Past Courses

SOLVING CRYPTIC CROSSWORDS

Henry Howarth ran this class - great fun and very rewarding, only a little bit competitive...

ALL THINGS I.T.

Bill Gates' fortune can be measured by the continuing requests for more iCourses - iPhones, iPads, iPhotos - you name it, we have a waiting list for it. Andrew Ward has the patience of a saint and the joy is he is a person not a manual translated from Japanese.

BEAUTIFUL BEADING

Stunning pieces were created under the watchful eye of Peta Brooksbank who brought us some wonderful beads to fire our imagination.

DECORATIVE PAINTING WORKSHOPS

Kate Gerrish runs workshops for beginners and more experienced painters. Using Annie Sloan's wonderful chalk paint many a junk shop bargain has been turned into a thing of beauty - and usefulness. There will be more courses in the Autumn.

A TASTE OF CALLIGRAPHY with Caroline Keevil

We started with a pencil, forming skeleton letters using the Roman Uncial Script, understanding how to make good shapes - well rounded, upright and simply spaced - not as easy as we thought! We then moved on to using a broad edged calligraphy pen, and the choice of inks and papers, the pen anlgle, thicks and thins and ended up with a beautiful Uncial script quotation.

HOW TO WRITE A BOOK - CREATIVE WRITING FOR BEGINNERS

Debby Holt, a former history teacher was inspirational and coaxed paragrpahs out of us that we never knew were there. It is said that there is a novel in all of us, now we are wondering if it could be true. Debby Holt was there once and started writing short stories - she has now written six novels.

HEDGEROW BASKET FOR BEGINNERS

Ruth Parsons showed us what beautiful plants which are growing all around us, other than willow can be used to make a basket. We then tried our hand at weaving our own beautiful fruit baskets from basket willow and material harvested from the farm.

SUCCESSFUL SEEDS AND PLANT PROPAGATION

CHRISTMAS WREATH

 Caroline McShane makes wonderfully unusual Christmas wreaths. Caroline demonstrated the techniques and methods used and we took home our very own masterpiece.

CIDER MAKING

Simon Reed from Rough Old Wife Cider taught us how to make cider and perry from our own apples.

BEE KEEPING

Cotswold apiarist Tanya Hawkes provided an insight into the world of this humble, but wonderful, creature on whom we depend so much. We learnt about the life cycle of bees, how to set up our own hives, and how to harvest a sustainable honey crop. After lunch we all donned bee suits and looked at a hive of bees, handling the bees on their frames. The merits of various types of equipment were discussed and by the end of this fascinating day hopefully everyone felt confident enough to start keeping their own bees.

Apples & Pears Apiaries www.apples-and-pears.com  is a small beekeeping business dedicated to making the very best handmade, natural skincare products from the oldest beauty treatments in history - beeswax and honey.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Andrew Ward hosted a great day in the Coach House and garden with us all taking photographs with our new found knowledge about all the features and settings on our digital cameras that we seldom use, or did not even know we had, to improve our photographs. 

Digital enhancement and fun photographic products e.g. photobooks, collages, posters etc will also be discussed. 

CAROLINE McSHANE FLOWERS

By the end of this morning we had learnt how to turn an ordinary bunch of supermarket flowers into something really creative with Caroline’s inspiring technique of hand tying a bouquet of beautiful summer flowers. www.carolinemcshaneflowers.co.uk

BRIDGE WEEKENDS                                      

The advantage of an intensive weekend is that you can short-cut weeks of stop-start learning when you tend to forget half of what you’ve learned between lessons! Places are strictly limited to a maximum of 5 tables (20 players) to ensure that everyone can be given personal attention. More will be held in the autumn. 

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BOOK CLUB

By selecting passages from popular book group choices, Cristine Kidney taught us how to look at the basic principles of how to analyse both fiction and non-fiction, and how to turn that analysis into questions ripe for discussion. She also expanded on good ways to choose your books, how best to ensure a range of subjects and styles keep good conversation flowing, and, crucially, gave good advice on how to say ‘I absolutely hated it!’ without offending the person whose choice it was!

SPRING INTO ACTION with HELEN YEMM 

We loved hearing and talking to Helen Yemm. In her words she is ‘…just a passionate muddy-gloves-and-wellies gardener blessed with the gift of the gab...’, but to regular Saturday Telegraph readers her Thorny Problems column provides essential information all wrapped up with a barrowload of humour and good sense. 

BEE KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS 

Cotswold apiarist, Tanya Hawkes, has kept bees for over 20 years. The morning was spent on theory and then after a delicious lunch we all donned our bee suits and went on a hive inspection. Everybody was able to have a go handling the bees on the frames - thankfully there were no stings to put people off and by the end of the day there were definitely some who decided that bee keeping was for them. 

OPTIMUM NUTRITION 

There is no doubt that we are what we eat. Catherine Chichester from Village Barn (http://www.village-barn.com/) shared her encyclopaedic knowledge about the importance of food and nutrition in health and well-being, and how to set up our bodies for radiant health. Catherine dispel led myths about food and gave us practical tips on how to get the best nutrients daily, including sprouting and juicing.

 GEMS AND JEWELLERY 

Two leading jewellery designers, Esther Eyre and Kristina Charrington brought their expertise to a morning of gems and gemology.

