THE ARTS SOCIETY YORK

Supporting Decorative & Fine Arts                                                                                                                     

President: Mrs Julia Charlton-Weedy
Vice-Presidents:
Ms H S Byard
Mrs P N Crookenden
Mrs R F B Wivell

From: The Chair
Mrs Jane Ashby

6 Usher Park Road
Haxby, York.
YO32 3RY

Tel: 07949 012 694
email: chair.tasy@gmail.com

September 2026

Dear Friends

September already, I don't know about you, but I do wonder where this year has gone? At least it is cooler to sleep at night! When my husband and I were living in Hong Kong some years ago, the humidity was one thing, but the heat was another! In the last month or two we have been wondering if we were back there.

However, I do hope after our break you haven't forgotten the Arts Society and are looking forward to lots of wonderful Lectures. September as you may know is when we start our new session and I do hope you all have the new Programme cards to hand.

To start off our new session we have Lars Tharp who will be Lecturing on Hogarth: Harlots, Rakes and Crashing China. An intriguing title if ever there was one - Lars Tharp the Danish-born historian, lecturer and broadcaster. Some of you may have seen him on Antiques Roadshow, where he first appeared in 1986. He has also been an auctioneer at Sotherby's where he specialised in European and Chinese ceramics. Lars Tharp is a William Hogarth enthusiast and in particular Hogarth's theatrical use of ceramics in his paintings and prints.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

We are considering a Christmas Lunch at the Marriott in the second or third week in December. It would comprise the following: - Glass of fizz on arrival, a 3 course festive meal, tea, coffee and mince pies. Cost would be £45 per person. Perhaps you could let us know if this would be of interest to you.

CHATSWORTH DAY TRIP

This'sounds very good and will get us in the mood for Christmas. Please refer to details on the visits page of this website.

The trip is booked provisionally for 10th November. Let us know soonish if this is something you would like to do.

With kind Regards, 

Jane Ashby

Chair

'     .

   THE ARTS SOCIETY YORK

Supporting Decorative & Fine Arts                                                                                                                     From: The Chair

President: Mrs Julia Charlton-Weedy
Vice-Presidents:
Ms H S Byard
Mrs P N Crookenden
Mrs R F B Wivell

From: The Chair
Mrs Jane Ashby

6 Usher Park Road
Haxby, York.
YO32 3RY

Tel: 07949 012 694
email: chair.tasy@gmail.com

                                                                                                                                                                     July 2026                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Dear Member

What did I say about summer not being hot, the last days and weeks have certainly made up for my foolish comments.  However, we may soon be in the middle of a monsoon, so the sunshine is very welcome.

Some of us recently enjoyed a brief trip to The Potteries in Stoke on Trent.  Anthony Hammersley, our Treasurer, put down his invoices and took us on a trip to an area he was very much familiar with.  We visited Burslam, known as the mother town of the historic Potteries. The historic Victorian architecture gave us a very good picture of how this wonderful pottery called Burleigh ware had been made and is still being made from generations ago.  It was mentioned that the women’s lives were shortened due to lead poisoning from the painting and the men from ingesting dust as they worked to produce the pottery. We visited the home of Wedgewood too, which is a great favourite of mine and I could not resist buying a piece.  All in all, our thanks go to Anthony for the planning and organising a trip to remember.   

JULY LECTURE

Apologies for the July lecture not being listed, unfortunately unusually for us, we hadn’t been able to confirm this at the time of printing the programme last year.  However, I can now reveal that our next Lecturer will be Tim Stimson.  Some of you may remember he came to give us a Lecture on ‘Edward Lear’ however at the time one of our members was unwell and so we had to curtail part of the Lecture.  However, Tim is back and able to give us another Lecture.  This time on the life of ‘Atkinson Grimshaw’ who was a painter in the reign of Queen Victoria.  His mother did not approve of his chosen career and burnt his brushes!  However, despite this, he carried on and was inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites.  His landscapes led to the development of his main subject ‘Moonlight views’.

