What this Group does - Each session is self-contained and covers an area of broad architectural or landscape interest - for example local buildings, famous architects, historic landscapes. In any one session, we always aim to learn and see something new and interesting. A typical session will have 40 minutes well-illustrated presentation and up to 20 minutes group discussion. For information on past Group sessions, see Past Presentations.

This session will look at key buildings from the architectural viewpoint both within the palace complex at Windsor Castle and across the Crown Estate of Windsor Great Park. We'll also look at the landscape features of Windsor Great Park. Windsor Castle and estate has been a place of ceremony and royal business as well as a home and retreat for the monarch and his or her family for almost 1,000 years. Several monarchs and architects have left their mark on it with buildings in a range of architectural styles, notably Norman, Perpendicular Gothic, Baroque and Gothic Revival. And we'll see the other lodges, cottages, royal chapel, mausoleum and hideaways that make the estate such a history book.

21st May, 2:30pm in the Studio

Three Ten Minute Landscapes

Three Brecon u3a members - Richard Walker, Laura Woodside-Jones and Tony Hamnett - will each talk about a locations that is of special interest to them. Chantmarle Manor is a fine 17th century Jacobean Manor House in Dorset which has been in both private and public ownership over the years. Beguildy Church in rural Radnorshire, restored in Victorian times, dates from the 14th century. And all that we can reveal about the third location is that it's in the Home Counties and has a link to the film Dr Strangelove. Come along and find out more!

9th July, 1:15pm in the Studio

The Arts and Crafts Movement in Architecture

This session will look at the development of the Arts and Crafts Movement in the design, construction and internal furnishing of buildings. This will include its origins in the 1880s in emphasising traditional features of design and decoration as a reaction against a perceived decline in standards of design resulting from increasing industrialisation. We'll look at how the movement was influenced by the thoughts and designs of Augustus Pugin, John Ruskin, William Morris, Norman Shaw and Charles Voysey, and see examples of notable buildings including William Morris's own home, the Red House, and Cragside country house - both now in the care of the National Trust.