On 20 May 2026 we will have a joint trip with members of Macclesfield Art Society.  We will visit Salford Museum Art Gallery in the morning to see their exhibition of Pilkington tiles, followed by lunch and a viewing of the spectacular collection of Tiffany glass at the Howarth Art Gallery in the afternoon.

Click here for details

The programme for our coach trip to Staffordshire is now finalised.  The morning's destination is the extraordinary neo-Gothic St. Giles' Catholic Church in Cheadle, Staffordshire.  St Giles' is considered to be the finest of all the churches built by the celebrated nineteenth century architect and designer A.W.N Pugin. We will have a special guided tour.  

In the afternoon we will be at Trentham Gardens, a park with a long history back to Tudor times but bearing the marks of Capability Brown's re-modelling in the eighteenth century.  Trentham offers both indoor and outdoor interest, whether rain or shine. There are formal gardens in an Italian style, a lake, meadows and wild landscape with sheep and deer, together with attractive cafés, a large garden centre and shopping village.  See https://trentham.co.uk/

On the day, meet at 9a.m. for 9.15 departure at Holly Road North, Wilmslow, opposite the United Reformed Church.

The Arts Quiz -Sign up Now!

The Arts Quiz is the Arts Society Wilmslow’s new, light-hearted event. Teams of up to 6 persons will search for answers to visually-based questions about art, music, books, film and heritage of all kinds. There will be easy questions and a few tricky ones to keep members on their toes!

Players must register in advance. You can register at our Arts Society meetings, or email names to the Chairman at graham@gnicholson.co.uk .  It will be first come, first served. Guests are welcome but members will have priority if places are in demand.

Come as a team of up to 6 if you wish or come as an individual and be placed in a team on the day.

The Quiz is on Tuesday 19th March, 2.00 to 4.00, at the Alderley Edge Cricket Club, Moss Lane, Alderley Edge SK9 7HN. There is a free car park at the Club.

There will be a raffle and the entrance fee of £10 per person will be collected on the day by cash or card. Tea and cakes are included.

Roll up and have fun!

The Arts Society Wilmslow Christmas Lunch will be held once again at The Alderley Edge Hotel, Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge, SK9 7BJ on Wednesday, 13th December at 12noon for 1pm. 

A sparkling aperitif will be served from noon, with lunch being served at 1pm.  A choice of wine will be available for purchase.  Coffee or tea and mince pies will be served after the meal.  The cost is £45 per person.

Up to two guests per member are welcome, with the dining room seating a maximum of sixty.  For the menu and further details click here.

Please complete the Booking Form and return to Martin Steiger (address on the form).

Our first outing of the year is to the Deanwater Hotel in Woodford on Tuesday 17th October (please note the revised date) at 12noon for 12.30pm. We look forward to a very relaxed social event where Nick Bianchi, Director of the Arighi Bianchi family business, has kindly agreed to tell us about the history and heritage of the famous company.  The Arighi Bianchi building in Macclesfield is one of the best-known landmarks of our area.  The afternoon is expected to finish around 3pm.

Nick is part of the 4th generation of the family firm which will celebrate its 170th anniversary next year.  His illustrated talk will touch on the origins of the family in Italy and how the company came to Macclesfield and has grown and prospered over the decades.

Our lunch at the Deanwater will include wine or soft drink on arrival and two course lunch with vegetarian option.  Members and guests should book in advance for £27.50 per person.  You can book either by emailing margaretblenkinsop@btinternet.com and making a BACS payment to The Arts Society Wilmslow, 08-92-99, 65494486, reference your last name, or book and pay at our September or October meeting. Numbers are limited so please book soon, bring friends and support your Society.

Members of the Arts Society Wilmslow and their guests are cordially invited to the Chairman's Garden Party at Osborne House, 47 Trafford Road, Alderley Edge, SK9 7DN from 14.30-17.00.

