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England Quilts & Antiques: Classic Route

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Bath, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Cotswolds villages, Blenheim Palace, Chatsworth Estate, York, Cambridge

7 days/6 nights

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Why not travel on this special tour with members of your quilting club?

Overviewicon Itineraryicon

This is a suggested tour itinerary for private departures, adjustable to best suit your specific wishes. Price based on how many travelers, your chosen package inclusions and your chosen level of accommodation.

 

This tour begins and ends in London.

 

TENTATIVE ITINERARY

INFO

We recommend spending independent time either pre or post tour to explore some of what this fabulous capital city has to offer! Those interested in antiques may want to head to the Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill on Saturday. Certainly an experience! Alternatively, the easiest way to see the main icons and get orientated in London is the “hop-on/hop-off” bus. Hop off when you want then hop back on – a fun way to start your holiday.

 

Also possible, Henry VIII’s treasure Hampton Court Palace. The Great Hall is the palace’s largest and most impressive room featuring a collection of Flemish tapestries that date back over 500 years. The tapestries originally cost £2,000 in 1537, a cost equivalent of a modern-day battleship!

 

LOGISTICAL NOTE: This itinerary is a ‘sampler’ tour visiting several regions of England so involves a bit more driving than the ‘solo region’ itineraries but is still a Small Group Touring Experience, the longer drives are broken up and balanced by ample ‘off the beaten track’ explorations

Day 1

Sunday

 

This morning, depart our London meeting point at approximately 9am, our first port of call will be the 17th Century town of Hungerford. This one street town boasts more antique shops than any other comparable sized town in the UK! There is a very interesting ‘mall’ with everything from old guns and swords to Victorian snuff boxes.

 

We’ll make our way to Bath, the city of Georgian splendor and Roman antiquity. Your guide will be on hand for a walking tour of the city’s highlights. We will see the American Museum’s American Quilts Collection, the finest collection of American quilts outside the US. There are also several Navajo rugs, early arts and craft items and woodworks to admire.

 

Our overnight location for these two nights is in a traditional property in a southern Cotswolds village.

 

ON Burford/Woodstock area, DBB

Day 2

Monday

 

Today visit Blenheim Palace. This incredible treasure house was given to Winston Churchill’s ancestor John, 1st Duke of Marlborough. The superb collection here includes fine paintings, furniture, bronzes and the famous Marlborough Victories tapestries. In addition to the palace itself, with its opulent splendor, you’ll also have some time to wander the amazing gardens, designed in part by Capability Brown.

 

Another iconic place is Stratford-Upon-Avon. See the local church where the Bard rests and his iconic Birthplace, which features several original and re-created Tudor era furnishings and textiles. The Birth Room displays walls dressed with traditional 16th Century wall-cloths.

 

We’ve the remainder the day to meander through the Cotswolds, the old market towns and scenic thatched roof villages famed in this region. On our theme, we may choose to visit the Cotswold Woollen Weavers Mill, an 18th Century still working mill and museum or a shopping stop at nearby Burford Needlecraft Centre. Spoilt for choice!

 

ON Burford/Woodstock area, same property as above, DBB

Day 3

Tuesday

 

Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of another famous leader, George Washington, is a main visit today, by special appointment. This Tudor manor house features an “astounding collection of textiles” including the New Elizabethan Embroideries, embroidered fire screens, items of costume and furnishings from 17th– 21st Century. The collection illustrates a variety of textile art techniques including sampler making, canvas work, stumpwork, quilting, weaving and surface embroidery.

 

Stoke-on-Trent is the heart of ‘china clay country’ and names such as Wedgwood, Royal Dalton and Royal Worcester can be found in The Potteries. During our time here, we’ll have a visit to a factory shop, seeing demonstrations of the potters’ craft and have the option to search local antique outlets for remainder and historic pieces.

 

ON Stoke-on-Trent area, DBB

Day 4

Wednesday

 

The Peak District is a beautiful region, where dry-stone walls make criss-cross patterns of the sheep covered hills, an area steeped in the heritage of England’s textile industry. There are an abundance of lovely spa and mining towns in addition to mills and stately homes on offer. Along our route, we’ve the chance to meander around some of the lovely local villages and countryside.

 

Our day is certain to include time in the Duke of Devonshire stately home of Chatsworth. This really is a treasure house, real life home to “The Duchess” Georgina, said to be Jane Austen’s inspiration for ‘Pemberley’ and, on our theme, porcelain collectors will particularly enjoy the Duke’s own magnificent private collection.

 

Later, we will make our way north to the historic city of York, our night stop location.

