Summer Excursions 2008

Weekend May 9^th -11^th. Visit to the North West and North Wales.

 This visit has taken place

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Friday 13^th June            Clifton House and Kings Lynn

           Our President, Dr Simon Thurley, is currently restoring his “graded”new home, Clifton House and Tower. He has kindly offered to show us the extent of the restoration and has offered us afternoon tea. On arrival in Kings Lynn Paul Richards, our guide, will give us a background talk over coffee in the Green Quay Café followed by a walk round the medieval town visiting the Hanseatic Warehouses, St Margaret’s Church, Trinity Guild Hall, Thorsby College and the Custom House. At approximately 1.00 pm you will be free to picnic or lunch in one of the many restaurants in the town and visit the areas and buildings which interest you the most. We will reassemble for the collective visit to Clifton House and Tower at 3.30pm.

                       The Green Quay Discovery Centre hosts an exhibition which highlights the unique wildlife of the Wash. St Margaret’s Church dates from 1101. It has a unique’tide clock’ and contains some very large and interesting brasses. The 15^thC Trinity Town Hall is one of two Guildhalls in Lynn and contains some of the finest civic treasures in Britain. Thorsby College is a fine Tudor building surrounding a beautiful courtyard; this once housed the priests of the Trinity Guild. There is the 17^TH C Custom House (which now houses the Tourist Information Centre), with a statue of Charles II above the door and nearby the statue of one of Lynn’s famous sons Captain George Vancouver. These and England’s only remaining Hanseatic warehouses, are all tributes to the town’s maritime prosperity. In the 18^th century Clifton House was the residence of a rich merchant and is considered to be the finest grand merchant house in King’s Lynn. Parts of the building date from the 14^th century with the 5 storey watch tower being added in Tudor times.

 Leave Huntingdon 09.30am, return 6.00pm Cost: £21.50  Please Book by: 30^th May         

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Sunday 6^th July             Rockingham Castle and Lyddington Bede House

           Our visit starts at 11.00am with a Guided tour of the castle (approx 1 ¼ hrs) You will then be free to visit the grounds for a picnic or enjoy lunch in Walker’s House Tea Rooms (not included). The Event of the day is a static and flying display of falcons and owls over the castle battlements and the surrounding Welland Valley. We reboard the coach at 3.00pm for the 15 minute journey to Lyddington for a 40min audio-guided tour of Bede House (English Heritage). We will then take the short walk to the Marquis of Exeter PH for tea at 4.15 before returning home by a different route.

          William the Conqueror ordered Rockingham Castle to be built in his quest to subdue his new kingdom. Many medieval Kings came to the castle including Richard the Lion Heart and his brother John. Henry VIII granted it to Edward Watson (ancestor of the present owner James Saunders Watson ).

 During the Civil War Rockingham was taken by Cromwell and besieged by the Royalists (it was the setting for the BBC’s “By the Sword Divided”).

               Lyddington Bede House is set in a beautiful ironstone village and was the late medieval wing of a palace owned by the Bishops of Lincoln. Sir Thomas Cecil ( son of Elizabeth’s chief minister) acquired it around 1600 and converted it into an almshouse for 12’bedesman’ and 2 women.

 Leave Huntingdon 10.00am, return 5.45pm. Cost: £28.50 (English Heritage Members: £26.00)     Please Book by: 25^th June      

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Thursday 7^th August     Talk and guided tour of St Neots and Eynesbury

           Our Guide Peter Ibbett is an acknowledged expert on the local history. The afternoon starts with a visit to St Mary’s Eynesbury and then to St Mary’s St Neots, followed by a walk in the town centre to the Museum and the Priory Centre. We will have tea and biscuits in the Priory followed by a presentation and question and answer session

             The church of St Mary the Virgin Eynesbury contains some very interesting wooden carvings. The church of St Mary St  Neots is described by locals as the Cathedral of Huntingdonshire as it boasts a ‘ tower beyond reproach in both proportion and decoration and a grand interior of Nave and Chancel’

There may be insufficient interest in this outing to justify the hire of a coach so  please complete the boxes in the attached booking form (in red) to indicate your interest in going by private car at a reduced cost of £6.50

Leave Huntingdon 1.15pm, return 5.30pm Cost: £17.50    Please Book by: 23^th July      

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Thursday 11^th September       Premium Tour of Bletchley Park

           On our arrival, at approximately 11.30am, we will be given an introductory talk followed by a guided tour of the house and grounds. We will then break for either a picnic or lunch in the Galley Bar and/or Restaurant (not included). After lunch we will reconvene for the second part, a tour of the buildings, which are typical World War II huts, containing the rebuilt ‘Colossus’ (the worlds first semi-programmable computer), the Churchill Collection (which has many rare and interesting pieces) and Block B, The Exhibition Centre where you will be allowed to wander at will. Before our departure we will take tea and biscuits. 

            Built in 1883 the Bletchley Park Mansion was the home of Sir Herbert Samuel Leon a great friend of David Lloyd George. The house contains a ballroom clad in well defined ‘linen fold’ oak panelling. In 1938 the Government appropriated the site for ‘Station X’ the Code and Cipher School. Throughout the War Bletchley’s hundreds of Code Breakers achieved considerable success in breaking the German Military ciphers and unbeknown to the enemy, were able to pass invaluable information on troop  movements etc to MI6. After the War Churchill ordered all the computer equipment to be destroyed to prevent our one time ally the USSR from learning of Bletchley’s achievements. The site continued to be used by the GPO and GCHQ for training purposes. In 1992 a Trust was formed in an attempt to prevent the site from being developed but it wasn’t until 1999 that assurances were given that Bletchley was to be preserved as an historic site.

Leave Huntingdon 10.30am, return 5.45pm. Cost: £24.50     Please Book by: 28^th August

EXCURSION BOOKING NOTES

Please book early and make out a separate cheque for each excursion. 

Make cheques payable to ‘Huntingdonshire Local History Society’ and send to:

Les Davidge, 43 Chapel Field, Gamlingay, SANDY, SG19 3QP

Please note especially the ‘Book By’ date, however do telephone Les on

01767 651 478 if you are able to come at the last minute (Outings are seldom over-subscribed)

CANCELLATIONS: If you cancel before the ‘Book By’ date your cheque will not be paid in. If you cancel later you may only receive a refund if the seat is filled.

NON MEMBER GUESTS are welcome. You will receive partial refunds for guest children, in respect of lower entrance fees, on the coach.

The following table shows the times in minutes relative to the time of departure from Mill Common bus station:

                Dews Garage Somersham                                 40 minutes earlier

                St Ives Houghton Road                                    30 minutes earlier

                Houghton Village Centre                                   25 minutes earlier

Hartford Longstaff Way                                    20 minutes earlier 

Godmanchester Mill Car Park                            10 minutes earlier

Huntingdon Millfield Park                                  5 minutes later

Brampton Grove Lane Lay By                             10 minutes later

The Society undertakes to make arrangements for the excursions but cannot accept liability for any mishap or loss connected with them. Bookings are only accepted on that understanding.