Croft-on-Tees for a Summer Outing in 2003.
Friday, 4th July to Sunday 6th July
 
NOTE: This outing is now fully subscribed. However, if you are interested in attending, we invite you to make contact, just in case space becomes available nearer the time.

For further information:
CLICK HERE to contact Keith Wright (Event Organiser).

Croft was Lewis Carroll’s home for 25 years from his leaving Daresbury aged eleven in 1843 until the death of his father in 1868 when he was thirty-six years old. The family then moved south to Guildford. Even after 1868 he visited Yorkshire, his last major visit being when his brother Wilfred married Alice Jane Donkin at Whitby in 1871.

The weekend is intended to include short talks on the connection the Dodgson family had with Croft and will also include a tour of the Rectory, now the Old Rectory, a visit to St Peter’s Church and his mother and father’s grave. In addition, there will be a trip on the Saturday to Richmond in Yorkshire 10 miles from Croft.  Dodgson walked there and back but we will be taking a coach! Richmond is an old Yorkshire town, which features a castle and a cobbled market place. It was here that Charles Dodgson went to school in 1844, a school under the guidance of the headmaster James Tate who was the first outside the family to recognise his abilities.

Despite the fact that the young Dodgson went on from Richmond school to Rugby and Oxford, his home base, to which he returned often throughout his school and college days, was at Croft.

The weekend is offered at £190 per person with a discount of £10 per person for double/twin bed occupancy and includes:

• Two nights bed, breakfast and evening meal at the Croft Spa hotel. The accommodation is mainly in double or twin-bedded rooms.

• Use of a meeting room and other hotel facilities – these can be viewed at:
  www.s-h-systems.co.uk/hotels/croftspa.html 

• Lunch on Saturday at Richmond 

• Printed matter, booklets, etc.

• Coach journey to places of interest.

The hotel is popular so you are advised to book early. A deposit of £50 per person payable to The Lewis Carroll Society is required at the time of booking.

To apply, first read the booking conditions below, then follow the link at the bottom to our printable booking form. Or contact the Lewis Carroll Society to request a pre-printed booking form (address below).
 

• This event is organised by the Lewis Carroll Society, a charity registered in the United Kingdom. The booking must be made by a paid up member of the Lewis Carroll Society, although guests are welcome in the same party.

• The weekend begins at 3.00 pm on the Friday with tea/coffee plus an introductory talk and ends on the Sunday afternoon after lunch at the Croft Spa Hotel.

• The details here are for guidance only and may be subject to change in order that best use can be made of the programme to the benefit of the participants.

• Cheques must be in sterling drawn on a UK bank or in US dollars drawn on a US Bank and made payable to The Lewis Carroll Society.

• All the accommodation is in the Croft Spa hotel directly opposite the Old Rectory where Charles Dodgson’s family lived.

• The cost of the package is £190 per person, with a discount of £10 per person for double room occupancy. The hotel has 12 twin-bedded rooms available. These rooms will be allocated on a first come basis. 

• In the event of cancellation, the Lewis Carroll Society will refund as much as possible, but will first cover the cost of any liabilities incurred.

• Members are advised to take out holiday insurance to cover any cancellation fees or risk of loss or injury during the event.

• Members are expected to make their own way to Croft wherever possible. Darlington main line railway station is five miles away and the A1 trunk road is six miles from Croft via Scotch Corner. Croft-on-Tees is 253 miles from London via the motorway network. Please contact Keith Wright if you can offer a lift to someone else or if you would like us to help arranging transport within the UK.

• A trip to Ripon on the Monday is being considered at the moment (either leaving Croft late Sunday afternoon or Monday afternoon) and depends upon the demand. There is a new Lewis Carroll exhibition scheduled at Ripon and access to the Bishop’s Palace grounds, which was closed to us before, is now possible. The cost of this, including hotel accommodation (Sunday night) and lunch (on Monday), is likely to be in the region of £80 per person.

For further information:
CLICK HERE to contact Keith Wright (Event Organiser).

If you want to get a better idea of what our outings are like, then
CLICK HERE to read about last year's trip to Daresbury