 

ON York, BB

Day 5

Thursday (ND)

 

Today we have the full day to explore York as you please, the day is YOUR choice! Your guide will be on hand for advice, assistance and an optional walking tour of the city. York is a fabulous walled city that has much to offer its visitors, such as the splendid Minster, the city centre castle, the Roman museum, the National Railway museum, the Jorvik Viking centre, the medieval shopping ‘Shambles’ and many lovely cafes and pubs.

 

ON York, BB

Day 6

Friday

 

Departing York, we make our way south to the historical city of Lincoln. Its magnificent cathedral was used as a film setting for the Da Vinci Code film but, more importantly, an original of the Magna Carta, one of the four surviving originals sealed by King John in 1215, can be seen in Lincoln Castle.

 

The unspoilt Georgian town of Stamford is often used by film makers as a perfect location for period dramas, so worth some of our time this afternoon.

 

Nearby is another wonderful stately home for us to admire! Built by Queen Elizabeth’s Lord High Treasurer, Sir William Cecil, Burghley House remains as one of the largest and grandest buildings from the Elizabethan Age. This gem is still a family home for his descendants to this day, with eighteen state rooms currently opened to the public. Inside is one of the finest assemblies of 17th century Italian masterpieces, an exceptional collection of Oriental and European ceramics, textiles, porcelain, art and furniture.

 

ON Huntingdon/St Ives area DBB

Day 7

Saturday

 

The finale for our quilters is set near the pretty riverside village of St Ives, Hemingford Grey Manor where we’ll enjoy a private viewing of Lucy Boston’s quilts by special arrangement/subject to availability. The house was made famous as The House of Green Knowe by Lucy Boston in her classic series of children’s books. Perhaps something to read prior to the tour!? We also recommend the recent film based on Lucy’s books, From Time to Time; adapted by Dowton Abbey’s Julien Fellowes and featuring Maggie Smith.

 

Lucy Boston made many exquisite patchworks, most of which are on display. Rarely can such an important collection be seen in the house in which the exhibits were made! The upstairs hall here is a room full of atmosphere and the echoes of nearly nine centuries of family conversations. It was used by Lucy Boston during World War II to give gramophone record recitals twice a week to the RAF. The 1929 EMG gramophone is usually still in this room for us to admire.

 

Later today, explore the university city of Cambridge. In this sleepy, easily-walked medieval city, we’ll see one of the colleges and possibly students punt on the backs of the River Cam. There’s the excellent Fitzwilliam Museum and great shopping available too, as time and interest will permit. Our tour concludes in London this evening.

 

 

Why not extend your stay in London? In addition to all of the city’s iconic sites and well known museums & gardens, on our theme you may choose to visit the Museum of Fashion and Textiles or The Museum of London, telling the tales of the capital from Roman times through today. Collections include textiles, fashion and dress as a social historical record. There is also the option to meander through some of the city’s many antique shops. Spoilt for choice!

 

 

 

Please note: All attraction opening times are correct at time of printing this website. While we will do our utmost to include all of the properties mentioned as central visits, we reserve the right to change an attraction should it become impossible to deliver a planned visit due to changes in opening days or times beyond our control.

 

Oft imitated, never duplicated! This is an original SGT itinerary, property of Special Group Tours and to be used only with express permission/in conjunction with SGT.

Inclusionsicon

What Your Tour Package Includes

This is a suggested tour itinerary and can be modified to best you your individual wishes.

 

Suggested tour package includes: your accommodation for 6 nights while on the tour including both full breakfasts and 5 dinners. Your price also includes all entrance fees to attractions, transportation, services of driver/guide-companion and all taxes and tips other than those you may wish to give your guide.
Airport transfers, London accommodation pre and post tour, London city tours, London attraction passes and London transport passes can be added to your package as you wish. Ask us for details.

 

SGT is at your service!

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The Special Group Tours Advantage is our unique and intimate understanding of what you expect traveling in the UK and Europe. We have not only visited but have spent many years living in and loving the cultures you will experience down the ‘B’ Roads and off the beaten track. We have worked with local suppliers and our guide/companion team for over a decade, creating unique special interest itineraries. Special Group Tours offers our “insider” knowledge to you.

 

The SGT Small Group Touring Concept is traveling with just 4 - 14 guests per departure. It is our aim to introduce you to the 'real' country and its people, not just ticking the boxes of a standardized route and treating you as an individual and not a number. Our concept allows for a leisurely touring pace and flexibility to get off the beaten track to discover hidden gems. Of course you'll see the major sites but so much more too!

 

At Special Group Tours, it is our priority that you have the most enjoyable holiday possible. You deserve it!