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Our new programme of activities is available in the August edition of our Newsletter for Members; they are also listed here on our website in the Events Calendar.

The autumn programme starts with the Walking Group’s last outing of the season, a Guided Walk from Chastleton House in September. Walks will resume next April, and are open to non-members: members often bring a friend along with them. A shorter and a longer walk are arranged each time.

The next item in the Calendar is a coach outing to Hampton Court, the fascinating Palace in contrasting Tudor and Baroque styles which was a royal home to Henry VIII and later William and Mary.

Our winter Lecture Programme starts in October with a lecture on the art of conserving paintings with a National Trust expert, held at Magdalen College Auditorium.

Also in October we are returning to Coleshill Model Farm for an exploration of the Heritage Skills which are being practised by craftsmen in the Coleshill workshops. This promises to be a very interesting day out in rural south-west Oxfordshire.

We plan a visit in November to Compton Verney Art Galley for a guided tour of its varied exhibitions. Later in November we will be offering a Zoom lecture to our members on the history of the National Trust property Grey’s Court.

There will be a pre-Christmas Social Activity for Members, our annual Afternoon Tea Party in an Oxford hotel restaurant, a chance to meet up with old friends and make new friends.

The 2022 programme ends in December with a lecture at Magdalen College Auditorium, in which another National Trust expert describes how the Trust deals with the dangers of pest infestation in its collections.

Hampton Court, the magnificent home of Henry VIII and William and Mary seen in the autumn sunshine provided a very enjoyable day out by coach in late September. The Tudor and Baroque architecture provided much to explore, not to mention the gardens with both wild and formal areas, and the famous maze.

The last walk of the year in September saw the Walking Group meet at Adlestrop at the northern edge of Oxfordshire, and walk to Chastleton House, the Jacobean country house owned by the National Trust. After a picnic lunch in the neighbouring churchyard, one of the Trust Guides from Chastleton gave an interesting talk on the history of the house. The walk continued along a different route back to the charming village of Adlestrop, but we plan to visit Chastleton House for a guided tour inside the house at a later date.

We were fortunate with a warm sunny July day when we visited Green Templeton College for a tour of the gardens, followed by a generous tea.

Our guided tour of Kelmscott Manor, now beautifully renovated, gave us a fascinating glimpse into the history of the house and the period when William Morris and his family and Pre-Raphaelite friends lived there.

A small but willing group of volunteers from the Oxford Centre went into action at Middleleaze Paddock on the National Trust’s Coleshill Estate in early February to help plant some of the saplings for which members of the Centre had donated £680 over 2020–21. We were lucky that it was a dry and relatively mild day, and it was easy to dig holes in the Paddock into which to slide the roots of around 30 very small saplings of mixed varieties. A stake was then hammered in, and a protective sheath fastened around the sapling. We’ll look forward to visiting “our” trees in future years to inspect their growth in one small corner of the paddock which had already been planted with several hundred saplings.

Buscot and Coleshill Estates | National Trust

Our programme of activities for Spring and Summer 2022 includes coach outings, a tea party at an Oxford college, and monthly group walks centred on National Trust properties near Oxford.

We have also arranged 2 group holidays, the first in June to Grantham in Lincolnshire, and second in late November to Derbyshire, to enjoy Christmas at Chatsworth. These are described in the April Bulletin to be found on the Newsletters page.

You need to be a Member of Oxford Centre of the National Trust to receive booking forms (no booking needed to join our walks), but Members may bring a friend who is not a member if there are spaces available.

Please see our Events Calendar for full details.

At the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Oxford Centre of the National Trust held on 19 October 2021, it was unanimously agreed to revise our Constitution to allow those who are not members of the National Trust to join the Oxford Centre. We are therefore very happy to welcome applications for membership from anyone interested in supporting our aim to preserve the nation’s heritage and to provide an enjoyable membership experience.

Visit the Membership page.

Our Programme of Activities for the remainder of the year, including Lectures, Zoom lectures, Walks, Outings and Social Events, is now listed on the Events Calendar webpage.

VISIT TO CLAYDON HOUSE, SEPTEMBER 2021

Our coach outing to Claydon included a guided tour of the interior with its remarkable Rococo carvings, and time to explore the grounds

THE WALKING GROUP’S 3 OUTINGS IN SUNSHINE!

Our new walking group enjoyed walks in south west Oxfordshire based on National Trust properties, between June and September. Future walks from April 2022 will be planned to incorporate visits to smaller Trust properties not generally open to the public. 

NEW MEMBERS’ GARDEN PARTY

What better way to welcome our newer members to Oxford Centre than a garden party with strawberries and cream at the end of June!