Newsletter of
The Len Valley Active Retirement
Association
LenARA – February 2008 (Issue 28)
Chairman: Jim Henderson – 01622 880625 Vice Chairman: Arthur Clarke 01622 859709
Secretary: Barbara Peacock – barbpeaco1@yahoo.co.uk
Treasurer: Bill Taylor – 01622 858714 Membership Sec: Mary Henderson
01622 880625
Emails: Lenvalleyara@yahoo.co.uk Website: http://uk.geocities.com/lenvalleyara
Hello everyone!
Welcome
to our first Newsletter in 2008. A
wonderful year ahead of us and many interesting events to look forward to, as
you will see below.
Since
our last Newsletter we have enjoyed several events.
Forty
two Members and friends enjoyed the John
Rutter Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 10th
December. I managed to get seats in the
Choir Stalls situated behind the main stage (next to the Organ!), which gave us
a bird’s eye view of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the choirs and John
Rutter in full swing conducting.
Everyone agreed we could not have enjoyed a better view and we really
felt part of the choir when we stood up to sing and faced the entire Royal
Albert Hall audience! We sang several
Christmas Carols but the highlight for me was joining in the Hallelujah Chorus
from Handel’s Messiah!
The two
Christmas Dinners at The Lime Tree
were enjoyed by all. Lovely atmosphere,
good food and excellent service.
Over
120 members enjoyed the Christmas Social
held on Wednesday 19th December.
Many thanks to Arthur Clarke for all his hard work organising this, plus
all Committee members and many other members who came early to help. The Committee are looking for improvements
for next year and are currently discussing other options.
Twenty
three members travelled to Ilfracombe for the New Year Celebrations. The
Hotel was in an excellent position for the sea and harbour and the food
was good. In true LenARA fashion our members entered into the spirit of
things and won the first three prizes in the Fancy Dress! Well done!
I was sorry to hear that one lady had a fall and do hope that you are
recovering well. Some of the bedrooms
were away from the main area with several stairs to negotiate, but everyone
enjoyed themselves and agreed it was good value for money.
Future Planned Events for 2008
February
Mountbatten Festival of Music – Friday 22nd February 2008
Twenty six members are attending the above Festival at the Royal Albert Hall. The coach will leave the Dog and Bear in Lenham at 4.45pm, Harriestsham at 4.50pm and the Ramada Hollingbourne at 4.55pm.
March
a) Loose Women –
recording on Thursday 6th March 2008
The coach will leave the Dog and Bear at 9.30am and the Ramada at 9.40am. All members have booked lunch at the Mulberry Pub at 1.45pm, which is opposite the ITV Studios. The cost of lunch is £12.50 and I now have a menu for you to choose from. Will all members going please let me have your choice at the 27th February Members Meeting, or by phone if you are unable to attend the meeting
(b) Hazlitt Theatre – Tuesday 11th March – “Pajama Game” presented by Maidstone Amateur Operatic Society.
(c) Working with Glass - One of our members, Frank Stevenson, who works in glass, is willing to hold a Glass Workshop for, say, 15 members where they will be able to decorate a piece of glass with a coloured design of their own creation. There are some rules to be adhered to when working with glass so anyone interested in attending this class please see Frank at the March meeting, where a date will be arranged.
April
Tickets are available to see the London Musical “Wicked” on Wednesday 30th April for the 2.30pm matinee. The coach will pick up from the Dog and Bear at 11.15am. This show has been highly recommended. The tickets are normally £60 but the cost to us will be £19.50 (plus cost of coach).
This will need to be booked and paid for at the February meeting. This is an award winning musical in its 2nd year. It is the untold story of the Witches of Oz based on Gregory Maquire’s novel about two girls (Glinda and Elphaba) one of whose destiny is to become the Wicked Witch of the West.. The audience are transported into a fantasy world of wizardry, witchcraft, sorcery and spells.
May
Visit to Leonardslee Gardens, Nr Horsham, West Sussex to see the Rhododendrons and Azaleas at their best. The date is Thursday 15th and the cost will be £7 plus coach. The gardens include seven lakes, restaurant, Victorian motor cars, Sculpture Garden and a 1/12th scale model of a country estate and buildings as might be found in a typical Victorian market town. The coach will pick up at 9.00am from the Dog and Bear and leave Leonardslee at 4.00pm. Deposit of £5 will be required at the March meeting.
June
(a) 19th June – a trip to France for lunch. We will travel to the quaint fishing village of Wissant. The cost for the day is £30 (including coach and lunch) and a deposit of £10 will need to be paid at the February meeting. The coach will leave the Dog and Bear at 8.30am and return at 6.30pm.
