Outings 1 Photos 2018
Kennet and Avon canal horse drawn boat trip - 24th May 2018
We met up in Newbury for lunch and then moved on to Kintbury to board the boat. The horse was fed treats by some of the passengers before we left and at the appointed time was hitched up and we left for a three hour trip. We saw one other boat moving but other than that it was very peaceful with views over fields, Mayfly in abundance, lambs frolicking, blossom on canal side trees and some water birds with their young. There is a long rope from the top of the boat to the horse’s harness, so when we were passing moored barges one of the boatmen had to lift the rope over them very acrobatically!
Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust - 3rd April 2018
This is a group of people who are preserving the history of the dockyard which particularly relates to dockyard apprentices. They have rescued items that were being disposed of and rescued items in a sorry state and restored them. A fascinating slice of history that is well worth a visit.
We started with a visit to the Apprentices Exhibition which is in Boathouse 7. To quote the website “200 years of history are retold through the eyes of workers who constructed the great dreadnought battleships of the 20th century. Take in the stories of those who built Britain's most feared fleet and the ingenuity behind traditional boatbuilding techniques.”
After a break for lunch we then went to the PRDHT premises which are above the Royal Navy Museum and which house their archives and artefacts. We split into two groups and were given a guided tour of artefacts that have been rescued to date and then a talk about the archives that they have. This is in an 18th century building where the floor is made from ship’s timbers and the brick walls are two feet thick. The walls are crumbling in some areas because seawater was used in World War II to extinguish a fire and the salt permeated the bricks, see last photo.
Murder Mystery evening on Saturday 27th January 2018
We were in Casablanca in 1942 for a dinner party at the Deputy Mayor’s residence.
Before the meal started it was announced that a guest had been murdered and the fun began. There were guests from France, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, USA and Britain so it was a very varied guest list. It turned out that there were Fascists, anti-Fascists, resistance members, collaborators and people who were just plain mad!
It was an excellent evening and despite the valiant efforts of the French garlic seller, who spilt red wine when taking the group photos, no harm was done to any carpets in the making of this production.
New Theatre Royal revisited - Wednesday 17th January 2018
We were given a guided tour on Wednesday 17th January 2018 and we had originally had a tour in July 2008. Since the original tour £5 million of work had been carried out. On our original tour the stage was projecting over what had been stall’s seating and there was no back stage area at all. Dressing rooms were in Porta Cabins and there was mostly waste ground to the rear of the theatre. Now there is a new Portsmouth University School of Media and Performing Arts on part of the land and new rehearsal space, dressing rooms and a completely revamped stage area for the New Theatre Royal. It is an impressive change to the premises and bodes well for the future.
The theatre is a Frank Matchem design and opened in 1900 and another of his designs, the Kings Theatre, was opened a few years later. He produced many designs for all over the country, which included theatres such as the London Palladium. The theatre was badly damaged by fire in 1972 and gradually restored from what was effectively a vandalised shell.
The tour was fascinating, demonstrating both the restoration back to its Victorian roots and also the major back stage changes that have taken place.
