Archive of Weekend Course | LeisureCourses.net - short courses & residential study breaks in great locations - Part 13
-
An Exploration Weekend
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesA weekend course with Brian Anderson, photographer and adventurer, looking at some of the great explorers and their expeditions into the unknown world, or the ‘terra incognita’ of their centuries. We will travel the routes of Magellan, Drake, Cook, Weddell and others, and see the landscapes, wildlife & peoples they encountered on their expeditions. This...
Read more ... -
Flappers, Vamps & All That Jazz: The Roaring Twenties
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe 1920s were a time of great upheaval, as society was torn between a desire to return to the certainties of the past and rejection of the old certainties of the Edwardian era. The result was a creative tension that led to new developments in society, politics and the arts, including daring new plays, modern...
Read more ... -
Honiton Lace
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis is a practical course designed for bobbin lacemakers of all abilities. For those who have knowledge of basic bobbin stitches there is the opportunity to be introduced to the techniques of this classic English lace. Those experienced in Honiton lacemaking can expand their skills and understanding of this lace and gain inspiration and guidance...
Read more ... -
A334 Literature from Shakespeare to Austen
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis weekend course is aimed at Open University A334 students. The course will cover the study of prose, poetry and drama from Shakespeare to Austen. We will consolidate what you have learned on the module so far and help you gain new insights. We will be considering texts from a variety of genres in their...
Read more ... -
Musical Impressionism – From Dawn Till Dusk
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDuring this weekend we will try to get inside the ‘feel’ as well as the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the Impressionism label in search of what it means in music. It’s not as easy to pin down as is the Impressionist Painting Movement. Debussy initially scoffed at the tag, but what did he and Ravel...
Read more ... -
1685 – A Great Year for Music
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe three greatest figures in the world of baroque music were all born in the same year. Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti grew up in very different environments, and only the latter two ever met. So it is fascinating to explore how their careers developed in parallel, but on very different lines. Harpsichordists Steven Devine and...
Read more ... -
Mah Jongg – Chinese Traditional Way to Play
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesMah Jonng, also known as 'The Game of Four Winds', has been the Chinese national game for centuries. It is said that half the population of China can play this game. The beauty of the tiles, the variety of the rules, the Eastern tradition and culture in the playing make the game logical, competitive and...
Read more ... -
Moorish Spain
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesNo era of European History was as remarkable or left as indelible a mark as Moorish Spain. The history, language, architecture, decorative arts, music, gastronomy, personality of the Iberian Peninsula owes so much to the civilization that occupied at least part of Spain for nearly 800 years. We shall follow the history of Moorish Spain...
Read more ... -
Saqqara: Egypt’s Most Important Ancient Necropolis
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesIn this weekend course we will enjoy an in-depth exploration of one of Egypt’s most significant ancient sites – Saqqara, the necropolis of Egypt’s ancient capital Memphis. We will examine the architecture, reliefs, inscriptions, statuary and funerary equipment of the extraordinary tombs of pharaohs, nobles and sacred animals, dating from the Early Dynastic Period through...
Read more ... -
Stumpwork Strawberries
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesIntricate strawberry designs have embellished embroidered textiles all through history, particularly in the Elizabethan age. This course will cover many different ways of working raised strawberries, together with their flowers, to build an attractive piece of work that could be made up into a scissors holder or needlebook. This course will cover a variety of...
Read more ... -
William the Conqueror and His Sons
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThe Battle of Hastings and William's Norman settlement which followed it were one of the great watersheds in English history. It was a period of revolutionary change but also some striking continuity with the Anglo-Saxon society and culture it was replacing. The reigns of his sons William Rufus and Henry I were to build on...
Read more ... -
Sibelius: The Man and The Music
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesSibelius is one of the giants of music. In particular his seven symphonies are recognised among the towering achievements of western man, but they and other masterpieces were only created out of enormous struggle. Using both musical and visual illustrations we will explore the relationship between the man and the music as his remarkable career...
Read more ... -
Classical Guitar Orchestra Weekend
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesA 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’...