(b) A Tour of the Suffolk Coast – cost £8.50 plus coach. Our Guide will meet us at Woodbridge for coffee. On then via Orford and Snape to Aldeburgh for lunch (famous for Benjamin Britten’s Music Festival). There will be places to eat or you can bring a packed lunch. We then visit Thorpeness and the coastal resort of Southwold, with its lighthouse, beach huts and old cottages. After tea we head for home.
Date and times for this visit to
be confirmed. Add your name to the List of Interest. Deposit in March.
July
Visit to London’s Hidden streets plus the Regents Canal. The cost: £13.50 plus coach. Our trip will include walking through a maze of narrow streets at Newgate and bygone alleyways. Visit a plague pit and see the stately homes of Hercule Poirot and Sir John Betjeman. Visit the Smithfield meat market. There will be opportunities to sit and is easy enough for all walking abilities. By coach to the Barbican Arts Centre for lunch We then transfer to a 50 minute narrow boat cruise on the Regents Canal, from Camden Lock, Regents Park, London Zoo to Little Venice. Back to central London for tea then home.
Date and times for this visit to be confirmed. Add your name to the List of Interest. Deposit in March.
August
17th August to 24th August – Cruise on Thomson’s ship Celebration to the Norwegian Fjords. There are 20 members booked for this Cruise.
September
A visit to the Brick Lane Music Hall based in
Silvertown, East London on Tuesday 16th.
This will be a matinee starting at 2.00pm, costing £20 plus cost of
coach, including afternoon tea. The
shows include comedy, music and song. Date and times to be confirmed. Please
add your name to the List of Interest.
October
Paul James Party Weekend – 24th – 27th October
2008
35 members have booked for this fun weekend at Bracklesham Bay, Nr Chichester, Sussex. We still have at least five places to fill. (The cost being £145). Please ask your friends and relations The balance of this holiday will need to be paid at the August meeting.
November
Wednesday 12th November – London Musical “Lion King”. The tickets are for the Matinee performance and will cost £23, plus cost of coach. Please put your name on the List of Interest for this.
December
a) 20th December – John Rutter Concert at the Westminster Central Hall. I have reserved 40 seats and await the seating plan to book these. I know this seems a long way off but please add your name on the List of Interest.
b) New Year 2008/09 –
Lochs and Glens Scottish Break – 29th December 08 to 2nd
January 09.
A £30 deposit will be due at the February meeting and the balance of £269 will need to be paid 4 weeks before departure. The price includes all meals (except lunch on the second day when it will be available to buy at the distillery!!).
CHAIRMAN’S COMMENT
I hope you all have a great 2008. The Committee have put together a good variety of events and visits and I am sure there will be something to suit you, so come along and enjoy yourselves. We look forward to seeing you ALL. There will be other events arranged during the year, so keep looking forward to the Newsletters.
|
REMINDERS a) I still have 31 Membership cards waiting for collection. These are always out at the front desk at the Members meetings on the last Wednesday of each month. Please collect your card as soon as possible. February Meeting b) Loose Women – choice of lunch needed. c) Lochs and Glens - £30 deposit d) WICKED - £19.50 payment for ticket e) France for Lunch - £10 deposit PLEASE NOTE Please be at pick up points for trips 15 minutes earlier than the
time given. The times given are the coach LEAVING times. |
PLEASE NOTE
a) The trip to Oberammergau to the Passion Play in 2010 will not now go ahead due to time commitment and cost.
b) Only 9 members showed an interest to visit the Tutankhamun exhibition, so this will not run.
c) There will be no Ten Pin Bowling at Whitstable in April as this is half-term.
d) The IT classes will resume in mid-April. Bill Taylor will announce more details nearer the time.
Pub Lunches – note from Derek and Jeanne Davison
3 Pub lunches are now in place and menus will
soon be on our web site.
Wednesday 16th April - The Chiltern Hundreds, Penenden Heath
Wednesday 21st May - The Plough, Stalisfield Green
Wednesday 18th June T.B.A
Wednesday 16th July – (by popular demand) The Chopstick & Bowl, Lenham, will be offering the same two set menus at the same price as our previous visit, plus a couple of English dishes and a sweet that can be ordered on the day. Due to Jeanne and me being on holiday 4th to 16th July Dave and Audrey Town have agreed to take over between those dates and on the day itself.
With regards to June, Arthur Clarke has arranged an outing to France with a countryside tour and meal followed by a visit to a hypermarket. He has had a wonderful response from our members. The date set for this outing is Thursday 19th June.
We are aware that several of our pub lunch regulars are going on this outing [Jeanne and myself included]. We have been approached by several members about our usual pub lunch on Wednesday 18th June and as a result we will be happy to lay on a pub lunch for those not going to France [or indeed those who want to do both outings].