The afternoon will have food and drink, music and entertainment, and of course the excellent company of friends with shared interests. The garden was established around 1860 and some of the original features remain.  The Chairman looks forward to offering guided tours to those interested.

Tickets and entry will be available on the day but you can help planning and preparations by registering your intention to attend by email to margaretblenkinsop@btinternet.com.

The Garden Party is a fund-raiser for two good causes.  It will support Ukrainian refugees in our area and particularly their lessons in English. Ukraine has a lively musical heritage and we are delighted that Ukrainian artists currently in our area will perform.  The afternoon will also support The Arts Society Wilmslow's ongoing programme.

Entry is £15 per person (payable by card or cash) to include a first drink (wine, soft drinks etc) and tasty finger food.

The North West Area Support Team invites you to join their tour to the Netherlands, 26th – 31st May 2023.           

The main attraction is The Vermeer Exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.  With loans from all over the world, this promises to be the most important and comprehensive exhibition of Vermeer’s work ever and it is unlikely to be repeated.    This 6 day tour, based in Delft, includes a visit to this exhibition as well as visits to other towns exploring the art and culture of the Netherlands   

For more details click here  

image: " Girl in a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer

Society members should go to https://manchesterartgallery.org/dandy-style-lunchtime-talks/ to book their tickets for a free lunch time talk by  Shaun Cole using Eventbrite. We will travel together on the 10.13 train from Wilmslow (10.10 from Alderley Edge) and arrive at the Gallery at around 11.00 to view the exhibition, enjoy refreshments and attend the talk at 1.00. Any queries to the Chairman Graham Nicholson at graham@gnicholson..co.uk.

Save the date!  We are planning a spring coach trip from Wilmslow to Liverpool on Tuesday, 14th March.  We will travel to the Tate Liverpool on the Albert Dock for a special curator-led tour of the JMW Turner seascapes exhibition.  We will have access also to the gallery devoted to next year's Turner Prize. For lunch we will have our own hospitality room at the Tate in which to enjoy the picnics we have brought with us. There will be ample free time to sight-see, to visit other museums and galleries or even go shopping before the coach returns us to Wilmslow.

For further details click here

Image: JMW Turner "Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth" 1842

This year’s Christmas lunch will be held on Thursday 8th December.  As previously the venue is Alderley Edge Hotel, Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge, SK9 7BJ 

A sparkling aperitif will be served from noon with lunch at 1.00 pm, and a choice of wine will be available for purchase.  Members are welcome to invite up to two guests.  The cost is £35 per person.

We hope as many of you as possible will be able to come to the lunch and enjoy the Alderley Edge Hotel's Christmas ambience.  Menu choices are here, and the booking form here.  Please complete the booking form and email or post it to Martin Steiger at the address shown on the form. 

Macclesfield has a fascinating history as the centre of the British silk industry.  At one time there were 70 silk mills, the last closing only in the 1980s.

Do join the Arts Society Wilmslow party for our guided tour.  We'll hear the story of the rise and fall of the industry through textiles, costumes and photographs and see working examples of the Jacquard looms on which the colourful silk fabrics were woven.  The museum building itself was originally the Macclesfield School of Design, opened by William Morris in 1851, in which designers for the silk industry were trained.

Tea and cakes will be served in the Museum's tearoom and the Museum's Silk Shop offers a lovely range of silk scarves, ties, brooches, buttons and cufflinks, all made with hand woven silk from Paradise Mill.

Our afternoon will conclude with a short, optional guided heritage walk.  The silk industry brought prosperity to the town and endowed it with many interesting buildings that deserve to be appreciated.

Meet for a 1.30pm start at The Silk Museum on Park Lane, Macclesfield SK11 6TJ.

We recommend the nearby Duke Street long stay park SK11 6UR (pay and display £2.20 for three hours).  Payment on entry to the Museum will be £9.50 and £4.00 for tea.  Please note there are some stairs but no lifts in the buildings.

