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

Mosaics Summer School Part 1

This course enables anyone interested in Mosaic Decoration a chance to explore and learn many aspects of this craft. My love of colour, texture and the art form, gives me a chance to help students to find their own natural creativity. *A supplement of £38 for materials, according to usage is payable...

The Georgians

The Hanoverian succession of the British monarchy heralded a period of great political, economic, social and cultural change.  Over the reign of five monarchs, and despite ultimately losing the American colonies, Britain expanded and consolidated its global reach through economic and military power.  In addition, the Georgian period established an enduring sensibility in...

Beekeeping Experience Day

This course is for people who would like to know about keeping honey bees and to decide if beekeeping would be a suitable intention. Beekeepers within their first two years of keeping honey bees may also find this day beneficial.  This may be an opportunity to broaden your beekeeping skills as many aspects...

Ukulele Summer School: Pick up a Uke and Play

Aimed at total beginners, this fun and light-hearted course will have you playing the ukulele (uke!) in no time at all. Starting with the absolute basics, you will learn how to play through a variety of different sessions, some led by the tutor, others in small break-out groups. By the end of the course you...

Relax with Circle Dance and Pilates

This course provides participants with an understanding of the fundamentals of Matwork Pilates, focusing on individual postural alignment, lengthening through the spine and pelvis whilst challenging you in a safe caring environment. We dance a mix of traditional and modern Circle Dances that embrace the many different moods, energies and rhythms that are...

German Language – Intermediate

Do you have a fair knowledge of German and want to practice and improve your language skills? Then come and join me for a weekend of fun! In a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere we will undertake a variety of activities working individually, in pairs, groups or all together. We will use texts, images...

Mosaics Summer School Part 2

This course enables anyone interested in Mosaic Decoration a chance to explore and learn many aspects of this craft. My love of colour, texture and the art form, gives me a chance to help students to find their own natural creativity. *A supplement of £38 for materials, according to usage is payable...

The Life and Times of Handel

There is a lot more to Handel than his justly celebrated oratorio Messiah or The Water Music.  This short course will examine his life, time and achievement.  Lavishly illustrated with images, music and anecdotes, we will explore the whole range of his output and demonstrate his complete mastery and genius.  Importantly, we will...

Let’s Paint with Drama Like Van Gogh in Mixed Media

A great day to create a mixed media painting inspired by Van Gogh’s colour and light. Come and be creative and original.  You could collage using coloured, textured and printed papers, use ink, pastel, acrylic, watercolour or gouache etc.   The composition, colour choices  and tonal balance of your painting  are of great importance...

Magical Silk Painting

Silk has a magical, shimmering quality, which together with the richness and vibrancy of colour can be transformed into something really special and unique. You do not have to be an accomplished artist to produce something quite spectacular. This course will introduce you to the absorbing process of painting on silk, and is...

Antique Furniture Restoration

Marquetry

Massenet’s Cendrillon [Festi’Val de Musique Valois] (Cinderella)

Dillington String Quartet Coaching Weekend

The Coull Quartet will lead a further weekend of coaching for string quartets who play to a good standard. The Coull are one of the finest and most experienced quartets in the country and we are delighted that they are returning to Dillington for a weekend of serious music-making and fun. The course includes a...

Concert: Coull Quartet

The magnificent Coull Quartet offers a rare combination of maturity and freshness and we are delighted that they are once more returning to Dillington. For this year’s concert their programme includes Mozart’s Quartet in E-flat major K428, Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 11 Opus 122 and Dvořák’s Quartet No. 9 in D minor Opus 34.

News From the Fronts: August – September 1916

This standalone day course is one of a rolling series covering the centenary of events as they occurred during the Great War. The approach taken is broader than the conventional narrative treatment. Each course starts with a strategic overview of events across all Theatres of the war thus highlighting the immediate problems confronting the leadership...

Shakespeare 400

2016 marks the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and as part of the celebrations during this short course we are hoping to include a visit to Stratford to watch the magnificent Sir Antony Sher in his performance of King Lear (*see below). The course is designed to engage with some of the key issues surrounding...

