LeisureCourses.net – short courses & residential study breaks in great locations

Chinese Brush Painting – Summer Flower with Bird and Insect in Freehand Style

Flowers and birds have been popular subjects in traditional Chinese brush painting for over two thousand years. This course will focus on the basic skills of painting different kind of flowers, birds and insects in free hand style, such as: wisterias with swallow, peony with butterfly and Chinese lotus flower with dragonfly. The course will...

Book Club: Ours Are the Streets

Looking Good Feeling Good

Our style needs to evolve as we age so if it’s been a while since you took an honest look at your colours and styles, this is the perfect opportunity to spend a relaxing day gaining input into what suits you and why. Realise your true potential with colours that suit your natural colouring and...

Berlioz & The Trojans

We will explore Berlioz’s greatest work, the epic grand opera Les Troyens (the Trojans) which was based on Virgil’s Aeneid, a work which stirred the composer’s soul deeply. The opera portrays the capture of Troy by the Greeks and the subsequent arrival of the Trojan survivors in Carthage. The ensuing tragic romance between Dido, the...

Classical Guitar Orchestra Weekend

A unique musical experience for classical guitarists of all ages and of varying abilities (but not complete beginners). The emphasis is on participation, with students working in a non-competitive and supportive environment. Parts of the orchestra range in difficulty from elementary (Grade 2) to advanced (Grade 8) and are allocated in accordance with each students’...

Songs, Satire and Sophistication: the History of Revenue’

One of the most popular and fashionable forms of entertainment in the 1920s and '30s was the revue, which provided humorous, fast-moving and sophisticated sketches and songs on topical themes. The early revues concentrated on music and spectacle; but gradually they became more intimate, emphasissing wit and style, as perfomers like Noel Coward joined-in. Come...

Concert with the Sacconi Quartet

The award-winning Sacconi Quartet will perform a programme of wonderful music: Mozart’s String Quartet in D major K499, Sibelius’s Moderato and Allegro appassionato and Schubert’s String Quartet in G major. The Quartet performs with style and commitment and is known throughout the world for its creativity and integrity of interpretation.

Understanding Watercolour

Vincent Van Gogh said you needed twenty-seven heads to paint a watercolour, vowed to get to grips with the medium and then promptly dropped it. Is it any wonder? A big favourite with leisure painters and hobby artists, watercolour is both approachable and unintimidating, but takes a lifetime to master. This one day course will...

Boost Your German

Having even more than a basic knowledge and understanding of a language is extremely useful when on holiday, but not just then. Whether you studied German in the dim and distant past, or more recently, neither your age nor the amount of experience you may have in learning and using German is a barrier to...

The History of the Arts in Britain

It is hard to imagine but most of our great artistic institutions are very young indeed. Some of our most famous such as the Royal Ballet, the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company being created only after the Second World War. This course will explore the history of music, theatre, literature, publishing, the...

Schuberts Final Years

This course will examine the last flowering of Schubert's remarkable music in the final few years of his short life. It will look closely at such works as the song-cycle Die Winterreise, the 'Great' C major symphony, the last string quartet, the String Quintet in C and the final piano sonatas. The course will also...

From King Lud to King’s Cross: The History & Life of London

Dr Johnson wrote: 'When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life;for there is in London all that life can afford'. In this course, we shall look at the life of London from its foundation to the present day: its trades, industries, docks and rivers; its theatres, music halls and other entertainments;...

Made in Britain: How Prehistory Shaped Our World

Before the coming of the Romans the people of these islands were non-literate, relying on word of mouth to pass on their skills and knowledge. Through an exploration of the archaeological inheritance they left behind this course reveals how their craftsmanship, ingenuity and endeavour shaped our world, laying the foundations for the Britain we inhabit...

No Boundaries Accoustic Band Workshop Extra

This extended 'No Boundaries' acoustic band course is open to any acoustic instrument player. We’ve successfully catered for every combination so far, including fretted and bowed stringed instruments, saxophones, clarinet, piano, flute and harmonica... what do you play? With a good social atmosphere, exchanging ideas and learning from each other, you will be encouraged to...

