The Treasure Houses of England are 10 of the most magnificent palaces, houses and castles in England today. Together they attract in excess of 2.8 million visitors annually.

Members include: Beaulieu, Blenheim Palace, Burghley House, Castle Howard, Chatsworth, Harewood House, Hatfield House, Holkham Hall, Leeds Castle and Woburn Abbey.

One of the most compelling features of the Treasure Houses of England is that they all offer the visitor a living history. Most are still homes to the great families who have owned them for generations. Others keep their heritage alive by re-creating scenes and events that have dominated and shaped England from the 9th century to the present day.

Between them they house some of the most important art collections in the world with famous works from artists such as Van Dyck and Gainsborough. The connoisseur of fine furniture, porcelain and china will find priceless examples of Chippendale, Wedgwood and Meissen.

Each house is an architectural masterpiece surrounded by beautiful parklands and gardens.

For admission prices and opening hours - visit www.treasurehouses.co.uk

Fun Farming at Chatsworth Farmyard for February Half Term

11 February to 19 February 2012

The Chatsworth Farmyard and Adventure Playground will be opening this Saturday (11 February) for the school half term holiday to give families a fun taste of rural farming. The packed line up includes rural demonstrations and activities; the chance to meet the Shire Horse and find out how they are dressed; learn how to spin thread from local wool; discover where the old pack horse routes are around the estate; find out how horse drivers work and see the local farrier making a horse shoe on his mobile forge.

With a large indoor barn, an indoor picnic room and a covered canopy area, the farmyard is a great place to visit this half term whatever the weather.  Children can plant out beans and make bird feeders to take home in the barn and enjoy some messy mud painting under the canopy.

The popular small animal handling and ‘Meet the Animals’ sessions for a chance to get up close to the larger farm residents will take place every day. The woodland adventure playground where children can climb, slide, swing and spin is a great place to let off steam and the cafe and shop will be open to complete a great day out.

The farmyard is open from 11 to 19 February from 10.30 to 4.30pm every day, with last entry at 3.30pm. For details of each day’s activities and ticketing options including a 10 percent discount for online booking, go to www.chatsworth.org

For further information on the Treasure Houses of England please visit www.treasurehouses.co.uk  

Holiday Fun at the Treasure Houses of England

Promising a mesmerising mix of entertainment especially for children, The Treasure Houses of England are poised to deliver a fabulous feast of family fun this February Half Term.

FEBRUARY HALF TERM
 

From 11th to 19th, take part in Beaulieu’s James Bond-themed quiz and enjoy the new Bond in Motion exhibition where there are over 50 original James Bond vehicles -  plus take part in an undercover army commando course.

 

Jump aboard the land-train for a joy ride down to the Lakeside Adventure Playground at Castle Howard, which is suitable for children (and adults!) of all ages.

 

Similarly, Chatsworth’s Farmyard and Adventure Playground offers an enticing array of activities for all (11-19 February).

 

To celebrate spring, Harewood gardens and grounds are hosting a range of activities and demonstrations for all the family including walks and talks from experts, alpaca wool spinning, pottery classes and a chance to enjoy the fresh air and fun in a glorious location.

 

Visit the brilliant Bloody Hollow – Hatfield House’s adventure playground (free to anyone who has purchased a ticket from the park) and Hatfield Park Farm (free for accompanied children) to see the various farmyard animals and play amongst spectacular surrounds.  The stableyard will also be hosting a great array of children’s activities during half term (15-19 February).

 

Leed’s Castle presents the Birds and Beasts Roadshow (11-19 February), which houses a huge range of animals, birds, spiders and snakes in a marquee near the maze. Get up close and personal with a bevy of creepy crawlies for an unforgettably fun and educational experience.

 

The Pleasure Gardens at Blenheim Palace is the perfect place for families to let off steam during February half term. Hop on the miniature train from the Palace for family fun in the Pleasure Gardens including the giant Marlborough Hedge Maze, Adventure Play Area, the Butterfly House and the Gardens Cafe.

