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THE FRIENDS' WORKING HOLIDAYS IN 2017 Saturday 3rd to Saturday 10th June 2017. The Seventh Year of Restoration at Červený Dvůr, an estate that was once the summer residence of the Schwarzenberg family and is now a sanatorium. Participants will work on the restoration of an 18th-century gardener’s cottage on the estate and help to recr...
SEPTEMBER 2016 - WORKING HOLIDAY AT KRÁSNÝ DVŮR A group of UK and Czech volunteers spent a week working to restore features in the famous landscape park at Krásný Dvůr in western Bohemia, part of the Czech Republic. This is one of the first landscape gardens on the Continent in the English style, and was much admired by Goethe. In glorious, h...
June 2016 - WORKING HOLIDAY The Friends' working holiday at Žďár nad Sázavou included maintenance of the Lower Cemetery (which was in fact never used for burials) and ran 11th-18th June. The site was built by the famous Baroque architect J. B. Santini-Aichel, and the work means that it can now be opened to the public. Tasks involved simple bu...
December 2015 - Work is currently progressing on the bay window roofs and attic floor of the Gardener's Cottage, the Mauricovna, at Červený Dvůr in South Bohemia. The Friends have held working holidays here each year since 2011. The cottage is an important feature in the landscape garden. It was a ruin, but with the help of UK volunteers it is bein...
August 2015 - The Friends have just completed our tour of three week-long working parties at Červený Dvůr where volunteers set about completing the major outstanding brickwork. Most had never laid a brick in their lives and many discovered a new skill. This and their productivity took the local doubters by surprise. Following this success we are no...
Summer 2014: We were a mixed party with ages ranging from early 20s to mid 70s and included students, a retired architect, social workers and a food store manager. We helped to lay the drains, built walls and excavated a cellar to provide storage, with a particular focus on the Mauricovna, a building in the grounds that we are helping to rescue. Ou...
Summer 2013 - An 18th Century Estate Cottage in the gardens of the Château of Červený Dvůr: The cottage is a ruin but with the help of our working holidays, volunteers have started to convert it to a post-therapy unit for the drug and alcohol treatment clinic situated in the château. This project is run with the kind assistance of MJP Architec...
August 2013 - The Mauricovna in Červeny Dvůr, South Bohemia, has benefited from the generosity of the Hargreaves and Ball Trust, which has already given extensive financial support to our other projects. We have now made a grant to cover the replacement of the roof. This is a huge step forward as it will not only prevent further deterioration of th...
Summer 2013 - The Friends' two weeks of working holidays, based in the grounds of the Château of Červený dvůr in South Bohemia, took place in June. As you can see, it's not all work, with visits to local cultural highlights such as UNESCO-listed Český Krumlov, not forgetting a glass or two of wonderful Czech beer. Why not join us? Expressions of in...
