Four Parishes Arts Society - December 2006

On Tuesday 24 October forty members greatly enjoyed firstly a visit to Westonbirt, the National Arboretum near Tetbury in Gloucestershire, followed by a visit to the Chedworth Roman Villa nr. Cheltenham.

At Westonbirt, our guide, Mr. Marsh, took us to Saville Glade where trees were first planted in open farmland by Mr. Robert Halford in 1850. From there we went on to Acer Glade which Mr. Robert Halford's fifteen year-old son George created; much of the world­famous autumn colour can be traced back to the Japanese maples he planted, some of which are still alive today. Mr. Marsh gave us a great deal of very interesting information as we walked among the beautiful trees. It was fairly wet underfoot but the weather was kind to us and the sun shone enabling us to enjoy the autumnal colours of the leaves, particularly the many colours of the acers in Acer Glade.

After lunch we drove to Chedworth Roman Villa, the National Trust's oldest stately home and one of the most important Romano-British villa sites in Britain. Discovered and excavated in 1864 it has been on display to the public since that time. The house, begun in 120 AD, started as three separate buildings but over the course of nearly three centuries the villa evolved into the grand 4th Century mansion, the ruins of which we saw on our visit and enjoyed exploring. 

While on the subject of happy and successful Four Parishes Arts Society outings, you may have noticed on your programme that there is a Tate to Tate tour on 24 March. This will be a fascinating day starting with coffee at the Tate Modern, a tour of selected pictures with excellent guides followed by a light lunch and full of interest boat trip to Tate Great Britain, We will have the same guides to conduct us over the very different gallery, tea and then home by our coach which will pick us up outside the gallery. It was such an excellent visit with the same guides that the leader of the group I was with for a similar visit has asked if she may join us! - J L