To view/print/download the visit details from Sara Muldoon, please click HERE.

To view/print/download the Application Form, please click HERE.

Please click HERE to view/download the details and application Form.

Some of you may have seen the recent Channel 4 programme about the multi-million Norwich Castle renovations, and very magnificent the building now looks. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching on catch-up.

I’m running an impromptu visit on 18 September, travelling by train or by car.

By train: catch the 10.01 from Diss Station to Norwich. It arrives in Norwich at 10.19 and from there you can walk to the Castle (15-20 minutes) or catch the 25/26 Blue Line bus, which runs every 7 minutes from the station to the city centre (I shall be travelling this way). The train costs £9.30 return with a railcard.

Or:-

Travel by car and meet in the cafe at the Castle Museum at 11 am.

Entrance to the Castle costs £15.30 if you book on-line, or £17 at the door. You have to book at least 24 hours in advance to get the reduced rate, specifying date and time. It is free for a number of organisations including the National Arts Pass, Friends of Norwich Museums, the Museums Association and Norfolk Contemporary Arts Society. In either case, you should book and click on “Book tickets online”: https://www.norwichcastle.norfolk.gov.uk/

We’ll have coffee/tea then explore the Castle. You can see:

• The revamped Castle Keep - as it was originally intended, without the Victorian additions. Norwich Castle is one of 12th century Europe’s largest and most impressive buildings; commissioned by William the Conqueror and completed by his son. You can now explore the keep from the basement to the battlements.

• New displays: the King’s Palace Reborn: the Chamber and the Chapel. Judging from the television programme it looks spectacular, using light and projections. 

• You can also visit the exhibition: One Self: The Creative Life of Colin Self (on until 21 September). Born in Norfolk, Colin Self started out as a pop artist in the 60s, studying at the Slade. His work is in galleries throughout England, and this is the first major retrospective of this important artist in 17 years. He has a wide range of work - paintings, prints, sculpture and ceramics.

After the visit, hopefully, we can have lunch together then return home.

If you would like to join me, please let Sara Muldoon know where you will  meet her, at Diss station or the Castle and how many you will be. Please include names and telephone numbers. On the day, if you cannot come please let me know by phone. (see details on members' email)

Click here for the applications form in a new pop-up window

The tour will start at 2.30 pm and will last for 2 - 2.5 hours.

The mediaeval manor house rises straight from a spectacular moat. It sits in an acre of formal gardens inside the moat (designed by Chelsea Gold Medal Winner George Carter). Another 28 acres of orchards, kitchen garden, woods, parkland and bog gardens are outside the moat. Hew Stevenson and his late wife Leslie Geddes-Brown bought the manor house in 1993, when it had been empty for seven years and then, along with Melvyn Smith, they transformed the interior. They have filled the house with an eclectic collection including ancestral portraits and an estate map of 1741.

Columbine Hall has appeared in many articles and books. Pevsner’s Guide to West Suffolk describes it as ‘enchanting’. Both Leslie and Hew worked in magazines and newspapers and so Columbine Hall has had its share of the limelight. The interiors have been in the World of Interiors, Country Life and the Perfect English House Book by Ros Byam Shaw. The gardens have featured in Country Living, Gardens

Illustrated, The English Garden and The Kitchen Garden. They also appear in Leslie’s books: The Walled Garden and the Water Garden.

Tea and cakes are included in the price.

Flyer for this trip was circulated by email.

Click HERE for a pop-up window with details

More details and booking form HERE

Revealing Nature: The Art of Cedric Morris and Lett-Haines at Gainsborough’s House Leonora Carrington: Avatars & Alliances at Firstsite, Colchester

We leave Simonds Depot, Diss IP22 4GX at 8.45 (parking at no extra cost) and travel first of all to Sudbury where, after a short welcome talk, we see the Morris / Lett-Haines exhibition.

These two were partners in art and domesticity for 60 years, first meeting on Armistice Night in 1918. It’s the first exhibition to show both artists together and includes oils, watercolours and ‘little sculptures’ made from found materials - all accentuate the breadth of their interests: portraits, landscapes and flower paintings

At about 1.30, after a sandwich lunch at Gainsborough’s House we go on to Colchester to see the work of the Surrealist painter and sculptor Leonora Carrington (1917 - 2011).

The exhibition delves into the artistic and personal world of this British-Mexican artist. There will be over 70 artworks by Carrington and her circle - including rarely seen paintings, drawings and prints.

We then make our way back to Diss, arriving at about 5.30 pm

Click HERE to open the booking form in a pop up window. Print off and send to

Sara Muldoon, 3a The Entry, Diss, IP22 4NT.