Numbers have to be limited - first come first served!  Please email Graham Nicholson as soon as possible.

For more details click here
  

We are holding a "bring your own bottle" barbecue in the marquee at St. Phillip's Church in Alderley Edge; timings will be from 4 to 7pm, and the event is free of charge to members.  We can seat up to 50, but for catering purposes please let us know if you wish to come; bids please to Martin Sinker who can be reached on m.sinker@talktalk.net, 01625 582253 and 07711 889683.

Tabley House, just outside Knutsford, is one of the finest Palladian houses in the north of England. The Society has arranged a guided tour of the state rooms and collections at Tabley, followed by refreshments in the Old Hall Tea Room.

There is a £7 entry fee payable on the day.   After our tour we will take tea in the Old Hall Tea Room.

Please email clairejmoreland@gmail.com  if you would like to join the party. We will all make our own way to Tabley but please let Claire know if you would like a lift, or can offer a lift.

For further details please click here

Please note: there is disabled access to the State Rooms at Tabley House but there may be restrictions.  Please refer to the Tabley House website here for the latest  information.

We have an Arts Society outing to hear the local and wonderful Lindow Ensemble play a delightful programme at Wilmslow United Reformed Church on Saturday 19th March at 7pm.

The Ensemble has kindly reserved up to 20 seats exclusively for Arts Society members. Please sign up as seats have to be booked in advance due to social distancing.  Tickets are free with a retiring collection (envelopes provided) - you are encouraged to gift aid your donation.   

The concert will include Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in D major, a Nottorno by Dvorak and Suk’s Serenade for Strings.

To reserve seats, please email Claire Moreland on clairejmoreland@gmail.com before the end of February. First come first served. A few of us will be in the nearby Coach and Horses from 6.15pm and you are most welcome to join us there!

The annual Christmas Lunch will be held in the Willoughby Suite at the Alderley Edge Hotel, Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge SK9 7BJ on Wednesday 8th December 2021 at 12.30pm.  The cost is £39 which includes a welcome drink of Prosecco or soft drink, three course lunch, followed by tea or coffee and mince pies.

To see the menu click here

For a booking form click here

The Annual Christmas Lunch will be held once again in the Willoughby Suite at the Alderley Edge Hotel, Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge SK9 7BJ, on Thursday 12th December.  The cost is £35 (same as last year) which includes a welcome drink, lunch, tea or coffee, and mince pies. 

To see the menu click here

This 5 day trip by coach from Wilmslow includes visits to Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, guided tour of Glasgow, St Mungo’s Cathedral, House for an Art Lover, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, guided tour of V&A Dundee, Verdant Works Museum, Tarbert & cruise on Loch Lomond, Hill House and a guided tour of Dumfries House.

Half board accommodation in the 4* Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld. Price from £529

For full details click here

Renishaw Hall is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Eckington, Derbyshire. It has been home to the Sitwell family for nearly 400 years. The famous literary trio, Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell were all patrons of the arts and played a significant part in the artistic and literary world at the beginning of the 20th-century. Renishaw is still very much a family home which adds to its unique atmosphere.

The gardens, including an Italianate garden laid out by Sir George Sitwell (1860–1943), are open to the public. The park is listed in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England as Grade II.  The garden is divided into 'rooms' with yew hedges, flanked with classical statues and holds the national collection of Yuccas.

For more information about Renishaw click here:

This trip is now fully booked

Sudbury Hall is Grade 1 listed and one of England’s finest Restoration houses. It was built between 1660 -1680 by George Vernon and has formal gardens & lake.  The house is notable for its superb Great Staircase featured in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice; its Long Gallery which runs the entire length of the house and is perhaps the most impressive ceiling of any house in England; and for its portraits by J M Wright and of Charles II's mistresses including Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine.  There is a mixture of architectural styles with carvings by  Gibbons and Pearce, murals by Laguerre and elaborate plasterwork by Mansfield, Pettifer and Bradbury. The kitchen is largely as it was in the early 1900s. A small dome crowned with a golden ball acts as a beacon for travellers. On the death of the 9th Lord Vernon, Sudbury was given to the Treasury as part payment of death duties.

