Here are this year’s events – those at the top are organised by the Folly Fellowship, and those in the second block are events by other organizations that may be of interest. Some hints on ordering mutliple tickets are given here.
Come and celebrate 30 years of the Folly Fellowship at the Annual Garden Party on the ancestral estate of the Lords Byron, whose most infamous family member was the 6th Lord, George Gordon, the poet and social reformer. However, it was his great uncle the 5th Lord who built most of follies including the toy forts facing each other across a lake. The estate also includes numerous other features and gardens on various themes including Byron’s Oak, The Stew Pond, Fernery, Japanese Garden, Venetia’s Garden, American Garden, Rose Garden, Sub-Tropical Garden, Spanish Garden, The Boatswain’s Monument, The Monks’ Garden, herbaceous borders and the French Garden where we will gather for the tradition Pimm’s and Folly Cake. Entry to the house is included in the ticket price, so you can see where the 5th Lord got away with murder!
Further details from Jonathan Holt at jonathanholt3@gmail.com or 0794 829 2628
Find out more at www.newsteadabbey.org.uk
To book, please use paypal below.
It’s ten years since we last visited Painshill and much has been achieved in restoration since then. The restoration of the Crystal Grotto started by the late Folly Fellow Diana Reynell (see obituary in this issue) has been completed and is stunning, and the reconstruction of the Temple of Bacchus has just been finished. We will have a guided tour. In the afternoon there will an opportunity to visit Vanbrugh’s Belvedere at Claremont, rarely open to the public. A cream tea to follow.
Further details from Peter Godfrey 0117 908 7375 or pfgodfrey@gmail.com
To book, either download the form on the left (click on the ‘More Info’ link) and send a cheque, or pay using Paypal below:
A two day Symposium – Day one will be a full day symposium of illustrated talks on a variety of folly-related subjects including:
Michael Cousins – Follies in the Chinese Taste
Dr Laura Mayer – ‘Tea-things, Dragons and Bells’: Humphry Repton’s Greatest Folly
Isobel and Julian Bannerman – subject to be confirmed
Dr Iain Jackson – Nek Chand’s Rock Garden at Chandigarh, India
Lady Lucinda Lambton – subject to be confirmed
Henry Macrory – Whitaker Wright and Other Moles
The day will include tea/coffee and buffet lunch.
Day two: A General Meeting of the Charity to present the accounts and business plan for the way ahead. There will also be a talk by Sarah Finch-Crisp on The History of Lydiard Park. If time permits, there will be a discussion on legacy projects and what follies mean to us, and a discussion on places that members would like to visit. All of this will help us shape our future work and future direction.
Tickets are £45.00 for members and £50.00 for guests, and includes a buffet lunch and tea/coffee throughout the day. Tickets for Sunday are £10 and for members only. Attendees must also pay £4.00 at the venue for car parking on the day– details from Andrew Plumridge.
To book please use the PayPal button:
Talks and events by organizations other than the Folly Fellowship
Four engaging new temporary artworks will be unveiled in the landscape of the World Heritage Site at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in spring 2018, shining a light on the lost follies and hidden views of the water garden and abbey beyond. Now in its third year, folly! the National Trust site’s contemporary art programme, will be the boldest yet with large-scale outdoor works in the landscape.
International artists and architects Charles Holland Architects, Lucy + Jorge Orta, and Flea Folly have each been commissioned to re-imagine the lost follies which once stood on key sites within the Georgian water garden. A fourth piece, designed by a pupil from a local school as part of a collaboration with the North Yorkshire Society of Architects, will also be unveiled.
Speakers include the Repton experts including Folly Fellow Michael Symes, garden journalist Tom Williamson, Mick Thompson, Stephen Daniels, Jane Bradney, Keir Davidson. Visits include Woburn Abbey and the Ashridge grounds.