Lavenham Village Hall

Wednesday 6 May 2026 - 5.30 to 7.30 pm

Prepare to be entertained by Bryan Thurlow, a tremendous story teller who will be recounting the longest strike in history, which ran for 25 years from 1914 to 1939. This is the Burston School Strike. It occurred in the village of Burston on the outskirts of Diss, and was instigated by the pupils and their parents when their Vicar told a terrible lie which led to the sacking of their beloved headteacher and her husband. Hear the voices of former pupils who in later years gave interviews about their experience. 

Bryan is a seasoned speaker for U3As, History Societies and the like, with a background in professional theatre and drama lecturing, As in previous years we will be offering glasses of fizz or a soft cordial and of course, there will be a buffet selection of finger food. All members of The Arts Society Stour Valley are invited and we are requesting a contributory donation of £5 towards expenses.

Places will be limited to 100 members only and the closing date for applications is Friday 24 April 24. There is plenty of car parking space at Lavenham Village Hall.

Click here for booking form.

Ian Swankie will take us on a journey to showcase the designs and designers who have made and are making British architecture so highly regarded internationally.

The first lecture will be about Thomas Heatherwick, the multi-award winning designer.  The past decade has seen the meteoric rise of this extraordinarily versatile British designer with his acclaimed Olympic cauldron, the iconic new London bus and designs for a spectacular new HQ building for Google.  Over the last twenty years the Heatherwick Studio has used an intriguing combination of curiosity and experimentation to produce a vast range of solutions to design challenges around the world.  This talk looks at the problems presented, and the wonderfully creative ways in which Heatherwick and his team have responded.

In the second lecture, the very best of British architects, from Christopher Wren to the present day, are examined.  It is not a technical talk, but an informative and lively examination of some brilliant designers and their legacy at home and abroad.

Click here for further details and booking form. NB  As at 23 January this event is fully booked, however, please contact: kay_abbott@yahoo.co.uk  if you would like your name put on the waiting list that has been started.

Ian Swankie

Ian Swankie is a native Londoner who spent many years working in London’s financial markets before becoming a guide and lecturer with a special interest in art and architecture.

His enthusiasm can be rather contagious. He loves giving lectures about subjects which excite him and sees his role as bringing things to life and revealing secrets in an entertaining way. His hope is that everyone will learn something new in his lectures.

As well as an The Arts Society lecturer, Ian is a qualified City of London tour guide, a City of Westminster guide and a green badge holder from the Institute of Tourist Guiding. He is also an official guide at Tate Modern and Tate Britain, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Guildhall Art Gallery. He is also a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars.

Lecture 1:  12:00 - 13:00.  Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious: An Artistic Friendship

Opposites attract.  This was certainly true in the case of Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden: the former fun-loving and gregarious, the latter shy and a workaholic.  Sharing a waspish sense of humour they became fast friends. Hear how they lived and painted together and shared some hilarious adventures.

Lecture 2:   13:45 - 14:45.  Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious.

Though Eric Ravilious has become familiar, few people were aware that his wife Tirzah Garwood was a talented artist in her own right.  A witty observer of the human condition, the youthful Garwood became established as a wood engraver. In her early 30s she suffered the double blow of her husband's death on active service in World War 2 and later, terminal breast cancer.  In this lecture James Russell brings to life an extraordinary artist.

NB  This event has proved to be very popular and is now (5 October) fully booked.  If you would like to be put on the waiting list for cancellations, please complete and send the booking form but send/transfer no money.

Click here for further details and booking form

James Russell

James Russell is an author, art historian and curator with a passion for twentieth century British art and desigh.  He is the author of the bestselling Ravilious (2015) and Edward Bawden (2018) which both accompanied blockbuster exhibitions which he curated together with the 2024/25 exhibition Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Revilious, all at Dulwich Picture Gallery.  

Illustration: Two women sitting in a garden painted by Eric Ravilious.  The two women are Tirzah Garwood and Charlotte Bawden

From panto with Julian Clary to designing underground trains; working in travel, music publishing, television and theatre, Ian Gledhill has accumulated wide ranging experience.  In this Special Interest Event, Ian will be tracking two of the most dynamic art movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.  One cannot but be wowed by the sheer elegance and beauty of these two supreme art movements.

Lecture 1, 1200 - 1300:  The Growth in the Art Nouveau Style from 1890 to WW I

Our first talk explores the origins of Art Nouveau and the astonishing flowering of this highly decorative style that flourished briefly around 1900. Belgian and French architects turned to nature for their inspiration, having been influenced by Britain's Arts and Crafts movement and the ideas of William Morris.

Lunch, 1300 - 1345: A light Buffet lunch

Lecture 2, 1345 - 1445:  The emergence of Art Deco in the post-war years

Art Deco - the style that defined the jazz era and the golden age of pre-war Hollywood musicals. Art Deco pervaded all forms of design in a way that Art Nouveau never did. This talk looks at all aspects of design, not just architecture, and examines the influences that made Art Deco the colourful style that is still influential today.

Price £20 per person, guests welcome.  Click here for full details and booking form.

