JOIN US ON OUR HOSTED GROUP

"IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ANNE LISTER" TOUR

ENTRY TO SHIBDEN HALL WITH PRIVATE GUIDED TOURS OF

HALIFAX, SHIBDEN GROUNDS & YORK

PLUS EXCLUSIVE TALK BY WRITER & HISTORIAN

JILL LIDDINGTON WHOSE BOOK FEMALE FORTUNE

INSPIRED THE CREATION OF THE BBC1 SERIES

​GENTLEMAN JACK
Anne Lister's School
Manor School, York. Anne Lister's school where she met Eliza Raine
Blue Badge Guide
We use Blue Badge Guides
2-3 JULY 2022
£296 pp
​PROVISIONAL ITINERARY:
Friday 1st July 2022
Optional arrival - make your own way to Halifax.  Our hosts will meet you at a local restaurant for dinner if you wish to arrive on Friday 
Saturday 2nd July 2022
9am Meet your Diva Destinations hosts and guide for a 3 hour "In the footsteps of Anne Lister" guided walking tour of Halifax. Including entry to the Grand Salon of the Alibi Bar (once home to Rawsons Bank). During our visit, you will have an exclusive talk by writer & historian Jill Liddington (tea & coffee included) plus entry to Halifax Minster.
1.30pm You will be transferred by private coach to Shibden Hall for your guided tour of the grounds, followed by entry to Shibden Hall where you will have time at your leisure to explore the house and grounds further.
4pm You will be transferred back to Halifax by private coach.
Spend the evening at your leisure. Feel free to join your Diva Destinations hosts for dinner in one of the lovely restaurants in the Piece Hall (not included)
Sunday 3rd July 2022
9am You will be transferred by private coach to York.
10am Embark on our 3 hour "The life & loves of Anne Lister" guided walking tour of York. You will see where Anne had her first kiss, the school where she met her first love Eliza Raine plus an exterior visit to Fairfax House and Treasurers House (where filming of Gentleman Jack took place) Plus much much more. We end our tour with exclusive entry to the Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York where Ann Walker and Anne Lister took communion together in 1834 to seal their union.
1pm Time for a lunch stop (not included in your price)
Spend the afternoon at your leisure exploring the beautiful city of York before being transferred back to Halifax by 4pm for your return journey
Due to large numbers visiting the area, we reserve the right to make small time/entry changes to the itinerary
The Piece Hall
Anne Lister began transcribing her life at the age of fifteen, continuing up to her untimely death at the age of 49. Not mere diaries, Miss Lister’s writings describe the everyday life of the late 18th century / early 19th century England. Her work, totally 22 volumes and over 6 million words, is considered so important that UNESCO has placed her diaries in their UK Memory of the World collection, one of only twenty such objects honoured in this regard.
 
Her entries did not stop with politics, science of the day, land management and local society. What makes Miss Lister’s work so compelling are her “crypt-hand” entries. Making up over twenty per cent of the content, Miss Lister used this code to describe, in detail, her emotional life. As she herself said: “I love and only love the fairer sex and thus believed by them in turn, my heart retreats from any love but theirs.” Her diaries give a full depiction of her search for love. Though she travelled great distances in her search, she finally found her life partner in Ann Walker, also of Halifax.
 
Members of the modern-day LGBTQ community have found her courage, resilience and full belief that God had created her exactly as He planned both inspiring and comforting. Anne Lister has become a modern-day icon through the writings of Helena Whitbread, the first to decode and publish Anne’s writings in detail, including the most intimate passages. It was Helena Whitbread’s work, followed on by Jill Liddington, that eventually inspired Sally Wainwright to present the story of Anne Lister and Ann Walker to the world in the form of Gentleman Jack.