A Journey Through England's Woodworking Heritage

Monday, September 9 – Arrival at London Heathrow

Tuesday, September 10 – London School of Furniture Making and the Museum of the Home

Wednesday, September 11 – Victoria and Albert Museum, and London Free-Time

Thursday, September 12 – Kraftinwood Inc Chairmaking Museum, and Huw Crompton Wormsley Estate

Friday, September 13 – Toolstream offices, Triton Tool manufacturing plant plus free tool from Triton, and shopping at Yandles

Saturday, September 14 – Gordon Russel Museum, Wilson Art Gallery & Museum

Sunday, September 15 – Westonbirt Arboretum, and Rodmarton Manor

Monday, September 16 – Depart

Day 1, Monday, September 9th: Arrival

Tour members will arrange their own transport to arrive at Heathrow International Airport, London. Reservations will be made for each guest at the airport hotel.

Your Hosts will welcome you with a dinner that evening at the hotel (included in the tour price).

Day 2, Tuesday, September 10th: London School of Furniture Making and the Museum of the Home

After breakfast, the group will get on a chartered bus and travel to the London School of Furniture Making. The school was founded in 2013 by Helen Welch, a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers. The mission statement of the school is to meet the needs of individuals looking to learn the art of woodworking and furniture making, without committing to long college or university classes.

After lunch, we'll jump back on the coach and head to the Museum of the Home. This unique museum offers a look into the home over the last several centuries. The Museum of the home is housed in the almshouses built in 1714, and first opened up as a museum in 1914 as a museum of furniture and woodwork. This afternoon will allow us, as woodworkers to view various styles of furniture in their intended settings.

The day concludes at the Hotel Riu Plaza with an included group dinner.

Day 3, Wednesday, September 11th: Victoria and Albert Museum, and London Free-Time

The morning of day 3 will have us traveling to the Victoria and Albert museum, the world's largest museum of applied arts. Here, we'll have the chance to view one of the largest collections of furniture in the world. The collection of furniture and woodwork was started 150 years ago, and spans six centuries.

As we wrap up the visit to the Victoria and Albert museum, we'll break for some free time to explore London. Hop a cab and visit Buckingham palace, or wander around the historic Tower of London. You'll be free to enjoy dinner on your own, in one of the quintessential London Pubs.

Day 4, Thursday, September 12th: Kraftinwood Chairmaking Museum, and Wormsley Estate

On the morning of day 4, we'll load our luggage into the coach and
travel to the Kraftinwood Chairmaking Museum in High Wycombe.  Here, we'll explore traditional chairmaking techniques and the techniques required to convert the local beech trees into chairs. At it's peak, the town of High Wycombe was producing an astonishing 4,700 Windsor chairs per day!

Leaving the Chairmaking museum, we'll stop for an included group lunch, before traveling to the Wormsley Estate. This breathtaking 2,700 acre estate is the location for one of the first new boxwood plantation since Queen Elizabeth 1st, in 1603. This wonderful wood has been used for centuries to various degrees; as a instrument wood, plane making,  tool making, and turning. These little trees take several hundred years to reach a harvesting size, and Huw Crompton will walk us through the process, from planting to harvesting. 

We'll conclude the day a hotel in Cheltenham with a group dinner.

Day 5, Friday, September 13th: Triton Tool, Yandles

On the morning of Day 7, we'll travel to the Toolstream Headquarters. We've arranged a private, off-hours tour of the Triton tool facility. See the innerworkings of how a large tool company operates. We've even arranged each group member to leave with a give away from Triton. After lunch, we'll head to Yandles, a large woodworking and craft store. Yandles has an on-site sawmill and lumber
yard, and you're welcome to wander through the store, browse, and fill your
suitcase.

This evening, we'll make our way back to the Heathrow Airport for a final group dinner before departing for home.

