careers of many women as well as men in painting, metalwork, jewellery, embroidery, book illustration and design – a distinctive arts and crafts aesthetic influenced by art nouveau which became known as ‘the Glasgow Style'.The women involved, including Bessie MacNicol, Jessie Newbery and Jessie King, have also become known as the Glasgow Girls.

3 Tea with Mackintosh - The Glasgow Tearoom Phenomenon The glamour of dining in the novel decorative ambiance of the tea room or relaxing in the less well known smoking and billiard rooms, was part of the business and shopping experience in late Victorian and Edwardian Glasgow. The distinctive development of the tea room in Glasgow emerged from the temperance movement and from changing patterns of urban life. Inventive decorative interiors formed part of their branding. This talk explores the work of C R Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh through the architecture, furniture, stained glass and panels they designed for the four tearooms run by the enterprising  Kate Cranston, his most loyal and consistent patron. Just one of these survives; the Willow Tea Rooms were recently restored and re-created close to the 1903 original. Now run by a trust, Mackintosh at the Willow is a ‘don’t’ miss’ experience for locals and visitors to the city. Original furniture, decoration and other artefacts from the tea rooms and other Mackintosh projects can now be found dispersed worldwide in museums and private collections.

Based in Glasgow, Dr Evelyn Silber is an art historian, author and specialist tour director. After studying at the Universities of Cambridge and Pennsylvania, she worked at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery as a curator and Assistant Director, and as Director at Leeds Museums and Galleries before moving to Glasgow as Director of the Hunterian, University of Glasgow. She is now Hon Senior Fellow at the University, a former Chair and current Vice Chair of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society. She has published extensively on early 20th sculpture in Britain, especially the work of Jacob Epstein and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska.

Suggested reading:

 https://www.theglasgowstory.com

The Mackintosh literature is enormous and often slanted towards the architecture

R. Billcliffe, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Art of ‘the Four’, 2017

R. Billcliffe, The Glasgow Boys, 2008

A. Crawford, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Thames & Hudson, pb, 2002

E. Cumming and W. Kaplan, The Arts and Crafts Movement, Thames & Hudson, 1991

A. Duncan, Art Nouveau, Thames & Hudson, pb, 1994

W. Kaplan (ed.), Charles Rennie Mackintosh, exhibition catalogue, 1996

P. Kinchin, Taking Tea with Mackintosh, 1998

S. Malcolm, Glasgow and The Clyde from the archives of T & R Annan, 2005

C. McKean, Central Glasgow – an illustrated architectural guide, 1999

G. Stamp, Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, 1999

Booking opens at the May lecture. 
Please contact Sarah WynterBee for more information: 

tasmsids@gmail.com.

Venue: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Please note the earlier start time.

Time: 10.15am–3.00pm (approx) (Coffee/tea available from 9.45am)

Cost: £42 including lunch & drinks

We have a new format for this SID with members able to bring in items of glass for Andy to appraise. Please note that all items that are brought in at the owner's risk and that the Arts Society Mayford, the Gordon Foundation & Gordon's School and Andy McConnell accept no liability.

09.45           Members arrive at Gordon’s (coffee/tea available)

10.15           1st Lecture : Sweden

11.30           Break (please note, no coffee/tea will be served)

12.00          2nd Lecture : Finland, Denmark & Norway

13.00           Lunch (during which tables will be set up for items brought in by members)

14.00           Appraisal of glassware brought in by members

Lecture 1: Sweden was the most influential, & probably the most significant glassmaking nation of the 20th century, and the Swedes link glass more closely to their national identity than any other nation. Early technical breakthroughs at Orrefors around 1920 established Swedish glass on the international stage. A ‘good’ WW2, which left it undamaged & enriched, enabled Sweden to fly, economically, socially & artistically into the latter half of the 20th century. During the postwar boom, its people became the richest in the world. The period was also marked by Swedish glass achieving such eminence in quality, originality & diversity that it can rightly be viewed as a golden age that endured for about 50 years. Inevitably, prolonged familiarity with some of the world’s greatest glass, twinned with global trends in commerce & fashion, caused the Swedish glass bubble to deflate. In the 1950s, the industry employed around 3,000. Today, probably fewer than 400 remain. It is ironic that the greatest destructive force against Swedish glassmaking has arguably been IKEA, the giant international domestic retailer. Its base remains at Anghults, deep in the Swedish forests of the glassmaking region, known as Småland. The glassware commonly made for IKEA & its derivatives is typically retailed at prices reputed to be lower than the cost of the energy & materials required to make similar pieces in Sweden. And you can put new glasses in the dishwasher … just throw them away when they go cloudy!

