78 Derngate, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s only significant English work
Wrest Park, The Earl de Grey's 19th century grandiose mansion
The Arts & Crafts Gallery at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
Higgins Art Gallery, with its Victorian house and decorative arts gallery
Ashby St Ledgers Church with Lutyens memorial
2018 marked the 150th birthday of acclaimed architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Join Prof. Anne or Dr Scott Anderson to look at 78 Derngate in Northampton, his only significant architectural work in England and explore the Victoriana of the country house at Wrest Park, the Arts & Crafts Gallery at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, as well as the Higgins Gallery at Bedford and the church at Ashby St Ledgers, with its Lutyens memorial.
Available Departures |
From |
|
| 29 - October - 2025 | £ 679.00 | Travel Info Book Now |
|
Provisional Timings |
Day 1: Arrive independently at the Delta Hotels by Northampton Marriott from 15.00. This evening there will be a welcome reception, private dinner with wine and a talk by Anne or Scott– ‘Charles Rennie Mackintosh: from Art Nouveau to Modernism’.
Day 2: Wrest Park and The Higgins Gallery, Bedford.
A varied day as we head to Wrest Park, a 19th century house following the style of an 18th century French chateau, with magnificent 18th century gardens. After free time for lunch (not included) we then head to the excellent and recently-restored Higgins Gallery in Bedford, with its Victorian house (home to the Higgins brewing family) and Burges gallery. Evening talk by Anne or Scott ‘A Leicester Boy: Ernest Gimson and the Arts & Crafts’ followed by dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Day3: 78 Derngate, Leicester Museum and Art Gallery and Ashby St Ledgers.
Our first visit of the day is to 78 Derngate, a Georgian house that had its interior extensively remodelled in 1916 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. We will have a guided tour of the house which is the only significant Mackintosh work south of the Scottish border. Mackintosh’s designs incorporated bold colours, clean geometric forms and Art Nouveau furnishings and display his tendencies towards Modernism. After lunch in the Dining Room at 78 Derngate (included), we travel to Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, located in the historic New Walk area of the city, the museum was first established in 1849 and houses a wonderful Arts & Crafts Gallery showcasing works by local Arts & Crafts architect and designer Ernest Gimson including examples of his rush furniture, cabinets, embroidery and metalwork. Gimson’s work is shown alongside pieces by some of his closest friends such as tiles by William De Morgan and designs by Harry Peach. Our final visit of the day is to Ashby St Ledgers, whose church includes a memorial to Lutyens. Return to the hotel for approximately 17.30.
NB: Exact order of itinerary may vary according to local conditions and tour manager's discretion
Please note: Post tour extra nights are available at a supplement.
Please note the maximum group size on this tour is 30 passengers.
Tour Grading: Please note that this tour has been graded as moderate due to the time spent walking at attractions and standing for viewing. Please visit the mobility page of our website or contact our team prior to booking.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
Delta Hotels by Northampton Marriott
Located close to J15 off the M1, the modern, four-star Delta Hotels by Northampton Marriott offers a bar, restaurant, gym and comfortable bedrooms with private bath/shower, TV and telephone.
Complimentary car parking is availalbe at the hotel.
Hotel Website
Your Lecturers
Prof. Anne Anderson
Prof. Anne Anderson author, broadcaster and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, was a senior lecturer at Southampton Solent University for 14 years, specialising in the Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau and Modernism. Anne's career as an international speaker has taken her all over the world and her TV credits include the BBC's Flog It!. Anne has received a rapturous response from or customers at the many Travel Editions UK lectures and tours as well as a host of tours overseas and her knowledge, wit and enthusiasm bring her beloved subjects to life in whatever location she finds them.
Dr Scott Anderson MA, PhD, FNAVA, ASFAV (Associate of the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers)
Scott is a University Senior Lecturer in the History of Art and Design and is an Honorary Fellow of the National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers. He is a specialist in Victorian and Edwardian art, architecture and antiques and is a consultant expert for the BBC2 'Flog It!' programme. Scott is an Accredited Lecturer of The Arts Society and has lectured extensively to various societies, special interest groups and educational groups throughout Britain. He has extensive tour guiding experience in Britain, European locations such as Paris, Berlin, Vienna and New York.
