'Gems' of East Sussex Tour 2025

'Gems' of East Sussex Tour 2025

Sunday 13 April 2025

Booking from September 2024

For our Spring 2025 UK trip we are heading south to the green hills and weald-land of East Sussex where late 19th and early 20th century arts and crafts are well represented. with a series of museums, houses, churches and galleries demonstrating the core artistic, design and architectural values of this inspirational and influential movement.. Highlights of the area are explored on this tailor-made tour in the company of Jane Brand, who will lead the tour with her usual knowledge, competence and enthusiasm. And, to top it all, a visit to cosmopolitan Brighton, home to the eccentric and rather wonderful Brighton Pavilion.

Day 1 Sun 13 April: Travel to East Sussex and Charleston. Depart Manchester by private coach and travel to Sussex with an en route stop for refreshments. Our first visit will be to Charleston, the modernist home and studio of the painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, where we discover how they conserve and maintain their collection and absorb the unique atmosphere of this living, breathing work of art. We will rejoin the coach and transfer to our hotel for four nights, the Holiday Inn Brighton Seafront. Welcome drink and dinner in the hotel.

Day 2 Mon 14 April: Today, we travel into the countryside of the Sussex Weald and start the day with a visit to the Grade I listed St Michael & All Angels Church at Berwick, famous for its stunning interior including 20th Century Bloomsbury murals. We then head to the National Trust’s Bateman’s, once the home of author Rudyard Kipling, celebrated for stories like The Jungle Book. Built in 1634, the Kipling’s fell in love with this Jacobean house at first sight and it’s still easy to see why. The soft warm colour of the local sandstone, the oak beams and panelling, the terraced lawn and walled garden make for a beautiful house. There will be time for lunch here (not included) before we travel to Borde Hill Garden for our last visit of the day. Rare plants and stunning landscapes make Borde Hill Garden, a family-run Estate, the perfect visit for horticultural enthusiasts and those who love beautiful countryside. Return to the hotel around 5.30pm where the evening is free.

Day 3 Tues 15 April: Quite simply, there is nowhere on earth quite like the Brighton Pavilion! Built in the late 18th and early 19th century at the whim of the Prince Regent, the pavilion represents this extravagant and quixotic gentleman at his most wayward. Having started as an “ordinary” seaside villa it morphed into a sometimes Chinese, sometimes Indian pleasure dome, which leaves the 21st century as bewildered by its fanciful architecture as it did the 18th century. Our second visit of the day is to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery to view the excellent collection of European and World ceramics, glass, costume and artefacts, including works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, C A Voysey and others.

Day 4 Wed 16 April: We head east along the Sunshine Coast this morning to Art Fund’s Museum of the Year 2020, Towner Eastbourne which has been exhibiting contemporary art for nearly 100 years. It is best known for its modern British art, and also has a growing collection of international works with a focus on landscape, women artists and moving image. After free time for lunch in Eastbourne (own expense) we head north to the village of Chiddingly to Farleys House, the Sussex home of Lee Miller and Roland Penrose. Farleys House became a meeting place for some of the leading figures from the world of 20th century art, including Pablo Picasso who stayed in 1950, as well as Max Ernst, Dorothea Tanning, John Craxton and Eileen Agar, among others. Works by these artists regularly feature in the house, when not being loaned to galleries around the world. Farleys also boasts two galleries, and a sculpture garden to enjoy views of the South Downs from. Return to the hotel for a free evening.

Day 5 Thur 17 April: Our time in East Sussex draws to a close but we have one last attraction to see en-route to the north west as we visit Wightwick House, a Victorian Manor House with a world-class art collection, Morris and Co interiors, and gardens designed in the arts and crafts style. From there we continue onto the Manchester area.                    

Further Details:

Cost per person: £865.00

Booking deadline: 30/11/2024

Sunday 13th – Thursday 17th April 2025 – 5 days from *£865pp. Based on two people sharing a double/twin room. Single Room supplement £220.

To book please phone Travel Editions on 020 7251 0045

This holiday is operated by Travel Editions Group Travel *Group minimum of 30. Based on two people sharing a twin room. An initial deposit of £100 per person will be due by 30th November 2024. Travel Editions Group Limited, 3 Young’s Buildings, London EC1V 9DB

Where you stay: Holiday Inn Brighton Seafront Modern four-star hotel located on Brighton’s seafront, around 15 minute walk from the Lanes. The hotel has a restaurant, bar, terrace, and well appointed, comfortable bedrooms with all modern amenities 

Included in the price • Private coach throughout tour • Accommodation as detailed • Meals: Breakfast daily and dinner on Day 1 • Drinks: Welcome drink on Day 1 • Tour itinerary as detailed and Entrance fees • Accompanied throughout by experienced Blue Badge guide Jane Brand • Gratuities for Jane Brand and coach driver • Gratuities for local guides and donations

Not included

• Holiday insurance

• Single room supplement (£220 per person)

• Batemans & Wightwick Manor entrance for non-National Trust members