Lecture 2: The Nordic countries, Sweden, Norway, Finland & Denmark, played a minor role in the historic development of world glassmaking. So, it’ is an astonishing fact that the area, with some 20 million inhabitants, produced more Post-War glass designers of international consequence than the rest of the Western World, with a population many times greater. Inevitably, rivalries abounded within such a large, disparate group of strong-minded, egocentric individuals. Sparks inevitably flew & ideas were transplanted when they met each other & witnessed the results of their work, both at their employers’ premises & at regular prize-orientated international exhibitions of the time. The result was an outpouring of designs of all types, the evolution of which is explored in this talk. Andy examines the factors behind the emergence of Scandinavian glassmaking & the designs that resulted from it. The talk is based on knowledge gained from a tour of the area’s leading glassworks, including Orrefors & Kosta in Sweden, Holmegaard in Denmark and Riihimäki, Iittala & Nuutajärvi in Finland.

Andy McConnell has dealt in antiques since adolescence but served an apprenticeship in journalism. After working in music, film and television, he returned to writing in 2004 as the author of the acclaimed tome ‘The Decanter, An Illustrated History of Glass From 1650’. He followed this in 2006 with ‘Miller's' 20th Century Glass’. He writes regularly for journals as diverse as The Times and Glass Circle News and runs Britain's largest antique and vintage glass gallery in Rye, Sussex. He is best known as the distinctly humorous glass specialist on the BBC's evergreen Antiques Roadshow.

Booking opened at the January lecture. Please contact Sarah Wynter Bee for more information: tasmsids@gmail.com.

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: including lunch & drinks £42 per person

ABOUT THE DAY

Lecture 1: Building for a new age

Lecture 2: From cradle to grave; buildings for everybody

Lecture 3: Homes for the rich, homes for the poor

Victorian architecture is perhaps the most tangible legacy of the period & many buildings created during Victoria’s reign still fulfil their original purpose. We will look at buildings made for a new society, that witnessed the creation of Britain’s modern industrial cities and the rise of mass-transportation. A rising population required new buildings for education, health, administration & religion, as well as new & mostly improved domestic housing. The lecture will cover a wide range of Victorian buildings, including schools, hospitals, hotels railway stations, law courts and town halls. 'Homes for everyone' is devoted to different types of houses and how they functioned.

Matthew Williams trained as an art and architectural historian before undertaking postgraduate Museum Studies. He lectures widely on the subject of design and is especially interested in the 19th and 20th centuries. A recognised expert in the work of the designer William Burges, he was the curator of Cardiff Castlein South Wales for many years and has published widely in art and architectural journals. He lectures for museums and universities as well as for the National Trust, the Victorian Society and the Furniture History Society amongst many others. A very long standing member of the Arts Society, Matthew has been a vounteers representative, a programme secretary and a chairman. he has been an accredited lecturer since 2001. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2019.

Please note change of date from that printed in the trifold leaflet.

Booking opens on 14 September and can be made online at tasmsids@gmail.com.

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: including lunch & drinks £42

ABOUT THE DAY

Art in the City

The City of London is a remarkable place and has reinvented and rebuilt itself many times during its long history and continues to do so today. A unique square mile creating a cultural asset that belongs as much to the whole of the country as to Londoners themselves.

Stained Glass in the City

Exploring the fascinating stained glass within the historic churches of the City of London.

Following the devastation of wartime bombing a remarkable generation of architects, artists and craftsmen emerged to recreate the City churches in the spirit of Sir Christopher Wren. Discover unique stories of people, time and place within its magical post-war stained glass.

Public Art in the City

 Exploring the wealth of modern and contemporary public art in the City of London.

Discover the fascinating, and often intriguing, public art to be found on the historic streets and hidden corners of the square mile. The artists and their techniques plus the history of the fascinating places where their work can be found - a veritable ‘gallery on the street’.

Art of the River

Exploring artistic inspirations of the River Thames

The River Thames has inspired artists for over three hundred years and continues to do so today. Discover a selection of artists from the historical to the contemporary to experience fascinating views of the river and interpretations of its eventful history and beauty.

Booking opens at the 11 May lecture. 

Please contact Sarah Wynter Bee for more information: tasmsids@gmail.com

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd. The venue is wheel chair friendly)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost: £42 including lunch & drinks

ABOUT THE DAY

The Art of Captain Cook’s Voyages

Professional artists played a critical role in recording the places visited and the people and flora and fauna encountered on Cook’s voyages to the Pacific. How did they deal with the novel surroundings they encountered? How did their work go on to shape European understanding of those settings?

The Art of Captain Cook’s Voyages

Between 1768 and his death in 1779, Captain Cook led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific.  The purposes of the expeditions were framed in terms of modern Enlightenment notions of scientific observation and a key part of this was the appointment of official artists – a new departure for such enterprises – the aim being (in Cook’s words) to address ‘the unavoidable imperfections of written accounts, by enabling us to preserve, and to bring home, such drawings of the most memorable scenes of our transactions’. 

Over three lectures, we shall look at a range of examples of how these artists recorded the places visited, the events experienced, and the people and flora and fauna encountered on the voyages.  We will explore how they dealt with the novel surroundings they encountered and consider how their work went on to shape European understanding of those settings.

Booking opens at the 12 January lecture. 

