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This month’s AHA trip started off badly due to bereavement; therefore sadly, I was unable to attend. Fortunately Ron Bryan was able to step in and was the Leader for the day. Thank you very much Ron for your support. The weather was just perfect after having rain which felt like it had gone on for days. The group gathered together at Wickes car park and set off for Farnham, meeting up at the Maltings for coffee, where the official guide joined them
Farnham Tudor Buildings - Shop Frontages and the Maltings
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On 24th May, due to last minute change of dates to accommodate this venue, a small group of members visited the New Arts Centre near East Winterslow.
The works on show ranged from line drawing to oil paintings. The draughtsmanship on some of the pencil sketches was outstanding, however opinions on his paintings was mixed. Works included several drawings and paintings of his long-term mistress Doirela McNeill and paintings of T.E. Lawrence and Thomas Hardy
So you don’t miss out on our mix bag of venues visiting, keep checking the web site!
Bob Taylor and Rosemary Crumplin In April members of the Group travelled to the Guildford area to visit two National Trust properties. The first was Clandon Park, which you will probably recall that the house was badly damaged by fire in 2015.
The group then travelled a few miles to another National Trust property, Hatchlands Park.
After lunch we had an enjoyable walk around the bluebell woods and then proceeded to the house. There were a limited number of rooms open to the public, which contained part of the Cobbe family collection of old masters and keyboard instruments. The paintings included works by Titian, van Dyck and Gainsborough; also of interest was an anonymous work that is claimed to be the only life portrait of Shakespeare. The exhibition of keyboard instruments included ones owned and played by famous composers including J.C. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Elgar and Chopin. The oldest instrument was a Harpsichord dating from 1622, and there was also a piano played by Marie Antoinette. Most of the instruments are maintained in full working order and often played at recitals by leading pianists. The visit was enhanced by an excellent and knowledgeable tour guide.
Don’t forget to look at U3A Anton website, to see what is coming up over the next few months! BobTaylor & Rosemary Crumplin
One of the most interesting exhibits was the extensive remains of a dugout canoe recovered from mud in Poole Harbour and dating back to approximately 300BC. It had been carved from a single oak log approx. 10 m long, and is the largest found in the South of England. As may be expected in a sea port museum, there were rare artefacts from a number of wrecks found in the harbour and along the coast. These combined with evidence of the Roman occupation; including a very rare cast glass head made this a museum well worth visiting.
Submitted by Rosemary Crumplin: Click on the pictures to enlarge them AHA Group broke with the normal practice of only having one visit per month and eleven members ventured out for the second time on Thursday 28th February. Once again, we returned to Greenham Common, but this time to visit the National Needlework Archives. The NNA is a registered charity and relies on volunteers. We were greeted by a cheerful group of ladies and coffee/tea plus cake was quickly prepared for us all. We then began a general tour of the archives admiring some of the handicrafts made by the volunteers to sell to raise funds for their restoration work. Our highlight of the visit was to view ‘The Country Wife’ textile mural, which was designed by Constance Howard and made by her and her students of Goldsmiths College. Much of the craft-work features were made by the Women’s Institutes.
The museum display was small but informative. First learning the history of the site, and back in the day of William of Orange the battle of Newbury took place there. Coming forward to more recent times, the Army was based there from 1939 building the airfield in preparation of the USAF to arrive in 1944 alongside the RAF. During our life time, Greenham Common became a household name, which we came to know, due to the American Air Force being based there along with the Nuclear War Heads. This evoked an all female political demonstration known as “The Role of Protest in Society” against nuclear weapons being based there. These ladies camped out and caused quite a stir for years. They have a thriving café. We learnt that the actual common is a heaven for wildlife and is now recognised for its nature walks. As we had some spare time, part of our group took a short walk and said that they would be revisiting.
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