The Treasure Houses of England (THE) is a consortium of 10 of the country’s finest palaces, historic houses and castles. Unique in character, each property has its own magical blend of magnificent architecture, fabulous surroundings, world class collections and family attractions to enjoy.

For more information visit www.treasurehouses.co.uk

Half Term Fun at Harewood with 'Love Nature, Love Harewood'

This February half term, Harewood looks forward to celebrating all things natural with a great week of events and activities for all the family. Surrounded by open spaces and burgeoning Spring gardens, Love Nature’s aim will be to shake off the winter blues, spark interest, learn through fun and celebrate the new season within the comfort of the gardens and grounds of one the nation’s favourite country homes. Plus there’s 10% off if you book ahead ….


Love Nature combines insightful activities and demonstrations, and Harewood provides handy facilities to keep all the family fed and watered.   See how alpaca wool is spun to create woolly masterpieces with the Yorkshire Alpaca Group, and join in and ‘paint and take’ your own piece of pottery with Fired Art Designs or join our Education team and try your hand at a range of crafts. Yorkshire based masters of wood, Mawdsley Williams will be on hand with wood furniture demonstrations to showcase their extraordinary skills in sourcing and making woodwork for their individual designs and showing how the environment inspires them in their work.  Get your hands dirty with seed planting workshops, pick a seed to plant and take it home to watch it grow! If you’re keen to get out and about, why not take part in a ‘walk and talk’ and gain a fascinating insight into the stunning gardens with Head Gardener, Trevor Nicholson, you’ll find out all sorts about the grand, venerable, ancient and elegant trees we have here… or watch the Red Kites circling the skies and find out more with a Red Kite talk from Yorkshire’s own Project Officer from Yorkshire’s original Kite programme, Doug Simpson (one day only, visit website for details). Bird Garden Curator, John Waller, is also offering a walk and talk all about the birds in the Bird Garden, which will include details on birds that can be seen around the gardens and grounds of Harewood at this time of year. The bird walk concludes with our resident penguins’ feeding time. Plus there’s make your own bird cake feeder, win a prize with Spot the Owl prize draw, visit The Old Kitchen Below Stairs for fun food demonstrations and much more. (Note. Some events need to be booked ahead and require a small additional spend – see below or visit our website for details).


Perfect for all the family, Harewood has it just right this half term.  Whether you have a love of gardens, birds or simply for the great outdoors, Harewood provides. Love Nature, love Harewood…

11 - 19 Feb 2012, 10am - 4pm.
Adult £10.00 Senior £9.00 Child £6.00 Family £30, includes all grounds (State Floor closed). Below Stairs is open.
10% discount on pre-booking discount applies.
Harewood Members Free.
Pottery ‘make and take’ £5 upwards per head
Garden walk and talk free
Bird Garden walk and talk free
Red Kite talk free
Visit www.harewood.org/LoveNature for more details

Harewood Winter opening 7 Jan – 30 March (Below Stairs open half term only, limited menu in café weekdays – some parts of the garden may be closed over the Winter Season – please check website) 10am – 4pm
Open daily for half term week 11 to 19 February 10am - 4pm
Members Exhibition Preview Day 30 March
Daily opening 31 March – 4 November 10am – 6pm
(House 31 March - 30 September, & 27 October – 4 November 12 – 3pm)
Royal Harewood: State Floor, 31 March to 17 June

Entry is £5 throughout the winter November – February, general admission prices apply from 11 February onwards.
Special event prices apply on certain event days, please see website for details.

To be a member at Harewood and enjoy exclusive benefits, visit www.harewood.org/membership – membership also makes a great gift.