Please contact Sarah Wynter Bee for more information: tasmsids@gmail.com 

At: Gordon’s School, Bagshot Rd, West End, GU24 9PT

(Parking available on the main campus, entrance via main gates on Bagshot Rd)

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm (approx)

(Coffee/tea available from 10am)

Cost:  £40 including lunch & drinks

ABOUT THE DAY

LECTURE 1: An Introduction to Ice Age art, including the world famous cave paintings of Lascaux

LECTURE 2: What really happened on Easter Island?

LECTURE 3: Australian Aboriginal Rock Art - the World's Longest Unbroken Art Tradition

Born and raised in Hull, Paul Bahn studied archaeology at the University of Cambridge and did his PhD thesis (1979) on the prehistory of the French Pyrenees. He held post-doctoral fellowships at Liverpool & London, plus a J Paul Getty postdoctoral fellowship in the History of Art and the Humanities. Paul became a freelance in the 1980s as an independent consultant archaeologist. He has written and edited a variety of books on archaeology and prehistory, and speaks Spanish, French & German. A participant in many radio & TV broadcasts he is a popular lecturer on jet-tours & cruises, frequently acting as guide-lecturer on tours, usually to the decorated caves of France & Spain, as well as to Easter Island where he is Britain’s foremost expert & also on prehistoric art of the world, especially Ice Age art. In 2003 Paul led a team which, at his instigation, discovered the oldest art in Britain, the Ice Age engravings at Creswell Crags.

Please contact Sarah Wynter Bee for more information: tasmsids@gmail.com  

Booking for this SID will begin at the September lecture and via email to tasmsids@gmail.com.  

The first lecture will start at 10.30am at Gordon's School, Bagshot Road, West End GU24 9PT.

The mass migration of the French Protestant Huguenots in the 16th and 17th centuries impacted the arts, the military and finance sectors of the countries to which they fled after suffering Catholic persecution in their homeland. It is estimated that upwards of 50,000 people settled in the British Isles, and that perhaps one in six of the country’s current population descends from Huguenot lineage. This lecture focuses on three areas of the arts impacted by the migration: the baroque style of Versailles that arrived in London through the great Huguenot designer, Daniel Marot, who worked for William and Mary at Hampton Court; the growth of the silk weaving industry in Canterbury, Spitalfields and later Sudbury and Macclesfield; and on the silversmiths and ceramicists who ushered the French Rococo style into Britain. This is put into the context of how their work changed material culture and was absorbed into British national identity.   

Vivienne Lawes is an art historian, curator, author and journalist with over 25 years' experience in the art market. She teaches at the University of the Arts, London, Sotheby's Institute of Art, SOAS and Imperial College, London. Since 2011, Vivienne has been Senior UK Consultant to Singapore Gallery One East Asia and has co-curated many exhibitions of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art in London and Singapore.

Note: At the request of the lecturer the date for this SID has been changed to one day earlier than the published date in the trifold.

Booking for this SID will begin on 9th June via email to tasmsids@gmail.com.  

The first lecture will start at 10.30am at Gordon's School, Bagshot Road, West End GU24 9PT.

LECTURE ONE : The history and design of the Royal Opera House & its artistic heritage.
The first talk will look at the founding of the first Covent Garden Theatre in 1732 and follow the sometimes troubled history that has led to the wonderful Victorian building and world-class arts venue that exists today. We will examine the detail of the auditorium and explore some of the music that has been performed within its walls along with the way composers, performers and managers have influenced the fortunes of the building for more than 280 years.

LECTURE TWO : The Royal Ballet & the Orchestra
As a world-class arts venue, the Royal Opera House demands world-class performers and performances to keep audiences engaged, both inside and outside the theatre. The second talk will look at the creation and history of two of the resident companies, the The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, who together reopened the building in 1946.

LECTURE THREE : The Royal Opera, modern staging & the future
The final talk will trace the creation and history of The Royal Opera and examine the way that performers approach their craft. We will see how a large and yet invisible backstage team works to meet the high-level demands of modern productions in the digital age - and learn that sometimes things do not always go to plan!

Nigel Bates has been a performer for more than forty years in and out of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, including 17 years as Principal Percussionist with the Orchestra and eight years as the Music Administrator of The Royal Ballet.

He has worked with many of the leading figures in the classical music industry and was also a producer for both the BBC's Maestro at the Opera and Pappano's Classical Voices documentary series. He is a regular contributor to the printed and online content of the ROH.

Rescheduled from 26 February 2021 to 18 February 2022

A booking line opens to members by email to Sarah on Monday 13 December 2021 at the address given in your MailChimp. 

The first lecture will start at 10.30am at Gordon's School, Bagshot Road, West End GU24 9PT.

