Date    25th September 

Travel  Get yourself there.

Meet     Outside the Cathedral entrance at 11:00

Tour Duration:  1 hour

Costs:     £21.50 each, which includes: Cathedral entrance fee £16.50 and £5 tour fee.

Note: If you already have a valid annual cathedral entry pass, please remember to bring it with you.

Please contact Janet Baldwin for further details: j.baldwin967@btinternet.com

Image: Canterbury Cathedral, as viewed from the adjacent  "Socialite" rooftop terrace.

Alas this visit has been cancelled, due to a combination of cost and the long coach trip - 2 1/2 hrs each way.

This resulted in a reduction in the number of members wishing to go.

PS This is a fabulous place to visit, but it needs time to see the Manor and the Gardens. 

Guided tour starts at 10:30

Godington House is situated between Charing and Ashford, an ancient estate surrounded by magnificent parkland, with beautifully restored house and garden. Expert guides will unravel 600 years of history, from Medieval hall house, through to Jacobean splendour and Victorian elegance. Revealing an excellent country house collection of furniture, art, porcelain and curios.

After lunch, you will be free to enjoy the 12 acres of gardens designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield in 1896, including the terraces, pond and rose garden, encircled by one of the longest yew hedges in the country, plus the walled garden that still grows produce today.

https://godintonhouse.co.uk

Twenty of us went on this visit. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the guided tour around the house and the tasty lunch. Some of us also managed to enjoy the garden, despite the heavy rain fall during our visit. Some managed to leave with a sunflower or two from the gardeners who were working on the flower beds. (Alas, no photography in the house was permitted).

We have to thank Nick for this most enjoyable trip.

Belmont House is an elegant 18th century house, designed by Samual Wyatt. Containing mementos of the Harris family’s history and travels, with the armoury, the Cazabon painting collection and the clock museum - an extraordinary horological collection, reputedly the finest collection in England. 

The garden’s present layout dates from the 1790s although some alterations have been made. It consists of a walled garden, pinetum, wooded area, formal lawns and a large kitchen garden.

Trip Report

The trip went well and was enjoyed by the 24 people who were there. It started with a very informative and detailed tour of the house lasting an hour and a half and was followed by a very tasty lunch of quiche and salad with elderflower cordial. Then free time to explore the garden at our leisure. All in all a very enjoyable day.

"In fact so enjoyable I am arranging another visit to Godinton House." See our next visit on 19th September. 

Image: Nick Whitworth at Belmont House. He was our TASMK Committee Member responsible for Visits for many years, who died unexpectedly in July 2024.

Exhibition of stained glass by Brian Clarke - A Great Light. Entry is free.

Image: Ardath by Brian Clarke. Taken from the Newport Street Gallery's website advertising this exhibition.

This little church, 3 minutes away from Tudeley has some fine wall paintings.

Well worth a detour on your way home.

Church Lane, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 6SX

Follow the instructions on what3words

  https://w3w.co/teardrop.drums.useful

Image by pam fray, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11765210

Our group visit to All Saints' Church has been confirmed.

Timetable: 

11:00 Guided talk around 30-45 minutes. Recommend we arrive at the church ten minutes beforehand.

12:30ish Lunch at the Poacher and Partridge, 3 minutes away at Hartlake Road, Tudeley, TN11 0PH.

Getting to the church: Drive in our own cars, about 35 minutes from Sutton Valence. Perhaps some of us could car share to help those without transport.

Location: All Saints' Church, Tudeley, Tonbridge, TN11 0NZ.

Follow instructions on what3words  https://w3w.co/rating.wash.tricky

Also, written directions can be provided to those who need them.

Cost: £5 per person. For talk guide and donations to the Church and The Chagall Windows Preservation Trust. Plus your own lunch, of course!

Writer's note: You can see images on the web, but they are but nought compared to being in there.

Virtual Royal Palace Tour: To Kill a King

Time: 11 a.m.

The 30th of January is the anniversary of the execution of King Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 outside the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace. Join HRP Guide Lecturer, Siobhan Clarke, as we step inside this fascinating building. Through a range of visual images, we will explore its architecture, magnificent Rubens ceiling and how Parliament dared to kill a king!

Siobhan Clarke BA (Hons) has worked for Historic Royal Palaces for 20 years, delivering tours and lectures on the palaces of Hampton Court, Tower of London, Kensington and the Banqueting House. She is an author and historian. Her latest book, ‘King and Collector: Henry VIII and the Art of Kingship’, will be published by The History Press in March 2021.

CANCELLED

On 2 July we visit Waddesdon Manor, the former home of the Rothschild family and have the opportunity to see its internationally famous collection.

We will have a guided tour after coffee of the house, hopefully before the house is open to the general public. There will then be free time to enjoy the house and gardens and there is a choice of places to have your lunch.

The price of £45 will include travel, coffee on arrival and a guided tour but does not include the National Trust entrance fee, as entry will be free to National Trust members.

Further information is available from the National Trust website:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/waddesdon

Tickets for visits are normally sold at the two lectures prior to each event. Refunds may only be given in exceptional circumstances.

PLEASE NOTE: Members attending trips and visits are asked to carry with them a list of any medication they are taking, in case of emergency.

CANCELLED

Our first visit of the year is to the Music Museum at Kew where after coffee on arrival we will have a guided tour of the collection with demonstrations. After this we will proceed to Sir John Soane’s country seat at nearby Pitzhanger Manor where we can have lunch, have a guided tour and see the planned exhibition of all of Hogarth’s “The Rake’s Progress” which are rarely seen together. There is also a garden, weather permitting.

The cost of this trip is £45 including travel and guides.

Full details of the museum can be found by following this link:

https://www.musicalmuseum.co.uk/

And Pitzhanger Manor:

https://www.pitzhanger.org.uk/

On 11th April 2019 we visited Dulwich Picture Gallery and Eltham Palace.

On 19 September 2019 we visited the Ranger’s House in Greenwich and hall place and Gardens in the afternoon.

The Ranger’s House contains the Wernher Collection which comprises 700 items of art and simply amazing craftsmanship. We were treated to an excellent guided tour of the exhibits. The House seen from the rose garden at the rear is below:

At Hall Place we had lunch and refreshments as well as the chance to see its garden and park and tour the recently renovated Hall Place which had some interesting exhibits about the house in World Wars I and II as well as a small exhibition about Alcock and Brown.

On 20th June 2019 we visited St Albans, with a guided tour of the Cathedral followed by the Verulamium Museum, the Amphitheatre and the Barbara Hepworth exhibition in the Town Museum.

Some pictures from the Cathedral are shown in the Gallery