QUILTS, TEXTILES AND ANTIQUES
14 Nights on tour
While visiting some of England's most attractive and historic cities, towns and villages, you'll be taken to a variety of places on our quilts, textiles, tapestries and antiques theme. There are plenty of choices! We'll see the main attractions in Bath, York, Stratford-Upon-Avon and the Peak District as well as a selection of antique shops, stately homes, traditional working mills, the famous potteries and factory shops…did you say you want to see quilts?! We will not only have the chance to see some famed local collections such as in the American Museum in Bath and the Quilters' Guild showpiece museum in York but you'll discover Sulgrave Manor, Gawthorpe Hall, see the Lucy Boston collection in Hemingford Grey Manor and more! Our tour will include the special Victoria & Albert Museum Quilts exhibit in London plus we will visit two local quilting shows. There'll be quilting and stitching workshops as well as a fantastic array of competition entries to enjoy.
This tour includes some beautiful English countryside, from the thatched cottage villages of the Cotswolds to the rolling Yorkshire Dales, to the magnificent Pennine Hills; explore charming market, mining & spa towns, country parish churches, traveling off the beaten tourist track and meeting the locals. You'll stay in a range of quality, historic accommodations and have the 'small group touring' experience not available to those herded on large, impersonal coaches. This is a tour that is sure to be a delight for everyone!
Features
14 breakfasts, 9 dinners.
All entrance fees to attractions while with your guide
15 day attraction pass
V&A Quilt Exhibition
Quilt UK in Malvern
Quilters Fair in Wimbledon
mini-coach transportation
services of a driver/guide
all taxes, tolls and gratuities (other than those you may wish to give your guide)
Meals
Greenwich
Your guide will meet you this afternoon at our London hotel. We'll introduce you to the maritime suburb of Greenwich, known to all as the place where the east and west are divided at the meridian line. Those interested in some antiquing, the Sunday Markets are on - selling everything from books, African masks and table antiques to recovered items from the Thames. This evening is free so you have the chance to relax and recover from your international journey.
Victoria and Albert Quilt Exhibit
Today, we will spend ample time in the V&A Quilt Exhibit. This exhibition will showcase the V&A's collection of patchwork and quilted covers to bring together over 300 years of British quilting history, from the spectacular bed hangings and silk coverlets of the 18th century, to the creative reinvention of the quilt by contemporary artists. The rest of the day is free so you can explore as you wish, maybe enjoy the nearby Natural History Museum or perhaps go shopping in Knightsbridge. In addition to all of the city's iconic sites, on our theme, you may choose to visit the Museum of Fashion and Textiles. With your attraction pass included in your tour package, entrance fees to St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge Exhibition, Royal Albert Hall, Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition, Apsley House amongst other London attractions are included. Your guide will be on hand for advice and assistance. Dinner is not included tonight for flexibility's sake and to allow the option of attending the theatre.
Hungerford, Avery and Bath
This morning, we make our way out of the Capital, our first stop being the 17th century town of Hungerford. This one street town boasts more antique shops than any other comparable sized town in the UK! There is a very interesting 'mall' (everything from old guns and swords to Victorian snuff boxes) plus a number of individual shops specializing in agricultural and garden statues. Following a stop at Polly's Tea Room in Marlborough, we'll make our way to the prehistoric stone circle and temple of Avebury. Lesser known than its famous 'cousin' Stonehenge, many find this site much more interesting. Bath, the city of Georgian splendor and Roman antiquity, is our final destination today. Your guide will be on hand for a walking tour of the city. We will spend some time in the American Museum to see the collection of early American quilts. This is the finest collection of American quilts located outside the United States! Later, there will be some free time to explore Bath as you please. Visit the Roman Baths and Pump Rooms, the Museum of Costume or wander the lovely antique shops - the choice is yours!
Blenheim Palace and Sulgrave Manor
Heading north, we enjoy a visit to the Cotswold Woollen Weavers Mill, an 18th Century still working mill and museum. Our day also sees us visiting Blenheim Palace. This incredible treasure house, set near Oxford on the edge of the Cotswolds, was given to Winston Churchill's ancestor John, 1st Duke of Marlborough. In addition to the palace itself, with all of its opulent splendor, you'll also have some time to wander the amazing gardens, designed in part by Capability Brown. Finally, a stop at Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of another famous leader, George Washington. This Tudor manor house features an “astounding collection of textiles” including the New Elizabethan Embroideries, embroidered fire screens, items of costume and furnishings from 17th 21st Century.
Quilt UK Show
The majority of our day will be attending the Quilt UK Show in Malvern. Here, we'll enjoy viewing the competition entries, from miniatures to king size quilts in a variety of styles. There will be feature displays, patchwork and stitching demonstrations, workshops and a retail section. We'll have the chance to meander via the Cotswolds villages. We are spoilt for choice as we wander through the old market towns and scenic thatched roof villages famed in the region. Certain to be a lovely day! This evening is free so you have the option to attend the theatre in Stratford.
Stratford and the Peaks
This morning, we will spend time in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Our visits can include time in the local church, burial place for the Bard, his mother Mary Arden's home with its bird of prey centre as well as the well known iconic sites such as his Birthplace. Later, we head to the Peak District. Over our few days in the area, we will find ancient folk customs such as 'well-dressing' in addition to our exploration of cotton mills, potteries and stately homes. We're in the very heart of china clay country and names such as Wedgwood, Royal Dalton, Royal Derby and Royal Worcester will be found. There also the World Heritage Site of the Arkwright Mill Museum. Sir Richard Arkwright is known to many as the “world's first industrialist”, having developed the factory system that turned Britain into a cotton manufacturing capital.
