Archive of Day Course | LeisureCourses.net - short courses & residential study breaks in great locations - Part 5
-
The Music of Spain
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesAlthough it is true that Spain did not contribute much to the classical or symphonic tradition of European music there are nevertheless great riches to discover. Its choral polyphony is arguably the greatest ever written and the music of Granados, Albeniz and Manuel de Falla presents a whole new sound world that is Spain in...
Read more ... -
The Art of Paul Cézanne
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesPaul Cézanne (1839–1906) is one of the most influential artists in the history of twentieth-century painting, inspiring generations of modern artists with his unique method of building form with colour and his analytical approach to nature. Both Matisse and Picasso are said to have remarked that Cézanne "is the father of us all." All-comers welcome.
Read more ... -
Ukulele Workshop – Beyond Beginners
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesGot a Ukulele? Know a few chords? Perhaps you've been on a beginner’s workshop or have been quietly teaching yourself at home? Or maybe that uke has been gathering dust in the corner? This workshop is ideal for anyone who already owns a ukulele and can strum a few chords. During the workshop you will...
Read more ... -
Boxed Cushions for Chairs, Sofas & Garden Furniture
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesEnjoy a productive day learning the professional skills to recover or make boxed cushions. Create an original design in the fabric of your own choice. Areas covered will include, cutting out, cutting bias binding, covering piping cord and zip insertion methods. All-comers welcome but please note you will need basic sewing knowledge, including the ability...
Read more ... -
Mediation and Mindfulness
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesA one day course designed for beginners, and for anyone wanting to refresh their own practice. We will look at how traditional meditation is now ‘mainstream’, formulated as Mindfulness by Jon Kabat Zinn et.al., and used therapeutically in the NHS, schools, prisons, etc. We will have short periods of silent practice with different meditation supports,...
Read more ... -
Elgar: The Enigma
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesEntirely self-taught as a composer, though with youthful aspirations to a career as a violin virtuoso, Elgar was always sensitive about his lack of education, in common with some other composers. It led to strange, sometimes boorish behaviour on occasions, and the Enigma Variations may indeed have been a retreat into the comfortable world of...
Read more ... -
“No Man is an Island Entire & Complete of Itself…”(John Donne)
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesMass migrations have taken place across the world since recorded history began: initially people were seeking land to settle in but in modern history, by those fleeing persecution and violence, searching for safety and freedom. This course will explore the complex causes of these great migrations and the impact on the countries who offer them...
Read more ... -
Storytellers & Muscians Workshop “We Are All Tellers of Story & Makers of Music
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis one day workshop, led by storyteller Michael Loader and musician Martin Solomon, is for anyone who wishes to learn about storytelling for the first time or for those who want to take their storytelling and musicianship into new places. For musicians this will be a day for you to play and accompany words -...
Read more ... -
Sculptural Needle Felting – Country Hares & Foxes
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesLove wool? Then you'll love needle felting! Fibre artist, Carla Taylor of The Mousehole Woolery will guide you step by step through the basic techniques of needle felting to create your own unique country hare or fox out of beautiful wool, ready for you to take home or if you can part with them to...
Read more ... -
An Historical Perspective on Elementary Mathematics
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis course will look at some historical developments in Number, Algebra and Geometry, especially topics encountered in school. This will involve exploring some other number systems, explaining the purpose and use of algebra and discovering some important results in geometry. There will be opportunities, but no compulsion, to ‘play’ with the ideas and try some...
Read more ... -
At the Edge of History
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesHistory is said to have begun with Herodotus, who along with Homer and Hesiod gave the Classical world its past. But archaeology has revealed earlier civilisations, among them the first historians: the Hittites. This day investigates the legacy of this Late Bronze Age people, their culture and their writings. Annals, letters, treaties and prayers will...
Read more ... -
A Beginners Guide to Model Railways
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDo you visit model railway shows and wonder how people who build those wonderful models do it? Phil Parker has been writing and exhibiting model railways for over two decades and will take you on a whistle-stop tour of the process of building a layout. Along the way you'll get hands on with some of...
Read more ... -
Sculptural Needle Felting – Country Hares & Foxes
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesLove wool? Then you'll love needle felting! Fibre artist, Carla Taylor of The Mousehole Woolery will guide you step by step through the basic techniques of needle felting to create your own unique country hare or fox out of beautiful wool, ready for you to take home or if you can part with them to...
Read more ... -
Religion in Roman Britain
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesTolerant Roman attitudes to religion ensured that native shrines and practices survived, and often flourished, in Roman Britain. Much of our knowledge of native deities comes from Roman inscriptions; to these can be added the eastern ‘Mystery religions’, closed sects with notions of salvation. This day course will look at the range of evidence, both...
Read more ... -
The Language of Drawing
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesFrom the caves at Lascaux to the plans for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, so much human endeavour begins with drawing. As children, when we pick up a crayon and draw, we discover a liberating and potent way to describe the world around us. Drawing is our first language with which we communicate our...
