This year’s Accompanying Persons Programme shows England at its very best !
After our Grand Opening Ceremony on the morning of Friday 31st May, luxury coaches will be boarded by your Partners and will then head to the world famous Kew Gardens to the West of London.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was founded in 1759, and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.
As well as being one of London’s top visitor attractions, Kew is also a world leader in plant science and conservation. Their vital work helps to discover and describe the world’s plant and fungal diversity, safeguard the world's plant life for our future, promote the sustainable use of plants and inspire an appreciation of plants and the environment.
Throughout its history, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has made important contributions to increasing the understanding of the plant kingdom with many benefits for mankind.
Today it is still first and foremost a scientific institution. With its collections of living and preserved plants, of plant products and botanical information, it forms an encyclopaedia of knowledge about the plant kingdom.
This amazing place will linger in your memory for years – and may even need a return visit!
Saturday 1st June takes our Accompany Partners even further pack in history : to Tudor Times and King Henry VIII’s wife Anne Boleyn with an all day visit to Hever Castle in Kent.
There have been three main periods in the construction of this historic castle. The oldest part of the castle dates to 1270 and consisted of the gatehouse and a walled bailey.
In the early 1500s the Bullen family bought the castle and added a Tudor dwelling within the walls and so it became the childhood home of its most famous inhabitant, Anne Boleyn.
It later passed into the ownership of Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
From 1557 onwards the Castle was owned by a number of families including the Waldegraves, the Humfreys and the Meade Waldos.
Finally, in 1903, William Waldorf Astor invested time, money and imagination in restoring the Castle, building the ’Tudor Village’ and creating the gardens and lake.
Since 1983, the castle has been owned by Broadland Properties Limited and open to the public.
The castle has a homely atmosphere and houses historic 16th century Tudor portraits, furniture and tapestries.
Other artefacts include two magnificent Books of Hours (prayer books), both signed and inscribed by Anne Boleyn.
Costumed figures of Henry VIII and his six wives in the Long Gallery add to the atmosphere.
The Council Chamber in the thirteenth century gatehouse contains collections of historic swords, armour, instruments of execution, torture and discipline.
All too soon it will be time to return to the bustle of the 21st Century and our Gala Dinner!