Recently awarded Gold in the Large Visitor Attraction category of the Enjoy England Awards, Harewood is an independent charitable educational trust set up to maintain and develop Harewood, its collections and grounds, for public benefit. Registered Charity No: 517753.  Harewood is the family seat of the Earl and Countess of Harewood and provides a great day out for all the family.  The House, with its outstanding art collections, splendid State Rooms and fascinating ‘Below Stairs’ exhibition, is set in spectacular landscaped grounds, which include formal gardens and gentle woodland walks, renowned Bird Garden, children’s Adventure Playground, a Bhutanese Stupa, waterfall and Himalayan Garden. 

Harewood House Trust, Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds LS17 9LG    info@harewood.org    0113 218 1010

For more information on the Treasure Houses of England please visit www.treasurehouses.co.uk

Gold medals and movie magic . . . a royal Olympic year for Burghley House

England’s greatest Elizabethan house will be offering visitors a unique take on Britain’s Olympic year including perhaps the most scenic place to watch the London 2012 Games – and the picturesque venue for a blockbuster summer feast of movie outdoor screenings.
Throw in fun family events, free-to-enter Fine Food Markets, summer picnics plus Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Lincolnshire’s Burghley House is setting its sights on a bumper 2012.
 
As Britain prepares for Olympic glory and Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, one of the country’s most inspirational past Olympic champions is being celebrated at the ancestral home of Queen Elizabeth I’s most trusted adviser.
 
Since being built 400 years ago by William Cecil, Lord Burghley - Elizabeth I’s chief minister - Burghley House has dominated the sweeping approach to the Georgian stone town of Stamford. Today, it still packs that ‘wow’ factor – offering a packed family day out with a combined ticket giving access to the House plus two gardens, including the Tudor-inspired Gardens of Surprise.
 
Regarded by many as England’s greatest Elizabethan house, Burghley has a unique claim to fame for its 2012 season - as home to an Olympic Gold Medal Winner and one of the key organisers behind the last Olympic Games to be staged in London. 
 
David Cecil, Lord Burghley (1905-1981), who inherited the title of Marquess of Exeter from his father in 1956, was one of the golden athletes of his generation. During a sporting career spanning more than a decade he won every available honour in his chosen discipline culminating in achieving gold for the 400 metres hurdles at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and silver in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics 4x400 metre relay.
 
Lord Burghley’s great talent as a hurdler and his life at Cambridge was the inspiration behind Lord Lindsay, one of the key characters in the film Chariots of Fire, played by Nigel Havers – a movie which features in Burghley’s summer night film outdoor screenings.
 
Burghley House will be dedicating its annual Treasury Exhibition to the Olympic connections and sporting achievements of the Gold medal winning Olympian. ‘An Olympian at Burghley’ will show memorabilia including his running outfit, medals and information about his sporting career.
 
And for those who want to watch the Olympics in a spectacular setting, Burghley will be throwing The Great Olympic Garden Party every day during the London Games. With the Elizabethan house as the backdrop, Burghley’s normally closed private South Gardens will host a Big Screen, showing TV coverage from Saturday 28th July to Saturday 11th August – and included for free with a normal house and gardens ticket.
 
Access to the screen will be available 10am to 10pm, last admission 6pm, with special late night tickets after 6pm at a reduced rate. A special Olympic Pass will also be available covering the whole period, while day tickets will be given as wristbands in the colours of the Olympic Rings. Visitors who collect all five will get free admission for the rest of the period.
 

A summer evening festival of outdoor screenings will feature four special film nights, launching on Saturday 28th July with iconic sports movie Chariots of Fire, followed by three other movie screenings on Wednesday 1st August, Thursday 2nd August and Friday 3rd August.
 
Fittingly for a house so closely linked to the first Elizabethan period, Burghley will also be joining in celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June, while there will once again be children’s events in summer and autumn as well as the annual free-to-enter Burghley Fine Food Markets at Easter, summer and Christmas.
 
For full details visit www.burghley.co.uk or telephone 01780 752451.