Day 6, Saturday, September 14th: Gordon Russel Museum, Wilson Art Gallery & Museum

Today, we'll travel to the Gordon Russel Museum in Worchestershire. Gordon Russell was a design pioneer in the furniture industry, designing pieces from the Arts and Crafts style to fully modern designs. The museum is a tribute to his legacy, as well as the evolution of woodworking as a whole.

After free time in Broadway, we'll gather for a visit to the Wilson Art Gallery & Museum. This museum in Cheltenham houses art and furniture pieces from around the world, and features changing exhibits throughout the years.  

We'll retire back to the hotel in Cheltenham with a group dinner.

Day 7, Sunday, September 15th: Westinbirt arboretum,
and Rodmarton Manor

Day five of our trip leads us to the Westinbirt Arboretium. This 600-acre forest is home to over 2,500 species of trees from all over the world.  The Arboretum hosts various classes throughout the year, including green woodworking and Windsor chair making.

The group will break for some free-time, as well as lunch on your own in the town of Tetbury. In the afternoon, we'll visit the Rodmarton Manor house, which is an amazing Arts & Crafts estate. Wandering through the rooms, you're sure to be jotting down notes on all of the historical pieces of arts and crafts furniture, design elements, and decor.

We'll retire back to the hotel in Cheltenham with a group dinner.

Day 8, Monday, September 16th: Departure

Tour members can choose to return home or continue traveling on their own.

$5,900 (USD) per person, double occupancy 

$7,200 (USD) per person, single occupancy 

Tour Price Includes: 

• 4-star hotels (Crowne Plaza Heathrow 2 nights, RIU Plaza London Victoria 2 nights, Kings Head Cheltenham 3 nights)
• All breakfasts, 4 lunches and 5 dinners (2 nights Heathrow, 1 night London and 2 nights Cheltenham)
• Coach transportation
• Admission to Museum of the Home, Victoria & Albert Museum, Kraftinwood Inc Chair Making Museum, Huw Crompton Wormsley Estate, Westonbirt Arboretum, Rodmarton Manor, Gordon Russel Museum, The Wilson art Gallery & Museum and the Shepton Mallet Antique Fair
• Tour at London School of Furniture Making
• Professional Tour Leader

Tour Price Excludes: 

• Airfare. Each tour member books their flight individually to arrive at London Heathrow on 9/9/2024
• Travel insurance
• 2 dinners, 3 lunches + all drinks/snacks 
• Tips to coach driver and tour coordinator 

Payment Schedule: 

A $1,475 (USD) deposit is due when you book your tour or by June 17, 2024.

Final payment, in full, is due on July 29, 2024. 

NOTE: Woodworking Travel Tours offers thoughtfully arranged tours. Each tour is guaranteed to proceed as soon as the minimum of 15 reservations has been met. If our reservation minimum is not met, Woodworking Travel Tours reserves the right to cancel the tour. Deposits/payments will be refunded in full if the tour is canceled. 

If you need to cancel your reservation, the deposit and final payment are fully refundable until the deposit deadline, June 17, 2024. After June 17, we are not able to refund the deposit. After July 29, 2024, no refunds for deposit or final payment will be issued. 

Please DO NOT make your airline reservations until Woodworking Travel Tours has guaranteed (by email) that the tour will proceed.

4-star relaxation and comfortable coach travel. 

Hotel Accommodations: 

After full days touring London, we will retire to the comfort of 4-star hotels. 

• Crowne Plaza Heathrow 2 nights
• RIU Plaza London Victoria 2 nights
• Kings Head Cheltenham 3 nights

Coach Travel: 

Daily will be provided by a modern, comfortable coach operated by an experienced driver.

Responsibilities: 

As the hosting organization, Woodworking Travel Tours provides reservation services and has chosen Garden Tours, a professional tour operator, as its designated tour operator. As the designated tour operator, Garden Tours arranges for the actual tour of the all sites. Garden Tours also acts as an agent for services connected with specific tours hosted by Woodworking Travel Tours, such as ground transportation, lodging, accommodations, and meals. Each service provider is solely responsible to the participant for providing their respective services. 

