We travelled to that Icon on the South coast known as Brighton, where visitors can rollup their trousers and paddle in the sea, have a fish and chips lunch, and then visit a building where previous Monarchs took their lady friends – the Royal Pavilion, an exotic palace with a colourful history. Built as a … Read more

Our group were fortunate with the weather, no rain and the sun shone most of the day – ideal for visiting an open-air museum. Amberley Working Museum is an extensive 36-acre open-air museum, dedicated to the industrial heritage of South East England and with a special interest in aspects of the history of communications and … Read more

A small but determined bunch of travellers wrapped up well and braved the cold but bright sunshine, to travel to the Southbank. Enterprising Members found many attractions, within reasonable walking distance of being dropped at the London Eye – including the exhibitions at the Imperial War museum, and more locally – National Portrait Gallery, Royal … Read more

The January weather kind to us on this visit – cold but winter sunshine.  Maps helped participants find their way between the two main attractions and other points of interest, and a good outbound journey provided more time to wander. We had four different guides for our tours of the world-famous Bodleian Library, each with … Read more

Every section of the arena was completely full – no wonder we have to book so early to get a block of seats!  A full arena of enthusiastic listeners  made the experience all the more enjoyable. ‘Spectacular’ was the right description for the assembled performers – the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the military bands of the … Read more

The Four, or was it just Two(?), Rivers cruise. Starting at Southampton, we got to know each deck of the boat well before lunch. At lunch, the scenery did not move very much (the battery for one of the engines failed, and no replacement available), so we were able to appreciate the delicious lunch without … Read more

A sunny start to the day for our drive down to the Chichester area and arrived for an early coffee. The West Dean Gardens were established almost 400 years ago, and comprise a huge area with a variety of different horticultural attractions. Members explored the  2½ acre Walled Kitchen Garden (neat rows of vegetables, intricate … Read more

Our first destination was in Wales, but we were destined not to reach it without incident, since the coach broke down en-route. Plan B featured delaying our reservation on the Lee Valley Railway, an impromptu Al Fresco lunch, and arranging a local coach to get us to LLangollen. Once there, we joined the vintage engine … Read more

First call was the Old Operating Theatre Museum of St Thomas Hospital, located in a garrett, above St Thomas church and adjacent to the Old St Thomas Hospital.  The only entrance/exit to the Museum was up a steep spiral staircase with rope handle, but that did not deter the majority of our party. The fascinating … Read more

An early start on a dull day, motoring north of Reading and finding the very narrow entrance and driveway to Basildon Park and understanding why only one coach per day is allowed into the site. Built in 1783 by the architect John Carr for Francis Sykes, both Yorkshiremen. Sold 50 years later, to the Liberal … Read more