Read more ... -
Migration – Where did West Country People Go? The Untold Story
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesA chance to look at the untold story of migration from the West Country all over the world. Early Migration in the 1600s to the New World, the rush for land in America during the 1800s, new life in Australia and New Zealand and not forgetting movement to other parts of the United Kingdom. Ideal...
Read more ... -
News from the Fronts: The Kitchener Divisions and the Battle of the Somme
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesFrom Spring 1916 onwards against the backdrop of the battle of Verdun - ‘the Meatgrinder on the Meuse’- Kitchener’s New Army divisions were arriving in France for the Anglo-French offensive on the River Somme. Hopes were high for a break through the German defences. The course will consider in detail the preparations for the battle...
Read more ... -
The Making of a Myth: King Arthur, Joseph of Arimathea & Glastonbury
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesAn exploration of the origins of the legends about "the matter of Britain" -the collection of medieval myths and legends associated with King Arthur and the origins of Christianity in Britain, some of which are associated with the west country. We look at any historical foundation of such myths together with their development and elaboration...
Read more ... -
The Roman Army in the West Country
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDuring this day course we will examine why the Roman Army was deployed to the West Country, the role, tactics and distribution of Roman forts, and the different types of Roman soldiers and their equipment. The tutor will bring a range of equipment that is representative of archaeological artefacts found in the West Country including...
Read more ... -
Summer Swing!
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesSummer is the time for all things light-hearted, so why not spend a day learning some of the Swing Era’s most-memorable numbers in this fun group-singing workshop? With Cole Porter’s Too Darn Hot and the Gershwin brothers’ iconic ‘Summertime’ we’ll explore the rhythmic conventions of swing-feel and the lush textures of jazz harmony. Suitable for...
Read more ... -
An Introduction to Russian Language and Culture
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesRussian is a Slavik language. It is becoming an increasingly popular language to learn in Western countries these days since the end of the Cold War and an interest in Russian culture. The course will help you learn the Cyrillic Russian alphabet and its origins. You will learn basics of writing, reading and common phrases...
Read more ... -
Let there be light… and there was light
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesLight is essential for life and growth, so during this creative writing day we shall compare mankind's early belief in its origin with today's theory of the Big Bang. We also use light to describe insight, spiritual revelation and the search for knowledge. We shall use music, study and paintings of light in all its...
Read more ... -
Family History Research Day: Using Dillington’s Computers or Your Own Laptop
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesIf you have hit a brick wall in your family history research or simply need a few pointers in the right direction, this one day workshop will provide you with the opportunity to come along and carry out your own research, whilst receiving guidance and advice from the tutor. A computer will be provided or...
Read more ... -
Kinky Ukuleles
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe songs of ‘The Kinks’ will be the focus for this innovative ukulele workshop run by Sally Vaughan who has delivered a number of popular ukulele courses at Dillington House over the past 2 years. When Ray Davies of ‘The Kinks’ penned his 60s classics he often cited influences from the music hall days of...
Read more ... -
Ancient Egyptian Treasures in Oxford and Cambridge
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge house two of the finest collections of Egyptian antiquities in the UK. In this day course will explore a wealth of ancient Egyptian material, examining highlights of these two wonderful collections from the Predynastic Period (4th millennium BC) through to the Roman Period (2nd century...
Read more ... -
What’s New on the Internet for Family Historians?
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesAre you just using a few family history websites and not finding anything new? This course is your chance to widen your search and find out about the many new sites family historians can benefit from to further their research. Jane will present an up to the minute review of websites you can use both...
Read more ... -
News From the Fronts: Focus on the Battle of Jutland
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesWhile the Battle of Verdun ground on, the Allies built up resources for major offensives on the Eastern Front under General Brusilov and a coordinated Anglo-French offensive astride the River Somme. At sea the German High Seas Fleet sought a conclusive engagement in the North Sea. Thus came about ‘Der Tag’ - the culmination of...
Read more ... -
Figure & Portrait Drawing in any Medium
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesBeginners and those of all levels of experience are welcome on this day of drawing or painting from a professional life model, clothed and posed in everyday, familiar settings, including observation of the human head. Students are invited to bring any materials they prefer. Demonstrations and studies in proportion, tone and colour will support individual...
Read more ... -
Drawing Skills for Garden Designers
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis one day workshop is for those who wish to improve their presentational skills for illustrating garden designs. It would suit anyone who has an interest in or has studied garden design and wants to make more of their drawing skills. You do not need to be good at drawing to find this course interesting...
Read more ... -
Illustrations from the Edge – The Art of Exploration’
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesA sumptuously illustrated talk about the work of six British ‘expedition artists’ who travelled with some of the world’s great explorers from the C18th to C20th. You will see wonderful illustrations by William Hodges, David Roberts, Edward Wilson, Thomas Moran, Thomas Baines and Conrad Martens, accompanied by Brian’s stunning images from 5 continents. A true...
Read more ...