7th Sept Monthly Meeting – A Bare Chronicle of existence: Stories of internment in Norway in WW1 – Rebecca Clarke
Royal Navy Volunteer reserves on HMS India were adrift in the North Sea, saved but only to be interned in Norway for the rest of the war. Stories of the love, isolation and loneliness with examples of remaining family artefacts.
Held at the Richard Mayo Hall, Kingston Doors open at 1.30 talk starts at 2.00. Coffee/ tea and biscuits at the end of the talk. Cost £1.00 to members £1.50 for guests.
24th Sept – Design Museum Guided Tour – Away Day
Design Museum Guided Tour In order that we fully appreciate and understand this Museum’s unique concept and designs for modern living, we have been lucky to book an exclusive tour by one of its resident experts. The guided tour includes an exhibition looking at the development of modern design, designers and makers who shaped the world we live in. It features almost 1,000 items of 20th and
21st century design, from the angle of the designer, the manufacture and the user.
There will be time for coffee in the café before the one-hour tour which starts at 11.30am.
Please note: The maximum number of places on this tour is 15.
Date: Thursday 24 September Meeting Time/Place:
10am on the concourse in front of the main entrance to Wimbledon Station.
We’ll take the District Line to High Street Kensington. From there it is about a 10/15-minute walk to the Museum. There are 30 steps from the Tube station to street level.
Cost: £28.40
To join us please complete the booking form in the centre of this newsletter and send it with your cheque, made payable to Kingston u3a, to Pamela Townsend. Tel no: 07789 397635.
8th Oct – Watts Gallery, Artists Village, Compton – Away Day
Watts Gallery, also known as Artists’ Village, is near Guildford. It is dedicated to the works of the Victorian painter and sculptor George Frederick Watts and his talented wife Mary Watts, artist, designer and writer.
En route to Watts Gallery we’ll stop in Guildford for coffee (not included in the price) and a brief visit to the Cathedral.
George and Mary Watts founded the Grade II listed building, designed by Christopher Hatton Turner. It opened in 1904 and is the only purpose-built art gallery in the UK dedicated to a single professional artist.
We’ll spend the day at the Artists’ Village, visiting Limnerlease (the couple’s home and studio), the historic Art Gallery with its contemporary Sculpture Gallery, and finally the Chapel on the hill, commissioned by Mary and decorated by her with help from the local villagers.
There is no guided tour but you can access an audio tour on the Gallery’s Smartify App, which can be download before you go or in the Village itself. Please bring your own headphones. The café there is small and the manager is unable to cater for individual orders on the day. A group lunch of homemade vegetable soup with a bread roll will be available for those who prebook lunch on their application form. Otherwise please bring your own lunch.
Date: Thursday, 8 October.
Meeting Time/Place:
The coach will pick you up at:
9.30am Kingston
9.45am Surbiton
Price:
● Coach: £24.90
● Entrance fee: £15 or £8.88 if you have a National Art Pass
● Group Lunch: £7.95
Accessibility:
Limnerlease: The coach will drop us as near to the house as possible and there is a lift to the first floor. It will collect us from here and take those who wish to the Artists’ Village or you may walk down the woodland path to the road when you’re ready to leave.
Artists’ Village: Shop, café and gallery are all on one level. The Sculpture Studio is accessed inside the Gallery down steps or by lift. There is no lift to the Contemporary Gallery from the shop and the visitors’ centre.
Chapel: The coach will park up by the Chapel which sits high on a mound, accessible only up a long set of steps or a winding uphill path. Those who feel they do not want to visit the Chapel will be asked to wait patiently in the coach for members to return.
The coach will leave at 3.30pm for our return to Kingston.
To join us, please complete the booking form in the centre of this newsletter and send it with your cheque, made payable to Kingston u3a GAS, to Jacqui Hine.
jacqui@hine.org.uk, 07817 264959 (for cancellations on the day only, please)
5th Oct Monthly Meeting – Kingston and the River Thames – Julian McCarthy
Kingston tour guide and local history author reveals how the river has supported and served the town and why the suffix “upon Thames” remains historically and socially significant.
Held at the Richard Mayo Hall, Kingston Doors open at 1.30 talk starts at 2.00. Coffee/ tea and biscuits at the end of the talk. Cost £1.00 to members £1.50 for guests.
2 Nov Monthly Meeting /AGM Starts at 1.30 followed by Partition and my British Raj Family
Join us for our Annual AGM and then hear stay to hear the talk by jenny Malin on how her father came to England whilst his sister stayed in India. Jenny explores how differently their lives deveolped after partition.
Held at the Richard Mayo Hall, Kingston Doors open at 1.30 talk starts at 2.00. Coffee/ tea and biscuits at the end of the talk. Cost £1.00 to members £1.50 for guests.
26th Nov – National Portrait Gallery: Guided Tour – Queer Stories – Away Day
Opened in 1856 the National Portrait Gallery was the first public gallery in the world dedicated to portraits. Its collection provides a unique way to understand the past through people and the context they lived in. It tells the story of the nation through the people who shaped it.
Queer Stories explores the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sex/gender-identifying (LGBTQ+) sitters within the collection, showcasing queer lives and liberation through the years. From the legendary Chevalier D’Eon to Virginia Woolf, Gwen John to Elton , the tour explores how queerness has shaped the collection. Discover a landscape of often hidden histories brought to light. This session
may reference adult themes and content and has the potential to use strong language.
Our guided tour is scheduled for 11.45am and lasts for one hour. After our tour members may wish to explore other parts of the Gallery’s extensive collection independently. Portraits are arranged chronologically, starting with the Tudor Collection on floor 3 and ending with the newest additions on floor 0.
There’s a very pleasant café in the Gallery for refreshments (not included in the price), although we cannot make an advance booking. There are also several other cafés in the area .
Date: Thursday, 26 November Meeting Time/Place: 10.15am at Waterloo Station opposite platforms 1-4 Travel: We’ll take the 76 bus to Trafalgar Square and walk the short distance to the Gallery entrance.
Cost: £22.40
Accessibility: There’s a small flight of steps at the main entrance. All floors can be accessed by escalators and lifts.
To join us on this intriguing tour, please complete the booking form in the centre of this newsletter and send it with your cheque, made payable to Kingston u3a GAS, to Hazel Burr.
hazelbee46@yahoo.co.uk
07950 687553
7th Dec Monthly Meeting – Music , Musicals and Stories Behind our Beloved Christmas Music -Frances Fry
Light hearted look at out favourite Christmas songs and how they came into being.
Held at the Richard Mayo Hall, Kingston Doors open at 1.30 talk starts at 2.00. Coffee/ tea and biscuits at the end of the talk. Cost £1.00 to members £1.50 for guests.
3 Aug Monthly Meeting – From Victim to Victory – Andy Smith
In an age when victimhood has become fashionable, blame is endemic and personal responsibility the whim of a bygone era, how does one rise above the traumas and trials of life and above public gloom, doom and despair? Andy offers a cheerful yet challenging poetic response to a contemporary topic
Held at the Richard Mayo Hall, Kingston Doors open at 1.30 talk starts at 2.00. Coffee/ tea and biscuits at the end of the talk. Cost £1.00 to members £1.50 for guests.