Derbyshire
Today we have a full but gentle day to explore the Peaks. We can wander the rural Derbyshire villages, the spa town of Buxton, favorite film location towns Bakewell and Longnor ('Pride and Prejudice,' 'The Duchess,' and 'The Other Boleyn Girl',) and the 'blue john' mining town of Castleton. The Duke of Devonshire stately home of Chatsworth is sure to be a highlight of our time in the Peaks! The town of Macclesfield is famous in Great Britain for silk production. We can visit the Silk Industry Museum collections, which include a large variety of textiles with over 40,000 examples of woven and printed fabric from local manufacturers.
Yorkshire
This morning, after our final wanderings in the Peaks, we'll make our way to Yorkshire via the Leeds area. Temple Newsam is one of the great historic estates in England, set within over 1500 acres of parkland, woodland and farmland landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century. This magnificent Tudor-Jacobean house was the birthplace of Lord Darnley, infamous husband of Mary Queen of Scots.
Day to Explore York
York is a fabulous walled city that has much to offer its visitors, such as the splendid Minster, the city centre castle, the Roman museum, the National Railway museum, the Jorvik Viking centre, the medieval shopping 'Shambles' and you'll have the whole day to explore as you please. Your guide will be on hand for advice, assistance and a walking tour of the city. An undoubted highlight of our time in York will be the Quilt Museum in St Anthony's Guildhall, operated by the Quilters Guild of the British Isles.
Yorkshire Dales
Today, we venture north to County Durham, via the charming landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales. The Beamish is an open air museum telling the story of the people of North East England. The Beamish Collection of quilts and coverlets is of national and international importance. We can discuss the history of quilting in the North of England, which provides the social background of the varied people from the quilt wives of the Dales to the pitmen's wives of the colliery villages. Another destination today is the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, where we'll see some of this enormous and world renowned collection. John and Joséphine Bowes were pioneers in the field of textile collecting. They began acquiring 'antique' textiles to furnish their own homes, which led to the formation of one of the largest and most significant European collections in Britain.
Harris Museum & Gallery
Today, our destination is the Lancashire area, a centre for industrial England. We've a variety of museums and countryside to discover today. Gawthorpe Hall is a Jacobean style mansion built between 1600 and 1605 and houses an amazing textile collection. The collection includes pieces from all over the world, from many periods of history and includes a huge variety of techniques - lacework and embroidery to quilting and costume dresses. The Harris Museum & Gallery in Preston is another port of call. The Harris is an important regional museum which holds exciting collections including costume and textiles, history and photography. The 600 items in this collection include embroidery, samplers, whitework, woolwork, quilts, lace and two large William Morris and Co. tapestries. Items are viewed by appointment only, so a special treat for our small group! You can preview the collection here: http://www.cleo.net.uk/followtheyarn/
Robin Hood Country
Departing York, we will speed our way south with a bit of motorway driving, touring via “Robin Hood Country” and Sherwood Forest to the unspoilt Georgian town of Stamford (often used by film makers as a perfect location for period dramas) and the Tudor masterpiece, Burghley House. Inside this treasure house is one of the finest assemblies of 17th century Italian masterpieces, an exceptional collection of Oriental and European ceramics, fine furniture, textiles and works of art. Our final destination today is near the pretty riverside village of St Ives, Hemingford Grey Manor for a private viewing of Lucy Boston's quilts. The house was made famous as 'the house of Green Knowe' by Lucy Boston in her classic series of children's books. Lucy Boston made many exquisite patchworks, most of which are on display. Rarely can such an important collection be seen in the house in which the exhibits were made.
Cambridge
Our first stop today, the university city of Cambridge. This sleepy, easily-walked medieval city provides a superb gateway to East Anglia. We'll visit one of the colleges, and see students punt on the backs of the River Cam. There's also the excellent Fitzwilliam museum to visit and great shopping available. This afternoon, we will explore some of the lovely villages of East Anglia as time will permit, making our way back into London. There's Bury St Edmunds with it's art galleries to consider. Lavenham is often referred to as the prettiest village in England, with its streets of restored Tudor timber-framed buildings. The guildhall museum here offers exhibits on the wool industry of East Anglia and the garden contains examples of plants used in wool industry. A great choice for our theme! Nearby Sudbury offers us a completely different attraction, the home and studio of the 18th century artist Thomas Gainsborough. Whatever path we choose, we've some lovely rural scenery to tour through. Dinner is not included tonight for flexibility's sake and to allow the option of attending the theatre.
Wimbeldon Int'l Quilter's Show
A small, local quilting event to begin our final touring day! The Wimbledon International Quilters' Show at St Paul's Church will offer traders, a raffle quilt and light refreshments. Our grand finale this afternoon will be time in Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace. Along with the Tudor Kitchens, Henry VIII's State Apartments are the most popular attraction inside the palace. The Great Hall is the palace's largest and most impressive room, with an ornate carved-wood ceiling and a collection of Flemish tapestries that date back over 500 years. Alas, time to bid farewell as we enjoy dinner together tonight in a local riverside pub.
Day of Departure
Tour ends this morning after breakfast
| Departure Date | Full Package | Land & Tour | Tour Only |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9th | N/A | $4150 | N/A |
Important details
Airfare, air taxes and airport transfers in London are not included but can be added to your package as you wish.Ask us for details.
Please Note: There is a minimum of 10 guests required to operate this departure. Please do not confirm airfare or non-refundable components prior to verifying arrangements.