This Special Interest Day examines the extraordinary life and achievements of the Dowager Empress Cixi. In three sessions David will trace Cixi’s rise from relative obscurity, as a low-ranking Imperial Consort, to becoming the effective ruler of China in the second half of the 19th century. It is a period when the Emperors of the Qing Dynasty experienced devastating ethnic uprisings and humiliating defeats at the hands of Western Colonial Powers. In contrast to her political power and influence he will consider life in her beloved New Summer Palace as she indulged her passion for the arts, fashion and the natural world. Finally, he will look at her legacy as she sought to create a Modern China that retained Imperial rule whilst introducing Western technology plus an American style of elected administration.

David is a Chartered Insurer by profession & Fellow of the Assurance Medical Society, with extensive international experience as an author and lecturer in Medical Risk Assessment. He has lived and worked in Asia for over 25 years and, whilst living in Hong Kong (1991-2004), he assembled a collection of approximately 700, predominantly Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Imperial and related textiles/costume accessories.  He is a past Committee Member of the Hong Kong Textile Society and frequent speaker on Imperial Insignia & Badges of Rank being a regular lecturer to numerous organisations, including the Embroiderers' Guilds, oriental art and historical associations, costume societies and the National Trust. 

Two Zoom Special Interest lectures, the first lecture will start at 10.00am. We recommend you join the waiting room at 9.40am. Members will be sent the LINK to the ZOOM session in a MailChimp a few days before these lectures.

Part One

Romans and Romantics

Guildhall and Guildhall Art Gallery - Hidden Gems in the Heart of the Square Mile

In the centre of the City of London stands its ancient headquarters, the medieval Guildhall. The present building dates from 1411 and is still in regular use today. The whole building stands on the site of London’s Roman amphitheatre, only discovered in the 1980s. This lecture describes the Guildhall exterior and interior and then moves into the adjacent Guildhall Art Gallery.

The City of London has been commissioning and acquiring art for nearly 350 years and now owns a vast and diverse collection. We will look at paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries as well as the sparkling Victorian collection and some modern works. The gallery is truly one of London’s hidden gems.

Part Two

An armchair stroll around the Square Mile

For most of the past 2,000 years, the City of London has been very good at making money. In Roman times it was a bustling and successful trading port and is now home to hi-tech international finance. The fruits of these riches are still around for all to see in this virtual tour. Within a short walk of the Guildhall and St Paul’s Cathedral is a treasure trove of wonderful buildings and public art. This talk starts with a look at the institutions that are the backbone of the City of London – including the Bank of England, Lloyds, the Stock Exchange, and the City Livery Companies. Then we will dive into medieval alleyways to explore hidden churches and gardens and finish with a peek at some of the City’s gleaming new skyscrapers.

Ian Swankie is a Londoner with a passion for art and architecture. He is an official guide at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral, and gives tours at each venue. He is also a qualified and active freelance London guide and leads regular tours for various corporations and organisations. Since 2012 he has led a popular weekly independent art lecture group in his hometown of Richmond, and he gives talks on a variety of subjects. He is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society, and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City Livery Companies.

Two Zoom Special Interest lectures, the first lecture will start at 10.00am. We recommend you join the waiting room at 9.40am. Members will be sent the LINK to the ZOOM session in a MailChimp a few days before these lectures.

Broadcaster and design historian Mark Ovenden takes us on a graphic trip into our journeys on public transport. After these revealing lectures, you will wonder how you did not notice these finely tuned design and architectural details before.

160 Years of London Underground design

We take it for granted, yet our capital's Tube railway system is the product of intense attention to detail. The world famous Tube map by Harry Beck has influenced the design of almost every other transit system on the planet. And after seeing the architecture of the stations, the evolution of the famous ‘roundel’ logo, the effort put in to the signage and publicity, the ceramic tiles and the moquette (seat coverings)…you’ll never take a take a trip on the Underground for granted again. 

Margaret Calvert: the woman who told us where to go

When Gatwick was being transformed into an international airport in the late 1950s, Jock Kinnear and his young assistant Margaret Calvert were called in to make the new signage system. Their yellow-backed panels and clear sans-serif lettering influenced airports around the globe. They designed the new Motorway signage system in 1958 and then Britain’s iconic road signs in the early 60s. Next they designed the lettering for the revamp of British Rail in the 1960s. After that they made the NHS way-finding system. Wherever you looked in the last half of the 20th Century, Margaret Calvert’s designs looked back at you. 

Mark Ovenden is a broadcaster and author who specialises in the subjects of graphic design, cartography and architecture in public transport, with an emphasis on underground rapid transit. His book Metro Maps of the World (2003) is a guide to underground rapid transit systems including images ranging from photos of the systems to rare and historical maps. In recent years Mark has presented a BBC television documentary on the typographers Johnston and Gill and, on Radio 4, one on skyscrapers.

Two Zoom Special Interest virtual tours, the first will start at 10.00am. We recommend you join the waiting room at 9.40am. Members will be sent the LINK to the ZOOM session in a MailChimp a few days before this Special Interest event.