By making a reservation for a tour hosted by Woodworking Travel Tours, the participant certifies that she/he does not have any mental, physical, or other condition or disability that would create a hazard for themselves or other participants. Woodworking Travel Tours and Garden Tours reserve the right in their sole discretion to accept, decline to accept, or remove any participant on a tour hosted by Woodworking Travel Tours.

Price:

The tour prices in this agreement are based upon current exchange rates, tariffs, and taxes. Fluctuations in these rates could result in a price adjustment without prior notice until the tour is paid in full. Once the price for the tour is paid in full, the fee will not be adjusted due to any later change in exchange rates, tariffs or taxes. 

Liabilities & Booking Conditions: 

Garden Tours is established in the Netherlands, and rights and responsibilities for all tours operated by Garden Tours will be governed by Dutch laws only. Garden Tours will have responsibility only for the proven negligent acts and omissions of its employees or agents and suppliers, subcontractors, servants, and/or agents of the same while acting within the scope of or in the course of their employment in respect of claims arising as a result of death, bodily injury, or illness caused to the signatory to the contract and/or any other named persons on the booking form.

Smoking: 

All participants in tours operated by Garden Tours agree to comply with a non-smoking policy on all coaches, in restaurants, gardens and in all lodging places.

Liability: 

Garden Tours has no responsibility or liability to any person for loss of baggage, money, or other property whatsoever. Garden Tours has no responsibility or liability for any loss or additional expenses caused by delay or interruption to travel services through weather conditions (such as rain, wind, or fog) civil disturbance, riot, illegal acts of third parties, strikes, wars, floods, sickness or any circumstances amounting to Force Majeure.

Complaints: 

In the unlikely event that you or your tour members have a complaint, you or they must promptly inform the Garden Tours tour guide directly, so he/she can take remedial action on the spot. If the matter cannot be solved directly, any complaints must be submitted in writing to Garden Tours within 7 days after the last day of the tour.

Your Tour Canceled by Us: 

Garden Tours aims to provide your tour as booked. We reserve the right to cancel your tour under any circumstances, but if we cancel your tour, except where this is because you have not paid, you will receive a full refund.

Changes in Itinerary Details: 

Woodworking Travel Tours and Garden Tours strive to operate according to the published itinerary. However, in the event of unforeseen circumstances beyond our control or opportunities that would enhance the itinerary, adjustments may be necessary or appropriate. Woodworking Travel Tours and Garden Tours reserve the right, without penalty, to make changes in the agreed-upon itinerary whenever, in their judgment, conditions warrant or if they deem it necessary for the comfort, convenience, or safety of participants. Woodworking Travel Tours will let you know about any significant changes as soon as possible if there is time before your departure. Otherwise, we will announce changes on the tour.

Cancellations: 

If a tour member should need to withdraw from the tour for whatever reason you must Garden Tours notify in writing. Cancellation becomes effective when written notice is received. After June 17, 2024, there will be a 75% refund from Garden Tours due to cancellations. After July 29, 2024, There will be no refunds from Garden Tours due to cancellations. See “Insurance” item below.

Insurance: 

Travel insurance is strongly recommended for each tour member in case they have to cancel their trip, have health emergencies while traveling, personal property lost or stolen, and other unforeseen issues arise that prevent them from joining or staying on the tour. Medical costs will not be paid for by your national medical insurance. Therefore we strongly recommend to have travel insurance. Your travel insurance will give you peace of mind and should cover the costs of medical treatment, repatriation, loss of property and cancellation charges. Tours members are asked to provide evidence that your tour members have obtained travel insurance by July 29, 2024.

Health & Safety: 

Woodworking Travel Tours follows COVID-19 safety updates from the CDC and our destination country.

Photography Notice: 

Woodworking Travel Tours will be taking photos and videos of the tours for future editorial and promotional use. Tour participants may occasionally appear in these images.