Embroidery With a Silver Sheen

This course focuses on hand embroidery projects, using stitches such as stem stitch, french knots, long and short stitch, and incorporates a bit of silver work to the design. The silverwork can be using metal threads, such as pearl purl and jap, or simply silver stranded cotton and tiny silver sequins. Participants will be working...

Usui reiki level 1 workshop – learn reiki healing for yourself, friends, family, pets

Usui reiki level 1 workshop – learn reiki healing for yourself, friends, family, pets

Usui reiki level 1 workshop - learn reiki healing for yourself, friends, family & pets 1 day workshops: Friday 4 March &  Saturday 12 March 11.00 - 16.00 Usui reiki level 1 workshop Rei – universal Ki – life force/energy (known as Chi in China or prana in India)   Reiki is an ancient Japanese healing technique for...

Reiki and walking weekend retreat

Peace, conflict and international society

The news seems dominated by war, violence and conflict, but these forces also lie at the heart of how and why the world operates as it does at the level of international politics. If you have ever wondered why peace is so elusive and conflict so prevalent, then this course will help you understand such...

The English economy before the Norman Conquest: agriculturalists, artisans and aristocrats

How did people make a living when there was no money in England, and how did goods circulate with no market? Come and explore fundamental questions like these on this weekend course, and trace how Anglo-Saxon towns, trade and coinage began and developed as the early Middle Ages progressed.

Why are the Americans more religious than the British?

As the race for the Presidency hots up, are you baffled by the role religion continues to play in American life? This course will set you straight. Learn about the history that has shaped American religious sensibilities, explore the data of religious practice today, and enter the American mind.

Intermediate Russian: The 1917 Revolution – facts, fiction, arts

This weekend is designed for those who already have a reasonable conversational grasp of Russian. You will be able to expand your knowledge of contemporary Russian language, culture and society and gain more confidence in speaking and writing. The sessions will be mostly in Russian and will include, besides language exercises, a look at current...

Sustainable Development Goals: what difference will they make to international development?

We are at the cusp of significant changes in both thinking and delivering 'international assistance' as a result of the new set of targets known as the Sustainable Development Goals. With reference to case studies, this course explores the consequences of the changes ahead by looking in turn at the criteria and targets set for...

Astronomy days: Rocky worlds and gas giants

How do planets form? Is there life elsewhere in the Universe? In the first of a new series of astronomy day schools, we will explore the planets and other rocky bodies of our solar system, catch up on the rapidly advancing hunt for planets around other stars, and discuss the origins of life and the...

The Anglo-Saxon Fenland

The Anglo-Saxon fenland was colourfully described by the great Clifford Darby as 'a frontier region...the resort of brigands and bandits' in whose empty wilderness saints like Æthelthryth of Ely and Guthlac of Crowland established their new monastries. The course critically examines these assumptions in the light of recent research which suggests fenland history was more...

Stories to live and die for: the literary prize winners

Fiction enables us to consider some challenging, vital and creative issues and moments in life, and to imagine how things could be otherwise. We will be reading and discussing prize-winning contemporary fiction including Eimear McBride's challenging A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing (2013), which explores the life of a young Irish girl. We will also look at...

O rare Ben Jonson

The appearance in 2013 of Ian Donaldson's brilliant life-and-works book on Shakespeare's friend and only serious rival Ben Jonson proves a wonderful stimulus for the study of three of his sourly evergreen comedies, The Alchemist, Volpone and Bartholemew Fair, and his tragedy Sejanus, recently and successfully revived at Stratford. There will be many laughs and...

One day, one novel: Pride and Prejudice

This day school is part of the 'One day, one novel' series for 2015-16. Each day school focuses on one novel and through a series of lecture and class discussions, helps you to study the novel in great depth, getting to know the author and the text as closely as possible.

New Testament Greek

This course is aimed at students who have been studying Greek for a year or more. We shall read and discuss a selection of extended passages from the New Testament Gospels and Epistles, aiming to understand both their language and their historical background. We shall also by way of contrast look at some shorter extracts...

Advanced French: Monsieur de La Fontaine

This weekend course is held entirely in French. It focuses on various topics illustrated through literature and art, often related to present cultural events, and aimed at language improvement. The texts, chosen from a wide range of classic and modern writers, will be used as a basis for discussion throughout the sessions. A variety of...