The Frome Society for Local Study & Frome Civic Society

Winter Lectures 2009 - 10

6th March - Alan Power: Stourhead Gardens  Alan Power is Head Gardener of the magnificent Stourhead estate in Wiltshire and is gardens advisor for the Wessex arm of the National Trust. He has been interviewed on the BBC’s Radio Wiltshire and Radio 4’s PM and has advised on gardening in the Daily Telegraph. He will give a brief introduction to historical conservation and management of the landscape at Stourhead.

20 March - 2pm - AGM followed by John Peverley: Frome in the Future* John Peverley, retired architect and town planner, member of Mendip’s Conservation Area Advisory Panel and  Chairman of Frome Civic Society, will tell us about future developments in the town, the latest news on the redevelopment of Saxonvale, the gradually emerging ideas in Mendip District Council’s future plans for Frome, and how work is progressing on the new project of preparing a list of historic buildings of local interest in Frome.

Tea and biscuits will be available after the talk   * Talks organised by Frome Civic Society

Summer Trips 2010:

Thursday April 1st: The American Museum, Claverton Down. Last autumn Laura Brown gave us a lively lecture showing how the Museum has been changing in recent years. We arrive before it's open to the general public so in several groups we shall have volunteer guides taking us through the various rooms. Afterwards we are at leisure to return to the period rooms and some may choose to return to the textiles room for a longer stay and then wander through the 40 acres of Grounds seeing the signs of spring in the woodland and formal gardens over-looking the beautiful countryside. There is now the Terrace and Orangery to buy a light lunch, drinks, their famous cookies and cakes. The special exhibition this year is "Classic American Quilts" which gives the chance to see quilts that are rarely seen due to their great size and fragility and there is also another special exhibition which is of maps and called "Treasure & Terror". Please note there are lifts accessing all floors.

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 9.45am Price £16 Phone booking from 11th March

Friday 23rd April Heelis NT Headquarters and Lydiard House and Park Described as an architectural gem built in 2005, the Trust’s award winning central office is a remarkable example of innovative and sustainable building construction. As we may only visit during the lunch hour it is suggested you take a packed lunch.  One half will be shown around while the half eat and vice versa.  Drinks will be available. We shall then go on to Lydiard House and Park.  This was bought by Swindon Corporation in 1943 from the St John family and they restored this fine palladian house. Visitors are free to wander throughout the elegant ground floor apartments where ornate plasterwork and original family furnishings are preserved  alongside portraits and photographs of the St John family who lived here for 500 years.  There is also a lovely walled garden and an embroidery exhibition produced by members of the Great Western Embroiderers’ Guild.  The church is also worth a visit.

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 9.15am Price: £15 Phone booking from 1st April

Monday May 10th: More hidden delights of Shepton Mallet. Alan Stone, the Shepton historian, is leading an early evening stroll through the western parts of the town guiding us towards the hamlet of Bowlish which was once the heart of the local woollen industry and has examples of houses belonging to the clothiers. We had our eyes opened before by Alan and no doubt he will delight and surprise us again. He has suggested he'll lead us to an appropriate place for refreshment before the coach meets us there.

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 5.30pm Price £7.50 Phone booking from 19th April

Tuesday 8th June: The Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton, near Chichester. This award-winning museum has a collection of nearly 50 vernacular buildings dating from the 13thC to more recent times. These were saved from certain destruction and were carefully dismantled and re-erected here in this working landscape. The traditional methods of farming are employed using older breeds of livestock. There are various domestic skills demonstrated and also the skills of thatching and carpentry, for instance. You will also discover charcoal burning in the woods, a working forge, a brick-makers and flour being milled in the working water mill. If another building is being erected we will see building techniques that have been used for over 500 years. There is a secluded seating area by the mill-pond for picnics and there is a cafe in a timber framed  medieval hall serving meals made with produce fresh from the gardens and also another in the Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen which serves light refreshments. There are 50 acres of beautiful Sussex countryside which makes this a very special place containing a fascinating collection of national importance.

