THE KING’S SOCIETY
MICHAELMAS TERM 2018
The King’s Society King’s Society Michaelmas Brochure The King’s Society aims to provide opportunities for the enhancement and enrichment of the King’s community. We hope to enable members of the King’s Society to enjoy social events together and appreciate the educational and cultural facilities that the School, the Cathedral and Precincts have to offer. We are a non-profit making organisation existing solely for the benefit of our members. There is also a branch of The King’s Society in Hong Kong. We organise a variety of events in Canterbury, London and further afield. In conjunction with the Visitors’ Department of Canterbury Cathedral, many tours have been arranged within the Precincts. We have frequent theatre trips, visits to art galleries and guided walking tours in London. We enjoy our garden visits, with recent venues including Highgrove, Kew Gardens, Chartwell and the Chelsea Physic Garden amongst others. We hold regular lectures, craft and culinary workshops, wine tastings and dining evenings and always include a termly seasonal walk and a pub lunch. We have enjoyed guided weekends away in Seville, Florence, Paris, Berlin, Bayeux and the D-Day Landing beaches in Normandy and more recently the Languedoc. Mrs Ali Huntrods, a former parent of two daughters at King’s, runs The King’s Society together with a committee made up of current parents, OKS and members of staff. We try to cater for a wide range of tastes and interests on all social, cultural and educational fronts and can assure you of a very warm welcome.
Cover images Main: © Juhasz Imre Right (from top to bottom) Autumn: © Pixabay; Goldmsith Hall: Public Domain; Schönbrunn Palace: © Good Free Photos; Christmas Crackers: © Public Domain
Reception for New Parents Tuesday 4th September 5pm
Lattergate Garden (Chums Social Centre if it is wet) We are delighted to host a reception for new parents to the School on the first day of term. Following the Headmaster’s welcome in the Shirley Hall, parents will be invited to join the Headmaster and members of the King’s Society Committee for champagne and canapés in the Lattergate Garden. Website booking not available. This event is free.
Drinks Reception for the King’s Community in Hong Kong Saturday 22nd September 7.30-9.30pm
The Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Central, Hong Kong All current King’s and Junior School parents living in Hong Kong are very warmly invited to this drinks party hosted by Mr James Outram, the School’s Registrar, Mr Will Bersey, Director of Music and Mrs Judith Bristow, Registrar of the Junior School. Website booking is not available but please do email Ali if you would like to join us. This event is free.
Weekend in Vienna
Friday 5th October – Monday 8th October Members of the King’s Society will have a chance to sample the delights of Vienna with Dr Andrew Thomson as our guide. Andrew will show us the sights, tell us just enough of the history, and fill us in on the many rich possibilities for museums, galleries and other sights during our free time. Our visit will include two city tours (one on foot and one in a private minibus), the stunning State Hall of the Austrian National Library, the Schönbrunn Palace (the Vienna ‘Versailles’, with its poignant displays of the lives of 19th century Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth), and the Kunsthistorisches art gallery (with its famous Bruegel masterpieces). If you are interested in joining us and/or would like more details of this weekend, please contact Ali. Number of places 15. Website booking not available.
Guided tour of St Paul’s Cathedral with Blue Badge guide Viv Haxby Thursday 11th October 10.45am
St Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD Join Blue Badge guide Viv Haxby for a tour of the Cathedral of the Diocese of London, Christopher Wren’s masterpiece and Londoners’ church. It is the seat of the Bishop of London and located on Ludgate Hill, the highest point of the City of London. Viv will explain the extraordinary history of this religious site and the story behind Wren’s designs for rebuilding the Cathedral after the Great Fire in 1666. With its civic and royal associations, St Paul’s has played a key part in the history of London. As we admire the Baroque architecture and elaborate monuments, Viv will tell us about specific events which have happened here including the state funerals of Wellington, Nelson and Churchill. We will meet outside the West Front of the Cathedral at 10.45am for a prompt 11.00am start. Numbers of places 25. Cost per person £12.50. Website booking available.
Visit to Simpsons Wine Estate and Vineyard Tour Saturday 13th October 9.45am
Simpsons Wine Estate, Barham CT4 6PB Join a fascinating tour of Simpsons Wine Estate, situated in the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Charles & Ruth Simpson have made award-winning wines at Domaine Sainte Rosé, their stunning, southern French property, for the past 16 years. In 2014, they brought their expertise and savoir faire back to the UK establishing Simpsons Wine Estate in Barham, Kent, with an aspiration to create the finest quality ‘méthode traditionelle’ English sparkling wine. The visit will begin with welcome refreshments and an introduction to the Estate. Setting off on a walking tour of The Roman Road vineyard, we will learn how the vines are planted, trained, nurtured and harvested. Returning to the state-of-the-art winery, we will be guided through the entire ‘méthode traditionelle’ winemaking process. Our tour will culminate with a tasting of The Roman Road Chardonnay 2017 in the comfort of the brand new Glass House Tasting Room. There will also be an exclusive preview of Canterbury Rosé 2016, their first sparkling wine to be released from the Estate, which will be launched later in the year. Our visit will last 2 ½ hours. Number of places 30. Price per person £40. Website booking available.
Visit to see A Very Very Very Dark Matter by Martin McDonagh Wednesday 17th October 7.45pm
The Bridge Theatre, Potters Fields Park, London SE1 2SG We have tickets to see the world premiere of Martin McDonagh’s A Very Very Very Dark Matter, which chronicles the life of one of the world’s most famous storytellers: Hans Christian Anderson, the teller of exquisite and fantastical fairy tales beloved by millions. The play delves behind the author’s stories and discovers that the true source of his stories dwells in his attic upstairs, a woman whose existence is a dark secret kept from the outside world. Martin McDonagh’s new play travels deep into the abysses of the imagination. Academy Award winning actor Jim Broadbent leads the cast as the Danish author. Number of tickets 15. Price per ticket £55. Website booking available.