A Virtual Tour of the Albert Memorial - one of the greatest sculptural achievements of the Victoria era.  
With stunning high-definition images, you will be taken on a tour of the Memorial from top to bottom, revealing details of the artwork that the human eye could never see on a real-life tour. The complications and strife involved in the building and completion of the Memorial are discussed, and we will show how it embodies the ideals and aspirations of the Victorian Age.

A Virtual Walk through Elegant Mayfair
Mayfair has been at the heart of London society for three centuries, conjuring up images of Regency bucks, debutantes and calling cards. We start in Shepherd Market and make our way past the fashionable houses of famous past residents - Beau Brummell, Somerset Maugham, the Duke of Clarence and Norman Hartnell. Along the way we hear about the London Season, the age of haute couture, aristocratic high jinks, Bond St, celebrity jewellers, Mount St Gardens, Bond St, the Clermont Club, the Nightingale in Berkeley Square (see image of Barbara Askew in Berkeley Square), the Burlington Arcade and much more.  

Barbara Askew is a historian, London Blue Badge Tourist Guide and a lecturer for The Arts Society. She is the only Blue Badge Tourist Guide who conducts tours of the Albert Memorial.  

Two Zoom Special Interest lectures, the first lecture will start at 10.00am. We recommend you join the waiting room at 9.40am. Members will be sent the LINK to the ZOOM session in a MailChimp a few days before these lectures.

Working as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a 19th and early 20th century woman could want – and also one of the toughest. A far cry from the Downton Abbey fiction, the real life housekeeper was up against capricious mistresses, low pay, no job security and gruelling physical labour. Until now, her story has never been told. Delving into secret diaries, unpublished letters and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories behind some of Britain’s most prominent households.

LECTURE ONE: ‘A good Housekeeper is not easily got at’ – The Victorian Era

We discover more about this unique position by examining a bundle of letters discovered in the archives of Hatfield House, charting the meticulous hunt for a housekeeper to serve Queen Victoria’s prime minister, Lord Salisbury, in 1890. Who were the 59 hopeful applicants – and what, precisely, was Lady Salisbury looking for?

LECTURE TWO:  ‘Dangerous and Disorderly’ - The 20th-Century

This period of dramatic change for British domestic servants is embodied by the triumphant figure of housekeeper Hannah Mackenzie. Hannah’s career in service spanned extremes of fortune and circumstance – from the Edwardian conservative nouveau riche, to a country house Great War hospital (Wrest Park, Bedfordshire), to the American super rich of the Roaring Twenties, and onwards to personal freedom.

Talk 1: Brilliant Brunel and the Origins of the Ocean Liner.
Features the development of the ocean liner by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the competitive design demands of Kaiser Wilhelm II  and the influence of the Cunard and White Star Lines, culminating in the acclaimed four-funnelled RMS Titanic and RMS Aquitania.
 
Talk 2: Lure of the Ocean Liner.
Looks at the Normandie and the Queen Mary from the 1930s to 1950s, and the artists who promoted ocean liner travel, including the innovative posters of Cassandre and his followers. Shipping companies featured include Canadian Pacific, Cunard, French Line and Holland America.

Dr James Taylor, FRSA, a former curator of paintings, drawings and prints at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich presents a two lecture ZOOM SID to The Arts Society Mayford on 27th November 2020.
Details of timing and how to join the Zoom presentation can be found on the NEWS page.

Booking opens 9 January 2020. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at Goldwater Lodge, Goldsworth Park, Woking, GU21 3RT. Entrance on the lake side.

In three sessions Roger traces the history of stained glass in churches from Anglo-Saxon England until the present day. He explains evolving styles and techniques and discusses why some of Europe’s greatest painters created these masterpieces of colour and storytelling. The study day explores how medieval people responded to these images, the lives of the artists who made them, and the relationships between stained glass windows and other works of art. Foreign glass imported into Britain, Victorian windows and the oeuvre of modern artists are also considered. We hope to include local examples of important stained glass worth seeing.

Roger Rosewell FSA is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and an award winning author. Since 2006 he has been the Features Editor of Vidimus, the on-line magazine about medieval stained glass. He was educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University.
He is the author of Medieval Wall Paintings in English and Welsh Churches (2008); A History of Stained Glass (2012); The Medieval Monastery (2012); Medieval Wall Paintings (2014) and Saints, Shrines and Pilgrims (2017). Forthcoming books include A Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in France.

Booking opens 12 September 2019. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT. Entrance on the lake side.

The Medici were in many ways an unattractive family. Ruthless in pursuit of profit for their Florentine bank, which had branches in every city of the known world, they were greedy for success, merciless to those who opposed their ambition and vicious in their own internal squabbles. And yet without them we wouldn’t have Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, the Fra Angelico frescoes in San Marco, Donatello's “David” or the majestic Michelangelo sculptures in the Medici chapel. The Platonic Academy wouldn’t have been founded and the doors for the Baptistry would never have been cast.

 This Study Day, composed of three talks, looks into the turbulent history of this extraordinary family. 

