After an email exchange with my pal Bob Duglin, I took a closer look at the names on the ASTA Executive, main Board, Chapter Presidents and SBN Chapter Directors and saw a lot of names who have been supporters and personal friends for years.  To celebrate that fact, I have become a UK-based member of ASTA.

With Olivia Colman winning the Best Actress Oscar Award, my lead story encourages you to develop an On Location tour while the next one starts a conversation about a Cotswolds-based tour with the owner of your local tea room.

The next 2 stories combine the internationally renowned names of Sir Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth with the Rothschild collections at Waddesdon Manor.  Add a connoisseur’s tour of Jacobean Hatfield house and you’ve got something your art loving clients won’t have seen before.

The hidden gem of Clovelly should be added to Doc Martin and Poldark tours to Cornwall and the stunning gardens at the Trentham Estate add a whole new dimension to a visit to the World Capital of Ceramics.

And the Winner Is...

With Olivia Colman winning the Best Actress Award at last Sunday’s Oscars, here’s a reminder that The Favourite was filmed among the elegant parterres and treasure-filled interiors of Jacobean Hatfield House.  Let’s talk about an On Location tour that includes Father Brown, Inspector Morse, Harry Potter, the new Shakespeare movie ‘All is True’ and a leisurely visit to Hatfield House.

Cotswolds Tea Room Tours

From your responses, quite a few of you have a very good relationship with your local tea room.  Because of seating capacities in some of the UK venues, these tours work best for groups of 8-12.   That said, if I include more stately homes with terraces, cathedrals with refectories and gardens involved with the National Garden Scheme, numbers can increase.

Barbara Hepworth Artists in Society

Building on reader interest in last week’s article about Sir Henry Moore’s sculpture gardens and studios, a new exhibition on Barbara Hepworth, one of Britain’s most celebrated artists opens shortly at the nearby St Alban’s Museum and Gallery.  Running between 23^rd March and 8^th September, it introduces sculptures, drawings and archival material, reuniting works that have not been seen together since they were first created.

A Rothschild Treasury

From 25th May, Waddesdon Manor is opening a new display celebrating the Rothschilds as collectors of extraordinary objects made from rare and precious materials. Densely displayed and beautifully lit, it offers an intense opportunity to enjoy and understand objects made from silver, silver-gilt, rock crystal, amber, ivory and enamel including some spectacular jewellery and intricate clocks which have profound significance to the family.

Devon's Hidden Gem

The tiny north Devon fishing village of Clovelly snuggles into the cliffs at the entrance of the Bristol Channel.  Walking down its precipitous High Street is really stepping back in time with history in every crevice of the 80 white washed houses, museums and churches.  The 14th century harbour has Crazy Kate’s cottage and one of the two beautiful Inns sitting majestically on the quay.

Stunning Italinate Gardens

The rejuvenation of the Trentham Estate’s gardens in Stoke-on-Trent has created one of UK’s finest gardens. Discover the story behind this remarkable garden transformation on a gardener’s tour around Tom Stuart-Smith’s planting scheme of the Italian Gardens, Piet Oudolf’s Rivers of Grass and Floral Labyrinth, and the newly introduced Annual and Perennial meadow schemes, designed by Professor Nigel Dunnett.