St Giles is considered to be the finest of all the churches built by Pugin. Financed by John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury and described by the architect himself as 'Perfect Cheadle', St Giles was completed in 1846.  St Giles church is of unique importance in the history of the Gothic and Catholic revival and is popularly known as 'Pugin's Gem'.  Both the exterior & interior have a Grade I Historic England listing.

The cost is £39 for non National Trust members and £29 for NT members with a card. 

The annual Christmas lunch to be held at The Alderley Edge Hotel, Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge SK9 7BJ on 12th December 2018.

The coach leaves Wilmslow Rugby Club at 9-30am.

AM

Rochdale Town Hall. a Grade 1 listed building, it is renowned worldwide for its unique and detailed architecture. One of the finest municipal buildings in England, it was built in the Gothic Revival style by the architect William Henry Crossland and inaugurated for use in 1871.

PM

The Rochdale Pioneers Museum in Toad Lane is regarded as the birthplace of the modern Co-operative Movement. The museum provides an insight into the roots of co-operative movement, its domestic social impact and the growth of the international co-operative movement.

Cost £33 which includes a light lunch, morning and afternoon refreshments and talks/tours.

The coach should return to Wilmslow by 5pm

The Hepworth, Wakefield - Art Fund Museum of the Year 2017

Lee Miller & Surrealism in Britain and Viviane Sassen:  Hot Mirror

Monday 25th June 2018 – Cost: £33

Lee Miller (1907 – 1977) first entered the world of photography in New York as a model in Vogue in the 1920s. In 1929 she moved to Paris and worked with Man Ray, establishing her own studio and becoming part of the Surrealist milieu. A rich strand of Surrealist practice emerged in Britain in the 1930s and developed in the immediate pre-war period, during which Miller moved to London.

This exhibition will explore the creative networks between artists in the UK in the 1930s and 40s through Miller’s lens. Miller’s photographs of and collaborations with Surrealists working in the UK, including Eileen Agar, Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst and René Magritte will be presented alongside their own paintings and sculptures. It will also focus on Miller’s own practice and how she turned her Surrealist eye across disciplines to the worlds of fashion and journalism, revealing and revelling in the strange and extraordinary.

Hot Mirror presents a survey of work by internationally renowned Dutch artist and photographer Viviane Sassen. Sassen is one of the most innovative photographers working today and cites Surrealism as one of her earliest artistic influences, seen in the uncanny shadows, fragmented bodies and dream-like landscapes in her work. For Hot Mirror Sassen will select individual images from her notable art photography series of the last ten years, as well as new photographs and collages. These selections will be combined to create ‘image-poems’ that draw on the Surrealist strategies of collage. Hot Mirror will also present a new version of Sassen’s immersive film, Totem, 2014, which places the visitor inside a surreal landscape.

The Arts Society, Wilmslow

Tissington Well Dressing and Tissington Hall

 Thursday 10th May 2018 - £29

Our May visit is to Tissington, a lovely village in the heart of the Peak District, close to Ashbourne. After a brief stop en route for tea/coffee we will arrive in Tissington in time to join the procession around the village, which blesses the 6 dressed wells. The dressings are erected on the eve of Ascension Day ready for the ceremony the next day. http://www.tissingtonhall.co.uk/tissington-hall-village-well-dressing.html

You may wish to view the slide show in St. Mary`s Church, which shows the process from the digging of the clay to the final floral arrangements.

For lunch, either bring a picnic or buy your own lunch at Herbert`s Fine English Tearooms, which is immediately next to Tissington Hall.

