PAST VISITS

15-22 April 2012
Kracow to Warsaw:

9-14 September 2011,
Glamis, Castle Fraser, Crathes, Fyvie Castle, Haddo House, Cawdor, Castle of Mey, Dunrobin, Scone North Scotland
Staying at the Lovat Arms Beauly & Menzies Dyce Aberdeen



1/2 August 2011 Althrop and Highgrove


11 July 2011 Wren Churches Study Day with Andrew Davies

CHARTRES AND THE CHATEAUX & GARDENS OF NORTHERN FRANCE
4 night, 5-day tour by train, 12-16 April 2010

Monday 12 April
National Express morning train from York to London Kings Cross, Eurostar lunch time train to Paris Gare du Nord.
Drive to St Denis north of Paris, traditional burial place of French kings and queens for 1200 years up to the Revolution. In the fine Gothic abbey church designed by the 12th century Abbot Suger – the first monumental masterpiece of Gothic art - are 46 extraordinary royal & aristocratic tombs, from King Clovis to Marie Antoinette, which were returned here from Paris by Louis XVIII in 1816.
Continue to Enghien-les-Bains and check in to our hotel, the Hôtel du Lac. Dinner at the hotel

Tuesday 13 April
Full day excursion to Giverny in Normandy, visiting Monet’s House & Garden- still displaying the painterly planting and water lily pond that he designed. Also visit the American Museum nearby which holds excellent paintings by Monet’s American pupils & followers. Free evening

Wednesday 14 April
Full day excursion to Chartres for the late 12th century Gothic Cathedral, built in only 25 years with stained glass windows covering 2,700 square metres and such exquisite stone sculpture that Auguste Rodin named it the Acropolis of France. Guided lecture with Malcolm Miller followed by a stroll around Old Chartres, which was a place of pilgrimage equivalent to Canterbury.
Evening optional excursion to the theatre or opera.

Thursday 15 April
Drive to the 17th century Vaux-le-Vicomte for a full day in the Palace and gardens. Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s Finance Minister, embezzled state funds to build this magnificent palace, inspiring the king later to use the same creative team for his own
Château of Versailles. Aesthetically Vaux holds its own and is quieter than the royal palace.

Our afternoon visit is to Fontainebleau, where the rest of the day is spent visiting the Chateau and gardens. Francois I entrusted the decoration exclusively to Italian Renaissance artists, making this 16th century palace unique among French châteaux. The lavishly carved and frescoed long gallery was once frequented by Mary and Anne Boleyn. Return for dinner at local restaurant.

Friday 16 April
After checking out of the hotel we drive to the Château de Versailles to visit the State Apartments and gardens of the Sun King’s palace.
Evening transfer to Paris Gare du Nord for late afternoon train via Kings Cross arriving York about 9pm.



VISITS PROGRAMME 2010

Monday 11 January 2010,
A day outing, travelling by train leaving York at 0820, we will have a conducted tour of the Houses of Parliament during the morning and then visit the treasures of Goldsmiths’ Hall during the afternoon followed by a tour of the Guildhall Art Gallery.
http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/
http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/hall/


VISITS PROGRAMME 2009
Friday 13 November: CHATSWORTH'S CHRISTMAS

A Candlelit Christmas, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen
including
Deck the Halls – A floral demonstration celebrating Christmas at Chatsworth

Chatsworth's Christmas decorations offer a unique experience with beautiful traditional decorations in the grand rooms on the two lower floors of the house. In 2009, we take our inspiration from candlelight, and specifically from the intriguing Hans Christian Anderson tale, 'The Candle'. Many visitors come from far and wide to see the unique Christmas decorations and this will be another year not to be missed.

