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

Intermediate Acoustic Guitar Day

This course gives acoustic guitar players the encouragement to explore more challenging material and techniques using a wide range of musical genres. Add blues to your Bach? Or Bach to your blues? Then join the many who have enjoyed playing and learning in a relaxed atmosphere. Our comprehensive study pack contains material in standard notation...

Coleridge and His Circle in Somerset

This study day will explore the emerging Romantic sensibility and the poetry and politics of the 1790s. The focus is on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, particularly the inspiration he drew from the local landscape and from his friendship with Dorothy and William Wordsworth during their shared years in Somerset. We shall look at the four ‘conversation...

Understanding Greek Tragedy and Greek Comedy

Some amazing plays were performed in Athens in the 5th century BC. This course traces the origins and development of Greek drama and provides an opportunity to participate in two play readings: Euripides 'Bacchae' in which King Pentheus recklessly rejects the worship of Dionysus and Aristophanes 'The Frogs', in which Dionysus, dressed as Heracles, enters...

Alignment Therapy

Do you have back (or other) pain and want to relieve it? The Evans Technique of Alignment Therapy, officially recognised in 2011 by the Independent Professional Therapists International (IPTI), is an extremely gentle and painless way of relieving back and other joint pain. During the day we will look at ways of using simple body...

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...

Ukulele Workshop – Beginners

Always wanted to play an instrument but thought you never could? – Yes Uke Can! This workshop will introduce you to the ukulele from scratch. You will learn how to: hold it, tune it, strum it, play 5 simple chords and put them all together in a few familiar songs. This one day course is...

The Romantic Ballet – Sylphs, Wilis & Other Spirits

The first Romantic ballet – La Sylphide (1832) – turned ballerinas into stars, soon eclipsing their male counterparts. This fascinating story of passions and intrigues brings to life the stories behind famous ballets such as La Sylphide, Giselle, Ondine, Le Papillon and more, and introduces the famous ballerinas whose rivalries and jealousies caused many a...

Free-Machine Embroidery for Improvers

An inspiring and fun course aimed at those with experience in the technique who have grasped the basics and now want to develop and improve on their existing skills. Working from your own design motif or the tutors you will build a collection of samples in a variety of threads and stitches and learn how...

The Johann Strauss Family – A Tour of Britain

The Strauss (Waltz King) family were so numerous that it is sometimes impossible to be certain which one wrote which tunes. Father Johann was sufficiently astute to tour England with his orchestra cashing in on Queen Victoria's coronation celebrations. They gave concerts in a different location every night (except s) from August to November. We...

West Country Railways

This course explores the archaeology and heritage of railways from Wiltshire to Cornwall. Brunel’s work is seen in the Box Tunnel, Dawlish railway, Royal Albert Bridge and spectacular viaducts. Abandoned lines are worth investigating, especially branches serving mineral and other industries. Case studies include the contrasting Liskeard and Caradon Railway, and the Somerset and Dorset...

The Genius of Metaphysical Poets

The seventeenth century witnessed an amazing flowering of a group of writers later known as the Metaphysical poets because they used the discoveries of explorers and the wealth of contemporary science to become metaphors for their emotions and spiritual journey. Of these many gifted poets, John Donne, George Herbert and Thomas Traherne are possibly the...

1685 – The Three Masters

Kate Semmens, soprano, with harpsichordists Colin Booth and Steven Devine. To conclude this year's weekend course, a celebration of the three most famous Baroque composers, all born in 1685 - Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti. This concert will feature two beautiful double-manual harpsichords in addition to Kate Semmens’ radiant voice.

The Dartington Dream

In 1925 Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst embarked on the adventure of their lives, by purchasing the run-down medieval estate of Dartington Hall in Devon and turning it, within their lifetimes, into a flourishing centre for the arts and education with an international reputation. Discover the history of their staggeringly ambitious efforts to revitalise the crumbling...

Carole King Tapestry – Vocal Day

Released in 1971, Carole King’s ‘Tapestry’ album topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks and remained on the charts for more than six years. Spend a day exploring King’s earthy, L.A. session-pop style and learning to sing tracks from this enduring music sensation including ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ and ‘I Feel the Earth Move’...

Nefertiti: Ancient Egypt’s Most Intriguing Queen

Nefertiti is arguably the most famous queen of pharaonic Egypt. Her bust displayed in Berlin is iconic. She was the Chief Royal Wife of the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (c1352-c1336 BC), and together they continue to fascinate. Intriguing changes appear in the art and religion of this period of Egypt’s history – peculiar representations of...

Eggstra Special Floral Designs for Easter

Come along and join our enthusiastic and flamboyant tutor and create three sumptuous designs for Easter from seasonal flowers, foliage and materials to enhance your home and delight your family and friends. During the day there will be demonstrations and lots of hints and tips. You will be provided with a list of items to...

News From the Fronts: Verdun and Allied Planning for 1916

As the Allied military chiefs assembled at Chantilly to discuss plans for co-ordinated offensives on Western and Eastern Fronts, the French position at Verdun had been rendered tenuous with the German capture of Fort Douaumont, keystone to the whole front. News from the mInor theatres was mixed but in Mesopotamia a British force was trapped...

An Astonishingly Brief History of the Piano – From Bach to Boogie, From Ragtime to Rachmaniov, From Jane Austen to Jazz’

Join Chris Howes for a whirlwind journey through pianos and their musical sounds - from the harpsichord and spinet to the concert grand. Our music includes the wit and wonder of composers and star musicians, including Franz Liszt, Jane Austin and her ‘square’ piano, Horowitz, Duke Ellington, Ravel and more.

An Introduction to Chi Kung

An introduction to a gentle and effective exercise routine that stimulates all the energy channels, major organs, muscles, bones and joints. This course has been running several times a year for a number of years and attendees have been known to repeat the course to increase their knowledge and ability. It is aimed initially at...

Oliver Cromwell: Saint Or Serpent?

Oliver Cromwell, the only commoner ever to become supreme head of a British state, has always produced deep divisions of opinion, between those who view him as one of the greatest of Britons, to those who see him as a usurper, tyrant and fanatic. This lecture is designed to show why Cromwell is such a...

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...

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...

Explore the River Axe

Spend a spring day with David Hunt in the valley of the River Axe in east Devon exploring some beautiful countryside and visiting unusual sites including the World War 2 defences. Our minibus takes us to places off the beaten track and (weather permitting) to some interesting views and excellent photo opportunities. Packed lunches and...

Four Medieval Christians

What inspired medieval men and women to give their lives to God? We will examine the lives and writings of four very different individuals: St Benedict, Hildegard of Bingen, Francis of Assisi and Margery Kempe. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries was a foundational text throughout the Middle Ages; Hildegard was a gifted abbess. In contrast, Francis...

Elizabeth Bowen – Selected Short Stories

Elizabeth Bowen’s stories explore childhood memories, the natural world, love, loss and the occult. Place is as significant as character and her writing is noted for its sharpness of observation. Both World Wars inspired many of her best short stories. From The Demon Lover, we learn what it was like to live in London during...

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...

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...

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...

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...