At 2.00pm we begin our guided tour of the Hall for our group to have a close look around the property, built in 1609 by Francis Fitzherbert to replace the moated fortification that guarded the Norman Church of St Mary’s in the centre of the village. The Hall is still the family home of Sir Richard and Lady Fitzherbert.

Samlesbury Hall is a Grade II listed building, one of the stunning stately homes of Lancashire and a haven for history lovers, it reflects the building styles and religious beliefs from 14th century to the present day. 

After a soup and sandwich lunch in the magnificent Hall we will travel the short journey to Haworth Art Gallery, a Tudor style house built in 1909, bequeathed to the people of Accrington in 1920. It is also the home of the world-famous collection of Tiffany glass gifted by a local Accrington man, Joseph Briggs. 

Christmas Luncheon at The Stanneylands Hotel,

Stanneylands Road, Wilmslow, SK9 4EY

Thursday 7th December 2017 

Welcome drink at 12 noon, lunch served at 12-30, finish at 4pm.

Cost £35 for:

   A glass of wine or soft drink, a three course lunch and tea/coffee. 

After lunch we will have a musical entertainment with a seasonal theme.

Czech-born Alphonse Mucha is regarded as one of the most prominent artists of the Art Nouveau movement, producing iconic works including Gismonda; the artist’s first poster design for the actress Sarah Bernhardt. The exhibition, which is mainly drawn from the Mucha Trust collection, will include around 100 pieces. Links are made between Mucha's work and philosophy and key works from the Aesthetic movement held in British collections. The works are mainly from Mucha's Paris period, illustrating how `le style Mucha` evolved and that it became synonymous with the international Art Nouveau style. 

We will also have a guided tour around the small, but interesting Victoria Gallery & Museum at Liverpool University http://vgm.liverpool.ac.uk/  where we will lunch in their Victorian Waterhouse Café.  The Gallery has an outstanding display of art by 19th century American wildlife artist, John James Audubon. This is the largest collection of his original work outside America. Their other permanent displays include an interesting collection of British and Chinese ceramics, silverware from the Sydney Jones collection and modern sculpture by Sir Jacob Epstein and Dame Elisabeth Frink.       

Basel is one of the finest medieval cities in Europe with world class art galleries and is being organised by Stephen Swinfin.

This five-day tour is based at a 4* hotel within easy walking distance of the city centre.

In the morning we will leave Wilmslow Rugby Cub at 9.15am to set off for Combermere Abbey, http://www.combermereabbey.co.uk/abbey-gardens/the-abbey/

Its origin is as a Cistercian monastery founded in 1133 by Hugh de Malbanc, Lord of Nantwich and which now comprises medieval and 16th century buildings with extensive early 19th Century Gothic enveloping. It overlooks a 143 acre lake and is set in rolling parkland filled with ancient oaks on the Cheshire/Shropshire border. Our guided tour will take just under 2 hours and will include tea/ coffee and cake! Then we set off on a 30 minute drive to Cheerbrook`s farm shop café for lunch, which is a mile outside of Nantwich.

In the afternoon we will visit Dorfold Hall, http://www.dorfoldhall.com/ Built between 1616 and 1621, it is a grade 1 listed Jacobean house, whose historic estate has a magical quality to it, set in an oasis of rural calm next to the town of Nantwich. During the Civil War, the Battle of Nantwich (1644) took place in its grounds. The beautiful garden hides several hidden surprises, not the least being a magnificent chestnut tree believed to be over a thousand years old, and is the last legacy of the original Delamere Forest. We will have the benefit of visiting and having the guided tours on a non-public access day, so that our group will be able to enjoy the Hall and the freedom of the gardens without other members of the public being present.   