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 8.15 am. Price £20.00 Phone booking from 18th May

Wednesday 30th June: Beckford's Tower and Museum; part of the Bath Preservation Trust. Those of our members who overcame ice and snow to hear Amy Frost's delightful lecture on William Beckford were shown scenes of the paintings and objects illustrating his life as a writer, collector and patron of the arts.Amy and her guides will show us these and the amazing furniture originally made for Beckford's home on Lansdown. Then we have the opportunity to climb the spiral staircase to the top of the Tower and take in the spectacular panoramic view On the way home we will have a stop for tea.

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 1pm Price £9.50 Phone booking from 9th June

Saturday 31st July Gilbert White’s House & The Oates Museum at Selborne The Reverend Gilbert White (1720-1793) author of the world-famous Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne was the founding father of modern natural history recording. He was a pioneer in his appreciation of the interdependence of animals and plants in nature and he studied and recorded his observations intensely.  The Oates Museum commemorates the Oates family in particular Lawrence Oates who accompanied Scott to the South Pole in 1911.  There is a pretty garden and the village is very attractive with the church to visit as well as two art galleries and a pottery.

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 9.0am Price: £17.50 Phone booking from 10th July

Thursday 12 August Visit to Sherborne Sherborne has been described as the most attractive town in Dorset, with stone buildings of all dates from the 15th century onwards, and the county’s most beautiful church, St Mary, once the seat of the Bishop of Wessex, with St Aldhelm (the founder of Frome’s St John’s Church) as Bishop from 705-709. On arrival, we shall have morning coffee at the Half Moon Hotel, followed by a tour of the town with Rob Curtis, a local guide. This will include the town centre, the school grounds, originally part of the Benedictine monastery (and location for the film “Goodbye Mr Chips”), and the exterior of the Abbey. You are then free to make your own arrangements for lunch. Thursday is Sherborne’s market day, so after lunch you may visit the market and shops in Cheap Street, the interior of the Abbey Church with its fine Perpendicular fan vaulting and magnificent monuments, the wonderful exhibits in the Sherborne Museum (£1, last entry 4pm) or the lovely Almshouse of St John, refounded in 1438, which has a 15th century triptych from Cologne (£2, open 2-4pm)

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 8.45am Price: £11 including morning coffee Phone bookings from 22 July

Thursday 2nd September Barrington Court (National Trust) The echoes of the past haunt this now empty Tudor manor house, so beautifully restored in the 1920s by the Lyle family. They lived in style, installing a sprung dance floor; the winding mechanism can still be seen under the sweeping main staircase.  What were once cow yards, pens and fields became delightful flower gardens, their design influenced by Gertrude Jekyll.  The working stone-walled kitchen garden produces a variety of wonderful fruit and vegetables, which can be enjoyed in the restaurant, while the arboretum delights visitors.  Overall a place to relax and refresh the senses.  

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 10.30am Price: £14.50   NT members £7 Phone booking from 12thAugust

Wednesday 29th September Bristol Botanic Gardens The gardens have been relocated in the last few years to the Holmes, Stoke Bishop. Most of the plants have come from the old botanic gardens at Bracken Hill. We are able to have a guided tour which should last about 1½ hours and tea is possible afterwards. We are making this a half day trip so an early lunch would be advisable.

Departure time at Oakfield Road: 12.30pm Price: £12.50 Phone booking from 8th September

To join the FSLS please fill out a membership form click here - Lectures are at St.Catharines church hall, click here in Park Road, Frome, BA11 2EH unless otherwise specified and they are at 2.30pm except for the AGM which is at 2pm. Guests pay £2, members free normally. Outings are as per quoted here each Spring/Summer. Only money for books can be taken on this website, posting is the only option!

Members at Castle Howard on a recent trip to York	Members learning about Wilton House from Dinah Starkey