As you should be aware by now, we put effort and money into our grounds because they are a fantastic resources to be plundered by our courses. One of our most staunch supporters ever since he first came has been Tutor Robert Dutton. It is partly down to his generosity in donating a couple of
We are immensely proud when those who are Tutors at Higham have success in their own professional field. Highlighting the professional credentials of the wonderful artist and Tutor that is Ceri Allen is an honour for us, especially when we witness the incredible talent that she possesses. See for yourself on the Castlegate Gallery exhibition
Pottery and Zen at Higham by Claire Brooks The new Raku Pottery Workshop at Higham was a hot hit in February, as students Raku-fired by hand the pots they had made and glazed under tutor Chris Barnes. The 4.5 day course started with an introduction to Raku, exploring its philosophical roots in Zen Buddhism and
Neil and co have made progress with the establishment of the pond seating area. As you can see on the left, a space has now been cleared and foundations laid for an outside matted area on which seating will be placed. Thought has been given to creating an area that will drain naturally, as well
Our decorator was suddenly available this week, so we have put them to work on Bedrooms 6 and 19. If you look closely in the top right window, you can see one of the decorators hard at work on the interior of the arched window in Room 6. As ever, we have chosen heritage shades,
Tutor Tiana Marie has prepared an excellent 2 minute video introduction to Ruskin (enjoy!): Details of Tiana’s course are here: PAINTING RUSKIN’S DREAMS OF CONISTON
Eric Breese Eric is one of our students who returns again and again on one course in particular. He typifies what such things as go on at Higham can do to enhance life and we wanted to share this with you. We believe such things can only give us all encouragement to continue on our
One of Jane Matthews’ students (name witheld to avoid embarrassment) shared this picture of a Goldwork piece she has finally finished. It is a splendid piece of embroidery and looks wonderful mounted in a frame. Often, the projects inspired by a course continue long after the course has finished. Many Students continue the activities back
A private donation was made for us to plant a tree and for a bench in memory of former Tutor Derek Hyatt [Guardian Obituary and Telegraph Obituary], who passed at the age of 84 back in 2015. It is not surprising why such a figure in the world of art should still be remembered after
Here he is, the successor to faithful old Hoskins who, after 13 plus years, has now gone to a retirement of lesser demand. The new boy comes from the Transit bloodline and has slightly fewer seats in the back – something we feel will provide a little more room. He certainly feels like a newer
Both of these films, being shown as part of Keswick Film Festival, are relevant to our French and Belgian Film courses. Thanks to our francophone tutor Sylvie Jefferson for spotting this. It’s great to have such foreign language opportunities up here! A Woman’s Life Friday 23rd February 2:30 PM – Theatre By The Lake Based
Two students (who came down from Skye, you know who you are – I won’t embarass you… yet! Mind you, devoted readers might put two and two together and work out exactly who you are) who attended Jan Beadle’s tabletop Loom Weaving course this week, brought with them some yarn spun from their own Herdwick
Kay Leech, who was awarded the first Friends of Higham Scholarship, has made a great start on her ‘journey’ through various courses. The outcome will be that Kay will produce artistic or craft work based upon her experiences of and learning from each course. Higham will host an exhibition later this year to showcase what
People have now started receiving their new printed brochures. Over 190 new Higham courses up till the end of September are now all visible on our website. The new brochure is viewable in all its glory and you can download your very own pdf copy, by visiting www.highamhall.com/brochure. We hope you find something to enjoy!
The lucky winner who won the original picture by Robert Dutton was a lady called Carol. She says she never usually wins anything. Well she has now! The raffle, with Robert’s painting as the sole prize, sold 361 tickets and raised £361. This money will go towards the improvement of the pond area in the grounds
At Higham we enjoy the diversity of many different Tutors who each bring their ‘take’ on how things are taught ad what is taught. Despite the variety of approaches, some advocating the deeper understanding of colour, some of generic drawing skills, some of underlying fundamentals etc., one unifying agreement is that what surface you use
Mark Bassey, our wonderful Jazz Composition Tutor was honoured by his class when a song was composed for him. Now, the lyric won’t likely trouble Cole Porter, but it demonstrates ingenuity and reflection of the reality: WE FRIENDS CAME FROM BRIGHTON OUR JAZZ SKILLS TO TIGHTEN LEARNING, PLAYING WITH NEW MATES THANK YOU MARK VON
We recently unearthed some photos of the occasion, 17 years ago, when The Millennium Wall Hanging was created by course attendees at Higham. You may catch sight of some past tutors Elizabeth Prickett (Ruskin Lace), Julie Andrews (Patchwork) and Bridget Rylands (Embroidery) and a number of their students. The Millennium Hanging currently adorns the chimney
One of our wood carving students, Eric Breese, has just been presented by Sharon his tutor with a special cake for his 90th birthday. If you look closely at the photo, you will see clues to the tools and work Eric has been involved with on his courses, as well as a sugarpaste representation of
When something is written down, often it can be erased, deleted or even tippexed out. One exception is when you have something carved in wood. In this case, we are talking about a nice light oak wooden signage with three of the bedroom names for the refurbished Bungalow Cottage, to direct people round to the
Nowt much can be done to change what has been done carelessly in the past, but the experiences, once realised, can inform the future. For those of you who understand our careful approach to maintenance and repair here, this is perhaps a reassurance that we are doing the right thing. Here’s one example of why.