Please note that all our UK tours start and finish at the relevant hotel.
You can normally check in from 3pm onwards but hotels will always be happy to store your luggage if you arrive earlier in the day.
For full details of how to get to the hotel, directions and the nearest train station, please click on the hotel website or call our office for details. These will also be sent automatically with your confirmation.
The welcome reception and first evening dinner / talk will commence at about 7pm - full details will be sent with your joining instructions about 10 days prior to the arrival date.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 14-October-2022
Prof & Dr Anderson are both very knowledgeable & entertaining & convey a mass of information in an enjoyable way.
Review by Herd who travelled 14-October-2022
Andersons were fab, as usual - thoroughly satisfactory
Review by Stewart who travelled 14-October-2022
Review by Anonymous who travelled 14-October-2022
Tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and efficient.
Review by Williams who travelled 14-October-2022
V good content, both lecturers knowledgeable & spoke with enthusiasm. Evening lectures possibly too long -- meant eating dinner rather late. Hotel accommodation & service excellent, duty manager quickly sorted out a problem with room service.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 29-July-2022
Review by Anonymous who travelled 15-October-2021
Very enjoyable short break with excellent lecturer. A short break so very busy but that was to be expected. Lecturer, Anne Anderson, was excellent and very knowledgeable. Everyone was made to feel very welcome.
Review by Harrison who travelled 15-October-2021
Review by Anonymous who travelled 15-October-2021
As usual a really well organised trip that we enjoyed immensely. However we feel that rating the break is difficult because there ought to be a Very Good because it's quite a leap between a simple Good and an Excellent!
Review by Taylor who travelled 15-October-2021
The lectures and visits were excellent, with a friendly and interested atmosphere among the group. Our one disappointment was the standard of food in the hotel, which we didn't think was worthy of a four-star hotel. We would certainly consider another UK weekend.
Review by Harrison who travelled 15-October-2021
Review by Anonymous who travelled 15-October-2021
Thoroughly enjoyed Derngate as it was an opportunity to "finish off" our CRM knowledge after fantastic Glasgow tour in 2019.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 15-October-2021
The loss of the interior of Wrest Park and Stoneywell were a disappointment but were beyond your control. We appreciate the steps taken by Travel Editions to compensate for this. It was unfortunate that there was an error over the departure time from Leicester Museum which suddenly curtailed the visit. The visit to Ashby St Ledger church was not well managed. Interesting though the church was, there was no clear guiding around the features or drawing on the knowledge of the church members who were there to welcome us.
Review by Broadbent who travelled 23-July-2021
Review by Anonymous who travelled 23-July-2021
Review by Anonymous who travelled 23-July-2021
Review by Anonymous who travelled 23-July-2021
Hi, I have left blank the Flight/Train/Ferry question as it does not apply here. Everything else that you asked about was excellent, including the sightseeing tours, although there was a problem in that we could not have access to the interior of Wrest park, this was not the fault of Travel Editions. Travel Editions has acted most graciously in respect of the matter.
Review by Tomlinson who travelled 23-July-2021
Just a bit too much information at times but Anne Anderson could not be faulted for her enthusiasm! The problems at Wrest Park were unfortunate but Oscar the coach driver was his usual helpful and unflappable self !
Review by Gibbons who travelled 23-July-2021
A most enjoyable weekend. My thanks to Anne and Scott for a varied and interesting programme.
Review by Partridge who travelled 23-July-2021
Didn't like being told that a speaker was being removed but in the end it worked out brilliantly as Scott delivered at full power from beginning to end with a superb logically consistent portrait of the subject
Review by Burns who travelled 18-October-2019
A very busy weekend!!!
