Tag Archives: Trip

BBC & Fullers Brewery plus Brecons tour

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Early morning, 16 October 2015: a party from the Society set out for London to visit both the BBC and the Fullers Brewery.  The coach dropped us in Portland Place, outside the BBC, in good time for security checks and a coffee; and in New Broadcasting House we formed two groups to start our tour.

The first stop was above the news floor, a familiar view for TV watchers.  Having seen how UK and World news services are produced, we moved to the One Show studio, which was much smaller than it appears when the TV show is transmitted.  It’s quite amazing how they get so much done in this limited space.

CDWS at the BBC

CDWS at The One Show Studio

 

In contrast to the TV facilities we visited the beautiful Art Deco Radio Theatre, which not only is the venue for many music concerts but also has been the home for famous comedy programmes ranging from The Goon Show to the News Quiz.

In order to encourage us to participate in “live TV” our guides allowed volunteers to present news reports and weather forecasts.  And then, to ring the changes, we saw some items of historical and artistic interest; and were reminded of some past events which highlighted the BBC’s important place in UK history.  By this time we had been outside in the impressive courtyard and had now reached the creatively named “Old Broadcasting House”!

Back to participation, we took roles in a scary radio play, with sound effects and a gruesome climax.  It gave the volunteers a chance to experience microphone technique and instant acting.

Overall the time seemed to go quickly although our guides always seemed to have time to answer our questions and give us context.  At lunch afterwards there was general acclaim for the enjoyable tour.

We left Central London for Chiswick in order to do our tour of the Brewery.  Again, in two parties, we saw how water, barley, hops and yeast are skilfully combined to produce London Pride and a range of other beers, exported now to over 60 countries.  Fuller Smith and Turner, the full name of the company, is still a family run business which recently acquired Gales Brewery in Sussex.

Inevitably the tour ended in the bar for a trial of the products – what a hardship!  It was then left to Derek our coach driver to cope with the Friday evening rush hour traffic and get us safely back to the Gerrards Cross and Amersham drop-off points.  Well driven; and the tour was very well organised and led by Graham Beavan, who certainly deserved all our thanks.

David Bevan

 

Trip to the Brecons

Colin, our coach driver, picked each group up at the allotted time and we set off for our five day trip to Brecon. We made good time and were able to stop in Burford for a quick look around and a coffee. Then on to Monmouth, which proved to be very rain swept, for a longer lunch stop. The local conveniences proved to be an excellent place for us to shelter, while waiting for the coach to return to take us to Tretower  Court and Castle. This was a beautiful medieval building, all the more atmospheric in the swirling mists. We were given a lively talk and then allowed to stroll around for a while before heading off to the Castle Hotel, Brecon, where we were booked to stay.P1040691 (2)

During the coach journey, Jonathan began to enlighten us with the varied stories of some of the historic families we would be following during our tour, in particular, Sir David Gam and his lovely daughter Gwladys.

Not everyone knew of The Castle Hotel’s illustrious past, having been chosen by Alex Polizzi  of Hotel Inspector fame to turn it around! The most infamous room was Number 18 and by coincidence, Colin and I were the lucky guests to be allocated this room! All however, was well!

The following morning, after an ample breakfast, we set off for Hereford Cathedral, where we had the opportunity to see the famous Mappa Mundi, the Chained Library and a copy of the Magna Carta. We had also all been given the chance to choose either the tower tour or the garden tour, both of which were wonderful. Whilst here, we had the opportunity to listen to an organ recital or to continue looking around the cathedral.

From there we travelled to Talgarth Mill for a tour of the working flour mill and an opportunity to have afternoon tea. Here the guides were both very enthusiastic and knowledgeable but at times had to admit defeat due to the ‘Barry effect’, when one of our group, who was just so curious to know all about the mechanical workings, plus accurate measurements, made them struggle for  answers!!

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Jean Owen on duty

The following morning we departed for Hay on Wye where we had ample time to explore the town with all it’s many retail opportunities. From there we travelled back to the Regimental Museum of the Royal Welsh in Brecon and we had a lengthy talk by one of the resident regimental historians.

 

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Most of the group then walked down to the Monmouth and P1040652 (2)Brecon canal to the narrow boats where we cruised part of the way along the canal, through peaceful countryside at a very gentle speed! For the return journey several of the group decided to walk swiftly back, to work up an appetite for dinner!!

 

On Thursday morning we set off for Aberglasney Gardens, via Llandeilo, which happened to be the birth place of one of our party, strangely we couldn’t find the blue plaque! Aberglasney Gardens were beautiful in their early autumn splendour. To begin with, we had an enlightening talk from one of the guides, then were able to explore at our leisure before continuing to Newton House and Dinefwr Castle.

Here we had two enthusiastic young guides who, with their lively repartee, informed us of the history of the house, the castle and grounds.  The brave, or foolish, were allowed to climb up onto the roof of the house to get a wonderful view of the estate, including the famous white cattle and the deer. Some even managed the climb to the top of Dinefwr Castle, which was close by, for more wonderful views.