Chatsworth offers a growing range of shops, including the elegant interiors, garden and gift shops, to inspire you with ideas for presents for everyone on your Christmas shopping list. Contemporary craft by leading and up and coming makers is also available. The finest seasonal food and drink, from a hot drink on the move to a fabulous Christmas feast will complete your visit.
Owing to annual housekeeping, our Christmas opening is on the two lower floors of the house only. Our special seasonal decorations are likely to obscure some works of art, and with candles and other special Christmas lighting, there is much less light in many of the rooms. Please also be aware that after dusk, many parts of the garden are not lit.

Jonathan Moseley will lead the flower arrangements and he is a member of both the North East and North Midlands Areas of NAFAS and Vice Chairman of the National Demonstrators’ Committee. He works as a professional florist and travels extensively presenting demonstrations and workshops around the country and abroad on both traditional and contemporary styles of floral design. Garden plant materials are his passion and he is respect for his large scale experimental designs and his friendly and enthusiastic approach to demonstrating.
Cost: £55 including entrance, flower demonstration, main meal en return route and travel

Leave Clifton Moor at 0900

http://chatsworth.org


SALISBURY’S CATHEDRAL AND STATELY HOMES
Sunday 13th – Tuesday 15th September 2009
Sunday 13 September
Departing from Clifton Moor by coach we travel to Northamptonshire for a private visit to the English residence of the Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, Boughton House, also known as the ‘English Versailles’. The first Duke was ambassador to the court of Louis XIV and on his return added a palace in the French style onto the original Elizabethan mansion. It has been the home of the Duke and his Montagu family since 1528. Masterpieces from the ducal art collection include an unusual early portrait of Elizabeth I which is attracting considerable interest from historians.

We are served coffee and biscuits on arrival and after the guided tour of the State Apartments, a light lunch sourced from the estate gardens.
Our arrival in Salisbury is in the late afternoon, in time to check in and take dinner at the hotel.

Monday 14 September
Our first visit this morning is the Cathedral, reached by a walk across the wide cathedral green depicted by Constable. Both cathedral and city were built here on a virgin site when the bishop abandoned Old Sarum, the hill fort nearby. Despite 18th century ‘restoration’ the cathedral, which just celebrated its 750th anniversary, remains one of the glories of Early English architecture. Our guided tour, which includes the Cloisters and Chapter House with a very rare copy of Magna Carta, is followed by coffee in the refectory.

We then stroll across the grass to Arundells, a Medieval Canonry bought by Sir Edward Heath in 1985 and one of the finest houses in the Close. When he died in 2005 his ashes were buried in the cathedral and a trust established to run the house and his archives. This is the first year it is open to the public.
After lunch at the Cathedral we continue to Mompesson House & Garden NT, built in 1701 for the local MP. Georgian interiors are enriched with Hepplewhite furniture and Sevres china – as seen in Sense and Sensibility, which was filmed here. We then return to the hotel, making a tour of the city en route to admire the unique ‘chequers’, grid-plan on which it is built and the striking views from the water meadows. Dinner is at the hotel with the option of a theatre visit afterwards.
Tuesday 15 September
A half-hour drive brings us to Wilton House, residence of the artistic Herbert family, Earls of Pembroke since 1557. This house was designed by Inigo Jones and shows his mastery of Palladian architecture in the spectacular Single and Double Cube rooms hung with magnificent family portraits by Van Dyck. Shakespeare’s As you like it was first performed here. More recently it served as a location for Pride & Prejudice, Mrs Brown, and The Madness of King George.

We break the return journey with a visit to Hidcote Manor Garden NT in the Cotswolds, where lunch is served on arrival. The garden is a masterpiece of Arts & Crafts design, with a series of outdoor ‘rooms’ each in a different style and fine views over the Vale of Evesham. Return to York is expected to be 7.30pm approximately.


25th June 2009
Visit to Sutton Park, Stateley Home in Sutton on the Forest, YO61 1DP;

Sutton Park was built in the eighteenth century by Philip Harland. It is now the family home of Sir Reginald and Lady Sheffield. When the Sheffields bought the house in 1963 they moved much of their collection from Normanby Park in Lincolnshire. Large parts of this collection were originally from Buckingham House, the family's London home built by John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham, now known world-wide as the Queen's official residence - Buckingham Palace.

