This year's visit to Thorington Outdoor Theatre will be on Thursday, 11th July at  5.00pm for a performance by The Duke's Theatre Co of William Shakespeare's

As You Like It

Please bring a folding chair, cutlery, crockery and wine if required.  We will provide the food and soft drinks.

Cost: £26.00.  Sign up at the June meeting or contact Mu on mugurbutt@hotmail.com or on 01502 716994

Mu has arranged a visit to Huntingfield Church on Wednesday 5th June to see the painted chancel and nave roofs, work carried out over a seven year period (1859-66) by Mildred Holland, wife of the rector.  Pevsner decribes it as "a glorious achievement, skilfully and attractively executed."

The visit will be preceded by lunch at the Huntingfield Arms which has a good reputation for its food.

Meet at the Huntingfield Arms for lunch at 12.00 noon. There is limited parking near the church but it is a short walk.  Mu will give a brief introductory talk.  Please bring a £1 coin for the meter to feed the lights.

Please let Mu know if you intend to be there as the pub needs numbers for lunch.

Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears moved to The Red house in 1957.  The peaceful setting which allowed Britten to work without distraction contributed to his and Pears' decision to stay there for the rest of their lives.  The house itself is a Grade11 17th century farmhouse.

The library and music room is home to their vast collection of books and music, as well as a place to display some of their art collection.  It was also used as a rehearsal space for small groups of musicians.  The gallery was built in the 1900s over Britten's open-air swimming pool, which is still beneath the floor.  It now holds exhibitions.

The Red House is opening in the afternoon just for us.

Why not visit Aldeburgh Church in the morning and see the John Piper window depicting Britten's operas.  There are lots of places to eat in the town.  Guided tours of the house from 2pm and a chance to visit the exhibition.

Entry £11 - ticket allows you to visit again for a year.

Travel:  car sharing.

You may be aware that Gainsborough's House in Sudbury, Gainsborough's childhood home, closed in 2019 for a major redevelopment to upgrade and expand the Grade I listed Georgian townhouse. It reopened in November 2022, having refurbished and redisplayed the historic buildings while constructing a new three-storey wing that has created the largest gallery in Suffolk. Visitors are able to see Gainsborough's masterpieces, exhibitions of international appeal, contemporary art created in East Anglia and a landscape studio with panoramic views over Sudbury. There is a new café, the Watering Place, overlooking the beautiful 18th century garden, along with improved facilities and more spaces for learning, talks and concerts. Nowhere else in the world can such a wide collection of Gainsborough's art and those he inspired be seen in a single setting.

I have arranged a visit to Gainsborough's House for Tuesday 21 March. We shall begin with coffee and an introductory talk. You will then be free to explore the gallery and house at your leisure (entrance is included in the cost). Lunch can be taken either in the Watering Place café or elsewhere in the town. Then in the afternoon, I have arranged a guided walk through the town. There will be time for a cup of tea if you wish, and we will aim to depart for home at around 4pm. The coach will leave the bus stop outside Fat Face in Southwold at 8.15am. We can pick up at Bridgefoot Corner (8.20), Lakeside (8.25), Blythburgh bus stop (8.35) and the Butter Cross at Bungay (9.00). We will aim to be back in Southwold around 6pm.

The cost will be £55 per person (£45 for members of the Art Fund) which includes coffee, introductory talk, admission to the gallery, exhibition and house, and a guided walk around Sudbury as well as the coach

A major exhibition of Iconic Seaside Architecture.

We are planning a trip to the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich for this exhibition to cheer us mid-winter.   This will be a leisurely day with a talk on the exhibition during the visit.   The price is £35 per person, coffee is included but lunch is not.  There is a restaurant and cafe at the Centre for you to have lunch or snack.   After lunch there will be time to peruse other areas of the Centre.

 The bus will leave at 09.00 hours from Southwold King’s Head, Bridge Corner Reydon at 9.03, Lakeside 9.05, Blythburgh at 9.10, Halesworth opp. Police Station 9.20.  The return trip will depart at 3.00pm.  

For more details contact:  Carolyn Greer Walker, phone: 01502 730258,  email: mcbgws@gmail.com

This visit follows the interesting lecture held last year on The Founders and the Treasures of the Wallace Collection by Stephen Duffy.  A coach will be leaving Southwold at 8 am with pick up points in various places, and aims to arrive in London in plenty of time for lunch and a viewing of the collection.  The return journey will leave at 5pm.  Cost £45 per person. 

Contact Elizabeth Dales (01502 723874) for further information and to book a place.

Those of you who like the C J Sansom Shardlake series, may have read 'Tombland', the latest book. We shall visit many of the areas mentioned, and there is a good map inside the book.  

The visit will consist of coach transport, coffee, followed by the group dividing and having two blue badge guides to walk and talk us around Norwich for about 1½ hours. The coach will then take us to our lunch venue which is upstairs, with a lovely view, after which there will be an illustrated talk on life in Norwich in earlier times. 

The cost will be £45.00 per head to include all of the above.

Contact Carolyn Greer Walker, email: mcbgws@gmail.com  tel: 01502 730258 for more details.

Home of the Proby family since 1660. Beautiful gardens restored over last 30 years. Magnificent furniture.  Porcelain collection. One of the largest libraries in private hands including King Henry VIII’s prayer book. Fine paintings including 15th c. Old Masters to the 19th c. Alma Tadema and Millais.

Mulberry Café within the garden centre offers morning coffee etc., and a comprehensive menu for lunch and afternoon tea. 

The coach will leave Southwold at 8.30 am, and leaving Elton Hall at 4.30 pm.  The cost of this visit (coach, entrance) excluding food will be £41.

More details from Carol Scriven - Tel: 01502 578268

Maldon is a delightful old town on the River Blackwater and this full day visit will include a guided tour of The Moot Hall followed by a visit to the Heritage Centre to view the Maldon Tapestry. 

In the afternoon there will be a guided tour of Ingatestone Hall, a 16th century manor in 11 acres, followed by time for a visit to the grounds with a walled pleasure garden, stew ponds and lime tree walks.  After tea/coffee and cakes the coach will return to Southwold leaving at about 4.30pm.

Cost £32 including coach, entrance ticket and guided tour.

This exhibition features over 150 works by the artist and is the largest showing of Frink’s work in 25 years.  It explores Frink’s enduring preoccupation with human and animal forms and the symbiotic relationship between them.  It provides new perspectives on the key themes found in her work from the responses to the Second World War and the Cold War climates of fear to the order of men as both aggressor and victim.

Further details from Anne Holland, tel: 01986 874000 or email tassouthwold@gmail.com

This day visit includes a bus tour around the town with a guide to learn about Great Yarmouth's history, followed by a visit to the Time and Tide Museum for lunch and to see the exhibition "Drawn to the Coast".  This looks at the British Masters, Cotman, Turner and Constable and their connections with the area through some of their paingins and etchings.

Further details from Carolyn - 01502 730258

The house was gifted to the National Trust in 1976 and opened to the public in 1979 together with about 3,000 acres by Mrs Elsie Bambridge (the daughter of Rudyard Kipling). Apart from the house and gardens there is a farm also open to view. There are three restaurants/café where you will be able to purchase refreshments.

The cost per person for coach and entrance will be £38.50. National Trust members – reduction on presentation of membership card.  This will be a full day visit leaving Southwold at approximately 8.30 am.

Further details available from Carol Scriven 01502 578268