Author: nick.holmes9@gmail.com

Details of next year’s talks programme is now available on the website.

Please take a look at the Events section.

Members may be interested in a talk in Stratford for Warwickshire WIs to be given by Tracy Borman

Tracy is a well known historian and joint chief curator of the historic royal palaces with Lucy Worsley.
Tracy is talking about her new book ‘Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I‘. There will also be a Q & A opportunity.

Details
Date: Monday 16th October.
Venue: Stratford Playhouse Theatre CV17 6LU
Time: 2pm.
Price: £26.50
Booking is via the Ticketsource agency. This can be accessed via the advert on the WFWI website warwickshirewi.org.uk/events

Licensed bar available.
All are welcome including men!

Members may be interested to know that the programme for this year’s Warwick Words History Festival is now available

This year’s events run from October 2nd to 8th. The full programme is available to download from their website at WarwickWords.co.uk

We thought you may be interested in a few exciting local historical events:

Tracy Borman ‘How to Be a Good Monarch’

Thursday 20 April
Royal Spa Centre 7.30pm

To coincide with The Coronation of Charles III.

The British monarchy has survived rebellion, revolution, and war. Royal Historian, broadcaster and Chief Curator of Hampton Court and The Tower of London, Tracy Borman takes will take you on a gripping, entertaining and informative audio-visual tour of 1000 years of the twists and turns of the British monarchy from William the Conqueror to Charles III in a show packed with the good, the bad, the great and the mad along with birth, romance, beheading, coronation, abdication, marriage, divorce, disaster and triumph.

Tickets from £14.50

Saturday 22 April

Webinar organised by Tudor Times on the subject of Robert Dudley and the Beauchamp chapel, at 4pm.

The speakers are Joanne Paul, Nicola Tallis, and Tim Clarke.

Tickets are available from: Tudor Times Shop.

History 900 Events

Thursday 27 April – Launch of the book on the History of St. Mary’s, Faire and goodly built

Thursday 4 May – Nigel Saul: The Secret Messages of Tombs

Thursday 11 May – Andrew Hopper: Warwick Castle in the Civil Wars

Thursday 25 May – Andrew Graham-Dixon: British medieval art, including an appreciation of the Beauchamp Chapel

Information about how to get tickets is at www.faireandgoodlybuilt.org.uk

Members may be interested in the following. Note that we are associate members of WLHS and so entitled to the members’ rate

It is with pleasure that I now provide details and a booking form for WLHS’s second outing of 2023, Stoneleigh Abbey, on Wednesday 21^st June, 2 pm to 4.30 pm, including refreshments.

Outing description

With humble beginnings as a Cistercian Monastic house in 1154, Stoneleigh Abbey was converted at the dissolution into a comfortable family home. One of the seats of the Leigh Family, Stoneleigh has played host to several people of note, including King Charles I, Queen Victoria and Novelist Jane Austen. The West Wing was designed by the famous architect Francis Smith of Warwick in the Baroque Style.

Our guided tour of the house will cover the broad history of Stoneleigh Abbey from its beginnings as a Monastic House in 1154, to modern day, perfect for those interested in a bit of information on the Leigh Family, and the construction of the house. Learn about the Leigh Family and their famed guests, their connections with the local community and how the abbey progressed from a dissolved monastery to a fine stately home.

Our tour will be followed by refreshments (included in the price) in the Vaulted Hall.  Attendees are welcome to explore the extensive grounds, designed by Sir Humprey Repton, before our tour starts.

Price

£19.25 members, £21.25 non members.  This price includes refreshments after the tour.  Members of WLHS affiliated history groups are eligible for the members’ price – just state which history group you belong to when booking.

How to book

Either print off the attached booking form and send it back to me (address on form) or email me to let me know how many places you want to book. Payment can be made by cheque, cash or BACS.  All payment details on the booking form.  Bookings close on 7^th June. We have a maximum limit of 35 people on this outing.

Logistics and Accessibility

Grounds open from 10 am and access to these are included in the ticket price.

There is a tea room available if you wish to come for lunch. Packed lunches can be eaten on the grass area out the front (no picnics allowed in the grounds)

A disabled parking bay is available a short distance from the ticket office.  Wheelchair users should be aware that the paths around the Abbey are gravel and that they are permitted to travel over grassy verges as necessary. A flat route is available to the House and to the Orangery Tea Room. The distance from the Ticket Office to the Orangery is around 200 yards. Stoneleigh Abbey can also offer a pre booked loan of a wheelchair. A lift is available to all floors of the house that are open for public viewing, there is a good colour contrast between the floor and walls for those with visual impairment.

Service dogs are welcome, provided that they are wearing the appropriate coat, lead or harness.

Disabled toilets are situated in the West Wing of the house and in the Orangery

Extreme weather: the guided part of this outing and refreshments will all take place indoors so this outing will go ahead whatever the weather. 

Please get in touch if you have any questions that aren’t answered in this email.

Please visit our events page on our website for dates of the other 3 summer outings planned this year: WLHS Events (warwickshirehistory.org.uk

We are pleased to announce our programme of talks for next year, please see the Events page on the website

I have done a bit of housekeeping to remove old blog posts but, more importantly, to change to way our events calendar is managed.

The software that I was using to display our events has been getting more and more expensive to licence each year so I reluctantly took the decision to replace it

So you will notice that the way our programme is displayed looks different. It’s not quite as pretty as the old one, but it works just as well and it’s now FREE!

Please take a look at our new Events Programme here

Please let me know if you find something wrong or not working

Nick