I can only speak about what I've seen or plan to see, but here it goes. First of all, the Lace Guild has a really lovely guide to lace and lace collections in the UK. It's more than worth the price. It gives a synopsis of the overall holdings of a museum or stately house, etc, the hours and days they are open (and perhaps, more importantly closed), In most cases it describes the types of lace and how to arrange to see them.
UK Honiton in Devon - All Hallows Museum - not to be missed. It really is a lovely collection of lace. It used to be a much nicer stop when the Honiton Lace Shop was open, but Jonathon has closed it and opened up an Italian Eatery instead. http://www.cyberlink.co.uk/allhallows/honiton/ Olney in Buckinghamshire - It has the home of Cowper which is used as the Cowper and Newton Museum, when you look out the window, you can see the spire of the church which is very reminiscent and supposedly the inspiration for the church window bobbins. It has a small lace collection with a small room of lace AND if you walk down the main street (ask at the museum which way) there's a building with a lacemaker in the stone pediment. Very cool to have pictures of.... http://www.information-britain.co.uk/showPlace.cfm?Place_ID=11756 Cecil Higgins Gallery and the Bedford Museum (they are next door to each other) in Bedford, Bedfordshire - Cecil Higgins has some nice lace to view, especially some nice pieces of Thomas Lester lace, don't skip the panels of lace that sit kind of out in the hallway in the second floor (If they are still there). Cecil Higgins has eye-candy-lots of lace on display, Bedford museum deals more with social history of the county. There are lacemakers and pillows and bobbins in the Bedford Museum. http://www.cecilhigginsartgallery.org/ http://www.bedfordmuseum.org/ Bath - Museum of Textiles, lace on costumes, nice, but I like lace for lace's sake Luton - A nice display of lace in glass cases and drawers. It is worthwhile to request to look at the collection that is not on display. They have, for example, hundreds of not thousands of prickings. It's close to London, so could be a day trip from there. Chris has a little blurb in his website http://www.lace-bobbins.co.uk/luton.htm Victoria and Albert Museum in London - Slide out panels of lots of lace and other textiles. It's very nice to spend time in the textile room, sketching lace and taking pictures (no tripod allowed, but you can take photos without a flash.) It's not far from Harrods. http://www.vam.ac.uk/ I'd like to go to the Buckingham Museum but haven't made it there. The lace fairy has a good list http://lace.lacefairy.com/LaceMuseums.htm#England France - I've been to Bayeux, Le-Puy-en-Velay, Brioude, Courselles, Alencon and Argentan. It's all in a swirl in my mind but the highlights were: The museum in the town center of Le-Puy, LOT of lace. The lace shop in Le-Puy is full of patterns and other supplies, There's a museum next door that is nice. Brioude is home to Odette Arpin and her lace shop and the museum there is very good, especially for modern lace. Bayeux has some lace and lacemakers along with patterns. (Don't forget the tapestry) I'm not sure you can visit the Museum in Courselles on your own, as we prearranged it as a group. Alencon has a nice museum, Argentan lace is in a house in the middle of seemingly no where but was quite complete and pleasant. The Lace Fairy has a good list http://lace.lacefairy.com/LaceMuseums.htm#France http://www.ot-lepuyenvelay.fr/versionanglaise/siteang/images/arc/j2.html http://www.ladentelledupuy.com/uk/salle_expo/pres.html http://en.ot-brioude.fr/brioude.html http://en.ot-brioude.fr/lace-exhibition2.html http://www.ville-alencon.fr/dentelle/anglais/howtoseealenconlace.htm http://www.travelswithfriends.com/Destination_Bayeux.htm Belgium - Bruges of course. and the linen and lace museum in Kortrijk It has the most lovely piece of Bloemwerk I've ever seen. http://www.thelinenhouse.com/EN/AboutLinen_InterestingSites.htm Have fun, it's too much to do in one go, but you will enjoy what you DO see. Lace in Peace, Laurie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