Creative Writing Workshop: “The Child is Father to the Man…” (Wordsworth)

What are the most important influences which make us the adults we are today? Nature, nurture or our education in the widest sense? During this day we will explore the many areas of education we had as children: the teachers who inspired us with a love of learning and conversely those who sadly made us...

Music & Revolution

During this weekend we shall explore the work of four great composers whose careers, and the very different paths they took, illustrate clearly the impact of the huge changes that came about in Russia in the early twentieth century. They are: Serge Rachmaninov, who fled his homeland just before the Revolution in 1917; Igor Stravinsky,...

Edward I & Queen Eleanor

King Edward I (1272-1307) is best remembered for his Welsh and Scottish wars, and his great series of castles around Snowdonia. Less well known, but more significant, were his promotion of law, parliament and currency reform, as well as his patronage of the arts. His wife, Eleanor of Castile was less well known, and this...

Let the Train Take the Strain: Planning Your Own Travels Through Eastern Europe

This day course takes the form of a workshop for planning your own travels by train through Eastern Europe. This year Mike Shaw extends his focus to the Western Ukraine, Rumania, Bulgaria and on to Istanbul. He will explain the origins of each of the national networks, the resulting choke points and how to avoid...

Pop-Up Tree House

Tree houses have fascinated us for centuries and here is an opportunity to make one yourself albeit a pop-up model of one! We make a 180-degree pop-up on a base comprising over fifty separate pieces all interlocked into the one structure. All-comers welcome.

September In Somerset

Dillington is located in a region that is steeped in history and has a rich and varied landscape, from moor to sea all within easy reach. Enjoy a three night stay in the beautiful surroundings of Dillington and be free to explore the wonderful counties of Somerset, Dorset and Devon. Return to a delicious evening...

Nordic Noir & Nordic Film

Scandinavia has been a great recent international hit in terms of both its influential films and its crime literature. We will look at such successful films as Together (Sweden), Trollhunter (Norway), and Oscar winners Babette’s Feast (Denmark) and The Man without a Past (Finland). Our dip into literature will include Stieg Larsson (Girl with a...

Finland & Iceland: Art, History & Culture

We will discuss Finland’s battles with Russia, and the Kalevala, a 19th-century epic poem of myth and legend. Sibelius will supply haunting music and there is striking art from Albert Edelfelt, Gallen-Kallela and Hugo Simberg. In Iceland we will look at the world’s oldest parliament, its volcanoes and geysers, the music of Sigur Ros and...

Denmark: Art, History & Culture

We look at Denmark’s proud history, and the way that its empire shrank over the centuries, including its naval battles with Britain. Art will include Denmark’s ‘Golden Age’ from the early 19th century, and the paintings of two great women artists, Bertha Wegmann and Anna Ancher, as well as the brilliant P. S. Krøyer. Music...

Beautiful Brick & Sublime Stone: How Building Materials Have Shaped Britain’s Architecture

The rich variety of building materials is one of the most striking things about British architecture. Look around you in any town and you’ll see stone church spires, red brick houses, shop fronts decorated with tiles, perhaps an older timber-framed house, an Edwardian theatre with an ornate plastered facade, or a market hall with a...

Verdi and the Force of Density

The hammer blows of cruel fate drive the plot of this dramatic tale, one of Verdi’s longest, richest and most incident-packed operas. We explore the tragedy befalling Leonora and the men in her life - her lover Alvaro, and her vengeance-obsessed brother, Carlo. But mostly we focus on Verdi’s superb score with its plethora of...

Meeting Me on The Cloud

Do you feel that you would like to keep up with family events and share your news online but are daunted by just how to start using social media, and nervous of who’s out there? Keep up to date with friends and family, news, research, reviews and more; social media is more than just a...

Stumpwork Pansies & Violas

Inspiration for this course comes from the beautiful costumes and books of Elizabeth I, where the emblem of the pansy and viola was widely used. Raised work techniques work extremely well for these lovely flowers, which come in a wealth of colour combinations. Try something new and learn how you can incorporate real flowers in...