We will, therefore, be asking members at the February & March meeting to put their names down for a June pub lunch in order that we can select a venue of the appropriate size, rather than find a venue that can take 50 and end up with only 10.
We trust these arrangements meet with your approval .
Walks with John McIntyre
Please note in the calendar below three walks that John has arranged for March and April. Further walks will be arranged by John during the rest of the year.
Mary Henderson
Weekly Events
|
Date |
Time |
Cost |
Event |
Location |
Organiser |
|
Tues |
10.30 |
£3 |
Pitch & Putt (9 hole
round) |
Great Chart Golf Centre |
Dave 01622 859010 |
|
Wed |
19.30 |
£4.50 |
Line Dancing |
Lenham CC |
Maureen 01622 858714 |
|
Fri |
14.00 15.00 |
£4 |
Keep Fit Keep Fit (seated) |
Lenham CC |
Maureen 01622 858714 |
February 08
|
Date |
Time |
Cost |
Event |
Location |
Organiser |
|
Wed 13 |
11.00 |
3.70 |
Ten Pin Bowling/Fish &
Chips |
Whitstable |
Terry 01622 630818 |
|
Sun 17 |
9.15 |
|
Charity Walk &
Breakfast |
The Bowl |
John 01233 712143 |
|
Wed 20 |
12.30 |
|
Pub Lunch |
The Rose, Bearsted |
Derek 01622 880650 |
|
Fri 22 |
4.45 |
£40 |
Mountbatten Festival of
Music |
The Royal Albert Hall FULLY BOOKED |
Mary 01622 880625 |
|
Wed 27 |
14.00 |
|
Members Meeting – Speaker is Martin Lloyd on
“Passports, Assassins, Traitors and Spies” |
||
March 08
|
Thurs 6 |
9.30 |
£13 |
Recording of Loose Women +
Lunch (£12.50) |
ITV Studios, London |
Mary 01622 880625 |
|
Sun 9 |
10.30 |
|
4½ mile walk |
Woolpack (Hothfield) (Opens for breakfast at
8am) |
John 01233 712143 |
|
Tues 11 |
Tba |
£10 |
Pajama Game |
Hazlitt Theatre |
Pam 01622 880309 |
|
Wed 12 |
11.00 |
3.70 |
Ten Pin Bowling/Fish &
Chips |
Whitstable |
Terry 01622 630818 |
|
Wed 19 |
12.30 |
|
Pub Lunch |
Red Lion, Charing Heath |
Derek 01622 880650 |
|
Wed 26 |
14.00 |
|
Members Meeting – Speaker is Anne Carter on “Behind
the Scenes at Westminster Abbey” |
||
April 08
|
Date |
Time |
Cost |
Event |
Location |
Organiser |
|
Sun 6 |
10.00 |
|
5 Mile Walk |
Lynsted Church |
John 01233 712143 |
|
Wed 9 |
|
|
Ten Pin Bowling CANCELLED |
Whitstable |
Terry 01622 630818 |
|
Wed 16 |
12.30 |
|
Pub Lunch |
Chiltern Hundreds Penenden
Heath |
Derek 01622 880650 |
|
Wed 23 |
14.00 |
|
Members Meeting – Speaker is Eric Moody on “Flying
Stories”. |
||
|
Sun 27 |
10.00 |
|
5 Mike Walk |
Egerton Public Car Pk |
John 01233 712143 |
|
Wed 30 |
11.15 |
19.50+ coach |
Musical “Wicked” |
London |
Barbara 01622 880652 |
May 08
|
Wed 14 |
11.00 |
3.70 |
Ten Pin Bowling/Fish &
Chips |
Whitstable |
Terry 01622 630818 |
|
Thur 15 |
9.00 |
£7 + coach |
Leonardslee Gardens |
Horsham, West Sussex |
Barbara 01622 880652 |
|
Wed 21 |
12.30 |
|
Pub Lunch |
The Plough Stalisfield Green |
Derek 01622 880650 |
|
Wed 28 |
1400 |
A G M – Followed with a talk by Ann Widdicombe MP |
|||
June 08
|
Tba |
|
8.50+ coach |
Tour of Suffolk Coast |
Woodbridge to Southwold |
Mary 01622 880625 |
|
Wed 11 |
11.00 |
3.70 |
Ten Pin Bowling/Fish &
Chips |
Whitstable |
Terry 01622 630818 |
|
Wed 18 |
12.30 |
|
POSSIBLE Pub Lunch |
Tba |
Derek 01622 880650 |
|
Thur 19 |
8.30 |
£30 |
Pub Lunch |
Wissant, FRANCE |
Arthur 01622 859709 |
|
Wed 25 |
1400 |
|
Members Meeting – Speaker is Chris McCooey on “Kent
Characters” |
||