THERE was a good attendance at the June 15 meeting to hear Hector Sutherland, one time deputy chief guide at Charlecote Park, give a talk on the 18th century grand tour.

He referred to the earliest of grand tours made by members of the Lucy family of Charlecote as far back as the 1600s and 1700s - some going for cultural purposes and others for their health.

He gave a graphic description of the trials and tribulations that beset the travellers on their journeys in the 18th century, mainly by those who could afford the time to go and the cost entailed.

The young male aristocracy also went on these tours, accompanied by a leader as a sort of finishing school to their education. Paris and Rome were two popular destinations, but getting to these places was far from easy.

It could take three days to get from London to France as arrival times were unpredictable and as hours could be added to a journey, accommodation could not be booked in advance.

Sea travel was little better than by land, storms could delay voyages and drive ships off course and passages were sometimes complete din a rowing boat when harbours could not be entered. Continental roads were in a poor state, usually following the network built by the Romans. Accidents would occur and the occasional robbers made any journey an ordeal.

In places like the Alps, transport would be by mule. On one occasion the Lucy family, travelling as a party of seven, suffered the death of the youngest child, who was taken to British officials to be dispatched home in a lead coffin.

The result of these tours was to introduce elements of continental culture into Britain, the work of artists and architects reflecting this. Many of the stately homes in this country contain objects brought back from these tours, the marble floor in the entrance hall of Charlecote and the lapis lazuli candlesticks being fine examples.

Following numerous questions, Anne Fox warmly thanked Mr Sutherland for his entertaining and informative talk.