RECENT VISITS:
London – Christmas 2023
An unusual start for most of us was a Sunday in London starting with a fish and chips lunch! It was delicious and set us up for the rest of the day.
Paul drove us on to St Pauls’ Cathedral where we sat under the dome to take part in Choral Evensong. The singing was lovely and we were able to really feel part of the service.
Rain did not deter us as we set out on a coach tour of the city to experience Christmas and the lights.
It was very busy with sightseers and shoppers.
The throngs of people were even greater when we stopped at Covent Garden. It was difficult to move but created a real lead up to Christmas.
After a comfortable journey home, 48 members had had a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Highclere Castle
The connection of Highclere to Downton Abbey was an obvious draw to the numbers who booked for this outing! It didn’t disappoint!
There was free-flow in the castle but everything was well documented and there were stewards to answer questions and offer anecdotes.
The home of Lord and Lady Caernarvon, there is also a strong Egyptian link as the 5th Earl of Caernarvon together with Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. Several of the group visited the Egypt exhibition and we all enjoyed exploring the grounds and the attractive gardens.
The 5,000-acre estate is in Highclere in Hampshire with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century.
Royal Opera House Workshops (June 2023)
In June, forty members of the Friends were privileged to be able to visit the workshops at the Royal Opera House in Thurrock. Here all preparations are made for the operas and ballets which take place at Covent Garden.
A huge warehouse stores all the costumes which have been used in productions.. We saw period costumes, those worn by famous performers, body fat suits, tutus and collections of handbags and even men’s braces . All costumes are hand made.
The workshops are immense. We saw workers welding metal to make frames for props. Then in the next process small wooden slats are attached to the frame. After a foam spray, the structure is painted. This was to be a 15 ft high tree to be used in a production of Wagners “ The Ring Cycle”
It was a most interesting experience and gave greater understanding of the behind scenes work necessary for any production.
LIST OF RECENT VISITS:
- London
- Highclere Castle – Hampshire
- Royal Opera House Workshops – Essex
- Stamford – Lincolnshire
- Ickworth – Suffolk
- Sutton Hoo – Suffolk
- Saatchi Gallery for the exhibition – Tutankhamun Treasures of the Golden Pharoah
- Fitzwilliam Museum – Cambridge
- River Blackwater – Barge Tour
- Penshurst Place – Kent
- New Hall – Chelmsford
EXTENDED TOURS:
Each year, an extended tour of five days enables us to visit places of interest too far away for a day visit.
Please see our dedicated website page to read about our most recent visits.
- Pembrokeshire Extended Tour 2023
Cardiff Castle
On 23 April, 32 members of the Friends set off to Pembrokeshire in South Wales for a 4 night stay at the Beggars Reach Hotel near Milford Haven.
This was our 10th extended tour and we had a busy programme of visits each day.