Cost  £44 including morning coffee/tea and lunch:  

Visit to Harewood House near Leeds and Salts Mill, Saltaire to view the David Hockney permanent exhibition. Cost £48

Wednesday 29th March 2017

At Harewood House we will have a guided Introductory Tour of the grand State Floor to discover one of Britain’s most important art and furniture collections set within lavish Georgian interiors. This impressive collection includes renaissance masterpieces, works by JMW turner and El Greco, exquisite Thomas Chippendale furniture and fabulous Robert Adam interiors. 2017 sees the celebration of Victorian Harewood. The House was recently used as a major set for ITV’s Victoria Series and costumes from the programme will be on display.  There is also a planned contemporary art exhibition in the ‘Below Stairs’ area organised by the current Lady Harewood. Please note the coach car park has a shuttle service to take you to and from the Courtyard and the House if needed (or time is short).

Salts Mill’s 1853 Gallery displays the world’s largest permanent collection of work by Bradford born artist David Hockney. We will have a guided tour of the Gallery followed by a brief introduction to Hockney’s stunning new exhibition ‘The arrival of Spring’. There will be a short time to explore other exhibitions or take a quick look around Saltaire.

Our 2017 programme starts with a wonderful trip two great Merseyside galleries.

We start with the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight which has recently benefited from a £2.8 million development project. The gallery contains the best collection of Wedgewood jasperware in the world and an internationally renowned collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. After a guided tour, the coach will take us through the Mersey Tunnel to Tate Liverpool where we will have a light lunch.

We then have a private talk on the Tate's special exhibition of two 20th century artists, Edward Krasinski and Yves Klein. While at the Tate you will have the chance to see the FREE exhibition, Tracey Emin and William Blake: In Focus.

Cost: £37

Three courses,  followed by tea  or coffee.  After lunch there will be a musical entertainment arranged by James Muirhead of the Halle Orchestra and Chetham's School of Music.

Cost £35 per person

Details of this wonderful visit on Friday, 14th October are here, and the booking form here.  Booking forms will also be available at the lecture on Tuesday, and Barbara and Hilary will be pleased to provide any further information you may require.  They will also be happy to take your payment, so why not book early? Then you can be confident that your place at our first visit for 2016/17 is confirmed.

Cost £49 including lunch, £38 without lunch

£29 – National Trust Members    £34 non-National Trust members

This visit takes place the week after Susie Harries’ lecture “PEVSNER – BUILDINGS OF CHESHIRE”

Tatton Park's Mansion.   During the 1770’s the architect Samuel Wyatt was commissioned by Samuel Egerton to produce designs for a Neo-Classical Mansion house on the present site, the first stage of which was completed in 1791. In the 1860’s an upper floor was added to the family wing, with the addition of the Family Entrance Hall in 1884. In this year Tatton became one of the first houses outside the capital to benefit from the installation of an electrical system.

In the late Victorian period the Egertons of Tatton reached the pinnacle of their social status, with Wilbraham, Earl Egerton, hosting great house parties at Tatton. Attendees included the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1887, and the Shah of Persia and Crown Prince of Siam in the 1890’s. The Mansion at Tatton Park is particularly well known for its outstanding collection of furniture made by Gillows of Lancaster. There is also a diverse collection of paintings with works from the 14th through to the 20th centuries including works by Canaletto, Van Dyck, Chardin and Guercino. The majority of important works are on display in the Mansion’s State Rooms.

Adlington Hall’s origins pre-date The Mansion by almost three centuries. The Great Hall was completed in 1505 and is a stunning example of medieval craftsmanship at its best. See the fine hammer-beam roof which features beautifully-carved and moulded roof arches, decorated with angels bearing armorial shields. The walls of The Great Hall are testament to our rich history and fine architecture and you will notice that the hall is lit by unusually tall windows. In fact, the largest is dated 1480 and towers nearly sixteen feet tall. It underwent restoration work back in 2002. 

Also in the Great Hall you can see Adlington’s Great Organ, a breathtaking example of the organmaker’s art, and arguably one of England’s most important 17th century musical instruments. Other rooms open to visitors during guided tours include the beautiful oak-panelled dining room, the chapel, the Minstrels’ Gallery, the Chinese room, the Number 10 bedroom, and the old nursery.

