Immerse yourself in creativity and history at the River & Rowing Museum this autumn

Tuesday 10 September, 2019

When was the last time you did something just for you? Learnt something new? Created something new? At the River & Rowing Museum, we’re offering you the opportunity to have some ‘me time’, to relax, take stock and be inspired by the charming surroundings of the Museum. Our stunning location and light, spacious galleries encourage a sense of wellbeing and calm. But we’re also expanding our Adult Events Programme with creative workshops, fascinating historical lectures and talks. Learn something new, expand your horizons and meet people in your local community who share your interests.

Adult Event Listings: Lectures

Upper Thames Patrol

Upper Thames Patrol
Wed 25 Sept
11.30 – 12.30

Learn about the development of this unique element of the Home Guard with military historian Bill King. He will focus on the Thames from Maidenhead to Lechlade, and the structures and artefacts that can still be seen today.
£7
Booking essential call 01491 415600 or click here.

Boat Race Letter

The Origins of The Boat Race

Mon 30 Sept
12.30pm and 2.30pm

This exciting new acquisition is not only one of the most important letter correspondences in the history of rowing, it shows the witty repartee between the two rival teams – and was almost lost to history! Join our Curator on National Sporting Heritage Day to discover the background of the long-lost letter about the 1829 Boat Race. The letter was written by Charles Wordsworth of Oxford University to Charles Merivale of Cambridge University and marks the foundation of the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race, recognised globally as one of the fiercest rivalries in sport.
The letter will now go on permanent display in the International Rowing Gallery.
There are two talks one at 12:30 and one at 14:30.
Free with admission.

Booking essential, please call 01491 415600 or click here.

The Business of Bears
Wed 2 Oct
11.30am – 12.30pm

Discover the history of that classic childhood friend, the teddy bear, and how Asquiths in Henley became the world-famous teddy bear shop, with its founder Joan Bland.
£7
Booking essential call 01491 415600 or click here.

The Rise and Fall of Pleasure boating on the Thames
Thurs 24 Oct
7– 8pm

The Victorian period is often described as the ‘golden age of the Thames’. This talk covers more than 150 years of pleasure boating and shows why some common perceptions about the river’s history are misleading. With Dr Simon Wenham, historian and tutor at Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education.
£7
Booking essential call 01491 415600 or click here.

 

Evacuees at Oxford Station

Children and War: Experiences of the Second World War in Oxfordshire
Mon 4 Nov
11.30am – 12.30pm

Thousands of evacuees found refuge in Oxfordshire during the Second World War and became part of local homes and schools. This talk by Liz Wooley, a local historian, examines how the lives of Oxfordshire children – those born in the county and those evacuated here – were affected.
£7
Booking Essential – call 01491 415600 or click here. 


Adult Event Listings: Creative Workshops

Drawing with Confidence
6-week course: Tues 1 Oct – Tues 12 Nov (exc 29 Oct)
3 – 5pm

Learn to draw with a variety of different media including, pencil, charcoal, ink, coloured pencils and chalks. Be inspired by our beautiful surroundings with an emphasis on water, nature, boats and local architecture. Workshops will include a demonstration, studio drawing and a chance to go outdoors, led by Annabel Eyres, artist and Olympic rower.
£120.
Booking essential call 01491 415600 or click here. 


Describing Nature in Fiction
Sat 5 Oct
10.30am – 2.30pm

A practical creative writing workshop focusing on nature and animals in literature, led by Laura Healy, published author and Creative Writing teacher at the University of Reading. You will look at the elements required to create fiction and use practical writing exercises to experiment with them. You will leave with lots of budding ideas and a toolbox of skills to use when writing at home.
£40
Booking essential call 01491 415600 or click here. 

Mixed media painting workshop
Sun 20 Oct
10.30am – 3.30pm

The riverside landscape and our display ‘Stones and Bones’ of John Piper’s drawings, collages and photographs will form the starting point for experimental works on paper. Learn how to combine drawing from observation with mark-making, block printing and mixed media to create a series of small expressive landscapes.
£45
Booking essential call 01491 415600 or click here.