4th Dec – Christmas Lunch – Open to all Members

Join us for our Christmas lunch, open to all members of Kingston u3a and a chance to get together again at Glenmore House and renew friendships in a friendly environment with delicious cuisine.

This year children from the local St Andrew’s and St Mark’s Primary School choir will welcome us with cheerful festive songs before we sit down to lunch.

Menu

● Starter: Cured salmon and beetroot terrine with French bread

● Glenmore sorbet

● Main Course: Roast turkey with all the trimmings

● Dessert: Cream profiteroles with chocolate sauce

Please note: The chef will cater for you if you have a food intolerance. Make sure you explain this on the reverse of the booking form.

Date/Time: Thursday, 4 December Arrive from 12 noon. Please be seated by 12.30pm. Place: Glenmore House, 6 The Crescent, Surbiton KT6 4BN. Free car parking is available on site.

Cost: £38.40 per person (includes meal and gratuities). Drinks are not included in the price but will be available to buy from the bar.

To join us, please fill in the form (with details on the reverse of special dietary requirements) in the centre of this newsletter and send it to Jacqui Hine. Closing date for bookings: 20 November jacqui@hine.org.uk, 07817 264959 (for cancellations on the day only, please

14 Jan 2026 – National Theatre Guided Tour – Away Day

Come along for a backstage tour of the National Theatre. Founded by Sir Laurence Olivier in 1963, it is adjacent to the South Bank Centre at Waterloo. The building, designed by Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley, contains three theatres, which were opened individually between 1976 and 1977. It has been a Grade II listed building since 1994.

Our tour starts at 11.15am and lasts 75 minutes. There is a limit of 20 places, so please book early.

Date: Wednesday, 14 January Meeting Time/Place: 10.15am Waterloo Station. It’s a 10-minute walk to the Theatre and we’ll stop for coffee on the way.

Price: £15 Accessibility: Only a few steps to negotiate during the tour

To join us, please fill in the form in the centre of the newsletter and send it with your cheque, made payable to Kingston u3a GAS, to Pamela Crisp. pamelacrisp50@hotmail.com 07846 722278

20th Jan 2026 – Visit to the Bank of England – Away Day

Visit to the Bank of England If you weren’t lucky enough to get a place on one of our free visits to the Bank last year, then here’s a chance to join our next visit early in 2026.

In the morning we visit the museum and return in the afternoon for a presentation.

The Bank of England in the City of London was founded in 1694. Its museum has a large collection of items relating to the history of the Bank and the UK economy. You may even get a chance to pick up a gold bar if you are strong enough.

The museum has two free audio guides – one for the Highlights tour, the other for Slavery and the Bank. You can access these guides through your mobile phone but please bring along your own headphones.

Date: Tuesday, 20 January Meeting Time/Place: 10.15am at Waterloo Station, opposite platforms 1-4 Travel:

We’ll take the Underground to Bank Station, taking Exit 2 on to Threadneedle Street. It’s a short walk past the museum entrance in Bartholomew Lane to a coffee bar for refreshments before we head back at 11.45am for security checks and entry to the museum.

There’ll then be a lunch break and a chance to explore the area. (The Mithraeum Museum EC4N 8AA, with its underground Roman ruins, is only 10 minutes’ walk from Bank Station and may be of interest to you. Entry is free but you must book in advance. See: www.londonmithraeum.com)

We reassemble at the museum entrance at 2.15pm to go through security again before the presentation on the History of the Bank at 2.30pm. It lasts for approximately one hour, after which we will retrace our steps to Waterloo Station. To join us, please complete the booking form (no cheque required) in the centre of this newsletter and send it to Nanette Gray. nanette.gray.ng@gmail.com Tel: 07747 088395

24 Feb 2026 – Florence Nightingale Museum – Away Day

Florence Nightingale Museum: Tour.  Florence Nightingale was named after the Italian city in which she was born. She laid the foundation of professional nursing when she established her nursing school in St Thomas’ Hospital, where the Museum is now situated. Her most famous contribution came during the Crimean War, where she gained her nickname, ‘the Lady with the Lamp’.

Our guided tour starts at 12.30pm and lasts about 30 minutes. Afterwards you’ll have the opportunity to look round the exhibits on your own, which, it is suggested, should take another 30 minutes.

There are a couple of places nearby to stop for coffee – Gail’s Bakery and the Slug & Lettuce (they are happy to serve coffee only), located on the corner of York Road and Chicheley Street. Afterwards a stroll around the Jubilee Gardens near the London Eye may be in order, weather permitting, or a visit to Tate Modern, about a 15-minute walk along the South Bank, or you can take the bus.

Meeting Time/Place: 11.15am (note later time than usual), Waterloo Station opposite Platform 4 Travel: From Waterloo Station it’s approximately a 15-minute walk to the Museum in Lambeth Palace Road.

Cost: £13.40 (includes entry fee and tour)

Accessibility: The exhibition is all on the ground floor.

To join us, please fill in the form in the centre of this newsletter and send it with your cheque, made payable to Kingston u3a GAS, to Pam Townsend. pamandgil@icloud.com, 07789 397635

6th Nov – Charles Dickens Museum – Visits

48 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury was the London home of Charles Dickens 1837-1839.

The five-storey house opened as a museum 100 years ago on 9 June 1925. It holds the world’s most important Dickens collection. It contains many mementos from Dickens’s life and writings.

The house is furnished throughout as it was when Dickens and his family were in residence. There are thousands of objects on display, including the writing desk where he wrote Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. I

n the basemen kitchen is the washhouse copper, which was cleaned out every December so they could boil the Christmas pudding. The artefacts, manuscripts, paintings and furniture give a valuable insight into Dickens’s life,

his family and the times in which they lived.

Only small handbags or backpacks are allowed in the Museum and must be worn on the front, or carried by hand.

After the visit, to round off your day, you may want to spend time in the British Museum, which is a short walk away from Dickens’s house.
Date: Thursday, 6 November

Meeting Time/Place: 10.15am, Waterloo Station opposite platforms 1-4

Travel: We leave the Station via the escalator to walk to the bus stop and take a bus to Russell Square (details to follow). After refreshments at the Caffè Tropea in the Square (not included in the price), we set off for the 15/20-minute walk to the Museum. Depending on the group size, our entry may be staggered, with half entering at 12pm and half at 12.15pm. If this is the case, the second group will stay a little longer at the Caffè to avoid congestion outside the Museum.

Cost: £11.35 (entry to Museum and self-guided tour). There is no reduction for National Art Pass holders when in a group.

Accessibility: There are five floors with many stairs. There is a staff operated platform lift as far as the 4th floor, then stairs to the attic.

 

To join us, please fill in the form in the centre of this newsletter and send it with your cheque, made payable to Kingston u3a GAS, to Hazel Burr.

 

07950 687553

 

Please keep this page for reference.