9 February

Stratford Theatre Visit – The Taming of the Shrew 

10 February

Talk:

Bletchley Park: Breaking the Codes by Robert Skelt

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

18 February

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

9 March

Talk:

The Seventeenth Century Foleys: Iron, Wealth & Vision Roy Peacock

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

15 March

Local Visit: Claverley Church

All Saints Church Claverley is a grade 1 listed building of significant historic and architectural interest. The oldest parts of the building date from the Norman period, probably the first half of the 12th century. The yew tree outside the north east corner of the church is over 2,500 years old (authenticated by David Bellamy) and such trees were commonly planted in sacred places. The massive foundations under the chancel are likely to be of Roman origin. The church is particularly noted for the frieze of wall paintings which are of international significance. The paintings are of a similar style to the Bayeux tapestry and date from about 1220. The latest theory is that the paintings depict the Legend of the True Cross, a medieval myth linking the tree of knowledge from the Garden of Eden with the wood of the cross on which Christ is crucified.

17 March

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

27 March

Local Visit: Warwick

Hosted by the Warwick Civic Society

13 April

Talk:

The Three Counties Showground 

by Nick Vincent

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

21 April

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

5 May

Local Visit: 

Storridge Church

11 May

Talk: The History of the Beachley to Aust Ferry (River Severn) and the Rescue of the Severn Princess by Tim Ryan

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

14 May

Visit the House of Commons 

Harriett Baldwin has invited the Society to visit the House. Please let Diana Morgan know without delay if you would like to go – we may have to hold a ballot if the demand exceeds the booking. As we have to be at Westminster by 10.00am, it will involve an early start.

Tel: 01684 567 882 

Email: excursions@malverncivicsociety.org.uk

13 May

Local Visit: 

Perrycroft, Jubilee Drive

19 May

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

23 May

Ironbridge Gorge Museums - Coach Excursion 

Once described as 'the most extraordinary district in the world', the Ironbridge Gorge is still a remarkable and beautiful place to visit. A huge amount of early industry survives as furnaces, factories, workshops, canals and the settlements of Coalbrookdale, Ironbridge, Jackfield and Coalport.

2 - 9 June

Civic Week 2012

A full programme of visits and events will be publicised nearer the time 

7 June

Local Visit: Alfrick Church

8 June

Talk: James Brindley: the First Canal Engineer by Roy Murphy

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

9 June

Talk: Society Concert 

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

16 June

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

20 June

Hampton Court Gardens and The Spaceguard Centre - Coach Excursion   

Wednesday 20th June Herefordshire's Hampton Court Gardens are one of the most ambitious garden creations of our time. Original Victorian walls enclose new flower gardens divided by canals, island pavilions and pleached avenues. There is an ornamental kitchen garden and a maze of one thousand yews. Vast lawns and ancient trees enclose the castle. The aim of the privately-owned Spaceguard Centre is to develop and maintain a world-class facility for astronomical research and science education and to raise public awareness of the threat of asteroid and comet impacts.

30 June

Local Visit: 

Lower Brockhampton on a Summer Evening

3 July

Kentchurch Court and the Laskett Gardens - Local Visit

These two visits may be taken singly or combined as they are both in the same area of Herefordshire, with the two properties being some 20 minutes apart. The cost for the two visits combined is £25. 

The Laskett 

An opportunity to see Sir Roy Strong's garden for those who were unable to visit with our group in 2011 . Morning visit. £11. 

Kentchurch Court and Gardens 

An afternoon visit to the ancestral home of the Scudamore family dating back to the fourteenth century, guided by Mrs Jan Scudamore and, depending on numbers, by a local historian. In addition to the house, there are 25 acres of gardens including rhododendron wood, walled garden, vegetable garden and deer park. Visit, including full afternoon tea, £15. 

Local visit – own transport

13 July

Talk: The Malvern Hills Geopark by Moira Jenkins

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

21 July

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

24 July

Abbey Cwm Hir Hall - Coach Excursion

Mid-Wales’s unique and beautiful Grade II Victorian Revival Gothic mansion with 52 rooms. The twelve acres of gardens overlook the ruins of the twelfth century Cistercian abbey and include a walled garden, lake and waterfall, lawns and terraces, courtyards and woodland walks.

31 July

RSC Back Stage Tour and Broughton Castle - Coach Excursion

After a backstage tour at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre we drive to Broughton Castle, one of only twenty of England's Best Houses to be given five stars by Sir Simon Jenkins and described as 'the most beautiful castle in all England' by Sir Charles Oman in 1898. Broughton Castle is a lived-in family home to Lord & Lady Saye and Sele.

9 August

Local Visit: Castle Frome Church

18 August

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

20 August

The Shuttleworth Collection - Coach Excursion 

This collection depicts the history of flight from the early 1900s to the 1950s and shows how the aeroplane operated in the pioneering years, was rapidly developed through necessity during World War I, was used for sport, pleasure and business in the 1920s and 30s and once again became a fighting machine in World War II.

13 September

Local Visit: Pudleston Church

14 September

Talk: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Chipping Campden by Sarah McCormick-Healey

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

15 September

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

20 September

The Big Pit and Raglan Castle - Coach Excursion

The Big Pit is a real coal mine and part of the National Museum of Wales, set in a unique industrial landscape, designated a World Heritage Site. The Underground Tour takes us, wearing mining equipment and carrying a miner's lamp, 300 feet underground with a real miner. Other places to see on the site include the Pithead Baths, historic buildings and the Mining Galleries. Raglan Castle is 'undoubtedly the finest late medieval fortress in Britain', begun in 1435 by Sir William ap Thomas. A new visitor centre has recently been opened.

26 September

Oxford and The Ashmolean Museum - Coach Excursion

In the morning we visit the Ashmolean. Founded in 1683, it is Britain's first public museum and home to the University of Oxford's collections of art and archaeology. The current exhibitions will be Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin and Art at the Edge: Where Sport becomes Art. In the afternoon we will have a walking tour of Oxford.

4 October

Talk: Greyfriars, Worcester by Rachel Bannon

Afternoon meeting beginning at 2.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

11 October

Local Visit: Bosbury Church

The oldest part of the church (the west wall) date from the 12th century. By 1200, side aisles and a clerestory had been added and, later, a new chancel. Most work was done 1186-1200. The first written record of the church is a charter of 1200 by King John, which names the priest and refers to his predecessors. The detached tower was built in about 1230-1240 (one of 7 such towers in Herefordshire). Some were built to carry bells; Bosbury’s, with its thick walls and narrow windows, appears to have been built as a refuge during Welsh incursions.

12 October

Talk: The Buildings of Bromyard by Duncan James

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

20 October

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

25 October

Stokesay Castle and Ludlow / Ludlow Races

Stokesay Castle is described by English Heritage as 'quite simply the finest and best preserved fortified medieval manor house in England. Set in peaceful countryside near the Welsh border, the castle, timbered-framed gatehouse and parish church form an unforgettably picturesque group'. After a morning visit to Stokesay, the afternoon will be spent in Ludlow with an option to attend the races or to enjoy the town and possibly visit the Castle.

TBC November

Local Visit: Envirosort Recycling Centre

1 November

Talk: Abberley Hall and Clock Tower by Jo Roche

Afternoon meeting beginning at 2.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

9 November

Annual General Meeting 

Worcester Library and History Centre 

The Work of Worcestershire Record Office

Beginning at 7.30 p.m., Christ Church, Avenue Road

17 November

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am

15 December

Monthly Walk - Members Only

Starts 10am