Outings

To complement our monthly meetings, we have enjoyed several outings to places of local interest, for example:

• 2024 February - Princethorpe College. A private tour of Princethorpe College during their half-term. After an hour-long lecture on the history of the College we were taken around the building, finishing in the extraordinary Pugin chapel. Alex Darkes, our guide, whose knowledge of all things Princethorpe was unrivalled - well, he's been there for 57 years!
• 2023 August - St Mary's Guildhall. A guided tour of the building and a splendid cream tea.
• 2019 May - The Birmingham Back-to-Backs. The houses revealed a fascinating glimpse into housing conditions for the poor of Birmingham in the 1800s and beyond.
• 2018 April - Merevale Hall, the home of the Dugdales
• 2017 June - Toye, Kenning and Spencer, Bedworth. The company specialises in narrow fabric weaving, manufacturing coloured ribbons, braids and laces
• 2016 June - Abbey Fields, to hear a detailed and knowledgeable explanation of the ruins by Jan Cooper, The Abbey Barn was specially opened for us and we all enjoyed seeing the fascinating objects retrieved from the original Augustinian abbey as well as more recent history displays about "old Kenilworth."
• 2015 September - the WLHS 50th anniversary party at Stoneleigh Abbey. A day of festivities at Stoneleigh Abbey, to mark 50 years of the society and to celebrate the development of local history studies during that time.
• 2015 April - Arbury Hall, the "Gothick Gem of the Midlands" where we enjoyed guided tours and a super cream tea!
• 2014 April - The Weaver's House in Spon Street, Coventry, by guided tour after a talk on its history by Nat Alcock
• 2013 June - Bagot's Castle at Baginton, and church - we were privileged to be guided around the castle site by a local archaeologist who delineated the history of the castle and its excavation. Following this we enjoyed a visit to the lovely church of St John the Baptist.
• 2012 June - Stoneleigh Abbey for the Repton Landscape - this followed a fascinating lecture given to the Society by Patrick McIlroy, who supervised the restoration of the landscape. We were given a guided tour of the beautiful riverside, and an explanation of the significance of Repton as landscape designer.
• 2011 April - The RASE Library, which houses nationally important books relating to the history of agriculture.
• 2011 March - Warwick Record Office "behind the scenes", where we were shown how to access documents relevant to our researches.