20th May Away Day – Ewell Walk & Visit to Bourne Hall Museum
Come and discover some of the history of Ewell, founded as a spring-line settlement, where the chalk of the North Downs meets the London clay.
We’ll take an hour’s guided walk around the area. This will be centred round the Grade II listed Bourne Hall, where there is a café (refreshments not included in the price) and a small but interesting museum.
The museum is free and its highlights include Lord Rosebery’s hansom cab, a 19thcentury fire engine and extensive Derby races memorabilia.
Date: Wednesday, 20 May
Cost: £3.40 for the guided tour
Meeting Times/Places:
● 9.30am at Cromwell Road Bus Station to catch the 406 bus to Epsom High Street or
● 9.44am to board the bus at Surbiton Library or
● 10.05am to board the bus at Tolworth Broadway.
Alight at The Spring in Ewell, where you’ll be escorted to Bourne Hall. If you wish to go by car, there is a large car park at Bourne Hall (cost £2 for 2 hours, £3 for 3 hours, £4 for 4 hours). You can pay by card or cash.
Meet the group in the café at Bourne Hall around 10.30am, in readiness for the start of the walk at 11am.
Accessibility: The walk is on flat ground and will take approximately an hour. The small museum is upstairs but there is access by lift.
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 Pamela Crisp. pamelacrisp50@hotmail.com 07846 722278
22nd June Behind the Scenes at the Royal Opera House :Guided Tour – Away day
The first theatre on the current site of the Royal Opera House (ROH), the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden, was opened in 1732. The current building is the third theatre, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856. The facade, foyer and auditorium date from 1858 but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium is a Grade I listed building. Come and join us for a behind-thescenes guided tour and take a look at the areas that are normally off limits to the public, including rehearsal studios, and costume and production workshops. Witness first hand the inner workings of one of the world’s most renowned theatres.
The tour starts at 12.45pm (check in at 12.25pm) and lasts 75 minutes.
Please note: There is a maximum of 20 places.
Date: Monday, 22 June Meeting time/place: 11am (note later time than usual) at Waterloo Station, opposite platform 4.
We’ll take the 139 or 176 bus to the first stop (Savoy Street) in the Strand, cross the Strand and walk the short distance to Covent Garden.
There are several cafés in the area for refreshments (not included) and one inside the ROH itself. The group will assemble at the ROH tour entrance at 12.25pm. This entrance will be pointed out to members before they go for refreshments. There will be bag checks on entry.
Cost: £18.40 Accessibility: The tour progresses through many areas, including corridors, stairs, escalators and lifts.
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 Hazel Burr. hazelbee46@yahoo.co.uk 07950 687553 Please keep this page
8th July – Visit to the Museum of Richmond – Away Day
Visit: Museum of Richmond The Museum is a small, independent registered museum in the centre of Richmond, sharing a space in the Old Town Hall with the Reference Library. It was opened in 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II and is supported by Richmond Borough Council. Within a small space we can learn the story of Richmond from prehistoric times, to the period of its rise as the site of a royal residence in medieval times, through to its modern-day support of arts and fashion. There are limited spaces available for our booked tour of some of the exhibits.
Date: Wednesday, 8July
Time: 10.45am Venue: Museum of Richmond, Old Town Hall, Whittaker Avenue Meet just inside the main doors on the ground floor. Please do not go up to the Museum.
Cost: Free (donations welcome on the day)
Travel: 65 bus from Kingston. Get off at Hill Rise (stop V) just before Richmond Bridge. Cross the roundabout and walk for three minutes to Whittaker Avenue on the left. Train to Richmond Station. Cross the road and walk for 5-10 minutes along the high street to Whittaker Avenue on your right just before Richmond Bridge.
Accessibility: There are a few steps from pavement level to the main entrance. A lift is available to the Museum and toilets. The Museum itself is step free. To join us, please complete the booking form in the centre of this newsletter and send it to Pamela Crisp (07846 722278).
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
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.