The museum houses the world’s largest collection of Worcester porcelain. The collection is displayed in three permanent galleries and holds over 10,000 objects made between 1751 and 2009.

The visit will include refreshments on arrival followed by a talk. The rest of the day is free to explore the museum and other attractions - all within walking distance.

Click below for an application form

https://www.taswox.org.uk/DocumentStore/worcester%20(1).pdf

Rain Didn’t Stop Play!

After a severe weather warning overnight, we were still able to enjoy a lovely day on our Oxford Outing and were eventually able to put our brollies away.

Starting with coffee and chatting at the Weston Library, we moved to Balliol College to talk to the new Head Gardener about his plans. We explored the gardens at Trinity College and New College too and visited their beautiful Dining Rooms and Chapels with even an unexpected organ recital from an enthusiastic student!

Lunch at Trinity was delicious: we really enjoyed the roast pork or pasta with a variety of tasty vegetables followed by apple crumble and lashings of cream - wonderful!

We left for home full and happy with all the information to improve our borders and tackle our lawns. Next year we open to the public!

Thanks to Anna Steven for yet another fascinating tour.
 

The wonderful guide, Anna Steven, will be leading another tour at the Ashmolean Museum on Post-impressionism, to link with our lecture on 9th November. There will be a choice of a morning or afternoon tour, lasting an hour and meeting in the cafe at 10.45am or 12.15pm for refreshments if required. The tour will start 45 mins later.

Cost £12 (members)

click below (or copy and paste) for application form

PLEASE NOTE: Payment should be to TASWOX not TASWest Oxon (as stated on the form).

https://www.taswox.org.uk/AboutUs/Documents.aspx

Please return the completed form by 5th November to:                                                             Julie Evans, Drovers Barn, 4 Aston Road, Brighthampton, Standlake, OX29 7QW 

TOUR - fully booked  

Contact Julie Evans:  juliaevans.drovers@hotmail.com to be included on the waiting list.

A lovely opportunity to learn more about iconic Oxford buildings in the morning, lunch at Jesus College, followed by a tour of the Fellows Library, the Chapel and the new extension with quad and student accommodation.

Meeting at at Weston Library Cafe at 10am, the tour will start at 10.45am and the day will finish at 2.30pm.

Cost for guided tour and lunch: £45                                                                                                    

Picture shows the new Cheng Yu Tung Building, with state-of-the-art teaching facilities and the latest digital technologies, tradition meets innovation enriching student learning and enhancing the world-leading academic research of our Fellows.

Motivated by a very interesting lecture about Flemish still life painting given by Daniel Evans, we went to see some examples face to face in the Ashmolean collection. The private tour was led by an expert guide who pointed out examples of the symbolism and what to look out for, which we had learnt in our lecture. There are ninety Dutch and Flemish paintings on view, all executed during the 17th Century - a time of great prosperity in the Netherlands, prompting a feverish rush to collect some of the exotic plant species that traders were bringing back from overseas. As a result their proud owners wanted a record of their rare and beautiful plants to display for visitors, and so began the fashion for still life pictures. At the same time a body of work became popular depicting fruit, game and fish arranged decoratively on a table, accompanied often by wine jugs and goblets. We saw several examples and heard about their content and significance The pictures were not without a veiled religious message too. The recurring elements of decay and the ephemeral nature of life emerge with the inclusion of insects, watches and their precarious placement on the edge of the table. Usually they are pupating insects, thus referencing God’s appearance in human form, his death and resurrection. In summary, not only did we see some beautiful pictures, we were also fascinated by their message.

Lesley Barter

 

On our way to Ironbridge we will visit Coventry Cathedral, then on Day 1 go to the Jackfield Tile Museum. We will be staying at the Best Western Valley Hotel in Ironbridge.

On Tuesday we will visit more Museums in Ironbridge, ending with the Coalport Museum, where they painted China and fired it on the bank of the River Severn.

On Wednesday we head to Birminham to visit the Jewellery Quarter and then Winterbourne House in Edgebaston before heading home

IT is hoped that the lecture from March 1920 will be arranged for Feb - March  2022

http://taswox.org.uk/DocumentStore/booking%20form.pdfThe Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham is Europe's largest concentration of businesses involved in the jewellery trade; it produces 40% of all the jewellery made in the UK.  It is also home to the world's largest Assay Office which hallmarks around 12 million items a year. Historically, it has been the birthplace of many pioneering advancements in industrial technology.

Today’s visit will start with a tour the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter which is built around a perfectly preserved jewellery workshop offering a unique glimpse of working life in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter. A short walk down Vyse Street will take you close to the Red Lion pub for lunch; other venues are available. For the afternoon, a visit to the Pen Museum dedicated to honouring and celebrating Birmingham’s 19th Century steel pen trade has been arranged. The walk between the venues is short and easy going.

More detail to follow. Click here for an application form

To download an application form for this outing bress here

We’ve had the lecture – “Leonardo – his anatomical Drawings”; here is the opportunity to see those and more at The Queen’s Gallery. The exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing” marks the 500th anniversary of his death and brings together more than 200 of the Renaissance master’s greatest drawings. So much of his life’s work never came to fruition.* Some of his greatest achievements survive only in his drawings and manuscripts. The exhibition is the largest collection of over 65 years of work covering the full range of his interests including painting, sculpture, architecture, anatomy, engineering, cartography, geology and botany. * See “Leonardo da Vinci” by Walter Isaacson, publisher Simon & Shuster paperbacks.

For a booking form press here

http://taswox.org.uk/DocumentStore/Hereford%20and%20Kilpeck%20Booking%20form%20pdf.pdfKilpeck may be one of the most perfect small Romanesque Churches, there are stone carvings in so many places, and the overall architecture is wonderful; it really is stunning. How were such skilled masons lured to little Kilpeck, even the locals are not sure.