Burghley, near Stamford in Lincolnshire, has been the home of the Cecil Family for over 400 years and is England’s greatest Elizabethan House. Burghley is owned and maintained by Burghley House Preservation Trust, which looks after a huge collection of great works of art, including one of the most important private collections of 17th century Italian paintings, the earliest inventoried collection of Japanese ceramics in the West, exceptional 18th century furniture and wood carvings by Grinling Gibbons and his followers. The Trust also maintains a 13,000-acre estate including residential, commercial and agricultural lettings, woodland and Burghley Park, which is open daily at no charge.
 
The House is open from Saturday 17th March to Sunday 28th October 2012 daily (except Fridays) from 11am to 4.30pm (Saturday 28th July to Saturday 11th August, open every day including Fridays, with Big Screen access 10am to 10pm, last admission 6pm). Admission: House and The Gardens of Surprise - adults £12.50; children (3–15 years) £6.30; seniors/students £11.20; family (2 adults & 2 children) £33.

Join in the February fun at Beaulieu! 11th – 19th February 2012

During February half-term week, from 11th – 19th February, young visitors can join in February Fun at Beaulieu and take part in a James Bond-themed quiz trail and an undercover army commando course.

Test your knowledge of the world’s most famous special agent, James Bond, in the National Motor Museum’s brand new exhibition, BOND IN MOTION, which showcases 50 original vehicles from the James Bond films. The exhibition is the largest of its kind staged anywhere in the world and features some of the best-loved and most iconic vehicles from the films, including the Lotus Esprit S1, affectionately nicknamed ‘Wet Nellie’ from The Spy Who Loved Me and the Rolls-Royce Phantom III used in Goldfinger. Follow the trail around the exhibition and exercise your code-cracking skills for an opportunity to win a Bond goody bag and have your picture taken in a genuine Bond vehicle.

Learn the skills and tactics required to outsmart the enemy, whilst getting a taste of life in the modern Army on an Army Commando course, courtesy of soldiers from the Marchwood based 17 Port & Maritime Regiment. Once kitted out in army camouflage, young recruits can join real soldiers on a patrol exercise, have fun on an Inflatable Assault Course and test their aim on a Laser Shotgun Range.

These special activities can be enjoyed as part of a visit to the whole Beaulieu attraction which includes the National Motor Museum with its collection of over 250 vehicles and new BOND IN MOTION plus World of Top Gear.

Don’t miss the ‘On Screen Cars’ exhibition, new for 2012, which showcases a number of TV and film favourites including Del Boy’s Reliant Regal as featured in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, Mr Bean’s lime green Mini and possibly the most famous of all screen cars, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You can also visit Palace House, the Montagu family home since 1538, and 13th century Beaulieu Abbey, plus rides and drives for all the family.

Beaulieu is open from 10am – 5pm every day except Christmas Day. For more information telephone 01590 612345 or visit: www.beaulieuevents.co.uk

Blenheim Palace Wedding Fair

Sunday 19th February 2012
11.00 am – 4.00pm

Whether you are just beginning to make plans for your wedding or getting ready to finalise the last minute details, the Blenheim Palace Wedding Fair will provide a cornucopia of the regions finest wedding suppliers, showcased together within the stunning setting of Blenheim Palace.
Our dedicated hospitality team will be delighted to show you around the venue and to introduce you to the various different options available for your wedding day at Blenheim Palace.

Free admission and a free prize draw

Please call 01993 813874 or email sales@blenheimhospitality.com to apply for a ticket.

International line-up of chamber music at Holkham Hall

A second exciting series of chamber music at Holkham Hall firmly establishes the historic property as one of the premier venues for chamber concerts. The 2012 season sees celebrated musicians from around the world perform in the magnificent Marble Hall and includes three song recitals, two string quartets, a piano trio and a solo piano recital. In addition, one of Europe’s leading young ensembles will make a special appearance for a captivating live broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The season opens with an afternoon concert in February when the Escher Quartet from the United States comes to Holkham as part of their European tour. Then the following month Dame Felicity Palmer gives a rare recital before she visits Paris, and the hall hosts a live Radio 3 concert by the Signum Quartet. During the season, two winners of the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World song competition also perform – Elizabeth Watts, who won the song prize in 2007 and Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko, who was the winner in 2011.

