Articles featuring Dillington House | LeisureCourses.net - short courses & residential study breaks in great locations

  • Dillington Cider

    Dillington Cider

    Listed on January 27, 2017 by Dillington in Blogs!

    We are now thrilled to announce that this year’s harvest has been sent to Burrow Hill Cider to produce our first batch of cider, which will be ready in February.

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  • Dillington News January 2017

    Dillington News January 2017

    Listed on January 12, 2017 by Dillington in Blogs!

    With the festive season now a distant memory, we turn our thoughts to the new year and the new programme. Judging by the high volume of phone calls we have already received, the programmes have started arriving.

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  • Bobbin Lacemaking – British and European

    Listed on October 28, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    This is a practical course for all abilities of lacemakers from those who have a knowledge of only the basic stitches to those who wish to study advanced techniques in the British and European laces. Many of the continental laces are taught with the aid of a colour-coded diagram to help students continue their work...

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  • Singing For Larks – Jazz & Swing Harmonies

    Listed on October 14, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    Singing with others is an exhilarating and liberating experience that everybody can enjoy. Singings for Larks workshops, run by Faith Watson, are based on the tradition of learning songs by ear. This approach makes the joy of singing with others easily accessible to those who are new to singing, whilst offering more experienced singers the...

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  • Argyll Scottish Country Dancing Weekend

    Listed on October 7, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    Suitable for those who already have a good working knowledge of common steps and formations in Scottish Country Dancing, this weekend will provide you with an opportunity to improve your technique, learn new dances and enjoy all social aspects of Scottish Country Dancing. There will be social dancing on Friday and Saturday and classes both...

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  • Concert: Coull Quartet

    Listed on September 25, 2016 by Dillington in Music

    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.

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  • Dillington String Quartet Coaching Weekend

    Listed on September 23, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Music & Revolution

    Listed on September 23, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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,...

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

    Listed on September 23, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • News From the Fronts: August – September 1916

    Listed on September 13, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Pop-Up Tree House

    Listed on September 12, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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.

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  • Shakespeare 400

    Listed on September 12, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • September In Somerset

    Listed on September 12, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Singing Workshop: Best of Bacharach & David

    Listed on September 8, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    Dynamic song-writing duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David dominated the pop music scene during the 1960s and 70s, penning 52 Top 40 songs and bringing a new sophistication to the traditional ‘pop’ sound with their unique combination of memorable melodies and unsentimental, bittersweet lyrics. Spend a day with experienced vocal coach Jo Sercombe delving around...

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

    Listed on August 31, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Edward I & Queen Eleanor

    Listed on August 31, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Meeting Me on The Cloud

    Listed on August 31, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Verdi and the Force of Density

    Listed on August 31, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Stumpwork Pansies & Violas

    Listed on August 30, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Botanical Illustration

    Listed on August 30, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    Botanical Illustration is precise detailed work, a combination of art and science. This studio based watercolour course is for all ability levels; no experience of art or botany is required, just commitment. We aim to enjoy working in an atmosphere of relaxed industry. Students will work at their own pace on the subject of their...

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

    Listed on August 30, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Nordic Noir & Nordic Film

    Listed on August 19, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Finland & Iceland: Art, History & Culture

    Listed on August 18, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Denmark: Art, History & Culture

    Listed on August 17, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    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...

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  • Spanish Cinema: The 1980s

    Listed on August 17, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    The 1980s were a fascinating decade for Spain. Franco was dead, the repressive regime had been dismantled and for the first time in its history, Spain breathed a climate of artistic freedom. In the cinema, the 80s were a decade of dramatic change. The 'New Cinema' was led by the iconoclastic Pedro Almodovar and for...

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  • Sweden: Art, History & Culture

    Listed on August 16, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    We examine Sweden’s place in the history of Scandinavia, involving unions with Finland and Norway, and battles with Denmark and Russia. Art will feature many fine landscapes and the portraits and nudes of Anders Zorn. More recent Sweden will include the Moomins and the Ikea phenomenon, and music will feature Swedish Rhapsody by Hugo Alfvén...

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  • A Nordic Adventure – The Art, History & Culture of Scandinavia

    Listed on August 15, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    Five day courses, all complete in themselves, but amounting to a week exploring the broader group of countries collectively known as the Nordic Nations: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Each day we will examine the art, history and culture of each of these countries and on we will delve into Nordic Noir and Nordic...

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  • The Joy of Spanish

    Listed on August 15, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    This is a week for people who love Spanish and Spain, who know enough Spanish to have a conversation and find the prospect of five days speaking, listening and learning Spanish irresistible. The focus of the course will be intense language sessions during which participants will be encouraged to speak and discuss; items from the...

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  • Collage Workshop: Paper Into Art

    Listed on August 15, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    Collage is a quick, versatile and easy way of creating and developing visual ideas. The work can stand for itself or become a springboard for a more sustained and ambitious piece of work. In this workshop you will be introduced to a variety of techniques and approaches before being let loose on your own individual...

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  • Antiques Repair Workshop

    Listed on August 15, 2016 by Dillington in Featured Courses

    This practical and enjoyable five day course will give you an opportunity to participate and learn from an expert ‘everything you ever wanted to know about furniture but were afraid to ask’. You will spend each day in the tutor’s own workshop in Wellington where specific problems will be overcome and techniques demonstrated. In addition,...

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