August's historic trips… Ten Things To Do

Compton Verney art gallery is looking at the history of human perception of volcanoes, including the art that they have inspired over the last 500 years. Here you’ll find paintings, photographs, prints, film, books and diaries, following a theme of volcanic eruption – from dormancy to grumbling warnings, to eruption and then back to peace and eventual extinction. Included are works by Warhol, Turner, Volaire, Joseph Wright and David Allan.
Exhibition: Volcano: Turner to Warhol
Compton Verney, Warwickshire
Until 31 October
01926 645500
www.comptonverney.org.uk

Experience medieval England

England’s Medieval Festival is now in its 18th year, and will make for a lively day out. There’s a medieval artillery display, twice-daily sieges and a grand parade featuring knights, ladies, mounted horses and performers. Archers gather to compete in the longbow and crossbow competitions, and strolling minstrels and medieval puppeteers can be enjoyed.
Event: England’s Medieval Festival
Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex
28–30 August
www.englandsmedievalfestival.com

Learn of a neglected genius

Referred to by those in the know as ‘Britain’s forgotten genius’, William Armstrong (1810–1900) was an inventor and industrialist involved in the construction of the Swing Bridge and Jesmond Dene Hotel, the founding of the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Great North Museum: Hancock, and the restoration of Bamburgh Castle. He employed 25,000 workers in the north-east and was a great source of inventions and scientific achievements. Learn more about a remarkable man at the Discovery Museum.
Exhibition: William Armstrong: A Spark of Inspiration
Discovery Museum, Newcastle
FREE ENTRY
Until 16 January 2011
0191 232 6789
www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery

Spot a good impression

A major international exhibition in the National Gallery Complex will include 90 works loaned from collections all around the world, and will deal with Impressionist painters and their treatment of the garden in their work. This was a constant theme in Impressionist painting, and there will be examples from Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Manet and Sisley. Also you’ll be able to see work from the next generation, such as Cézanne and Pierre Bonnard.
Exhibition: Impressionist Gardens
National Gallery Complex, Edinburgh
Until 17 October
0131 624 6200
www.nationalgalleries.org

Have all the fun of the festival

Enjoy a free event where you can experience a day of heritage films, talks, re-enactors and live music. There are also plenty of family events on offer – you can choose a history treasure trail, discover Domesday Book, uncover Norman Gloucester and walk in the footsteps of William the Conqueror. The whole thing will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, and there will be events held at the cathedral, the Folk Museum, the guildhall and the City Museum and Art Gallery.
Event: BBC History Festival
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
FREE ENTRY
28 August
01452 308585
www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire

Relive regency times

The penultimate weekend of August will see the pleasure grounds at Kedleston Hall taken over by a redcoat encampment and arena, regency crafts tents, children’s activities and entertainments, regency music and song, and plenty of costumed ladies and gentlemen. Visitors can watch the uniformed and drilled redcoats complete with muskets blazing and have a go at regency dancing lessons. There will also be talks on fashion and crafts, and a Mr Punch show featuring Napoleon Bonaparte himself.
Event: Regency Living History Weekend
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
21–22 August
01332 842191
www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Meet a photographic pioneer

The ground-breaking French photographer Camille Silvy is the subject of a National Portrait Gallery retrospective, 100 years after his death. Silvy, who operated in the 1850s and 60s, was noted for his early attempts at street photography, celebrity portraits and image manipulation. This exhibition contains dozens of photographs, a number of which have not been seen since Victorian times.
Exhibition: Camille Silvy, Photographer of Modern Life, 1834–1910
National Portrait Gallery, London
Until 24 October
020 7306 0055
www.npg.org.uk

Understand Scott’s Welsh

On 15 June 1910, Captain Scott’s ship ss Terra Nova left Bute Dock in Cardiff and headed to Antarctica. The figurehead of Terra Nova is now the centrepiece of an exhibition in Swansea. Among the treasures on display are a handful of rocks, part of a load of geological specimens found on Scott’s sledge when his body and those of his companions were discovered.
Exhibition: From Coal to Pole: Wales and Antarctica
National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
FREE ENTRY
Until 10 October
01792 638950
www.museumwales.ac.uk

Observe historic objects

Visit Exeter’s guildhall to see ten objects from the Royal and Albert Memorial Museum’s collection, each with a compelling story to tell. In association with the Radio 4 series on 100 great historical objects presented by Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, this exhibition takes a Devonian perspective. Modern scientific techniques have been employed to uncover the past of each object, revealing some fascinating history.
Exhibition: A History of the World in 10 Objects
Guildhall, Exeter
FREE ENTRY
Until 7 September
01392 665858
www.rammuseum.org.uk

Remember the few

To mark the 70th anniversary of its delivery, an excerpt from Churchill’s speech: “Never has so much been owed by so many to so few,” will be delivered from the plaza outside the Cabinet War Rooms on 20 August. At 3:32pm, a fly-past over Whitehall of a Spitfire and Hurricane will follow the delivery of the speech. Members of the public will then be encouraged to explore the historic rooms and museum where a team of re-enactors will stage an interactive display designed to show how an RAF operations room plotting table would have been operated during the Battle of Britain.
Event: The Few
Churchill War Rooms, London
20 August
020 7930 6961
www.iwm.org.uk