Gardens

Our award winning gardens won the Silver Gilt Award in Yorkshire in Bloom 2008 and can be viewed from April to September each year, you may also have refreshments in the award winning tea room after your walk.

The award winning gardens attract visitors from both home and abroad, and have been featured in many prestigious publications. In fact Sutton Park is a frequent winner in the "Yorkshire In Bloom" Competition in the category "Yorkshire Tourist Board Award". The gardens featuring herbaceous rose borders are full of rare and interesting plants laid out with great care over the past thirty five years. In the grounds are a Georgian Icehouse and woodland walks.

Guided Tour of House and Garden
Tea/Coffee and Cake
£13.50 per person
Meet in car park at 1250 hrs
http://www.statelyhome.co.uk

18th - 20th April 2009
Outing to Kew Gardens

YDFAS Visit to Kew - Three days and Six attractions

Saturday 18th April 2009

Coach will leave York in the early morning, around 0800 hrs and will have one comfort break before arriving at 13.00 hrs at Hatfield House home of the Cecils, http://www.hatfield-house.co.uk where we will have a tour, then lunch, then time to look around the garden.

We will leave and make our way to Petersham Hotel in Richmond, http://www.petershamhotel.co.uk, where your evening is free to do as you please. For those of you who wish to we will be organising an early meal at a local restaurant followed by a trip to the theatre but the cost of this is additional.


Sunday 19th April

We intend to arrive at Spencer House, http://spencerhouse.co.uk at 10.00 hrs for a tour of the house before leaving for Ham House http://nationaltrust.org.uk/hamhouse where we will have lunch and a tour. Following this, we will leave at around tea time to get over to Marble Hill House http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visits for a tour.

So that we can all share an evening together an evening meal is being organised at a local restaurant and this will be included in the tour price.


Monday 20th April

We must remember to book out of the hotel before boarding the coach for Kew Gardens http://www.kew.org . It is intended, if there is sufficient demand, to have a guided tour of either Royal Kew or the Botanical Gardens.

We plan to leave at around 1430 hrs to arrive at Stanford Hall http://www.stanfordhall.co.uk
for a guided tour then supper before finally boarding the coach for our journey home.

It is impossible to give a definite cost for this outing as none of the attractions have fixed prices for next year. The coach company is also concerned about the likely price of fuel at that time.
However, it is expected that the cost will be in the region of £400 including all meals except your meal on the Saturday evening, your lunch at Kew and your comfort breaks.

It is anticipated that this visit will be extremely popular and interest has already been expressed. If you know you want to come on this visit put your name down now and when we have a more accurate cost we will ask for your deposit, the receipt of which, will confirm your place.


September 2nd - 4th 2007
GREENWICH.
Staying at the Novotel Greenwich.
The visit will include Moggerhauger House (Beaford) Rangers House (EH) and Renaissance Jewellery Collection.
National Maritime Museum and Queens Gallery. Danson House (EH) Red House (NT) and Hall Place.

April 1st-3rd 2007.
CHESHIRE.
Staying at Shringley Hall Hotel. Visits will include Little Morton Hall and Adlington Hall both examples of Cheshire Black and White Tudor Houses.
The visit also includes Macclesfield Silk Museum, the Lady Lever Gallery and Henbury Hall.

June 3rd - 5th 2007
OXFORD
Staying at the Randolph Hotel.
Visits will include Broughton Castle, Ashmoleau Museum, Blenheim Palace, Christchurch College, Oxford Plate Collection and Ditchley Park.