Review by Anonymous who travelled 18-October-2019
We always enjoy our short holidays with Travel Editions, but this one was really above expectations. The content of the visits, and Dr Scott Anderson's explanations of what we were seeing was excellent at drawing together that whole period of history for us. We shall certainly be doing more trips with you.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 18-October-2019
Review by anonymous who travelled 18-October-2019
Review by Anonymous who travelled 18-October-2019
Excellent talks and interesting places to visit.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 18-October-2019
Review by Anonymous who travelled 18-October-2019
No. of passengers c28. An enjoyable well organised tour. Everyone was well looked after. The programme of visits and talks was well thought through and I learned a lot as well enjoying what I saw.
Review by Wigley who travelled 18-October-2019
I was disappointed that Anne Anderson had a "diary clash" as she was the main reason I chose the tour. I mentioned to Scott Anderson that it would have been helpful if instructions for driving to the Marriott had mentioned that the exit from the A45 was at the Brackmills interchange. I think that it would have been better if the welcome drink on Friday had been served while we stood up as this would have enabled us to circulate before sitting down for the talk and dinner. The talk on Friday was about what we were seeing on Sunday, whereas we learned about the places we visited on Saturday only after we had seen them. In spite of these comments, I enjoyed the tour!
Review by Fawcett who travelled 18-October-2019
Our first Travel Editions tour and we were happy with it. My impression form the brochure was that there would be more on the stated them, Victoriana to Modernism. Some of the country house and garden visits were not directly relevant to that. I thought that there could perhaps be better co-ordination between the on-site guides and the tour leaders /speaker at evening lectures. Some duplication would in that way be avoided.
Review by Owen who travelled 07-June-2019
We would prefer a dinner allowance and then pay any extra charges as the choice of menu was not "exciting" Anne & Scott were as excellent as ever
Review by Smith who travelled 07-June-2019
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, there was a lot to do, and everything was of great interest.
Review by Bessant who travelled 07-June-2019
Excellent tour guides and visits.
Review by Lambert who travelled 07-June-2019
Review by Anonymous who travelled 19-October-2018
Review by Anonymous who travelled 19-October-2018
As always, very satisfied!
Review by Richards who travelled 19-October-2018
Oscar the coach driver was very good. Some of the staircases in the houses visited were very steep and needed careful management. Only our opinion but you fit a lot into the time which would not leave any free time at the hotel base.
Review by BATES who travelled 19-October-2018
Prof and Dr Anderson were an absolute mine of information and we will most definitely book a tour with them again. Not only so knowledgeable but also exemplary at managing the group. These two are gems . As a retired educationist myself I really appreciated their enthusiasm for the subject, they totally captivate the audience, and we can’t wait for another opportunity to benefit from their expertise.
Review by Brooking who travelled 19-October-2018
Review by who travelled 10-August-2018
I would suggest more time at two sites per day with an earlier dinner/talk or talk/dinner, maybe fitting in Ashby St Ledgers on the first afternoon and forgetting the Swiss Garden.
Review by Turner who travelled 10-August-2018
the swiss garden was a bit of a let down after the build up,not much to see.
Review by who travelled 10-August-2018
Review by who travelled 03-August-2018
Review by Austin who travelled 03-August-2018
Just a small quibble regarding the hotel accommodation, suggest walk-in showers preferred by your older clients as much safer, but apart from that food and room and location very good
Review by Johnson who travelled 03-August-2018
The tour didn’t seem to be very well planned and was rather chaotic at times. The visits to Wrest Park, The Higgins Gallery and Kelmarsh were excellent and the undoubted highlight was Derngate. The Swiss Gardens and Ashby St Ledger seemed unnecessary and if excluded would allow longer at the other places. The evening lectures were rather long causing the meal to be served quite late after a tiring day. The hotel was comfortable with good food and pleasant staff but the air conditioning/heating unit in our room was rather noisy.
Review by Hart who travelled 08-June-2018
The tour was excellent.
Review by Britton who travelled 08-June-2018
A
Review by who travelled 08-June-2018
Review by who travelled 08-June-2018