Read more ... -
Chinese Brush Painting – Summer Flower with Bird and Insect in Freehand Style
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesFlowers 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...
Read more ... -
Schuberts Final Years
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis 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...
Read more ... -
The History of the Arts in Britain
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesIt 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...
Read more ... -
Made in Britain: How Prehistory Shaped Our World
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesBefore 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...
Read more ... -
From King Lud to King’s Cross: The History & Life of London
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesDr 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;...
Read more ... -
No Boundaries Accoustic Band Workshop Extra
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis 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...
Read more ... -
Embroidery With a Silver Sheen
Listed on February 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured CoursesThis 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...
Read more ... -
Learn to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThe ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic script is beautiful and intriguing. This course will help you begin to learn how to read hieroglyphs, or give you the opportunity to practice or widen your skills. You will learn about the language behind the script and will very quickly begin to read real objects from museums and ancient sites...
Read more ... -
Intermediate French: La France et ses terroirs
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis course has been designed to give people with a fair comprehension of the language (even though they might lack fluency and confidence at speaking it) an insight into French culture and way of life. In the process they will not only learn more about France and its traditions, but will see their confidence and...
Read more ... -
The Renaissance garden in Britain: nature produces better fruit if cultivated
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesItalian Renaissance design and intricacies arrived in Britain via France and the Low Countries, manifesting a revolutionary attitude to the 'taming' of nature. We compare Tudor England with Stuart Scotland. We explore gardens as settings for collections of antique sculpture, courtly dalliance, philosophical discussion, meditation, theatre, allegorical and moral instruction, horticultural encyclopaedias and centres for...
Read more ... -
Moving heaven and earth: Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown 1716 – 2016
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured Courses2016 marks the tercentenary of the birth of 'Capability' Brown, England's Shakespeare of Gardening. The setting of Madingley Hall illustrates just one of his earth-moving projects. His inspirations as well as his engineering, hydraulic, architectural and artistic skills will be analysed through his major works. And still capable? This weekend conference will explore his ongoing...
Read more ... -
Tracing ancestry using DNA
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesWhere do I come from? In this course, you will learn how scientists are now answering this question at a number of time levels. Palaeontologists explore our distant past with fossils, geneticists find out about our direct ancestors using ancient and modern DNA, and forensic scientists use ancestry tests and parentage tests in their day-to-day...
Read more ... -
The complete Andrea Palladio: architecture, life and legacy
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesHow did a humble miller's son in 16th-century Italy become the most influential architect in the world? If you are interested in architecture then this introduction to Andrea Palladio's life and work is for you. We will examine the buildings Palladio produced in his lifetime, and you will discover how his architecture gained a global...
Read more ... -
20th and 21st-century literature: looking forward, looking back
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesSometimes our ways of understanding the past, history, and our pressing decisions lead to contradictory interpretations and dangerous results. Byatt's Gothic Possession (1990) explores the parallel and intertwined lives of poets and researchers a century apart, revealing obsessions, hidden secrets and much about the sources of literature in personal lives. Margaret Atwood's most recent, lively...
Read more ... -
Extinctions: crises in the history of life
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesA wide-ranging introduction to extinction and its place in the history of life. Did a meteorite really kill off the dinosaurs? Whatever happened to groups such as trilobites, ammonites and mammoths? Is survival simply a matter of chance? This course gives an up-to-date review of extinction controversies, with a field trip to collect fossils of...
Read more ... -
Eminent Edwardians
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis course will consider the lives and achievements of some of the principal figures of Edward VII's reign - including the King himself. As the title suggests, a Lytton Strachey-type biographical approach to the understanding of the period will be our starting point, but the course will go beyond this to discuss groups such as...
Read more ... -
Survival and revival: the country house in the 20th century
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesCountry houses rank among our most visited heritage sites, protected by legislation and public demand, yet many houses have been demolished and their collections continue to be sold. This course will question whether the 20th century was one of doom and gloom or one in which country house owners adapted to survive. Key areas to...
Read more ...