Past Events

Date/Time Event Details
18th Mar 2024
18:30-20:00
Talk: A Potted History of GCHQ – and showcasing the Future
Park Campus, Cheltenham
Talk: A Potted History of GCHQ – and showcasing the Future
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19th Feb 2024
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: Final Journey- the Untold Story of Funeral Trains
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: Final Journey- the Untold Story of Funeral Trains
Nicolas Wheatley's talk reveals the previously untold story of why and how trains have been used to transport the dead, enabling their burial in a place of significance to the bereaved. Profusely illustrated with many...   (Read more)
5th Feb 2024
08:45-17:00
Visit to Ledbury: The Master's House and St Michael & All Angels Church
The Master’s House, Ledbury
Visit to Ledbury: The Master's House and St Michael & All Angels Church
Day tour by coach: We will be visiting two significant buildings in the picturesque medieval market town Ledbury:  The Master's House and the Anglican Church St Michael and All Angels. The Master's House is grade...   (Read more)
15th Jan 2024
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: 2 Willow Road - the 1939 modernist home of architect Ernő Goldfinger
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: 2 Willow Road - the 1939 modernist home of architect Ernő Goldfinger
2 Willow Road is the middle house of a terrace of three in Hampstead which was designed by architect Ernő Goldfinger, a key member of the Modernist movement, for himself and his family. It was...   (Read more)
12th Dec 2023
18:00-20:00
An evening of Wine Tasting and Art Appreciation: A timeless fusion
The Grape Escape, Cheltenham Gloucestershire
An evening of Wine Tasting and Art Appreciation: A timeless fusion
  Wine, a beverage that has transcended eras and cultures, has long been a muse for artists, but also symbolic of society throughout history. From the earliest cave paintings to contemporary masterpieces, wine has left...   (Read more)
13th Nov 2023
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: Ledbury’s Rediscovered Masterpiece - ’The Last Supper' by Titian
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: Ledbury’s Rediscovered Masterpiece - ’The Last Supper' by Titian
Peter Tattersall will relate the remarkable tale of the 12ft wide painting which, dirty, dark and brown, was underrated until in 2018 it piqued the curiosity of an art historian who was working on another...   (Read more)
17th Oct 2023
08:10-18:00
Salisbury Cathedral Tour
Salisbury, Salisbury
Salisbury Cathedral Tour
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16th Oct 2023
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: William Hill Knight: Architect - the man and his work
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: William Hill Knight: Architect - the man and his work
William Hill Knight designed the Synagogue at the age of 22 and went on to design some 20 or more buildings in Cheltenham including Dean Close, the old Grammar School, St Marks, St James, Devonshire...   (Read more)
18th Sep 2023
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: Snow Widows - Scott’s Fatal Antarctic Expedition by the Women Left Behind
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: Snow Widows - Scott’s Fatal Antarctic Expedition by the Women Left Behind
Now for the first time, and with unprecedented access to family archives, Katherine MacInnes retells the story of the race for the South Pole from the perspective of the women whose lives would be forever...   (Read more)
17th Jul 2023 - 18th Jul 2023
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: A Visit to every English and Welsh Cathedral
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: A Visit to every English and Welsh Cathedral
What would happen if you visited every Anglican Cathedral in England? And then throw in all the Catholic ones too for good measure? And whilst you are about it, do the Welsh ones too? You’d...   (Read more)
26th Jun 2023
14:00-22:30
Afternoon talk: Johannes Vermeer – Master of Light
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: Johannes Vermeer – Master of Light
The Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-75) is best known for capturing life between middle-class walls during the Dutch Golden Age. Specialising in domestic interior scenes, his work is synonymous with a distinctive sense of quiescence,...   (Read more)
18th Jun 2023 - 20th Jun 2023
All Day
Study tour to Liverpool
Study tour to Liverpool
Liverpool and Port Sunlight  18th – 20th June 2023 3 day/2 night tour This is a new date for this tour owing to Eurovision taking place in Liverpool in May. After the huge success of...   (Read more)
17th May 2023
09:10-17:00
Harvington Hall & Spetchley Park Gardens
Harvington Hall, Kidderminster
Harvington Hall & Spetchley Park Gardens