1 Bankrolling the Renaissance

Under the guidance of Cosimo de' Medici, the family became the unofficial rulers of Florence and leading patrons of the arts. This inevitably aroused fierce jealousies, which boiled over in the attempted assassination of Cosimo’s grandson Lorenzo. 

2 Popes and Patrons

With Florence gripped by the apocalyptic preaching of Savonarola, the Medici were exiled from Florence. But they re-emerged triumphantly as Popes in Rome. Here their decadent and eccentric rule led to the Sack of Rome and ultimately opened the door to Luther’s Reformation of the Church.

3 From Riches to Royalty

Although the Medici were a spent force in Italy, an ingenious marriage had put Catherine de' Medici on the throne of France, to be followed, shortly afterwards, by Marie de' Medici. This last talk looks at the impact these two formidable queens had on the shape of French history.

Douglas Skeggs read Fine Art at Magdalene College Cambridge and has been a lecturer on paintings since 1980.  He has taken many tours around Europe, helped set up the Abercrombie & Kent 'Private Label tours' and is presently cultural adviser to Ultimate travel. He has written and presented TV documentaries and is also a painter and novelist.

Booking opens 10 January 2019. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT. Entrance on the lake side.

This day of special interest is intended to provide a glimpse of the rich cultural heritage of these three distinctive Baltic capitals, Vilnius (Lithuania), Riga (Latvia) and Tallin (Estonia).  Of the three, the distinctly Catholic Vilnius is the least commercial in terms of tourism, whereas Tallin is currently enjoying the tourist boom brought about by cruising in the Baltic.

1 Vilnius is a Baroque city, with magnificent churches and monasteries dating to the 17th - early 18th centuries but you will also find remarkable Gothic and Renaissance buildings; the late Gothic brick-built Church of St. Anne is one such masterpiece, which Napoleon wanted to place in the palm of his hand and move to Paris. Found at the top of a winding medieval street, the Gates of Dawn is a Catholic shrine that has achieved international status. Pilgrims from all over the world can be found in Vilnius. Many visit the famous Hill of Crosses, on the border with Latvia, a symbol of resistance during the Soviet occupation.

2 In contrast Riga, the ‘Little Paris of the North’, has the trappings of a European capital, with its boulevards and Opera House. Here the interest shifts to fantastical Art Nouveau apartment blocks, created at the beginning of the last century by Eisenstein. The rebuilding of the Blackheads Guild building, destroyed in the Second World War, demonstrates Riga’s desire to reclaim its cultural inheritance. 

3 Tallin is perhaps the prettiest of the three capitals with its romantic fortifications. From Tall Hermann to Fat Margaret the towers dominate the skyline of the city. These towers protect one of the finest medieval European towns, with its web of winding cobblestone streets and charming merchants' houses from the 11th to the 15th centuries.  Here the power of Russia is visible in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (see image above) which dominates the upper town and the palace built by Peter the Great.  

Professor Anne Anderson graduated in Art History & Archaeology and worked as an archaeologist before being elected to the Society of Antiquaries. She has lectured on Fine Arts Valuation degree courses, specialising in the Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau and Modernism and is currently an honorary Research Fellow at Exeter University. 

Booking opens 13 September 2018. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT. Entrance on the lake side.

Linda Collins is an Art Historian, well known to The Arts Society (NADFAS), who was  formerly employed by the Historic Royal Palaces, and who now lectures  independently on a world wide basis.

The Day will examine three periods from 1850 to 2000 from the point of view of the people, the art and where it led. The first session will look at the lives of the Paris cancan girls, the cabarets and the dance halls. But it will also examine the classical training given to art students and how this was changed by the challenge of the impressionists. The second session deals with art in Paris after the First World War and the move from cubism to more classical traditions and forward to developments such as futurism and surrealism. This was also the Jazz Age featuring personalities such as Josephine Baker, Mistinguet and Chevalier prompting outraged accusations of decadence. Finally, the third session takes us to New York just after the Second World War when Peggy Guggenheim was one of the patrons bringing together French artists and their surrealist techniques with the New York school of artists. This period, like the others, was notable for some extraordinary personalities who pushed modern art onwards and upwards and culminated in Andy Warhol and his famous cans of soup.

There will be questions and discussion at the end of the Day, and each session will be accompanied by music of the period.

Booking opens 8 February 2018. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT. Entrance on the lake side.

Oliver Everett is one of The Arts Society’s best known and respected lecturers. Following a period in the Diplomatic Service, he was Assistant Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales and Private Secretary to Diana Princess of Wales. He is Librarian Emeritus of the Royal Library, Windsor Castle. His lectures specialise on India and the Royal Collections.

The Special Interest Day will embrace two of his main interests. The first part will be about the life and times of the 17th century Mughal Emperor Sha Jehan who is best remembered for the building of the Taj Mahal as a monument to his favourite wife. It is based on the Islamic manuscript, the Padshahnama, which is a unique and vivid history of the Emperor and which contains some of the finest Mughal paintings in the world.

