The Pirates of Penzance has been well loved for over a century. Performed by various opera companies, including the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. As the fifth collaboration by Gilbert and Sullivan, it has been performed on Broadway, imitated by various companies, and modernised into film. A true comic opera of two acts. Officially premiering at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, New … Read More
It’s Back…The 6th Harrow Whisky Festival!
It’s just over two weeks until the popular Harrow Whisky Festival returns to the Grim’s Dyke Hotel on Friday 6th & Saturday 7th January. With the festival delayed in previous years due to the global pandemic, excitement and anticipation is high. The featured distillers and bottlers are ready to make this a wonderful event you’ll truly remember. The Festival This … Read More
10 steps to organising a Corporate Event
A corporate event needs to run smoothly and look effortless. But, if you’re looking to organise a corporate event for your company, you’ll know – they take a lot of effort and time to arrange! Whether you’re looking to organise a corporate event for your staff, clients or the general public, here are our top 10 steps to making corporate … Read More
Top ten tips for organising your next conference
If you’re looking to organise a conference, you’ll no doubt be feeling overwhelmed by the task ahead. Organising your next conference is quite a large task but, if you follow these top ten tips, you’ll be able to lose some of the overwhelm and get on with the tasks! #1: Assign a team to help organise your next conference Don’t … Read More
Harrow Wine Festival
Further to the success of our popular wine tasting evenings and the annual Harrow Whisky festival, the Grim’s Dyke Hotel is delighted to be bringing you our first full wine festival – the Harrow Wine Festival. We’re looking to provide you with a wide range of vineyards – both covering the world perspective and the main English/Welsh wine regions. UK … Read More
D’Oyly: the man who initiated the Gilbert & Sullivan collaboration
Richard D’Oyly Carte, English composer, talent agent, impresario and hotelier, was born in the West End of London on 3rd May 1844. He was instrumental in bringing together W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, as well funding and creating two of London’s theatres, an opera company and the incredibly successful Savoy chain of hotels. Carte was born into a family that appreciated … Read More
Top 10 facts about Grim’s Dyke
Originally a country home, Grim’s Dyke has a wide and varied history, not only because of who owned the property over the years, but for who built it and what it subsequently became in later life. It’s one of the few country houses that survived war, recession and demolition – so it’s only fair that we honour that achievement, by … Read More
W.S. Gilbert – a man of principles and passions
W.S. Gilbert was often portrayed as a gruff, prickly, disagreeable man, something he was quick to play up to, however this wasn’t always accurate. He didn’t suffer fools easily and often spoke his mind, making him confrontational –something that lost him several friendships and often caused rifts between himself and Sullivan. But Gilbert was a man of principle and he could … Read More
Great sporting moments of The British Masters
Originally founded in 1946 and entitled ‘The Dunlop Masters’, The British Masters will be coming to The Grove in Hertfordshire, this year. As we, at the Grim’s Dyke Hotel, are only a short distance away (under ten miles away), we thought we’d celebrate some of the great sporting moments it has seen so far. Great sporting moments of The British Masters The original great … Read More
Life of a Victorian writer
The Victorian era has bought us some of the most famous writers in history – Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, the Bronte sisters, W.S. Gilbert, Robert Browning and George Bernard Shaw. These playwrights, poets and authors created works that continued to delight us, long after their deaths – but what was it really like for the Victorian writers? Victorian Literature and Overnight Celebrity It was … Read More