Witney

Outings

To contact the Outings Group visit their table in the Lower Hall at the Thursday meeting or send a message to the Outings Organiser using the on-line form

FUTURE VISITS

VISIT TO BEAULIEU MOTOR MUSEUM WEDNESDAY 29TH MAY

The cost of this trip is £31.00 per person and it is only open to Witney U3A members.

There is a range of guided tours available if anybody is interested, but these have not been included as it would be personal choice; and with 61 of us it will get terribly confusing. Please go to the Beaulieu Groups and Tours page for more information

This visit will be on a first pay, first on the bus basis.

Payment by BACS (details in the link on the right of the page) or with cash or cheque at a speaker meeting

Please let the Outings Organiser know if you are interested in any of the following:

• A visit to the Portsmouth Navel Base after April
• A visit to the Beaulieu Motor Museum
• A trip to a Fred Olsen ship docked in Southampton

RECENT VISITS

Our March trip was to Cardiff and the Heritage Museum of Coal Mining
What a great day for a U3A outing to Cardiff. We started at the Royal Mint in Rhondda Cynon Taff seeing how all of our coins are made, sadly we were not able to photograph any of the manufacturing for obvious reasons. However, surprising the Royal Mint not only produce our coins, but the coins for so many other countries throughout the world.

And did you know that the Royal Mint originated in the Tower of London, before moving on to two other sites in London, before finally settling in Cardiff ?

Our second visit of the day was to the Rhondda Heritage Park located in Trehafod, Rhondda for our very special peek at the Welsh community whose lives depended on the mines that produced the coal that powered the world. This coal wasn't just a product that warmed our homes, but more importantly powered steam engines, and factories and the mighty steam ships crossing the oceans all powered by coal. Famously the Titanic was powered by coal from under the Rhondda valley.

We met our guide Martin, a second generation miner. Oooooh what an adventure................. We were lowered in a cage down into the mine, into the pitch blackness where the men, and children (some as young as four) worked in for long shifts together with pit ponies This mine went down as deep as the Empire State building is high !! From the bottom of the shaft the miners could walk as much as a mile and a half to the working seam with a pick and shovel the tools of their trade) for their 8 hour shift.

As we were such a large group, the centre split us into two groups, each with our own ex-miner as a guide. When asked each would they go back to work in the mines - both said 'yes, in a heartbeat'.

So, while their job was dangerous, full of perils (that we could not begin to understand), back breaking, and arduous; the strength of their comradery could many of us to shame.

It was a pure pleasure to meet every person who worked at the heritage centre, they made every effort to make out day a memorable one. The admiration we now have for a miner is off the scale.

On 26th February we visited Cineworld Witney for a private screening of Wicked Little Letters

Our visit to Cineworld to see the great Escaper on 18th October by Outings Organiser

U3A Witney had a private booking at the Cineworld cinema Witney yesterday, 18th October to see
THE GREAT ESCAPER with Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson

120 members attended and I have to say that I haven't seen such a beautifully presented film for years. It was touching, honest, and so poignant for many as fathers had been on the Normandy beaches

It was a great tribute to the film as when it ended, not a soul moved. Tears were being wiped away by most of the members as a reminder of what has gone, and hopefully for us, will not happen again.

I salute Bernard Johnson and all of our brave UK forces.

Visit to Buckingham Palace on 14th September

On Thursday 14th September, the weather was beautiful and our spirits were high as we made our way to London to conclude our palace trips, in honour of our late Queen's 70th Anniversary on the throne, with a visit to Buckingham Palace; that is now the London residence of His Majesty the King, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Household.

The 19 state rooms were beautifully furnished with French and English antique furniture, along with some of the treasures from the Royal Collection; including art by Rubens, Canaletto and Rembrandt.

More than 50,000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to State Banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and Garden Parties.

We were lucky to see the Coronation Robes as they were on display in the ballroom; I can't deny they were resplendent.

His Majesty is pictured in full regalia in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace. His Majesty is wearing The Robe of Estate, The Imperial State Crown and is holding the Sovereign’s Orb and Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross. His Majesty is seated on one of a pair of 1902 throne chairs that were made for the future King George V and Queen Mary for use at the Coronation of King Edward VII. These throne chairs were also used in the background of the 1937 Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and by His Majesty The King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Hall to receive addresses from the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament last year.

PAST EVENTS

Visit to Brighton

Our coach left an hour earlier than usual so that we could make the most of the day. The weather was absolutely glorious, we were very lucky.
Some members met with friends and relatives which was a lovely thing to do, while the rest of us just enjoyed the day by the sea.