The full concert listing is as follows:

Sunday, February 12 at 3pm
Escher String Quartet preceded by a pre-concert talk
Pre-concert talk by Simon Rowland-Jones titled “Bartók’s String Quartet No.5 - The Greatest String Quartet of the 20th Century?” at 3pm followed by a performance by the Escher String Quartet who were selected as BBC Radio 3’s ‘New Generation Artists’ for 2010-2012 and will perform a programme of music, including Haydn’s String Quartet in D Op.76 No.5, Bartók’s String Quartet No.5 and Beethoven’s String Quartet in C sharp minor Op.131.

Sunday, March 18 at 7pm
Dame Felicity Palmer and Simon Lepper
Mezzo-soprano Dame Felicity Palmer has sung at every major opera house during the last four decades and pianist Simon Lepper is one of the leading accompanists of his generation, working with the world’s top singers. “Women on the Edge” is a programme of songs by Britten, Purcell, Tchaikovsky, de Falla and Sondheim.

Saturday, March 24 at 1pm
The Signum Quartet
Broadcast on BBC Radio 3, one of Europe's leading young quartets and Radio 3 New Generation Artists, The Signum Quartet from Berlin, perform an all-Schubert programme including one of the composer’s greatest string quartets as a live broadcast from the Marble Hall.

Saturday, April 7 at 7pm
Elizabeth Watts and Julius Drake
Soprano Elizabeth Watts won several major competitions including the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 2006 and the Song Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2007 and quickly established herself as the country’s leading young soprano. Pianist Julius Drake was Artistic Director and a regular performer at Holkham Hall between 2005 and 2010 and works with the leading singers of the day. This event includes Schumann’s song cycle Liederkreis Op.39 and songs by Ivor Gurney and Richard Strauss.

Friday, June 8 at 7pm
Kungsbacka Piano Trio
Formed in 1997 and named after the Swedish town where they gave their first performance, the Kungsbacka Piano Trio will perform a programme of music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. They won first prize in the prestigious Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 1999, have made prize-winning recordings for Naxos and this year are celebrating 15 years of giving concerts together.

Saturday, October 13 at 7pm
Andrei Bondarenko and Gary Matthewman
Ukranian baritone Andrei Bondarenko sprang to international prominence in the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition where he won the first prize in the song competition and was a sensational finalist in the main competition. Gary Matthewman is one of the best known accompanists of his generation and recently joined BBC Cardiff Singer of the World as official accompanist. The evening will include Ibert’s “Chansons de Don Quichotte”, songs by Tosti, Respighi, Glinka, Tchaikovsky and opera arias.

Saturday, November 10 at 7pm
Brodowski Quartet
The Brodowski String Quartet burst on to the London musical scene in 2008 winning a clutch of major prizes including first prize winner of the Royal Overseas League Competition for the best chamber ensemble. Some of the most celebrated of all string quartets make up the Brodowski’s programme, from Haydn’s last complete work for the genre to Smetana’s revolutionary “From My Life” and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No.1 in D major Op.11.

Saturday, December 1 at 7pm
Pianist Leon McCawley
A Beethoven Piano Competition and Leeds International Piano Competition winner, Leon McCawley is at the forefront of musical life. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth, he presents a wide-ranging programme that charts the influences on Debussy’s pianistic style. Leon’s programme includes works by Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov and Schumann. This concert includes a champagne reception in the Saloon and opportunity to view some of the state rooms magnificently decorated for Christmas.

Tickets for the BBC broadcast concert with the Signum Quartet on 24 March are £18. For the December concert with Leon McCawley tickets are £30 and include a champagne reception in the interval. Tickets for all other concerts are £25 and include a glass of wine in the Saloon and an opportunity to view some of the other state rooms in the Hall. To book or for further information, please contact 01328 713111 or visit www.holkham.co.uk