An Autumnal Amble (with an historical literary slant) Thursday 8th November 10.30am
Cobham Court, School Lane, Bekesbourne CT4 5ET Please join us for coffee and croissants at Cobham Court before we set off on our annual autumnal amble through this very ancient part of Kent. In Bekesbourne, we will pass Ian Fleming’s house and Thomas Cranmer’s original gatehouse where his grooms lived. We will see the Higham Park home of Count Louis Zborowski (of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fame: his workshop in Canterbury is now home to Mitchinson’s). Our walk continues through Patrixbourne, on to Bishopbourne where Joseph Conrad’s house Oswalds is located. We will pass the beautiful Bourne Park built in 1701 where Mozart spent a week in 1765 on the last leg of his European Grand Tour. We can have a refreshment stop at The Mermaid in Bishopsbourne before walking through Charlton Park to Kingston where we will have lunch at The Black Robin. After lunch, we will head back to Cobham Court taking a slightly different route. The total distance of this walk will be about 5 miles. Do feel free to bring your dogs, as they would be very welcome in both The Mermaid and The Black Robin Number of places 25. This is a free event. Website booking available.
A Walk in and about the King’s School Saturday 10th November 10.30am
Lattergate Boardroom Peter Henderson, the School Archivist, will give a guided tour of the School buildings within the Precincts. There will be a mixture of history and the present day, with a closer look at some of the more interesting and unusual sites. In the words of William Gostling, in his 1774 Walk in and about the City of Canterbury, the tour is “designed not only to assist strangers in their searches after what is curious here, but to make the inhabitants sensible, that many things are so, which they may have seen over and over without taking notice of them”. The tour will last approximately 1½ hours. We will meet in the Lattergate Boardroom for coffee and pastries before we set off. Places limited to 20. Free event. Website booking available.
Visit to Goldsmiths’ Hall and The Assay Office Wednesday 21st November 11am
Goldsmiths’ Hall, Foster Lane, London EC2V 6BN The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths is one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London receiving its first royal charter in 1327. Goldsmiths’ Hall opened in 1835 and is certainly one of London’s hidden treasures. The Assay Office at Goldsmiths’ Hall has been providing its ‘mark of excellence’ since 1300. It is where hallmarking began in 1327 and now covers not only gold and silver, but also other precious metals such as platinum and palladium. Renowned hallmarking expert, David Merry,with over 46 years’ experience, has kindly agreed to give us a private tour. David is a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths’ Company, a Fellow of the Institute of Professional Goldsmiths, an Honorary Member of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute & Freeman of the City of London. We will learn about this ancient Livery Company & its Apprentices, see the different ways that metals are tested today, from the ancient ‘touch testing’ to the high tech XRF & ICPOE Spectroscopy. We will see how articles are hallmarked, the verification of British antique silver by the Antique Plate Committee, counterfeit fakes and how the vast quantity of jewellery and silverware that adorn our shops are hallmarked every day. Number of places available 20. Cost per person £25. Website booking available.
The Art of Drawing: a masterclass with Art History UK Thursday 29th November 10.00am
National Gallery Café, National Gallery, London WC2N 5DN This fascinating drawing masterclass with Art History guide Gayna Pelham will take place at the National Gallery. Gayna will show us some quick, effective ways we can learn through the artists in the gallery. Gayna will focus on landscape and this masterclass is suitable for complete beginners as well as those more practised. Gayna Pelham is an art historian as well as a practising artist working at the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. She specialises in teaching adults to draw. Number of places 15. Cost per person £30. Website booking available.
Christmas Cracker workshop
Wednesday 5th December 10.30am Birley’s Pavilion, St Stephen’s Road, Canterbury CT2 7JS Join us for a fun festive workshop in which we will produce our own unique Christmas Crackers from scratch. Materials will be provided including festive papers, a haberdashery of matching trims, paper hats and that all-important cracker snap. Please do bring your individual little gifts to include in the cracker however. We will be shown a variety of techniques to decorate the crackers including festive finishing touches, all in the spirit of the season. Please join us for coffee, mince pies and homemade cake at 10.30am. Following our workshop for those that would like, Ali will book somewhere for lunch. Number of places available 20. Price per person £35.
King’s Society events are open to all members. Most events can be booked using the school’s online booking facility at www.kings-school.co.uk/boxoffice, which is the easiest and most efficient way of booking tickets. If you are paying by cheque, it should be made payable to The King’s Society and sent to Mrs Ali Huntrods at The King’s School, Canterbury, CT1 2ES. Please note, payment is required prior to an event, as places cannot be guaranteed until payment has been received. If an event is full, it is always worth your name being put on the waiting list as spaces do often occur at the last minute.
Committee Members Manager: Mrs Ali Huntrods Treasurer: Mr Andrew Bruce Parents: Mrs Caroline Bagshawe, Mrs Claire Burns, Mrs Eloise Coulson, Mrs Sharon Grosse, Mrs Verity Rowe, Mrs Alison Streeter, Mrs Jane Samoilys Staff:
Mrs Lisa Cousins, Mr Richard Ninham, Mrs Liz Worthington
Hong Kong Committee Members Parents: Mrs Monique Leung OKS: Mrs Nicole Briggs, Miss Chloe Mitchell
For all King’s Society enquiries regarding membership and events Please contact the King’s Society Manager Mrs Ali Huntrods Tel: 01227-595774 Email: ah@kings-school.co.uk Mobile: 07825 016282 Please see the Protection of Personal Data section of The School website for our Privacy Policy