There will be an opportunity for you to wander around the gardens on your own and enjoy the tranquil atmosphere.

Set on magnificent Coniston Water, Brantwood offers a fascinating insight into the world of John Ruskin, one of the Victorian Age`s most important cultural theorists. Complete with many of his personal treasures, the house retains the character of its famous resident, so take this opportunity to explore where he spent the last 28 years of his life. `Brant` means steep in Old Norse, so there is a short walk up a steady gradient from the car park to the house and the house does not have a lift, so access to the 2 small bedrooms is via a staircase.

John Ruskin features in our March lecture, Tuesday 8th.

From Brantwood, we will drive to Lake Windermere to visit that masterpiece of early twentieth century design, Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House. Built as a holiday home for the Manchester brewer, Sir Edward Holt, the architect, MH Baillie Scott, created a perfect and stunning example of the Arts & Crafts Movement.

The trip costs £44 and includes morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea. The coach will depart Wilmslow Rugby Club at 8-30am and will arrive back at around 6pm. Because of the narrow roads in the Lakes we are restricted to a coach that only takes 33 people so early booking is advised.

The trip costs £40 which covers the coach trip to Birmingham, morning coffee, a buffet lunch and afternoon tea. The coach leaves Wilmslow Rugby Club at 8-30am and will arrive back around 6pm.

We start at the Barber Institute, on the University campus, where we will have a guided tour of the finest small collections of European art in the UK.

After lunch we move to the city centre to visit the Library of Birmingham, which opened in 2013 with the aim of `rewriting the book` for 21st century public libraries.

Five minutes’ walk away is the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Home to the world`s largest collection of Pre‐Raphaelite Art, we will visit their winter exhibition,

Enchanted Dreams: the Pre-Raphaelite Art of E.R.Hughes.

Adlington Hall (same venue as last year)  Cost £33

Drinks at 12 noon in the Hunting Lodge, lunch at 12-30pm.

Three course lunch with all the trimmings!

Guest lecture by Nirvana Romell who will talk about the symbolism and types of angels.

Return coach trip from Wilmslow Approx. cost £43

Stokesay Castle is one of the best preserved manor houses and fortress in England dating from the 13th century. Stokesay Court is the very epitome of the Victorian country house and makes an absolutely fascinating comparison with what passed for luxurious living with its medieval neighbour up the road. Guided tour of Stokesay Castle Lunch at Stokesay Court Guided tour of Stokesay Court Afternoon tea

7 days from £969 Departing 31st August 2015
For more information on this tour contact
Stephen Swinfin
Tel: 01625 829813
Email: swinfin@btinternet.com
18 Abbey Mill, Shirleys Drive,
Prestbury,
Macclesfield SK10 4XY.

FEATURES
• All excursions & guided tours included
• Centrally located hotels
• Two dinners included
• Coach transfer from Wilmslow to Liverpool on Day 1
• Direct scheduled flights
• Tour manager throughout
• Executive coach throughout
• Local accommodation tax included
WHAT WE WILL SEE
• Halle – guided tour
• Moritzburg National Gallery – guided tour
• Bauhaus Dessau – guided tour
• Wörlitz Park
• Leipzig – guided tour
• Museum der Bildenden Künste – guided tour
• Wartburg Castle
• Erfurt – guided walking tour
• Weimar – guided tour
• Goethe’s Home
• Goethe’s Gartenhaus
• Bauhaus Museum
• Wittenberg
ACCOMMODATION
We stay four nights at the centrally located 3* Stadt Aachen Hotel (www.hotel-stadt-aachen.de) at Naumburg. We stay a further two nights at the centrally located centrally located 4* Dorint Am Goethepark Hotel (www.dorint.com/weimar) in Weimar.
Facilities at both hotels include a restaurant, and all rooms are en suite and feature television and a telephone. Dinner is served on the first night at each hotel, and the remaining four nights are on bed and breakfast basis.
EXTRAS TO YOUR TOUR
• Single room supplement £94
• Insurance £36
• Entrance fees to places of interest visited as part of this itinerary
• Gratuities
Flight details may be subject to change.
Price based on twin share. Minimum numbers required. Normal booking conditions apply.

