Summer event and Annual General Meeting at Broad Leys, 18th-20th September 2026

Applications are now invited for our summer event and Annual General Meeting at Broad Leys on 18th-20th September 2026.

Broad Leys

The main venue for this event will be Broad Leys, built for the Yorkshire colliery owner Arthur Currer Briggs in 1898 on the shore of Windermere in seven acres of land with extensive lake access. It is now in the care of the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club (WMBRC).

• More information on Broad Leys

Optional additional visits will include:

• Moor Crag, designed by Voysey in 1898 for the Manchester businessman J.W. Buckley; described by Duncan Simpson as "The single most important house designed by Voysey" (C.F.A. Voysey: an architect of individuality (1979), p.43
• Blackwell, designed by Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott in 1901 for Sir Edward Holt, a wealthy Manchester brewer
• Windermere Jetty Museum, covering over 200 years of Windermere’s boating heritage

Programme

Friday 18th September

• 19.00: evening meal at Broad Leys (optional)

Saturday 19th September

All times following the start are approximate.

• 9.30 : registration and morning refreshments
• 10.00-10.30 : Annual General Meeting
• 10.30-11.30 : H.M.Baillie Scott: Arts and Crafts architect, a talk by Peter Longworth
• 11.30-12.20 : 10 great houses of the Arts and Crafts movement bearing the influence of C.F.A. Voysey, a talk by David Cole
• 12.20-12.35 : Baillie Scott – architect and author, William Fawcett will introduce his new book, due to be published shortly
• 12.35-13.35 : buffet lunch and first tours of Broad Leys (including those going to Moor Crag later)
• 13.35-16.15 : depart for Blackwell (guided tour at about 14.00) or Windermere Jetty Museum for those who have booked; free time for everyone else
• 16.15 : tea and second tours of Broad Leys, or visit to Moor Crag (only for those who have booked and have not visited the house previously), by kind permission of Heather Rhodes and Peter White
• 19.00 for 19.30: grand fifteenth anniversary celebration dinner (optional)

Sunday 20th September

• 10.30: boat cruise from the Windermere Jetty Museum (optional)

Charges

Attendance at the Annual General Meeting (10.00-10.30) is free of charge for all members of the Society, although booking is essential. The charges for the rest of the event are as follows. The costs of some of these options are approximate and will depend on how many people want to take part, and numbers will have to be limited according to capacity.

At Broad Leys

• Meal on Friday evening: £25
• Talks on Saturday morning, tour of Broad Leys, sandwich lunch: £30
• Group visit and guided tour of Blackwell: £10
• Dinner at Broad Leys on Saturday evening: £45 (wine and other drinks to be bought individually on the night)

Outings

• Transport: £20
• Blackwell (house and exhibition): £10
• Windermere Jetty Museum: £8
• Lake cruise: between £21 and £28

Directions

By road

The address of Broad Leys is Ghyll Head, Windermere, Cumbria LA23 3LJ.

Travel to junction 36 of the M6 motorway. Take the A591 to Windermere and stay on this road for approximately fifteen miles until you reach Windermere town. Turn left on to the A592 through Windermere and into Bowness. Continue for approximately two miles, past the public slipway signed from the main road. Passing the Storrs Hall hotel on the right, in approximately half a mile you will approach a sharp bend that curves left, and then sweeps to the right and climbs uphill. On this bend is a junction with the B5360. Broad Leys is the next building on the right. You will first see a large green gate that is usually closed, and the next entrance is to the drive and car park.

See a Google map of the location of Broad Leys.

By public transport

There is a railway station in the town of Windermere, at the end of a branch line from Oxenholme.

Bus route 6 passes Broad Leys via Windermere.

How to apply

Please download this application form and email the completed form to chair@voyseysociety.org.