"Treasures of Great Witley" - 2012 Combined Leaflet

This year, in a departure from previously established practice, all apects of activity at Witley Court have been brought together and are advertised in a single publicity leaflet. The court itself (E.H.), St Michael & All Angels Church, the seasonal church music programme and the facilities at the tearoom can all be found in one handy place. In addition, the church music programme still has its own leaflet which contains a booking form. These leaflets are available widely throughout Worcestershire as a result of our new marketing strategy that is now in place. Useful websites are as follows:
Witley Court: www.english-heritage.org.uk  Tel. 01299 896636
Church: www.greatwitleychurch.org.uk
Tearoom: www.witleytearooms.co.uk Tel. 01299 896016 (Gill Edmonds)
Music: www.greatwitleymusic.com
 Witley Church Witley Church Tearoom

We hope that as many of you that can make it will come along to see us in what promises to be an exciting year, with some new develoments in the pipe-line for our visitors. We have begun to expand our range of merchandise for sale on the church sales-stand - come in and have a look.

Death of Lord Foley - 12th February 2012

Adrian Gerald Foley, 8^th Baron Foley (2^nd creation), 9^th August 1923 – 12^th February 2012 was a British peer, composer and pianist.

Upon the death of his father, Gerald Henry Foley, 7^th Baron Foley in 1927, Adrian Foley succeeded to his title at the age of three. He composed music for the films “Piccadilly Incident” (1946) and “Bond Street” (1947). He appeared in an episode of the American game show, “To Tell the Truth” in 1957.

In 1958, he met a wealthy American heiress, Patricia Meek, during a stage production of “Jane Eyre”, produced by Huntington Hartford in New York City. On the 23^rd December 1958, the couple married. They had two children: Alexandra Mary (b. 1960) and Thomas Henry (b. 1961), before divorcing in 1971. In 1972 he married another wealthy heiress, Ghislaine (née Dresselhuys; former wife of both the 6^th Earl of Caledon and the 4^th Baron Ashcombe), the only daughter of Dutch-born Long Island resident and former Consul of the Netherlands in London, Cornelius William Dresselhuys and Edith Merandon du Plessis. His second wife died in 2000. On the 15^th December 2003, he married his third wife, Hannah Steinberg.

Lord Foley enjoyed golf and maintained properties near to the golfing areas of the Andalusian region of Spain for several decades. He owned property in Belgravia, London and lived in retirement near Marbella until his death n the 12^th February 2012, aged 88.

Roy Peacock Talk

INVITATION TO ALL STEWARDS

You are cordially invited for an “Easter get-together” on Sunday 4^th March 2012, at Great Witley Village Hall, at 3.00p.m.

Roy Peacock, author of “The Seventeenth Century Foley's: Iron, Wealth and Vision 1580 – 1716”, will be talking to us about the Foley family.

Refreshments will be provided.

Please reply by Email or letter if you are able to attend.

Everyone is most welcome !

Regards,

Roger Perkins

Witley Church Stewards Group - Stewarding Times for 2012

Letter to all Great Witley Church Stewards

4^th February 2012

Dear Everyone,

As from 1^st April 2012 Witley Court (English Heritage) will be opening on a seven-days-a-week basis and therefore we will be returning to stewarding for the same, morning and afternoon. (11:00- 14:00 and 14:00-17:00).

Roger Perkins, Stewards Administrator.

Felling the Ancient Oaks by John Martin Robinson

"Felling the Ancient Oaks" by John Martin Robinson. ISBN: 9781845136703

John Martin Robinson's Felling the Ancient Oaks: How England Lost its Great Country Estates has been published in a sumptuous new edition by Aurum Press, as part of its successful "Lost" series.

Here, eminent architectural historian John Robinson takes twenty of England’s most egregious losses, from Biddlestone in Northumberland to Costessey in Norfolk, and tells the story of the estates, from their heyday to the many reasons for their decline. Whether sold off and divided, lost by feckless gambling of the family’s black sheep, or simply defeated by the post-war cost of maintaining a giant mansion, these once grand estates live on in this beautiful book - illustrated throughout with photographs of what once was, but has now gone for ever.
                 Includes several pages on Witley Court which contain some fabulous photographs. Cover price is £30.00, but I got it for approx. half-price on Amazon.