Saturday 27 April 2019 – The National Memorial Arboretum
The 150 acre site located in Staffordshire is the UK’s centre of Remembrance and home to the iconic Armed Forces Memorial was the location for the first of the Summer outings. We took a land train with commentary to see some of the thought-provoking memorials and we listened to an introductory talk about the Arboretum. The opportunity was taken by some to hear another presentation entitled Shot at Dawn about soldiers who were executed by firing squad.
Departed 9.15am, Long Lane near S&G HQ.
Returned approx. 7.15pm.
Cost – Coach £18 – Land train £5.
Sunday 12 May 2019 – West Derby Courthouse and Speke Hall Liverpool
Firstly we visited the West Derby Courthouse. This stone built Courthouse is the only free standing post medieval court in Britain. Built in 1586 on the authorisation of Queen Elizabeth I it functioned until 1910. We continued onwards to Speke Hall, a fine example of a timber framed Tudor house with an interesting history to be told by one of the guides at the Hall.
Departed 1pm, Long Lane near S&G HQ.
Returned approx. 6.15pm.
Cost – Coach £10, Speke Hall admission £10. National Trust members no charge. Please remember to bring your Trust membership card.
Saturday 22 June 2019 – A Day in Deva – now known as Chester
The Roman roads linking Chester with Lancashire may have passed through Aughton and Ormskirk, we do have a turnpike road and Roman coins have been found in the area. Our visit included a cruise along the River Dee with a sandwich, cake, fruit, tea / coffee lunch. After disembarking we carried on to see the Midsummer Parade that dates back to Tudor times. Led by a child, the City Drummer and a family of Giants, puppet animals, mythical creatures, hobby horses, musicians and more costumed participants added to the colourful parade as it made its way around the City centre. Later in the day there was the chance to walk in the footsteps of Legion XX.v.v with Titus , our very own Roman Legionary guide. A welcome stop for a meal / snack / comfort break was taken on the return journey.
Departed 9.45 am, Long Lane near S&G HQ.
Returned approx 8.45 pm.
Cost £28. Optional walk £4 extra.
More details and booking at Horizons.
Tuesday 2 July 2019 – A Tour of Liverpool’s Empire Theatre. Lunch at the Adelphi Hotel. A Tour of Liverpool’s Playhouse Theatre.
All the venues were optional but we started at The Empire where we met at 10.50 am for and 11am start. We had an interesting tour of the front of house areas from one of the Empire staff. Much reminiscing took place by members of U3A, remembering visits made there to see, amongst others, The Beatles and other 60’s icons! This was followed by a tour of the back stage areas.
We moved on to The Adelphi for 12:40pm where we had a three course meal and a much welcome sit down!.
After lunch we walked to The Playhouse. We were shown around all the public areas and taken onto the stage and into the backstage areas. An interesting time was had by all.
Last Updated on November 22, 2019