SUMMER RAFFLE

I do hope you will have or will plan to buy your raffle tickets for our Summer Raffle at our July meeting.  We have a few more prizes than on the last occasion.  At the Potteries we were presented with a magnificent Burleigh Jug, then ‘Tea for Two’ at Middlethorpe Hall and a £20 Garden Voucher, generously given by May Townsend.  A book donated by our last Lecturer Gavin Plumley and a bottle of Campari which Elisabeth and Alistair Haldane have donated. And there is more!  All will be displayed on a table for you to see and we will be drawing the Raffle at the meeting.  

SUBSCRIPTIONS

My apologies for including this again, however if this has slipped your mind and you do wish to continue as a member, please check if you might still be owing this.   Our Treasurer Anthony will help if you think you might have paid or if you wish still to do so.  You can then then pick up the new  Programme for the next year, which starts in September.

NATIONAL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING IN YORK

Just a note on this, as I know many of you were not able to attend.  It was held in York for the first time for many years. It is good to report that all is going well and we seem to be on a stable footing. Some Societies have found the going rather tough over the years, but things are slowly looking up.  It is hoped to develop the digital side of the Society, and it will be interesting to see how this affects membership overall.

A word on our President Mrs Hilary Kay.  As you may remember, I did hope she would be able to visit us at our last meeting, which was held just before the AGM.  However, she was very apologetic, as she explained just how much she is in demand, and felt she could not visit all of the Societies she had had an invitation from, which numbered at least 75 Societies!  I believe she will visit Area Meetings, but sadly will not be our guest. She is, of course a regular on Antiques Roadshow, so she is fairly busy.

Well, I think that is it for the moment.  I look forward to seeing you all.  We can promise you an air- conditioned room to enjoy the lecture.

With kind regards

Jane Ashby

Chair

Chairman’s Report

It hardly seems a year since Helen Gregory handed me the baton to become your Chair. It has certainly been a learning curve and thank you all for your patience, particularly if I have forgotten your name! I think you will agree it has been an interesting year for Lectures. When I took over, we had Mark Meredith and William Randolph Hearst, then Mary Sharp and Jane Austen. Brian Healey was to follow in June then July we went all Spanish with Isabelle Kent. September we were into science and the English Garden, then who could forget Jamie Hayes and the sound of opera from Wagner, Verdi and Puccini. It was certainly a favourite of mine. Simon Whitehouse was wild about Oscar then because Lars Tharp had to cancel, we had Suzanne Fagence Cooper, who stepped in at short notice and we were introduced to Pioneering Women Photographers, many of whom I was not aware of. Then in February Paula Nuttall surprised us with Michelangelo as one of the Titans of the art world. Finally last month Harry Venning. I have never laughed so much at a lecture! So far it has been a whirlwind of interesting lectures and there is so much more to come. I am indebted to Carolyn Haynes who spends a lot of time organising these Lectures and Lecturers. Recently she told me, on f irst meeting Harry at York station, he gave her an unexpected hug, I wonder if we should we be talking about Brief Encounters!

That brings me to the Committee, without whom we could not as a Society exist. They work t irelessly to help you all enjoy the Lectures and Visits or whatever we plan for the coming year. Joanna Finlay as my Vice Chair is always knowledgeable and keeps me on the straight and narrow and as you know she also organises our Visits, which she has done for many years. Many of you will remember the Guernsey Trip, which was a great success. Anthony Hammersley equally keeps us on the right side of the money, without which we would certainly be up a creek without a paddle! Alistair and Elisabeth Haldane are a great partnership with membership. I am sure they look after you well. May Townsend’s connection with Danesgate school was immeasurable and I know she is looking around for other projects. The artwork the pupils produced and displayed at another recent exhibition in York was extremely good. Carolyn Haynes as Lecture Secretary is a key pin for the Society, and as I have said works very hard to find the best speakers. We are also very grateful for John Finn, who keeps our website up to date and produces the rolling slides for our meetings. His expertise on the technical side is very welcome. We are indeed very fortunate to have such talented and dedicated Committee members, but we are always looking out for others to join us. As I have paid tribute to the Committee, I also would like to thank the Vice Presidents, who also contribute to the smooth running of the Society. Helen Byard in particular is always on hand to lend any help we might need, for which I am very grateful. I hope you agree with me, that we are now very comfortable in the Marriott. Of course there are some problems from time to time, but on the whole, I think we are very well served by the staff. From technical help to First Aid, they have proved to be excellent. That brings me rather nicely to mention that our costs are going up and I don’t think we are alone in this. Our excellent Treasurer Anthony makes sure every penny is accounted for, and there isn’t sadly much left over, and so we are including in the AGM Agenda this year the proviso that next year we are to raise subscriptions to £75, which will be an increase of £10. however, I do hope you will agree with me, that to enjoy the ambiance of the Marriott and f irst-class speakers we do not have a choice. Please note we are not increasing the subscription for this year. It will stay at £65.