We have had over 90 applications for the admin post which closed on 11th Nov. Naturally we want to make sure we find the right person and are fair to all candidates who have been so good as to make an application. We expect shortlisting to be completed by next weekend, after which we shall
Art Tutor Robert Dutton works tirelessly behind the scenes not only promoting his own courses, which take place in several locations other than Higham, but also recording what has gone on so both previous and prospective students can get a feel for what goes on. Robert is one of our Tutors who put so much
Due to retirement – a rare opportunity to join the team in the office here at Higham! Jobs At Higham
Tutor Frances Winder has produced some very nice calendars, with a month to a view, showcasing some of her exceptional artwork. Usefully, Frances has made sure these calendars, one a narrow format, one large, both have space for notes to be made against each date – so very useful for keeping appointments and significant dates
Higham Hall is an old building and, consequently, has traits which throw down challenges. Water is one thing which features greatly. If the wind is blowing in a certain direction, it can seem to creep in through windows and walls. This not only inconveniences, but it can ruin decor and pose problems if we wish
FLOWER FESTIVAL at HIGHAM HALL Friday 2nd to Monday 5th September 2016 10am to 5pm Refreshments Available Dare we imagine a world without flowers? We would be deprived visually, but but also biologically as flowers represent the ability to attract the opportunity to propagate new life. Appreciating what flowers give us in life is terribly
Let’s get serious for a moment. By the time you read this, our country will have voted on whether to stay in the EU or not. Whichever way you might feel about this monumental choice, it is a positive thing that we in this country have the freedom to discuss, debate and decide on major
A recent phone call from someone’s erstwhile other half gave a little smile and suggested a good plot for a sitcom. The conversation went something like this: OFFICE PHONE RINGS “Good afternoon, Higham Hall.” “Oh, hello. Strange request but I’m looking for my wife, I’m hpping she might be there.” At this point, it was
One of the by-products of being involved in something in life can be simply joy. It does not really matter what you do, as long as it is acceptable and gives you some kind of fulfilment. Even better when others share that experience and you know that you are not on your own. We all
As many will perhaps agree, finding the right people to serve and help your business is so important. Trust and understanding are ever so important – not just on our part, that someone can do the right job for us, but trust from their side that we will appreciate their work and, of course, pay
Here at Higham, we come across so many people who enjoy simply engaging in things of interest. Some involve using the hands, some more the dexterity of the mind. What unites all of them is an attraction to following an interest. These people recognise that one of the best ways to achieve true engagement is
As we were involved recently in having the Higham website redesigned, trying to make what we ended up with better than before and frankly, making sure we got our money’s worth, it occurred to me that the ‘Web’ – general parlance these days for all things Internet – is an accurate moniker for it, in
It is a huge shame that many people’s perception of learning can often not be as positive as it should be. Arguably this is because our formal education system has, in recent decades, become synonymous with tick boxes, paperwork and having to quantify everything in grades and scores. Certain elements, crucial in the mechanism of
Adult residential colleges are few and far between these days. After a post-war surge in government seeing lifelong learning as an essential mechanism for social, intellectual and creative stimulation which would help get the country back on its feet, subsequent decades have seen a decline in state-subsidised opportunities for education of this nature. Such stimulation
One of the joys of doing what we do at Higham Hall is that we meet a wide range of people, each with their own story to tell. What unites everyone who comes to us is a like-mindedness, no matter who they are, or where they come from – a common interest in something. This
Where is the year going to? Dare to blink and another month goes past. At Higham, we are already planning for next year and beyond, trying to arrange courses that satisfy those who come regularly, and also which may appeal to people discovering us for the first time. Because we are primarily a residential college,
I’ve got responsibility for kiln firing some pieces created by students on a course. After six weeks’ drying, their ceramic relief plaques will need to be placed inside our kiln and the programme set to heat them up at 25ºC/hr for a over day, eventually reaching over 1000ºC until soaking for five hours and cooling.
At Higham, our curriculum is developed to satisfy people, not politicians, but there are deeper reasons as well: TWENTIETH CENTURY FRENCH THINKERS – We can be more sure of our own convictions if we consider the reasoning others have done beforehand, and our Gallic cousins seem to have had more of an influence than we
One of the joys about doing what we do at Higham is that, invariably, we become a happy part of people’s lives. In their feedback, many often use words such as “absorbing”, “exciting” and “stimulating” – and it occurs to me that these are words that were not uttered by us whilst we were at
This month we highlight visiting art Tutor Ben Haslam. A working artist with his own substantial gallery in Hexham to manage, we are fortunate to be able to drag him westwards and slightly south to Higham, but he is well worth it! Ben has vast experience at persuading people they CAN paint if they want
Higham courses have a uniqueness about them in format, content and character. We are a place where expert Tutors can deliver longer, deeper experiences for people to enjoy, where individuals come to spend time with like-minded others, being fed, watered and inspired. Unrestricted to term times, Residential courses run throughout the year and cover areas
Many of the Higham Tutors on creative courses bring their own equipment so they can offer the best experience possible. Sometimes this is more apparent when they need to back their chock-full estate car into the back courtyard in order to unload. When we help them do this, I must confess to feeling slightly guilty
The 30 year old boiler in our 4 bed Gatehouse has finally packed in. I can’t blame it, after all it soldiered on since 1983 when it was installed. As ever, we kept on putting off replacing it due to the cost involved. The other week, though, it finally curled up its toes and its