Our 2013 courses are now ready to book!

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the new Farncombe brochures are here!   Our 2013 programme has been designed and printed and – if you subscribe to the printed version – should soon appear on a door mat near you.

In the interests of being green, we do, of course, encourage you to visit the website or download our virtual brochure instead.  All our 2013 courses are now available to see online, along with background on our tutors, photographs of the venue in action and information about what it’s like to come on a Farncombe weekend.   Just visit www.farncombecourses.co.uk

We are excited to offer an extended range of faculties in 2013, with more Art weekends, extra  Languages and more History tutors than ever before.  You’ll also find some amazing new subjects like Bee-keeping, Pyrography, Meditation and Poetry.

We can’t wait to welcome you (back?) to our beautiful Farncombe Estate.  Call us on 0333 456 8580.

That unique Christmas gift is only a phone call away!

Do something different this Christmas and give your friends and family a weekend course at Farncombe Estate.

You can choose the course yourself from the huge range on offer, or you can give them vouchers and let them choose for themselves. Either way, they will be delighted with the gift!

It's a wonderful present to give, and it's only a phone call away.

Call 033 3456 8580 or visit our website to find out about our Farncombe Estate Gift Voucher offer 2010.

Great gift ideas for Christmas ... Farncombe voucher offer ends this week!

Purchase Farncombe Gift Vouchers to the value of £100 or more and we will give you a £25 gift voucher absolutely free ! To claim your free voucher simply quote “Gift4U” at time of ordering – you can purchase your vouchers online or by phone to 033 3456 8580.

This offer is valid on gift voucher purchases made before 5pm 16 December 2010. Only one free £25 voucher can be claimed per person.

Click here to read more about our Special Gift Voucher Offer - offer ends this week !!

All I want for Christmas is ... Farncombe gift vouchers have something for all

“I loved my few days at Farncombe Estate. What a fabulous setting – a really inspiring place to learn. The programme of activities and lectures for the coming months looks really tempting and I am already thinking of putting my name down for some of them”.

Valerie Singleton

All I want for Christmas is ... Farncombe Estate Gift Vouchers have something for all

All I want for Christmas is ...

Farncombe's Gift Vouchers have something for all

“Everybody knows somebody who would enjoy one of our weekend courses”
William Reddaway, Head of Lifelong Learning, Farncombe Estate

The perfect solution for the perennial dilemma of what to buy family and friends for Christmas is the newly launched range of gift vouchers from the Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds. The gift vouchers start from £5.00 and can be used against any of the 230 courses available including day workshops and residential courses over a weekend. For a limited period leading up to Christmas 2010, Farncombe is offering readers £25 of extra gift vouchers free, when they purchase £100 or more. As a guide – the resulting £125 vouchers would typically buy half a weekend course or 2 separate day ones.

Demand this year has been particularly popular for the areas of singing, music and arts and crafts and with this in mind the organisers have put together a wishlist for Christmas stockings as follows:

PERFECT FOR MUMS:
Soul Divas: Here Come the Girl Groups – Fri 6 – Sun 8 May 2011.
Led by a diva in her own right - Jo Sercombe explores soul melodies and singing back harmonies and vocal techniques that help to create that magic Motown sound. No experience necessary. Perfect for mums caught wielding hairbrushes as microphones and who long to be part of a big girl band.

PERFECT FOR DADS:
Laughter Workshop – Sat 9 April 2011.
Hold onto your sides for this workshop led by Jan Barley who will take you through a collection of exercises to experience a heightened sense of well being. Leave feeling more relaxed and energised with useful exercises to try at home or work. Sense of humour not necessary!

PERFECT FOR BIG BOYS
Be a real guitar hero! The easy way to learn guitar for beginners – Fri 25 – Sun 27 March 2011.
Stuart Marshall encourages you to put down the game controller and pick up the guitar and pledges to have you playing recognizable tunes quickly and painlessly, leapfrogging all the unnecessary boring stuff of theory and scales.

PERFECT FOR BIG GIRLS
Beautiful bedrooms – Sat 17 Sept 2011
Change the look of your bedroom without spending a fortune in this workshop led by Sue Hazell which will even see you dressing a four poster if you so desire.

PERFECT FOR GRANDPARENTS
Family History – Tracing Your Ancestors – Fri 11 – Sun 13 Feb 2011
Course tutor Chris Paton has studied family history for 30 years himself and shares many of the tried and tested techniques to the art over this weekend. Some knowledge of computers a help so silver surfers with laptops and wireless compatibility only to come along for the ride.

The 2011 programme is Farncombe’s eighth year. Gift vouchers can be purchased by calling 0333 456 8580 or ordered online www.farncombeestate.co.uk/gift4u.

Make Your Own Perfume Day Course - an ideal gift !

Alec Lawless

Perfumer, Alec Lawless, developed Essentially Me's range of sophisticated perfumes from his passion for natural fragrance. A trained Jungian psychotherapist, Alec has spent more than 20 years sourcing oils for his successful essential oils business, Aqua Oleum. This, combined with his love of good food and wine, naturally led him to spend many years blending perfumes & developing a range of perfume-making supplies.

Alec also provides a bespoke perfume creation service for private clients, boutiques & spas, as well as teaching a range of perfumery courses.

His book, "Artisan Perfumery or Being Led by the Nose" was published last year. He has also appeared in Natural Health Magazine, Cotswold Life & BBC Radio Gloucestershire. Alec will shortly appear in a TV documentary on Victorian Pharmacy.

Spend a day with perfumer Alec learning how to blend a perfume using natural aromatics, finishing with a bottle of perfume to take home.

The day starts with an introduction to the history of natural perfumery and the beautiful aromatics that we will be working with. Alec Lawless then guides you to in creating top, middle and base notes for your unique fragrance.

You will work with 24 natural aromatic blends, specially created by Alec to allow you to create a range of traditional perfumery styles, from classic Florals like Rose, Jasmine and Lavender, to exotic Chypres, Spices, Woods and Herbs.

Once your formula is complete, Alec will make up your perfume in a 56ml Italian Flint Glass Bottle with personalised label. He will keep the formula, so if you want to reorder you can do so at any time.

Materials Cost £45 to be paid on the day.

Please inform us if you have any known allergies to essential oils or other aromatics.

19th February 2011 - a course that makes an ideal gift !

Make Your Own Perfume Day Course - General Interests

Special Gift Voucher Offer

Purchase Farncombe Gift Vouchers to the value of £100 or more and we will give you a £25 gift voucher absolutely free !
To claim your free voucher simply quote “Gift4U” at time of ordering – you can purchase your vouchers online or by phone to 033 3456 8580.

This offer is valid on gift voucher purchases made before 5pm 16 December 2010. Only one free £25 voucher can be claimed per person.

Special Gift Voucher Offer