Harvington Hall, `House of Secrets` We depart Cheltenham this morning to the Worcestershire countryside to visit this fascinating and special house, rich in history of devotion and Catholic persecution. There are no less than seven...   (Read more)
24th Apr 2023
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: Chatsworth and the Cavendish Family, 1550-1850
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: Chatsworth and the Cavendish Family, 1550-1850
Since the middle of the sixteenth century, the Cavendish family has moved in and out of the pages of history, sometimes making its mark with scandal, sometimes with politics, sometimes with learning, and always with...   (Read more)
20th Apr 2023
19:30-21:30
Friends of the Wilson Quiz Night
Cheltenham Spa Bowling Club, Cheltenham
Friends of the Wilson Quiz Night
Come and test your general knowledge at a Friends’ Quiz evening at Cheltenham Spa Bowling Club, St George's Square, Cheltenham GL50 3LJ. You are welcome to come with a team of your friends and family...   (Read more)
20th Mar 2023
14:00-15:30
Afternoon talk: Glorious Coloured Gemstones
St Matthew’s Church, Cheltenham
Afternoon talk: Glorious Coloured Gemstones
        Afternoon talk at St Matthew's Church with Helen Plumb Very few British high street jewellery retailers are truly knowledgeable about gemstones. At the end of this talk you will know more...   (Read more)
13th Feb 2023
08:45-17:45
Event now fully booked
Joint visit for FoTW and FoGC members: Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral, Hereford
Joint visit for FoTW and FoGC members: Hereford Cathedral
This will be the long-awaited joint outing shared between the Friends of The Wilson and the Friends of Gloucester Cathedral, which was postponed from 2020. Hereford Cathedral is always linked, because of the Three Choirs...   (Read more)
8th Dec 2022
12:15-16:00
Festive Lunch and Lark Rise to Candleford
Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, Cheltenham
Festive Lunch and Lark Rise to Candleford
Once again we warmly invite Friends to get together for the festive season at the Everyman Theatre. Enjoy a three-course lunch (with choice) at the theatre’s restaurant, followed by a performance of Lark Rise to...   (Read more)
29th Nov 2022
13:00-14:30
Kauffman portrait reception
The Wilson, Cheltenham
Kauffman portrait reception
We are now able to host a reception at lunchtime on Tuesday 29th November to celebrate the acquisition of one of the most significant paintings to be added to the collection for several years. Friends...   (Read more)
22nd Nov 2022
14:30-16:15
Out of the Frame: Illustrated Performance by Joe Treasure
St Philip & St James Church, Cheltenham
Out of the Frame: Illustrated Performance by Joe Treasure
A sequence of poems by Joe Treasure, richly illustrated with famous paintings. Art from six centuries is brought dramatically to life through the imagined voices of the artists or the figures in their paintings. Among...   (Read more)
16th Nov 2022
09:10-16:45
Chavenage House and Tetbury
Chavenage House, Tetbury
Chavenage House and Tetbury
This morning we will visit Chavenage House, a charming Elizabethan Cotswold manor house, which is the private home of the Lowsley-Williams family. The estate once belonged to Princess Goda, sister of Edward the Confessor. Over...   (Read more)
17th Oct 2022
13:30-15:15
Talk: Aspects of Northern Renaissance Painting with Italian Modifications with Martin Bowden
St Philip & St James Church, Cheltenham
Talk: Aspects of Northern Renaissance Painting with Italian Modifications with Martin Bowden
A brief look at the development of painting in fifteenth-century Burgundy, including the Limbourg brothers, Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck and Petrus Christus, with references to more familiar Italian painting from the same period (Masaccio,...   (Read more)
14th Sep 2022
09:00-17:00
Trip to Berkeley: Historic Castle and Dr Jenner’s House CANCELLED
Berkeley Castle, Berkeley
Trip to Berkeley: Historic Castle and Dr Jenner’s House CANCELLED
We are sorry but this trip has been cancelled Berkeley Castle, which dominates the Vale of Berkeley, is steeped in over 860 years of British history. It is best known as the scene of the...   (Read more)
5th Sep 2022
14:00-15:45
Talk: The Perils of Speculation in Regency Cheltenham by Steven Blake
St Philip & St James Church, Cheltenham
Talk: The Perils of Speculation in Regency Cheltenham by Steven Blake
The Rise and Fall of the Honourable Miss Monson During the early nineteenth century, Cheltenham’s housing stock increased dramatically from 710 in 1801, to an estimated 4,027, with 774 more being built, in June 1826....   (Read more)
23rd Jul 2022
13:30-16:00
Edward Wilson Birthday Guided Walk
Crickley Hill Country Park, Crickley Hill
Edward Wilson Birthday Guided Walk
For those of you who are intrepid walkers please join us for a walk from Crickley Hill across to the top of Crippets Lane. The Wilson family home, Hillcrest, is just opposite where the footpath...   (Read more)

For a full list of Speakers and Topics from 1991 to date click here