April 27th - 30th 2008
EDINBURGH
Staying at the Point Hotel Edinburgh including a private guided tour of Holyrood private apartments

YORK Fine Art Society
BERLIN ART TOUR, 17 – 21 September 2008
21st century Berlin is one of the most dynamic of European cities.
After the destruction of the Wall 17 years ago and despite a turbulent past it has completely re-invented itself without losing the historical atmosphere of a great metropolis. Since the 18th century it has also been the German cultural capital.
17 September 2008
10.00 Our coach leaves York for the 14.30 BA flight from Manchester arriving Berlin at 17.30. Transfer by coach to the hotel for check in and dinner. The four-star Hotel Am Zoo is in the centre of Berlin West close to the Zoo and the prestigious avenue Kurfürstendamm.
18 September 2008
We meet our local guide for a morning city coach tour taking in the main sights such as Checkpoint Charlie and ending with a short guided walking tour in the Brandenburg Gate area.
Our afternoon tour is a stroll around the Gemäldegalerie (literally, picture gallery), one of the world’s finest collections of Great Master paintings. Among the highlights are masterpieces by Dürer, Altdorfer, Vermeer, Breughel, Holbein, Titian and Rembrandt.
19 September 2008
In the morning we visit Charlottenburg Palace and gardens created in the Baroque style for Frederick I and the Prussian royal family in the 17th -18th centuries. Though severely damaged in World War II the palace has now been completely restored.
Afternoon tour of the New National Gallery, a 1968 glass building by Mies van der Rohe with exciting 20th century painting & sculpture, especially the very colouristic German Expressionists (Kirchner, Schmitt-Rottluff, Grosz, Dix and the Norwegian painter Munch) whose work is rarely seen in the UK. 20 September 2008
Drive to the eastern city to visit Museum Island in the River Spree (a World Heritage site) for a highlights tour including the Altar of Zeus from Pergamon in ancient Greece and the head of Nefertiti, the ancient Egyptian queen, exquisitely sculpted in about 1350BC. There are also reconstructions of brilliantly coloured Babylonian monuments such as the Processional Way, the Ishtar Gate, Nebuchadnezzar’s throne room and the Tower of Babel.
The rest of the day is free for shopping and exploration.
21 September 2008
Morning excursion by coach to Potsdam to see Frederick the Great’s summer residence and “pleasure palace” in Rococo style, Sanssouci. The palace was built above terraced vineyards in the 1740’s and with its gardens is now a World Heritage site.
The afternoon is spent at leisure on the Kurfürstendamm before transferring to the airport for our 18.00 flight home. The coach meets us at Manchester and return to York is planned for about 22.00.
Please note that some use of public transport will be made in Berlin

YORK Fine Art Society
BERLIN ART TOUR, 17 – 21 September 2008
DRESDEN EXTENSION, 21 – 23 September 2008
21 September 2008
14.00 After visiting Potsdam & Sanssouci we leave the rest of the group to return to the UK and join the coach for the journey to Dresden. Orientation tour by coach before checking into the four-star Hotel Kim Dresden Gompitzl. Dinner at the hotel.
22 September 2008
This morning we visit the world famous Meissen Porcelain Museum. Here in the Schauhallen pieces from 1710 to the present day are on display. The Demonstration Workshops show the porcelain pieces being made.
Our afternoon visit is to the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe (Historic Green Vault).In September 2006, August the Strong’s world-famous treasure chamber was reopened in the Dresden Royal Palace. Containing over 3,000 works of art in an “incomparable Baroque setting” the Green Vault exhibits the collection assembled between 1723 – 1730.
Dinner under own arrangements.
23 September 2008
After checking out of our hotel we spend the morning at the Old Masters Picture Gallery. Part of the Dresden State Art Collection, the gallery has an outstanding collection of high ranking masterpieces. Works by Raphael, Giorgioni, Titian and Dutch and Flemish painting of the 17th century are on display.
We make the return journey to Berlin for our BA flight back at 18:00, arriving in Manchester at 19:00. The transfer coach will take us back to York arriving at approximately 22:00.