The second part of the Day will concern the most important British contributions to the history, archaeology, architecture, topography and languages of India. Although some aspects of British involvement in India are sometimes criticised, a number of British individuals, as well as the British Government, made great contributions to Indian society, its infrastructure and to studies of its history, languages, art, religions, zoology and botany. This part will describe the very successful work in these fields of a series of individuals, ranging from Warren Hastings to Lord Curzon and including civil servants, soldiers, judges, and professional men all of whom added enormously to our understanding of this amazing sub continent.     

Booking opens 14 September 2017. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT. Entrance on the lake side.

This Study Day will draw on the idea and mystique of the American West and its unique place in history - the meeting point where the frontier begins and settlement and civilisation end. The morning session will focus on architecture - including that of the earlier civilisations, but concentrating on the great 19th century expansion - not just log cabins but the exuberance of the Victorian West and ultimately Frank Lloyd Wright and Las Vegas. In the afternoon we will look at the way artists and photographers responded to the wilderness of the West. The spotlight will fall (by no means exclusively) on Thomas Moran, 1837-1926, “The Turner of the American West.”

Roger Mitchell studied History at Oxford and Fine Art at Leeds and went on to study in the USA on a Churchill Award. A former College Vice Principal, he now lectures at the University of Liverpool and for adult residential colleges and, in addition to lecturing regularly for NADFAS, leads country house tours and researches at Chatsworth.

Booking opens 12 January 2017. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT. Entrance on the lake side.

Cost: £30 including morning coffee and lunch with wine.

This Study Day will concentrate on an extraordinary and colourful period on the Côte d’Azur when a combination of an exotic setting and a mix of remarkable artists, musicians and international celebrities created a vibrant cultural community. This was a world characterised by fashion and wealth and generating an exciting merger of theatre, interiors, art and literature. The day will begin by recreating the social background of the period - rail travel on the Train Bleu, gambling at Monte Carlo and shopping at the Palais de La Mediterranée. It will go on to explore the impact of the major cultural players of that time and place - including Matisse, Dufy, Picasso, Cocteau, Diaghilev, Cole Porter and Chanel. Le Soleil toute l’Année!

Mary Alexander is a graduate in the History of Art from UCL. She is well known to NADFAS as a lecturer and she has a long record not only as a public speaker and lecturer at Christie’s and at Manchester and Leeds Universities but also as a contributor to newspapers, magazines and professional journals. 

Booking opens 13 October 2016. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT.

Celts, Romans, Visigoths and Arabs have all left their mark on Iberia. This Study Day examines how these successive waves of invaders have influenced the rich history, architecture and art of the peninsula from the earliest settlements to the fall of Granada and the end of Moorish rule, with a particular emphasis on Andalucia. It will examine the legacy of their great cities, monuments and spectacular buildings as well as that of Islamic culture as exemplified in the ancient Roman cities of Italica and Merida and the majestic monuments of Islamic Spain such as the Great Mosque in Cordoba and the Nazrid Palace of Granada.

Dr Tom Duncan is a well-known and highly regarded lecturer with long and well established links with NADFAS. A former academic, he has concentrated, since retiring from University life, on lecturing to a wider public and on leading tours to major areas of interest.

Booking opens 14 January 2016. The first lecture will start at 10.30am at the refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT.

This Study Day explores how sculpture has developed in modern times. It examines the works of sculptors such as Epstein, Moore, Hepworth and Frink and seeks to demonstrate how their works manifest emotion as well as appearance and meaning as well as shape. The day will try to guide us on how we might perceive modern sculpture not as a mysterious and difficult body of work but as something that stands at the heart of our time and which is worthy of serious and detailed exploration.

Session 1 Sculpture Finds its Voice (from the 19th century to the Great War)

Session 2 Sculpture, Modernism and War (developments 1918-1980)

Session 3 Sculpture Here and Now (from the 20th century into the 21st) 

Dr Justine Hopkins is a graduate of Bristol University and the Courtauld Institute and holds a PhD from Birkbeck College, London. She has lectured regularly for Tate Britain, Tate Modern, V&A, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery as well as at Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol Universities. She has also published widely as a biographer and as a contributor to a variety of periodicals and dictionaries.

Booking opens 10th September 2015. The first lecture will start at 10.30 am at the newly refurbished Goldwater Lodge (next to the Dianthus Building), Goldsworth Park, Woking GU21 3RT.

Note: the change of venue. 

Peter Medhurst is a highly acclaimed musician, scholar and performer. He lectures here and abroad on music and the arts. This study day explores Mozart’s genius as an opera composer and examines his working methods, his relationships with people in the music world of his time and his legacy for subsequent generations. The study day will be based on pictorial digital projections and on live examples sung and played at the piano. It will cover both Mozart’s early and mature operatic works as well as those written in collaboration with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Session1. The history of Mozart’s operas: who commissioned them, the performers, the theatres. Session 2. The construction of the overtures, arias, duets and trios. Session 3. Analysis of scenes from 'Figaro', 'Don Giovanni' and 'The Magic Flute' through digital film.

