STUDY DAYS (Days of Special Interest)
Enriching Lives Through The Arts
Enriching Lives Through The Arts
Study Days, two a year, are a chance for members and their guests to go deeper into a subject, spending time looking at more detailed information.
They are a social event with talks on carefully selected interesting subjects, led by a highly qualified speaker on that subject.
The day begins at 10:30 with coffee and a light lunch included. The day finishes at 3:30.
There is plenty of parking available at the venue - Rushall & Charlton St. Peter Village Hall.
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TUESDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2019
THE NORMANS - CONQUEST AND LEGACY
It is 950 years since the Normans invaded England. The roughest of company, they came not to civilise, but to seize. A mere eleven men in Duke William’s inner circle enjoyed an unprecedented bonanza, receiving almost half the land of the conquered kingdom. There followed an orgy of building in what was described as ‘a new manner’ – castles, churches, monasteries and cathedrals – that all but effaced the fabric of Saxon England. It was their way of showing us who was in charge.
In describing the mass of post-Conquest masonry, the lecturer, Rupert Willoughby, focuses on individuals, like the deeply unpleasant Baldwin de Redvers, lord of the Isle of Wight, where his legacy endures. He offers an insight into their lives – and the disgusting details of William the Conqueror’s funeral.
Click here to download and print the booking form
TUESDAY 3rd MARCH 2020
"GILT AND GORGEOUSNESS"
Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of King George IV's Accession to the Throne
with Barbara Askew
Session One: The Compulsive Spender – tracing George IV’s developing taste as Prince of Wales and Regent. His fondness for Francophilia, food, flattery, wine, women and lavish decoration, culminating in his conversion to the oriental style and the Brighton Pavilion.
Session Two: The Greatest Royal Collector of Art – George IV furnished magnificently his palaces with the finest artefacts, paintings, sculptures, porcelain and silver and gold ware.
Session Three: The Grand Entertainment –His coronation was the most spectacular ever, appropriate to his vision of the monarchy. He transformed modest Buckingham House and decaying Windsor Castle into grandiose palaces suitable for royal entertaining and state visits.
Click here for the Booking Form for this wonderful study day
THURSDAY 12TH NOVEMBER 2020
"NEW YORK NEW YORK"
A 'time-travel' virtual tour with Mary Alexander
Session One: The Gilded Age 1890s – a carriage ride up Fifth Avenue from Washington Square (so beloved by Henry James and Edith Wharton) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, tracking the relentless move of fashionable society from downtown to uptown.
Session Two: The Spirit of Achievement – New York in the 1920s and 1930s, the atmosphere of the brownstones and high society clubs re-created in exquisite detail with digital photography.
Session Three: Contemporary Street Scenes – the city as art (includes a walk along the High Line, a meander in Central Park, the reflecting pools at Ground Zero).
Click here to download and print the booking form for this fascinating tour of New York
Study Day Organisers:
Anita Vandeleur: T: 01672 563012 and Margaret Godson: T: 01672 810219