I must now mention George Smith MBE, who has been a stalwart champion of the York Art Society and has been our President for many more years than I care to mention. Always cheerful and positive, George is to step down at the AGM. His interest in all our activities and always ready to offer advice when needed. He will be a hard act to follow. However, I am grateful to announce that Mrs Julia Charlton-Weedy will be stepping into the breach and I am sure will be an asset to the Society. We look forward to welcoming her to her new position. I feel very positive for the Arts Society here in York and hope this year will see our membership grow to enable more people to enjoy what we have to offer.

Jane Ashby 

Information about our move to the Delta Marriott Hotel York

Many members will remember the Marriott as The Swallow Chase with the saddle in earlier days. It is on Tadcaster Road (A1036); when leaving the City Centre along Tadcaster Road the entrance is immediately past the greenery of the Racecourse opposite Ainsty Grove.

Parking

There is a large car park but obviously spaces depend on the number of guests who are at the hotel. (Disabled spaces are on the left as you enter the hotel grounds)

For this reason until we know how it works it would be easier if possible you could “Car Share”. This would certainly help and also there are frequent buses which stop outside the hotel.

No 4 Bus Clifford Street (via the Railway Station and The Mount) to Acomb

every 16 minutes. Journey time 10 mins from Clifford Street

No 12 Bus Monks Cross (The Stonebow, the Railway Station, Askham Bar, Tesco)

every hour takes 16 mins from The Stonebow

Coastliner 843/840 from Scarborough/Whitby to Leeds every 30 minutes,

takes 15 mins from The Stonebow

Askham Bar Park and Ride does not stop outside the Marriott but goes to the Station

Obviously these buses also run in the opposite direction and if you check the stops you will know which is most convenient.

Parking at the hotel

This is free for the first 3 hours and then £1.50 for extra 2 hours and £3 for 3 hours.

Any excess payment must be paid to Hotel Reception before you leave.

YOU WILL NEED TO REGISTER YOUR CAR NUMBER ON A COMPUTER AT OUR CHECKING- IN DESK ON ARRIVAL. IT MAY HELP TO RECORD THIS ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND BRING IT WITH YOU AS I AM AFRAID MANY OF US FORGET OUR REGISTRATION NUMBERS!

Lunch Arrangements

A selection of sandwiches will be available with tea or coffee.

The choices offered will change at subsequent meetings.

Sandwiches are £8.00 per person and coffee/ tea £3.75

These will be served in a very pleasant room with round tables next to the lecture room.

WE HAVE TO GIVE THE HOTEL APPROXIMATE NUMBERS FOR LUNCH TEN DAYS BEFORE THE MEETING (i.e 13th April for our meeting on 23rd April)

YOU MUST CONTACT JOANNA FINLAY on joannafinlay1@btinternet.com

to confirm that you plan to have the sandwich lunch to be eaten in the booked room

Payment should be made when ordered by BACS to:

The Arts Society sort code 40-52-40 a/c 00016815 ref: Lunch

Alternatively, if you would like to eat in the bar area you pay separately. However this does seem to take quite a time but if you just want a coffee/tea and a light snack that is possible. This doesn’t need to be pre-booked but as mentioned service can be a bit slow. You could always have something after the meeting and even relax on the terrace in good weather.

IF YOU STAY AFTER THE MEETING DO NOT FORGET TO PAY ANY EXTRA PARKING CHARGES AT RECEPTION AFTER THE 3 HOUR COMPLIMENTARY TIME.

THE AGM WILL COMMENCE AT 12.00 AND THE LECTURE WILL BE AS BEFORE 1.10pm – about 2.15pm