As usual, accommodation will be in the residence of Imperial College in South Kensington. Eurostar from Brussels Midi to St Pancras. The weekend price, dependent on numbers, should be available in early May and will be similar to earlier weekends.
Our 2018 UK Trip will take us to an area familiarly known as ‘The Three Counties’. Immediately south of the region we visited in 2017 (the Welsh Marches and West Midlands).
The region between Ghent and Deinze, where the river Leie meanders through woody marshland, played a crucial role in the development of 20th C Belgian art. Come with us to Deinze, Latem and Deurle for a discovery.
Chimay, one of Belgium's smallest towns, is reputed for its typical landscape, its historic castle and the famous “Trappist“ ale, brewed at the “Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont”.
Father Damien of Molokai and the famous arboretum of Herkenrode, including the private estate of Viscount Philippe de Spoelberch, a renowned dendrologist. The Annual General Meeting for NTAB-members will take place at lunch time.
A handsome Art Deco house in Schaarbeek provides the setting for a unique collection of ceramic mantlepiece clocks. Next stop is the Train World museum at the Schaarbeek Station, where we have lunch and discover the social history of train travel.
We shall be in the centre of Antwerp all day: first at the Vleeshuis Museum, a museum on 600 years of music and dance in the city. After lunch we move on to the Wolsack in the Oude Beurs (17-18th C), which has recently been renovated.
We will close this year’s activities on December 9th in the prestigious setting of the Academy Palace, in the centre of Brussels. We visit the apartments of the Prince of Orange and have a tour of the rest of the palace and its gardens, followed by a drink.
During the Middle Ages, the town boomed thanks to the flax and wool trade with France and England. We visit the the Golden Spurs Museum, the beguinage and the Textile Museum, which tells the story of the raise and fall of the flax industry along the Golden Leie river.
Celebrations will start at 3 o’clock with a seated session at the Château. From 4 until 5 o’clock there will be a guided tour of the Château - where the negotiations leading to the original Treaties of Rome took place. A drink at about 5 o’clock will close the day.
Our day will start in Kerniel, a formerly independent municipality of Borgloon. There the Mariënlof Abbey excels by its tranquil and timeless beauty and authenticity. After lunch we will have a guided tour of the Castle of Duras and its English landscape garden.
Our traditional Year End reception will this year take place in Brussels historical Egmont Palace. We will start with a short lecture about this famous palace, followed by a guided visit of the main rooms and a festive reception.
Over the course of the 19th century the development of the port of Antwerp attracted a sizeable number of Germans to the city. Many were involved in banking, shipping and commerce and made a valuable contribution towards the rapid growth of the port.
Today, Catteau-Keramis ceramics are collectors’ items. After our visit you will recognize them at first glance in museums all over the world.
Our day on the battlefield will be a very different experience from the normal tourist visit. Our visit will be led by a Waterloo historian and official 1815 guide, Michael Farrar, who will begin with a talk in the morning putting the scene in perspective.
The Scottish Borders is a region often overlooked by visitors to the UK’s most northern country; wrongly so in our opinion for it is one of great beauty. Its main features are the bubbling River Tweed, which offers great salmon fishing, and the Southern Uplands.
For this event we have worked closely with Herita, the organisation created recently to promote the heritage of Flanders.
David Teniers immortalized Perk and its surroundings in paintings to be found in museums all over the world.
We invite you for a discovery tour by public transport in Ghent to visit, firstly, a stained glass workshop hidden in the historic centre and, secondly, Belgium's oldest psychiatric hospital that also houses a museum and an extraordinary collection of art.
Reserve your first Sunday of spring for the guided visit (English and Dutch/French) of two original and rather recent artistic centres in Brussels: the Wiels museum of contemporary art in Forest and the lnstitute Bruno Lussato - Marina Fédier in Uccle.
Richard Wheelers talk will look at the restoration of National Trust gardens over the last 40 years.
Beloeil is the ancestral home of Prince Charles Joseph de Ligne (b.Brussels 1735 - d.Vienna 1814), a real bon vivant who befriended Goethe, Rousseau, Voltaire and even Casanova. The interior has fine furniture and an art collection.