Category: STOP Press

Our new programme of activities is available in the February newsletter for Members and is listed in greater detail in our Events Calendar on this website. This includes coach outings, informal coffee mornings, guided walks and the last lecture of our winter lecture series on 19 March, which follows our AGM.

Day Visit to Broadway Tower and Snowshill Manor – May 2024

Broadway Tower, the brainchild of Capability Brown, is a folly at the highest point in the Cotswolds with a viewing platform on the roof. From there, it’s a short coach ride to Snowshill Manor (NT), the unconventional home of eccentric Charles Wade, a treasure trove of quirky and curious objects. There’s also an Arts and Crafts garden laid out in a series of outdoor rooms.

Change to the Worcester Visit Itinerary: 18 June 2024

We had planned to include a visit to the Cathedral on this visit to Worcester. However, a special service is being held in Worcester Cathedral on 18 June, and the cathedral is shut to visitors. Sadly we have had to amend the visit to Worcester and miss out on the Cathedral – however we will see it, during the day, from the outside.

The Commandery

As a fascinating alternative we have been able to arrange a visit to the Worcester Commandery, a rather unique building which goes back to around1085. It was founded as an Almshouse and a Hospitality for Pilgrims by the Knights Hospitallers. There are some fascinating medieval paintings and a medieval banqueting hall, to view, from this period of usage, through to the reformation. Later it became a home to the Wylde Family, from the 1540’s and whilst in their hands the HQ for the Royalists in the Battle of Worcester 1651. It went through further changes in the last 200 years which were equally fascinating. You will be guided through the twists and turns of this building, hopefully avoiding the resident Ghost!

There is a small cafeteria where you will be able to get a bite to eat. From here we will walk through the medieval city of Worcester to Greyfriars House (NT), a 15th century timbered merchant’s house, saved from demolition in the 1930s, restored and handed to the Trust in 1966. Here you will have a further guided tour, and an opportunity for a National Trust afternoon tea.

Please note there are some old uneven stairs to climb and descend and uneven floors in the Commandery.

Our Lecture programme

Over the winter months we arrange monthly lectures, some at Magdalen College Auditorium, others via Zoom.

The final lecture of the 2023-24 season will be held in March at Magdalen Auditorium: a lecture by Dr Robert Saunders entitled The Asian Mystery: Benjamin Disraeli and the Poet in Politics. See Lectures page for further details.

Coffee mornings and a lunch – and walks when the weather is better!

Our informal coffee mornings continue on the last Tuesday of most months from 10.30am to 11.45am at a Café in central Oxford. This is a chance for members and those interested in joining Oxford Centre to make friends and exchange experiences and news. See Events Calendar for details of venues.

Walks

Our walking group enjoys meeting up at a National Trust property within driving distance of Oxford for walks most months from March to October.  It’s another chance to chat to others in the group as well as see some lovely Oxfordshire countryside and take some good exercise! Walks arranged for varying abilities. See our Social Activities page for more.

Winter lunch

In January, over 30 members enjoyed lunch at Brown’s Restaurant in Oxford, a welcome chance to meet up after the Christmas and New Year Festivities were over.

Our recent outings by coach from Oxford have included a day trip in September to the National Trust property Tyntesfield, a magnificent Victorian house remodelled in the Gothic Revival style.

In October we visited Batsford Arboretum to catch the autumn colours (it was a little early for changes in many leaves, but we had a sunny day!). Later that day we had a guided tour of Chastleton House, a Jacobean country house full of myths and memories, with a beautifully restored garden.

Our holiday in Chester

Thirty-seven of us ventured out on the holiday to Chester staying at the historic Queen at Chester Hotel where we enjoyed good food and comfortable rooms, mostly named after royalty (especially relatives of Queen Victoria) or well-known figures, such as Charles Dickens and Cecil Rhodes, who had stayed there in the past. One of our group even had the luxury of a four-poster bed!

Our visits took in a wide range of historic periods from the religious upheavals and persecutions of the 16th century (particularly highlighted at Baddesley Clinton, Speke Hall and Coughton Court) to the splendour of 17th-century Dunham Massey house and park, through to the Industrial Revolution with a visit to the cotton mill at Quarry Bank, and on to present-day Liverpool with a visit to Albert Dock and the glorious modern Roman Catholic Cathedral. Some of us also took time out to explore the many attractions of Chester including the Cathedral, the Rows, the city wall, and the zoo.

– Pam Lee