Sarah Cove is one of Britain’s foremost Technical Art historians. This study day provides a unique insight into the practical problems of art conservation and restoration. It will discuss the nature of painting materials from the Middle Ages to the present day including common problems associated with the ageing and deterioration of easel paintings, the most surprising being a large hole caused by a Turkish cannon ball in the 18th century! Modern ‘museum standard’ approaches to conservation and restoration will be illustrated with detailed images ranging from Italian religious paintings to the works of John Constable and modern British portraits and abstract works. There will also be advice on the proper care of paintings in the home and, in the afternoon session, an opportunity to obtain advice on individual paintings.

Dr. James Lindow has a Renaissance PhD from the Royal College of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. He lectures at home and abroad and has published on diverse aspects of the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) and Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 – 1564) are two of the most familiar figures in Italian Renaissance art. The rivalry and antipathy that existed between them is less well known. The day aims to throw light on this animosity by examining examples of their work.

Anton Gabszewicz is a specialist in European ceramics, a former Director and Head of European ceramics at Christies and an international speaker. The day will begin with a lecture about the contexts and chronology of porcelain including some Continental precursors. He will then concentrate on two London factories, Chelsea and Bow. In the afternoon session he will talk about his own items and some of his ‘mud larking’ finds and identify and discuss ceramic items brought by members.

The portraits and careers of some of history’s most notorious mistresses and courtesans are examined in order to take a generally light-hearted look at changing attitudes to sexual morality down the ages. The Study Day charts the rather complex and ambiguous attitudes of art and society towards the numerous anonymous working girls. Charles ll’s best-known mistresses in the 17th century, and then the era of Hogarth in the 18th century lead on to the careers of the great courtesans of London, illustrated by the sumptuous portraits made by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. The 19th century in Britain includes the ‘fallen woman’ idea and in France works by Manet, Degas and Renoir feature. In the 20th century radical new artistic techniques were applied to this age-old subject matter by artists such as Picasso, Vlaminck and Sickert; the theme continues to the present day. The talk is also full of scandalous stories and anecdotes! Linda Smith is an Art Historian.

Denis Moriarty is a lecturer and Study Course director who spent most of his earlier working life as a BBC television producer. His prime interests are music and architecture. The lectures are illustrated with musical extracts and tell of the architecture and environment of Elgar’s formative years and evaluate the life and far reaching achievements of one of England’s greatest composers. Lecture 1: The Early Years: 1857 – 1900 ‘Friends pictured within’ Lecture 2: The Oratorios: 1900 – 1906 The Dream of Gerontius, The Kingdom ‘This is the best of me’ Lecture 3: Laureate and Symphonist: 1907 – 1934 Master of the Queen’s Music, the Symphonies The Three Choirs Festival is held in the summer alternately in the Cathedrals of Hereford (2012), Gloucester (2013) and Worcester (2014). Peter Francis, a colleague from BBC TV, will be providing and operating the sound system.

Catherine Parry-Wingfield specializes in British and European 18th century painting and sculpture. Venice, the city that lives its life on water, was often the highlight for the cultural tourist. There was the strangeness of the city, the pageantry of the church and state, the regattas and the slightly risqué pleasures of the carnival adding to its artistic attractions. Many visitors bought works of art from Venice’s great Renaissance period or sought out contemporary painters. Lecture 1: Venice the city, its customs and the art of the past Lecture 2: The view painters and the visitors Lecture 3: Decorative painting

Laura De Beden is a landscape architect and garden designer who specialises in the design of town and country gardens as well as large estates. She sees landscape and garden design as an art form, beautiful and fragile. The day aims to encourage a renewed ability to see beauty, enjoying the aesthetics of gardens while deepening our cultural understanding of them and to look with thoroughly modern eyes at the relevance that masterpieces of the past have today. The journey through time will start with the Greek and Roman perception of space, the aesthetic achievements of the Renaissance, the English Landscape School of the 18th century, the arts and craft movement at the threshold of the 20th century and conclude with the most influential gardening figures of the 20th century.

Andy McConnell, who is a frequent contributor to the Antiques Road Show, will employ his distinctively light, humorous and spontaneous approach (his words) in guiding participants through the ages of glass. He displays the contents of several packing cases full of examples from his 30,000-piece collection and encourages those attending to bring along their own glass possessions for discussion and appraisal. Lecture 1: The Dawn of Glass, how it changed the world in architecture, science, transport and communications and how it spread to Venice and then across Europe to Britain. Lecture 2: Georgian and Victorian Glass. Lecture 3: 20th Century Glass and appraisal of glass items brought in by members.

Colin Lattimore is a liveryman and member of the Court of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and the Honorary Keeper of Clocks and Watches at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The day will cover: Lecture 1: Early time pieces and weight driven clocks. Lecture 2: Spring driven clocks and watches. Lecture 3: Bring and discuss – watches, clocks and (where appropriate) photographs. Note: The first lecture will start at 10.15am, this is earlier than usual.