Esther Eyre talked about stones from NATURE'S RAINBOW - AN EXPLORATION OF THE WORLD'S SEMI PRECIOUS STONES. Although trained primarily as a formal goldsmith, Esther enjoys using the cornucopia of semi-precious stones to create exciting blends of colour and texture, resulting in pieces that are not just jewellery but a wonderful and unique accessory.

Similarly, Kristina Charrington has been creating jewellery of exquisite quality for over 20 years. Both she and Esther brought examples of their work and discussed design, happily advising on more contemporary or traditional settings and how long forgotten heirlooms can be transformed by imaginative remounting. 

FROM PLOT TO PLATE 

Picking vegetables from your garden does wonders for the soul - let alone the mind, body, taste buds and bank balance. Merry and Chipps (people, not lunch) inspired their audience to grow and cook their own demonstrating that anyone with the smallest patch of ground can banish the supermarket salad bag forever. 

WAYS WITH SUMMER FLOWERS 

Charlotte Gabb harnesses the beauty of the garden in her arrangements of summer flowers. In a morning brimming with summer colour and scent, Charlotte taught us about the conditioning of cut flowers, combinging colours and we watched her at work, before creating our own masterpieces to take home. 

CV WRITING and INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE

LEARN TO LOVE YOUR LAPTOP There is a world in your laptop. Andrew Ward gave us an enjoyable, informative and practical day to help us make the most of our laptops, leading us through basic laptop management including music, video, telephone, photos, office tools and other web based services.

LIGHTING AND SOUND DESIGN 

John Cullen Lighting is the leading name in discreet lighting, and as one of their Senior Designers, Jo Mann will explain how creative lighting techniques can transform your house and garden. Gibson Music have been pioneers since 1985 providing multi room music systems, communications, security systems, home cinema and automation solutions. Gibson Music embraces innovation and offers clients solutions in a world of ever changing technology. 

COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS - Katie Dashwood 

Picnics and Alfresco Fare
Balmy summer days and evenings call for food that appears as if by magic - time is too precious to be chained to the cooker.

Something for the Weekend
This day took us through a weekend of entertaining - something for everyone and every occasion.

Domestic Gods
Katie demonstrated surprisingly easy ways to impress the goodess in your life.

Game On
The surfeit of game which abounds during the season is a challenge. Katie showed us how to make the most of fur and feathered species in a whole range of innovative and inspired ways. Pies with suet crusts, terrines, timbales and out of the ordinary sauces - all star turns.

Fish...not just for Fridays
Katie showed different ways with fish - from tuna tartare to mighty mussels and many other deceptively easy delicious fishy dishes.

Teaching teenagers
Katie teaches teenagers the basics of cooking, arming them with the knowledge to rise above baked beans and takeaway pizza when faced with feeding themselves. 17/18 year olds are the most suited in terms of willingness and concentration! 

SARAH RAVEN Gardener, writer, broadcaster, cook, is the expert on all things to grow, cut and eat from your garden. Her way with vegetables is so much more than serried ranks of roots - Sarah incorporatesflowers to eat and enhance, trials the best leaves for the ultimate salad and pioneers new growing methods, favouring lengths of guttering over traditional seed trays sarahraven

RODDY LLEWELLYN
Pruning - Roddy opened the window on this vast and thorny subject, and after a bit of (amusing) theory, we donned wellies for a hands-on demonstration
Innovative Ideas and Creative Effects - Roddy showed us unusual effects using everyday partnerships to prolong and enhance colour and interest in the garden

BOB BROWN - SO MANY PLANTS, SO LITTLE SPACE In his inimitable style, Bob sorts the men from the boys in the world of plants. His nursery and website www.cgf.net is a treasure trove  - a testament to his life long love of the very best plants to grow in our gardens.

BASIC PLUMBING Many of the mysteries of plumbing were revealed and at the end of this very popular morning everyone felt able try their hand at changing a washer, reseating a tap and even balancing their radiators.If you are lucky enough to live near Shipston on Stour, Shipston Bathrooms is the place for you - Bill Price is the plumbing supplier from heaven and his friend Norman will undertake any plumbing jobs. www.shipstonbathrooms.co.uk

LEARN TO MAKE SUSHI Emmanuel from YourSushi taught us the different ways of preparing fish, vegetables and rice - no more supermarket sushi for me!

ANNE MARIE EVANS - BOTANICAL PAINTING It is difficult not to go over the top describing Anne Marie's celebrated way of teaching the Art of Botanical Painting. World renowned as one of the leading tutors, we were so lucky to welcome Anne Marie to the Coach House.

AN INTRODUCTION TO COLOUR AND STYLE Much more than a 'Does my bum look big in this?' Louise Walker explained how colour and different styles can make or break our appearance and gave us guidelines to help us analyse our shape and the styles which would suit us most - guiding us to the shops and designers most suited to us as individuals. For more information visit charismaconsultants

GET TO KNOW YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA Nick Meers has been commissioned to photograph over 30 travel books and for the past 20 years has photograp[hed many architectural and garden locations for the National Trust. Nick shared his knowledge with us and taught us to push the boundaries on our digital cameras.