TOUR OF HISTORIC BIRMINGHAM

Of our annual tour, Chair Lizzie Johnston writes:-

Birmingham and the Heart of England was our 3 day destination for this year's tour. It certainly provided a variety of fascinating visits. The Victorian house and garden of Wightwick Manor with its Arts and Crafts features was our first stop en route, tours of the Jewellery Museum and the National Trust Back to Back Houses, the Barber Institute with its outstanding collection of Western Art, and Soho House, the elegant home of Matthew Boulton, entrepreneur and industrialist, certainly gave great historical and social insight into the area.

In the former parish church of St Philip, which became the Anglican cathedral, we marvelled at the Burne-Jones stained glass windows. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery provided further wonders including the Staffordshire Hoard and a stunning collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

En route home to North Yorkshire we took in Bantock House Museum and the contemporary building of the Wedgewood Visitor Centre where we enjoyed a factory tour.

The tour manager, Roger, painted in lots of local detail as we travelled through and around the city and its surrounds and we were whisked through the entire tour calmly and efficiently leading to a 10/10 result.