Guided tour of Tabley House and gardens, Knutsford Lunch at Peover Hall Guided tour of Peover Hall, gardens and church Afternoon tea

Guided tour of the BBC Media City Lunch in the Lowry restaurant. Afternoon tour of the Lowry theatre and galleries. Afternoon tea.

Return coach trip from Wilmslow Price £29

Jacqueline Hyman is giving us a lecture on the 13th Jan. entitled “What did the Egyptians ever do for Bolton?” Following on from this we are visiting Bolton Museum for her to give a guided and hands on tour to see and feel for ourselves. Lunch in the Octagon Theatre. Afternoon visit to Hall I th Wood an early 16th Century manor house in Bolton. The house was the home of Samuel Crompton during the 18th century and was where he designed and built the first spinning mule. Afternoon tea

Silver Anniversary Luncheon on Friday, 5 December 2014 to be held in the Hunting Lodge at Adlington Hall, Mill Lane, Adlington, Macclesfield, SK10 4LF. With a choice of menu and an after-luncheon talk by Nirvana Rommell on the 'Quest of the Magi and Nativity Scene History.'

Lunch will be included. We shall have access to the dining room silver and the Lyme Caxton Missal. Timeline (subject to variation): Meet at 10.30 for morning coffee. Parking is included in the fee. 11.00 - 12.30 'Silver in Context'. Introduction in the Ale Cellar then handling session in the Dining Room. 12.30 - 1.30 Lunch 1.30 -2.15 'Conservation and Care of Silver and other metals' by Julie Vint Conservator. 2.15 - 3.15 Private tour of the house by James Rothwell including the National Trust’s most important printed book, a missal of 1487 by William Caxton. Tea at the end and open for questions.

The People's History Museum (until 2001 it was the National Museum of Labour History ) is the UK's national centre for material related to the history of working people in the UK. It is located in a Grade II listed, a former hydraulic pumping station on the corner of the Bridge Street and Water Street. The museum contains a collection of materials which celebrate the lives of "ordinary" people. Some of the topics covered include: Popular Radicalism, the Peterloo Massacre, 19th Century Trade Unionism, the Women's Suffrage movement, and the Co-op Retail movement.

Our final visit of the 2012/2013 season was to the new display of the Dutch Gallery at Manchester Art Gallery. Our guided tour of the Dutch Exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery was followed by a Chinese meal in China Town on 13th June 2013. Thirty-one members attended, so the guided tour by Henrietta Ward (the curator in training from the National Gallery London) was split into two groups.

Boughton Hall, near Kettering, is the home of the Dukes of Buccleuch and Queensberry. This guided private tour of the magnificent house and grade 1 listed landscape estate not only featured the exquisite tapestries illustrated in our 2012 lecture but also the staggering collection of fine art in the house. This features paintings, furniture, porcelain, and weapons including stunning pieces created for the French Royal Family. The house ranks among the flagships of the world heritage of Britain along with Blenheim, Chatsworth, Burghley and Holkham and has featured in several TV programmes illustrating British architecture and treasures. The house has very limited opening to the public and we had a private tour.

Jackfield Tile Museum is one of the ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums. Members of the group had hands-on experience of tube-lining tiles.We were each given a 6” square tile and instructed on decorating it using the tube lining method of decoration and glazing, much admired by our Victorian ancestors. (Our tiles were fired and returned at a later date for us to keep.) After the workshop we were transported to the Maws Craft Village for lunch at ‘Lena’s Art and Cuisine Gallery.’ There was time to do a little shopping at the craft village before returning to the Jackfield Tile Museum for an escorted tour.