Lecture 1, 1200 - 1300: The Geometry of Fear: Modern British Sculpture

1300 - 1345 Light Buffet Lunch

Lecture 2, 1345 - 1445: Contemporary Sculpture and the Public Space

£20 per person

For full details and application form please click here.

This event is now sold out, but there is a waiting list in case there are any cancellations.  Details are at the bottom of this page

Lecture 1: Was the English Arts and Crafts Movement the most important art movement the country has produced? This talk will introduce the ideas and ideals behind what brought together a highly individual group of men and women to produce architecture, craft and art at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

Lecture 2: This talk is an exploration of the high incidence of Arts and Crafts churches across England including Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. Kirsty Hartsiotis will cover church designs, fittings, stained glass and memorials, and examine how Arts and Crafts designers revolutionised church architecture and adapted to the needs of their patrons.

Kirsty Hartsiotis was the curator of decorative and fine art at The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham from 2008 - 2023, and now curator and manager of Swindon Museum. At Cheltenham she looked after the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection and curated many exhibitions on the Arts and Crafts and Private Press Movements. 

Programme: Lecture 1: 12:00 - 13:00 The Arts and Crafts movement - an introduction

Lunch: 13.00 - 13:45 A light buffet lunch

Lecture 2: 13:45 - 14:45 The Arts and Crafts in England’s Churches

Price: £20 per person including a light lunch. Guests welcome.

Click here for details and Application form.

Lecture 1.  Gold and Gods: The Treasures of South America. Chloe Sayer talks about the highly skilled goldsmiths of ancient Peru and Colombia who produced some of the most spectacular treasures of South America

Lecture 2. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the golden age of Mexican painting:  These two artists were key members of the Avant-Garde cultural movement in Mexico in the early 20th century and inspired one another to become the two of most influential figures in Mexican art. 

Cost £20 per person, including light lunch

Click here for a flyer with application form and for full details

NB:  If there is spare capacity members of other societies from the region may apply to attend and members of TAS Stour Valley may apply to bring guests

Lecture 1.  They make no noise:

What is it that conductors do that makes orchestras respond in so many different ways?  Is it a good baton technique?  A strong personality?   The way they look?  Why are there relatively few women found on the podium?   And why are the conductors paid so much more than anyone else on the concert platform?  Drawing on history and his own musical experiences from well over six thousand performances and recordings, Nigel seeks out some answers.  This lecture contains some rare video footage of conductors in rehearsal and performance.

Lecture 2. Tantrums and Tiaras:

This lecture is a look at backstage life at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the pressures faced by performers, be they singer, dancer, conductor or musician.  We see how the building copes with the demands of modern productions and examine audience expectations both inside the theatre and out. We also look at some of the highs and try to understand some of the lows that have been the fortune of this world-class performing venue over the years.

Click here for full details and an application form for this exciting event.

NIGEL BATES started his musical career in the Regimental Band of the Scots Guards, leaving the army to join the Orchestra of Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and to hold an appointment as a Professor at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama. 

After a freelance period working with most of the London orchestras and ensembles – which included a very varied musical diet of concerts, recordings and touring - Nigel was appointed Section Principal Percussion of the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden in 1993, where he very much enjoyed meeting the many percussive challenges encountered in the world of first-class opera and ballet. 

As a speaker, he has given many lectures, presentations and masterclasses at the Royal Opera House, the Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School of Music in London, the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, the Victoria College of the Arts in Melbourne, the international percussion convention (PASIC) in Texas and many arts societies and interest groups. He has also frequently taken part in BBC radio and television broadcasts and has written several articles for professional journals and ROH publications.

Text © Nigel Bates

A stimulating and enjoyable Special Interest Day exploring how and why the city of Paris has acted as both a magnet and cauldron of talent for aspiring artists and designers.

Discover more about the key events and personalities shaping the 'City of Light' during the first half of the twentieth century. Looking beyond the mainstream, we will identify the creative individuals, including newly emerging female talents, who shaped the Parisian concept of 'modernity' in art, design, interiors, fashion, and photography. Whether strolling along Haussmann's new boulevards, ascending the magnificent staircase of Garnier's Opéra House, calling into an artist's studio, cafe, nightclub, or couture fitting, we will recreate the sense of 'being there'.

Literary descriptions by Zola, Stein, Cocteau, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald will accompany the sumptuous visual details photographed especially for this purpose. Comparisons between the international Paris exhibitions of 1900, 1925 and 1937 will shed light on changing social/cultural issues, rapid technological change, and the key role of couture and fashion in French identity, especially during the German Occupation, and immediately after the Liberation.

This new Special Interest Day 'Why Paris?' has evolved by popular request from many societies who have enjoyed my 'New York New York' SID. A similar inclusive and exploratory approach is used with location maps, using both contemporary and old photographs of the city, various art and design media, to share many of the questions which have fascinated me over the years. Whether you know the city well or not at all, there will be new and exciting discoveries for everyone.

• Session One : La Belle Époque - City of Pleasure and Reinvention 1890s - 1914

• Session Two: International Hub, Occupation and Defiance

Text © Mary Alexander

Click here for the flyer and booking form

NB:  If there is spare capacity members of other societies from the region may apply to attend and members of TAS Stour Valley may apply to bring guests