Events programme for 2013

Friends' & Descendants' Events to be held in 2013 are as below. 

All booking details and forms are enclosed with the current Annual Review or please contact the Friends Office.

Saturday, 11 May 2013 - Friends and Companions’ Day and Annual Meeting.

There will be a special tour of the College of St George at 9.30 am, open to Friends and their guests.  The tour will include visits to the Curfew Tower, the College Plate, the College Archives, the Albert Memorial Chapel and a Military Knight’s home. The tour will end at about 12.30 pm.  Tickets, for a donation of £20 per person, must be ordered in advance.  The Annual Meeting will commence at 3.00 pm. Afterwards Dr Clare Rider, the Archivist of the College of St George will give an illustrated talk concerning her work.  Also availabe will be Tea at 4.00 pm in the Vicars' Hall at a cost of £10 per person.  Please also order in advance.

Tuesday, 14 May 2013 – Christ Church and Harris Manchester Colleges, Oxford.

This event is open to Members and their guests.  There will be a private visit to Christ Church College, Oxford, including a tour of Christ Church Cathedral commencing at 2.00 pm.  This will be followed by a visit to Harris Manchester College and conclude with Evening Prayer.  Transport will be under Members' own arrangements: Oxford city centre is well served by rail and park-and-ride systems.  Tickets are £20 per person.

Monday, 17 June 2013 - Garter Day.

Please note that Chapel and Grass tickets are for Members only, but that Stand tickets may be obtained by Members for themselves and up to three accompanied guests.  Tickets will be distributed about one month before the event.  Tea will be available at 4.00 pm in the Vicars' Hall at a cost of £20 per person.  Please order in advance.

Thursday, 4 July 2013 – St George’s Chapel Tour following Evensong.

This event is open to Members and their guests.  Attend Evensong at 5.15 pm in St George's Chapel, which will be followed by a short summary of the history of the bosses in the roof vault and the opportunity of viewing the details, under the guidance of the Chapter Clerk.  The evening will end with a glass of wine in the Dean's Cloister.  The donation will be £15 per person.

Monday 9 to Thursday 12 September 2013 - Battlefield Tour to Ypres, Belgium, including a visit to St George’s Church Ypres.

This event is open to Members and their guests. Ypres is a key centre of the former battlefields of the First World War and the town remains a centre for pilgrimage, which enables visitors to witness the results of war – a reminder that we must strive for peace. The tour will include a visit to St George’s Memorial Church, the Flanders Field Museum and the Menin Gate in the town.  We have secured one of the best battlefield guides who is also the Chief Executive of the Not Forgotten Association. The visit includes travel by executive coach from London and return, three nights accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis at Novotel in the town centre, two dinners and one packed lunch, and entrance fees to the main historical sites (including Talbot House (TocH) at Poperinghe, Hooge Crater, Sanctuary Wood Museum and the Memorial Museum at Passchendaele). The cost is £440 per person in a double room and £565 in a single room. Please contact the Friends’ Office for further details and an application form.

Saturday, 5 October 2013 – Dinner in the Vicars' Hall.

This event is open to Members and a guest.  There will be a Black Tie dinner in the Vicars' Hall, commencing at 7.15 pm for 7.45 pm.  The cost will be £50 per person, to include pre-dinner drinks in the Dean's Cloister.  Overnight accommodation, in en-suite single or twin-bedded rooms with breakfast, is available in St George's House for £70 per person.  For members who wish to attend Evensong at 5.15 pm this will be followed by a Chapel tour for a donation of £15 per person.

Wednesday, 23 October 2013 – Bond Memorial Lecture.

This event is available to all. Dr Richard Barber will give a talk on 'The Company of the Garter; A Religious Confraternity.' in St George's Chapel at 7.30pm.

To request tickets please apply, including the names of all those requiring tickets, to: The Chapter Office, the Cloisters, Windsor Castle, Windsor SL4 1NJ with s.a.e. marked 'Bond Memorial Lecture' by Wednesday 9 October 2013.  Tickets are free by named ticket only.

Wednesday 30 October 2013 – Visit to St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire.

This event is open to Members and their guests. Following a pub lunch at 1.30 pm there will be a tour of St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire commencing at 3pm. This will be followed by the opportunity of attending Vespers, which will conclude at about 5pm. In 1880, the Empress Eugénie bought a house in Farnborough. Crushed by the loss of her husband Napoleon III in 1873 and the death in 1879 of her 23 year old son in the Zulu War (for whom there is a cenotaph in the South Quire Aisle in St George’s Chapel), she built St Michael’s Abbey as a monastery and the Imperial Mausoleum. Tickets are £20 per person, to include a light lunch.

Thursday, 14 November 2013 – St George’s Chapel Tour following Evensong.

This event is open to Members and their guests.  Attend Evensong at 5.15 pm in St George's Chapel, which will be followed by a short historical summary of the Chapel and the Order of the Garter, and a guided tour.  The evening will end with a glass of wine in the Dean's Cloister.  The donation will be £15 per person.