Taking places for waiting list only

Visit to Benton End and Munnings Museum
(Tuesday 11 June 2024, for £55 per person)
Departs 9 am from Simonds Depot, Oak Drive, Diss, IP22 4GX
Parking available, pay £1 at the Simonds Reception Desk
Group size is limited to 30 people, so book early to secure your place!

We are leaving Diss by coach, from the Simonds Depot in Diss, at 9 am, arriving at Benton End at about 10 am.
We will split into two groups for guided tours of the house and garden.
Benton End was the home of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, run by Sir Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett Haines. The visit includes morning coffee / tea and biscuits.

We will then leave Benton End at c.12.30 pm and make our way to lunch at the Dedham Centre Tea Rooms.

At 2 pm we take the coach for the short drive to the Munnings Museum. This is where Sir Alfred Munnings and his wife lived for the last 40 years of his life until his death in 1959. We will have a brief introduction to the collections, the house and museum; you are then free to explore the house and gardens. Stewards will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.
Morris and Munnings did not see eye to eye, so it will be interesting to visit both houses. We have enjoyed talks on both artists recently, so this visit will add to our knowledge of these two famous Suffolk painters.

The coach will depart at about 4 pm to return to Diss.
Please note that Benton End house and garden is a work in progress, and restoration is taking place over a number of years.

The information sheet can be downloaded or viewed HERE

For the Booking Form click HERE
This is a special day and a rare opportunity to see two beautiful private moated homes in Suffolk that are not usually open to the public.

First of all we visit Crow’s Hall, approached by its long oak-lined avenue. Crow’s Hall is a mellow Tudor building which has undergone an award-winning restoration and is surrounded by large fish-filled moat with two outer moats. The garden, with a courtyard, a formal pool garden and knot garden has been designed by XaTollemache.

After visiting the house, we cross the moat to the magnificent Tudor barn, one of the longest in the country, to learn about the magical symbols found in both houses, with artist and leading architectural historian Timothy Easton. Afterwards, lunch will be served in the barn. Following lunch, there is a short drive to Timothy’s own house, Bedfield Hall, whose 17th century owner challenged the Devil to a duel. The tour includes the 11th century church, the beautiful two-acre garden and the house, built in 1422 with early 17th century wings. Most rooms have their early 17th century decorative schemes intact or restored, including a remarkable painted and inscribed ceiling with magical symbols to ward off evil.

The day starts at 10.30 am at Crow’s Hall, near Debenham, IP14 6NG and ends at Bedfield Hall, Bedfield, IP13 7JJ, at around 5.30 pm. All refreshments and tours are included in the cost of £66 per person. There will be coffee/tea and biscuits on arrival at Crow’s Hall and lunch will consist of ham and various cheeses, different
salads, pickles, bread with butter, fruit, tea, coffee and soft drinks. After the tour at Bedfield Hall tea will be served with scones and home-made cakes.

Two of the most important Anglo-Saxon discoveries are reunited in a major new exhibition Swords of Kingdoms: The Staffordshire Hoard at Sutton Hoo, bringing together original treasures from the Sutton Hoo ship burial alongside objects from the Staffordshire Hoard.

On this visit we will see The High Hall exhibition, which displays the Sutton Hoo treasures and gives the background to this period of Anglo-Saxon history and the Swords of Kingdoms display, which is at Sutton Hoo until the end of October.

There’s also the chance to visit Tranmer House, home of Edith Pretty, who instigated the excavations in 1938, employing Basil Brown. The displays in the house give the background to the excavations, a whole story in itself. We visit the Royal Burial Ground first, where the momentous Sutton Hoo treasure was found

Details and application form HERE

A day trip to see the early works of Picasso, to be followed by lunch and ‘Spotlight’ tours of the permanent collections, led by Georgina Livingstone and Diane Freeborn.

Follow this link

Find full details of this stimulating day in the 'Our Society/Documents' section of the website and download the prepared material, which includes a booking form.

DAY TRIP TO SPITALFIELDS - TUESDAY 8 OCTOBER 2019
We are travelling by train to meet Sue Jackson, specialist on the Huguenots and our Tour Guide for the day, at Christchurch in Spitalfields. Christchurch
is an early 18th century church by Nicholas Hawksmoor. After coffee and a talk on the church we set off for our tour of historic Spitalfields.

Following lunch, we head to Dennis Severs’ house in Folgate Street. This is an 18th century silk weavers’ house where the occupants, though they can sometimes be heard, are always just out of sight. Dennis Severs calls it ‘still-life drama’, and his goal is to provide visitors with a rare opportunity to visit a past time. This is a house like no other and an experience that you will not forget.

In order to get to London on time the best train to catch is the 8.47 from Diss and the walk is timed so that we can catch
the 16.00 return. These are the earliest and latest trains that can be used with an off-peak return. At the moment this
costs £33.40 with a senior rail card. I shall be travelling on those trains and will meet you on the platform at Diss. You
may get cheaper tickets by booking two singles. If you want to make alternative travel arrangements please let me
know. We are meeting Sue at 10.30 at Christchurch, Spitalfields.