Hereford Cathedral was founded in 676, but real building began in the 12th Century, apart from the stonework, it has the Mappa Mundi, one of the oldest maps of the then known world, also there is the Chained library, books were chained so they could not be stolen.

So much beauty and history in one outing.

For an appliction form click here

The Mary Rose was Henry VIII’s flagship and his favourite vessel. Launched in 1511 soon after he came to power. She had seen action against the French in a number of Cross Channel skirmishes against the French.

In 1545 the French were attacking England and had 225 vessels in the Solent on the attack against only 80 English. It seems a matter of some amazement that the Mary Rose sank so quickly before all eyes, to this day we do not know why.

What then do we go to see? A snapshot of history, how the men lived on board, bronze guns as good as new, how they cooked, surgeon’s tools. In fact it is quite remarkable and very interesting what has survived about 460 years in the mud of the Solent.

A good range of Cafés are available for our lunches. Application form press here.

http://taswox.org.uk/DocumentStore/ARTS%20SOCIETY%20WOXON%20Visit%20Stowe%20House%20pdf.pdf

In the 18th century, the powerful Temple-Grenville family chose to create an idyllic landscape filled with temples. Amidst these enchanting gardens, they built the most lavish temple of all, Stowe House. On the visit you will see the beautifully restored State Rooms and discover fascinating stories of how scandal, intrigue and debt brought one of England’s richest families to its knees and the house close to demolition.

The house was saved by Stowe School in 1923 and opened in partnership with them by the Stowe House Preservation Trust, an independent Charity in 2000.
With over 300 years of history there is something for everyone at Stowe House!

For application form click here.

This visit will combine a guided visit to one of the most majestic and interesting Cathedrals in the UK with the chance to visit a nearby historic House with spectacular state rooms and a varied interior collection. As well as its magnificent architecture in the Cathedral you can see the priceless 800-year-old Bible and visit Jane Austen’s grave. The house, which we go to after lunch, is surrounded by extensive and beautiful gardens, parkland, planted avenues and vistas. The photo gallery on the website (http://www.avingtonpark.co.uk/) gives a good idea of what is on offer.

Limited to 40 members/visitors in total

Windsor Castle: Most of us know something about Windsor Castle; it has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1000years. As well as being an official residence for the Queen, it is also a working royal palace hosting state visits and banquets, political leaders, ambassadors etc. St George’s Chapel, within its precinct, is the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter.

This visit will give us an insight into the restoration programme post the fire of 1992 followed by a “multi-media” tour of the State Apartments including areas transformed after the fire. As part of the visit to St George’s Chapel, we will be given a talk by Colonel (Retd) David Axson, one of the Military Knights.

For an application form click here

Lichfield Cathedral is the only medieval cathedral to have three spires often referred to as the "Ladies in the Vale". The Close is one of the most complete in the country and includes a medieval courtyard which once housed the men of the choir. The National Memorial Arboretum is home to some 30,000 trees and over 300 memorials respresenting a broad population of the country. The bidding proforma will be available before the end of September.

After the battle of Waterloo, 1815, a grateful nation voted a significant sum of money to buy a house and estate worthy of a national hero, the 1st Duke of Wellington. In 1817, after considering a number of far grander properties, he chose Stratfield Saye. With no money available to build a substantial palace in the park, the Duke being a practical man, set about making Stratfield Saye House convenient and comfortable.

During this visit, we will be able to view the major rooms on the ground floor; and two of the bedrooms where the Great Duke's water closets are still in use! There is a fascinating collection of paintings and furniture to be seen in addition to many mementos of the Duke's occupation of his modest country home.

Morning visit to Sudeley Castle and talk on its history. 

Afternoon go to Broadway and the Gordon Russell Museum of furniture from Arts and Crafts to the present time.

Click here for application Form and more detail

This is a special opportunity to visit the RSN which is internationally known for its work both in restoring Mediaeval Tapestries and producing stunning modern pieces of Embroidery. We have reserved a Curator’s Presentation and tour of the exhibition Stories in Stitch. This will showcase a wide range of Hand Embroideries in Appliqué, Stumpwork and Raised Embroidery, featuring pieces from the RSN’s Archive Collection and its students.

The historic heart of the exhibition will feature two 17th century pieces in Stumpwork when this technique was at its most popular.

This is now full, there is a waiting list, and if there are enough another tour will be arranged.

The first visit for the new season is presently being planned. It will be to Romsey with a tour of the abbey in the morning and a visit to Broadlands in the afternoon. Further details, including the sign-up proforma will be available through the WODFAS website (www.wodfas.org.uk) and the newsletter.

Click here for application form

Milton’s Cottage is where the poet lived and completed his writing of Paradise Lost while taking refuge from the Plague

Chenies Manor was the 15th and 16th C Tudor home of the Russell family, then Earls of Bedford, and played host to both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. More recently Time Team visited to explore the extent of the early house. It has a sunken Tudor garden, herbaceous borders, a physic garden and a Victorian kitchen garden, and won the HHA/Christie’s  Garden of the Year Award in 2009.

Click here for an application form

Housed in a 1930’s architectural gem are paintings by Old Masters, French Impressionists and 19th and 20th century British Artists, as well as a collection of contemporary British art that has received international recognition and an outstanding British studio pottery collection.

The neighbouring modern Sea City Museum tells the story of the people of the city, their fascinating  lives and historic connections with the sea and with the Titanic in particular.  There is a café offering coffee, light lunches and teas.

Application form go to About Us and then publictions

From 1848-1888 this was the home of Benjamin Disraeli, a most colourful and interesting Victorian Prime Minister. In the war it was used for photographic analysis and map making, and there is an exhibition of this in the basement. Detail and application form under DOCUMENTS