Our final day took us to Abergavenny, where we visited St. Mary’s Priory and saw the remarkable carved Jesse Tree and the Millenium Tapestry and finally put a face to the name of Gwladys, as she lay serenely carved in marble, in the chapel.

P1040719 (2)The next stop was Raglan Castle, where we were able to climb towers, explore dungeons and enjoy the wild, windswept scenery and take many photos.

 

 

 

The final visit which Jonathan had organised was to a wonderful vineyard, Ancre Hill. Here the owners gave interesting talks about growing grapes, wine tasting and their vision, which has allowed it all to happen. Extremely interesting plus the wines and cheeses were quite delicious.

So back on the long road home which became even longer due to local accidents and excessive Friday traffic. However everyone was agreed that we had enjoyed our Brecon trip due to excellent planning by Jonathan and the friendly company of the Chiltern Welsh members who attended.

 

Di Thomas

Enchanted April – The Mill at Sonning

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Report on visit to The Mill at Sonning: Thursday 3rd April 2014

This was to be an evening of drama; but perhaps the drama came earlier than planned.
We were to be at Sonning by around 6.30PM in time for a pre-booked meal at the theatre before the play started. A coach had been booked, to pick-up in Denham, Gerrards Cross and finally in Amersham.
Those of us waiting in the Amersham Community Centre car park became increasingly concerned as the 5PM collection time went past and no half-full coach had appeared on the road outside. An empty executive bus was parked down by the Drake Hall, but only Ann Evans had the eventual inspiration to seek out its driver and ask her about her why she was there. Ann is not our President for nothing!
This was indeed our bus, but somehow there had been a misunderstanding about the pick-up order and it was now clear that those due to board from the first two locations must already have been waiting for almost an hour: poor things.
Our lady driver made good time to Gerrards Cross but the traffic heading for Denham was almost at a standstill, and Margaret Payne deserves an award for patience after waiting near the Shell garage for an eternity – how glad she must have been to see Chairman Jonathan, who had rushed to find her and explain the mess-up.
Every good dramatist knows that one disaster must be heightened by several others and once we were on our way, up the M40, the next installment became clear. Due to a major accident further up the motorway, our coach was once more crawling and the prospects of our meal were vanishing into the distance. And there was the dilemna: if we could leave the motorway at all where should it be (there were jams all around).
The theatre had been alerted to our lack of progress and problems continued until beyond Bisham. Eventually we were able to speed up and our driver, calm throughout, got us very efficiently through the last part of the journey. The sprint into the theatre, at just before 7PM, didn’t create any time for drinks but at least it got us into buffet queue for our (late) first course. Phew!
The play that evening was Enchanted April, by Matthew Barber. Yes, we were going in April; but to call the evening so far “enchanted” was a bit of a stretch! Yet as the first actress started to set the scene it became clear that we were to be treated to a feast of good acting, and an intriguing plot. The story follows the adventures of four British women who rent a villa in Italy for the month of April. They arrive with their problems and their anxieties, but flourish in the sun and the beauty of their castle location. For those not knowing the story (like me) there were surprises to come and, although the audience numbers were disappointing, the production was certainly not. The applause at the end showed how well the cast had portrayed the characters and why it was worth the effort to get there to see it.
And the happy ending?….Our journey back was uneventful!

Many thanks to those Committee members who arranged this enjoyable evening for us.

David Bevan

Magic Circle 5th November 2013

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Circle Stairs1This can’t be the place!

Many of us thought that we were lost when the coach dropped us off in North Gower Street and we made our way down Stephenson Way. We walked down a dark quiet cobbled street with no sign of a theatre, just offices and goods entrances. Then, near the end of the street, there was a small entrance with people going in – we’d found it.

We signed in and climbed a steep spiral staircase to a large room with many displays of props and accessories of famous magicians – David Nixon, Tommy Cooper, Paul Daniels, Houdin and Houdini were all represented.

Chairs were set out in groups of 20 around small tables, and our party was split into 2 with 20 in one group and 6 in another.

Soon the first magicians arrived – one to each table – only a foot or two from the audience. We had a series of 4 magicians demonstrating their close-up magic skills, and each selected at least one member of the audience to assist!

Patricia Payne was persuaded to demonstrate a finger guillotine and was very brave as the blade descended without any ill effect.

Irene Powell does a magic trick!

Gwen Finnerty and Irene Powell proved to be able assistants – Irene demonstrating a levitating card. Rob Brett and Liz Seely showed that they could not keep hold of cards in their hands as they mysteriously moved from one person’s closed hand to another.
Rob Brett and Liz Seely
We then had a talk on the history of magic from Egyptian times to the present day, including the formation of the Magic Circle in 1905.

A light meal was provided and we all looked for somewhere to sit and were joined by some of the magicians who continued to amaze us with tricks which seemed to be just impossible.

We then went back to the theatre where we watched acts by 4 different magicians, a couple of whom were familiar from the Penn & Teller television programme.

The show went on until almost 11:00, but our coach driver didn’t seem to mind that we were late and we got back home before 12:00.

The universal feeling was that the whole experience was simply Magic!