My friends and I started with a walk on the pier and a coffee, just watching the holiday makers, until a little further down the pier I was coaxed onto the Galaxia. I must admit it was fun, with memories of days long gone by.
The rest of the day for me was a mixture of wandering through the shops in 'the lanes', enjoying a leisurely lunch by the beach, and generally just soaking up the sea air and atmosphere.

Visit to Duxford Imperial War Museum

The Outings group had their first trip of the year on the 4th October, and I’m happy to say that all went well. We set off for the Imperial War Museum in Duxford exactly on time, avoided the usual morning traffic jams, and it didn’t rain, which is always a bonus!

Duxford was amazing, with more than enough to keep us all occupied for the day. We saw Spitfires taking off and landing, explored hangars that are crammed full of every type of plane imaginable, including Concorde, the Vulcan, an entire range of Battle of Britain planes, and a hangar dedicated to American planes also.

The Battle of Britain section had an Operations Room from where men and women who worked on the ground at this site directed the station’s pilots into combat. It sent a shiver through you to listen to the commentary of flight operations during the Second World War.

I’m sure that many will take the opportunity to visit again, maybe on one of the Flight days Duxford have during the year.

BBC TV Studios Birmingham - February 2020

We visited the BBC TV Studios at Birmingham at the end of February 2020, and thankfully we didn’t have to cope with blizzards or gales on the day, other than a very heavy hailstorm as we were coming out of Birmingham!

I think I can say that we all enjoyed our tour of the BBC. We certainly learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in both radio and television. It was interesting to see the familiar red settee where the local news presenters sit to read the local news every day, but what we were surprised about were the long hours that they work to get the news to us.

Even more fascinating was hearing all about production of the Archers, which is recorded at BBC Birmingham. If you’ve ever wondered how a recording studio can be transformed into a working farm, or the bar at the Bull, all is revealed. I’ll let you into a little secret, the bar at the Bull is a wooden box that they’ve used for years, and is now held together with tape to stop it falling apart, and the farmyard gate is really an ironing board! But enough of that, I don’t want to let out too many secrets.

The tour was rounded off with a quick trip down memory lane in the form of the Tardis and one of those Daleks that we all used to be scared of in Dr Who. A very enjoyable way to spend a day!

Classical Spectacular, Royal Albert Hall - Sunday 24th November 2019

A trip to the Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall is always a winner, and this year was no exception. We were treated to amazing performances of the 1812 Overture, Rule Britannia, and Nimrod, not to forget Nesun Dorma and that all-time favourite, Pomp and Circumstance, plus many more. Plenty of flag waving opportunities!

We made record time up to London on Sunday morning and were at the Victoria and Albert Museum by 11am, allowing plenty of time to look around before the afternoon performance. On the way home we were treated to the Christmas lights in Regent Street and Oxford Street. Unfortunately the traffic along the Western Avenue was awful, so we were all glad to put our feet up when we got home.

Classical Spectacular photos courtesy of John Palmer

Blists Hill and Ironbridge - Wednesday 17th July 2019

If you’ve ever wanted to be transported back in time, then the Victorian town of Blists Hill, at Ironbridge, is a good place to start. Wandering round the Victorian shops is fascinating, comparing prices with what we’d pay now. For example, who would ever think that sirloin steak, at 11d (old pennies), would have been cheaper in those days than rump steak at 1s 2d.

Visiting the school, complete with its own Victorian school teacher, was an eye opener ... children were to sit up straight with their hands in front of them, and heaven forbid if they slouched at all during the day!

We also stopped off at the bridge, and the sheer beauty of the setting wasn’t deterred by the fact that it was raining by then. A great area to visit, with plenty more places to see if you’re there for a few days.

Houses of Parliament and (optional) Westminster Abbey - Monday 20th May 2019

The Outings Group visited the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey in May, and except for running a bit late in the morning due to road closures and roadworks in London, all went well. We had a very interesting tour of Parliament, including the Houses of Commons and Lords, which were a lot smaller than many of us had realised by seeing them on the television. But we had “special dispensation” to sit on those hallowed benches and most of us took the opportunity!

Robert Courts, our local MP, came down to visit us after our tour, and gave us a very knowledgeable talk on the links between West Oxfordshire and the Houses of Parliament, and then stayed to chat to us for a while.

Westminster Abbey was magnificent and we all had free time to explore every nook and cranny with our multi-media recorders, before catching the coach home, tired but hopefully satisfied with a good day out.