Tuesday 18 August 2015

Silchester Dig 17 Aug to 13 Sep

For those of you who wish to see archaeology in action I have just been told that there is a dig taking place at Silchester this year during 17th Aug – 13th Sept. See attached flyer for information.

There is a public Open Day on Sunday 13th September or you can visit the site Monday – Friday between 10 am and 4.30pm.

WHO CAN VISIT AND WHAT IS THERE TO SEE?

Everyone is welcome! You can visit us Monday to Friday on either of the sites between
10am and 4.30pm. We are not open weekends except Sunday 13th September.

If you intend to come in a larger group please let us know in advance:
j.e.eaton@reading.ac.uk so we can welcome and accommodate everyone. Please be aware
that parking at Little Heath car park for Pond Farm is severely limited so do share a lift or
arrange drop offs there or at Little Cottages (marked on the adjacent site map). Access to
Pond Farm is on foot via permitted paths (shown on the map) by kind permission of the
Englefield Estate. It’s a pleasant and relatively easy, approx 10 minutes walk within Benyon’s

Enclosure up to the hillfort but may not be suitable for everyone. Cycling is not allowed.

For Silchester Insula III please park in the public car park and follow the footpath to the
Roman town and the excavation. For directions to Silchester Roman Town public car park
visit: reading.ac.uk/silchester

You will be able to see our archaeologists at work on both sites but there will also be finds
and environmental processing going on at Insula III. For safety reasons there will be strictly
no access to the trenches themselves but you will be able to see them being excavated.

There will also be a Public Open Day at the end of the dig at both excavations, on
Sunday Sept 13th 10-4.30pm.

Saturday 15 August 2015

Salisbury & District Outings

OUTINGS NEWS – AUGUST 2015
Trips are offered to all U3A members from 10am at our meetings or by post using a reply slip available from the desk
 
17 MARCH 2016 – BOOKING NOW
Matthew Bourne’s haunting new scenario of SLEEPING BEAUTY is a gothic tale of good vs evil and rebirth, creating a supernatural love story the passage of time cannot hinder.  Perrault’s timeless fairy tale about a young girl cursed to sleep for a hundred years became a legendary ballet by Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa in 1890. Bourne takes this date as his starting point, setting the christening of Aurora, the heroine, in the year of the ballet’s first performance. Aurora grows into a young woman in the more rigid, uptight Edwardian era; a mythical, golden age of long summer afternoons, croquet on the lawn, and new dance crazes. Awakening a century later, Aurora finds herself in the modern day; a world more mysterious than any fairy story. Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty premiered in 2012 and completed his trio of re-imagined Tchaikovsky ballet masterworks that started in 1992 with Nutcracker! and most famously in 1995, with the international hit Swan Lake. Winning many awards, this dazzling production smashed box office records across the UK and at Sadler’s Wells.  Its USA premiere in 2013 prompted  The New York Times to report, “This is Bourne at his best – a masterful storyteller.”  Cost:  £30 to include Mayflower matinee center stalls ticket, coach and driver’s gratuity.

THURSDAY 13TH AUGUST 2015 – BOOKING NOW
ATHELHAMPTON HOUSE, GARDENS AND MAREVNA GALLERY. Built in 1485, the Great Hall of Athelhampton House offers a fine example of Tudor architecture with its linen-fold panelling, heraldic stained glass, large fireplace and historic furnishings.  Leading from the Great Hall are the Great Chamber and Library in the East Wing, the King’s Room, and Wine Cellar.  The Gallery on the second floor features work by the artist Marevna, The West Wing houses a fine dining room, the Yellow and State Bedrooms, the Dressing Room, and a Bathroom with a copper bath. The formal architecture of the garden is balanced by woodland scenes.  The formal gardens, built between 1891 and 1899 by Alfred Carl de Lafontaine, feature striking pyramid shaped yews which now dominate the Great Court.  The Corona, the Private Garden, the Canal, and Octagonal Pond lead you through the gardens to the River Piddle where the river walk takes you through natural areas to the ancient dovecote. The Visitor Centre offers a gift shop and The Coach House Restaurant (menu online).   Cost:  £24.00 to include coach, driver gratuity, coffee and shortbread on arrival, guided tour, and entry to the castle, gardens and gallery. Depart WILTON (W) opposite the Italianate Church 9.30 a.m. MILLSTREAM COACH PARK Castle Street (S) 9.45 a.m. LONDON ROAD PARK & RIDE (P) 10.00 a.m.  Coach leaves Athelhampton at 4:30pm.

Tuesday 15 September 2015 – booking now
PETWORTH HOUSE in West Sussex is a late 17th-century Grade I listed mansion offering paintings by JMW Turner and Van Dyck, carvings by Grinling Gibbons and Ben Harms,  sculptures by John Flaxman and John Edward Carew, and wall and ceiling paintings by Louis Laguerre. A terrestrial globe by Emery Molyneux is believed to be the only one in the world in its original 1592 state. A handwritten copy of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales can be seen in the Somerset Room.  The servants’ quarters include fascinating kitchens which include a copper batterie de cuisine of over 1,000 pieces. The 700-acre landscaped PARK designed by Capability Brown and often painted by Turner houses the largest herd of fallow deer in England. The 30-acre woodland garden is known as the Pleasure Ground. Petworth House and Park are immediately adjacent to the historic market town of Petworth offering picturesque streets, shops and restaurants. As an insight into past estate workers’ lives, the Petworth Cottage Museum in the High Street is furnished as it would have been in about 1910. Cost:  £15 to include coach and driver gratuity.  Entry to the House and Park is free to National Trust members (please don’t forget your card) and £11.20 at Petworth for non-National Trust members. Depart WILTON (W) 8:30am opposite Italianate Church ; MILLSTREAM COACH PARK, Castle Street  (S)  8:45am;  London Road Park and Ride (P) 9am. The coach will leave Petworth at 4:30pm.


THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER 2015 – BOOKING NOW

Option 1: OXFORD MUSEUMS, COLLEGES & GALLERIES – Oxford,  the city of dreaming spires, is steeped in rich and fascinating history. Famous for its prestigious  University, the city is home to its 38 colleges from which many notable scholars have graduated. Oxford Tourist Information in Broad Street offers a free city map, an excellent Visitors’ Guide (£2.99), and Walking (£9) and City Sightseeing Bus (£10) Tour tickets or you can order yours on line beforehand. The Radcliffe Camera, Bodleian Library and Bridge of Sighs are just a few of the famous buildings of Oxford. Its charming scenery has inspired many, including Lewis Carroll and JRR Tolkien.  Oxford is also a popular film and TV location for productions including Harry Potter and Inspector Morse.  There are many free museums and art galleries.  Our coach will drop us off at the Ashmolean where you can spend the day or you could venture further to Modern Art Oxford, the University Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers, the Museum of the History of Science, the Museum of Oxford, Christ Church Picture Gallery, the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, or the Bodleian Library. The Covered Market in the city center is well worth a visit.  If you don’t mind lots of stairs you can climb a church tower at The University Church, Carfax, St Mary the Virgin, or the North Gate Saxon Tower of St Michaels. Or perhaps you’d like to visit a College – most are open to visitors free or for a small fee – opening times are displayed outside each College Porter’s Lodge. Cost:  £15 to include coach and driver gratuity. 

Option 2:  OXFORD MINI PLANT TOUR -- As an experiment, we are offering a separate tour of the Mini Plant at 12 for 12:30 as part of our day trip to Oxford.   The tour is limited to 15 members and the following terms and conditions apply:
-          Tours last two and a half hours
-          People with heart pacemakers or insulin pumps will not be able to join the tour
-          No food or drinks are available or allowed at the plant
-          Photography is strictly not permitted in production areas, but is allowed in the  exhibition space
-          Mobile phones, handbags and cameras cannot be taken on the tour.  Lockers are provided.
-          Visitors must wear sturdy, comfortable shoes.  No open-toe shoes or high heels are permitted

We will arrive at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford around 10am for coffee.  The coach will then leave the Ashmolean at 11am for the Mini Plant.  As there is no food or drink allowed at the Plant, you may like to bring a picnic or pick up a sandwich at the Ashmolean cafĂ© to eat on the coach, which will arrive at the Mini Plant at 12pm.  After the tour ends at 3pm the coach will take you back to the Ashmolean where there will be time for some refreshments before we collect the members who have spent the day in the city at 4:30pm for the drive back to Salisbury.  Cost:  £30 to include coach and driver gratuity and MINI Plant Tour.

Depart WILTON (W) opposite the Italianate Church 8am. MILLSTREAM COACH PARK Castle Street (S) 8.15am. LONDON ROAD PARK & RIDE (P) 8.30am.  Coach leaves the Ashmolean in Beaumont Street at 4:30pm to return to Salisbury.
FUTURE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
12 November 2015 British Museum / Christmas Shopping in London - £17.00 – booking from 2 September.
 
3 December 2015 Blenheim Palace at Christmas  - £25.00 – booking from 7 October.

PAYMENTS FOR OUTINGS
From 10am At Meetings:  Cash or Cheques payable to SALISBURY U3A. Separate cheques for each Outing please. 
By Post:  If you are unable to attend the monthly meeting or prefer to book by post, please email Margaret Vacha at margaretvacha@hotmail.com for a booking form.  If you don’t have email, please mail your cheque with destination, your name, address including post code, telephone number and Pick Up point on the reverse plus a stamped self-addressed envelope (this is important) to Margaret Vacha, 1 Grasmere Close, Salisbury SP2 8DG.  
CANCELLATIONS/REFUNDS: Full refund if cancelled within 1 month of Outing. Thereafter booking cancellations are only refunded less a £1 admin charge if we can resell your place.
LONDON ROAD PARK & RIDE. On arrival park and join coach outside Reception Offce. Office will be unattended. Security cameras in operation. If you change your pick-up point after booking, please notify Margaret Vacha.

ANY QUERIES:  Please contact Margaret Vacha at margaretvacha@hotmail.com or 01722 335586 or 07845 870512.

Friday 7 August 2015

Salisbury Historic Open Days 10-12 September

Salisbury Historic Open Days 10-12 September

Historic Open Days - The Venues
The annual Salisbury Historic Open Days organised by Salisbury Civic Society celebrate Salisbury’s architecture and culture by allowing visitors free access to interesting properties that are not usually open to the general public or would normally charge an entrance fee.
The theme for this year’s Historic Open Days on 10, 11, and 12 September is ‘Go West- Award Winners and Hospital sites’. All the buildings have received Salisbury Civic Society Conservation or New Building Awards and Commendations in recent years and/or were associated with the Old Manor hospital or Salisbury Infirmary sites. Not all venues will be open each day and the times they will be open will also vary. Further details of specific venues and openings are available from the Salisbury Information Centre in Fish Row and the Salisbury Civic Society website (http://www.salisburycivicsociety.org.uk).
Entry to the venues is by free timed tickets that are available from 6th August at the Salisbury Information Centre, Fish Row, Salisbury SP1 1EJ (tel 01722 342860).