The tour is easy walking, although there are steps in Dennis Severs’ house. The trip cannot go ahead unless we get 22
or more participants, so please book early!

Full details of this visit, including dates, costings and a booking form, may be found by clicking on 'Our Society' in the title bar above, then choosing 'Documents' from the list.

On this visit we go to the Warner Textile Archive in Braintree and then to Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury. I hope we’ll make the links between the gorgeous fabrics on display at Warner and the silks and velvets worn by Gainsborough’s sitters. Moreover, if you have been to the Special Interest Day on
The Language of Clothes then we can more easily interpret what we see in the paintings!
The Textile Archive holds one of the largest collection of textiles in Britain and tells the story of this great  industry from its local beginnings to global recognition. It is housed in the original grade II textile mill in Braintree.

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) is one of the great figures of art history, renowned for both portrait and landscape painting. He was born in Sudbury and lived at the house until the 1740's when his search for patronage and success led him to move, first to Ipswich and then to Bath and London. The displays look at various aspects of his life and art. At the time of our visit there will also be a temporary exhibition on John Constable, a great admirer of Gainsborough. Two of the greatest Suffolk artists under one roof!
Our programme means that we leave Simonds Depot at 9 a.m. and arrive in Braintree in time for coffee at 10.30 a.m. We will have a short introduction to the Archive and then we are free to explore the Galleries and visit the shop. At 12.30 we’ll continue our journey to Sudbury where we have a light lunch.
Afterwards we will have an introduction to the House and collections and then there is ample time to look at the galleries. We will leave Sudbury about 3.30, arriving back in Diss at about 4.30 p.m.
If you wish to park at Simonds Depot, Oak Drive, Diss, IP22 4GX, please pay £1 at Simonds Reception when you arrive.

For further information contact Sara Muldoon: sara.muldoon@icloud.com or 01379 651259.

To book a place, go to 'Our Society' above, scroll down to 'Documents'  and print out an application form.

Day visit to the stud and horse-racing Museum, Newmarket

Tuesday 30 May 2017

The day will start at the National Stud where we'll have coffee and see behind the scenes of a working stud. The coach will then take us to the newly opened Palace House Museum, the last reminder of Charles II's sporting palace and stables. This is an exciting new attraction which includes the Galleries of British Sporting Art.

The price of £60 includes coach transport, refreshments including lunch, and entry fees. We depart Simmonds Coach Depot at 9.30, returning about 5 p.m. to Diss.

Dr Paul Roberts sets the scene for a wonderful exhibition at the British Museum

We knew that Dr. Paul Roberts' lecture and the Pompeii and Herculenium exhibition would be popular but places have already been snapped up.Christopher Rainer, the DDFAS VIsits officer, said "Naturally places are limited for such a special occasion but tickets have gone like hot cakes. We have set a waiting list for anyone still interested but I cannot extend the number as this is governed by the British Museum. I have responded to all who have applied and I thank you for reacting so quickly."

PLEASE CHECK WITH THIS SITE AND YOUR MEMBERS' NOTICES FOR OTHER VISITS AS WE ANNOUNCE THEM

Following the Holkham and Houghton Study/Special Interest Day on Friday 1st June, we visited Houghton Hall on 4th July 2012.An excellent excursion in good weather and with a great "Picnic" - and we avoided the Tour de France riding by the front door!

Houghton Hall is the home of David, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, the Lord Great Chamberlain & a direct descendant of Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. It was commissioned by Walpole in the 1720’s and built by Thomas Ripley to the designs of James Gibbs and Colen Campbell. It has been described as one of the grandest survivors of the Palladian era. The Gardens, Stables and other decoration, including the superb interiors, were designed by William Kent and remain much as they were in the early eighteenth century.The award winning five acre garden which is divided into themed areas including over 150 varieties of roses, kitchen garden and glasshouses. These should be at their peak in early July. The park is home to deer, the medieval St Martin’s Church and sculptures from world renowned artists. The stable square contains a collection of carriages, the restaurant, gift shop and model soldier museum which is the largest private collection in the world.

We aim to leave Simonds car park in Diss [Oak Drive – postcode IP22 4GY] at 10.30am. to arrive at Houghton for 12 o’clock. We depart for Diss at about 3.45pm. The cost will be £25 per person and includes coach travel, entry fees to all parts of the house and grounds and drinks and nibbles provided by DDFAS on arrival. We do hope you will join us. Our last visit to Layer Marney Tower and Beth Chatto last September was a great success and we had a full coach so do book soon.An Invitation and booking form will be emailed to you in early May or, if you don’t have access to the internet, it will be mailed to you. Spare copies will also be available on the front desk at the May meeting.