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This site was updated on the 4th March 2010

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Since writing the last newsletter, like everyone else we have not escaped the snow! But we are looking forward to better weather and some nice days out.

During February we journeyed to Peterborough to spend time in the City Centre where some of us went shopping and others visited their magnificent Cathedral. After lunch we re-joined our coach making our way to The East of England Showground for the spectacular ‘Holiday on Ice’ with its exotic costumes and scenery.

The next event in February was our ‘Mystery Weekend’ and like everyone else in our party we truly did not know our destination until we arrived in Paignton, Devon. Although we were in the same town last year, we stayed in a different hotel which was equally as good, with good food and entertainment every evening. Our day and a half excursion took us to Exeter and Brixham where we enjoyed some wintry sunshine only to arrive back to Shefford in the snow!!!

Unfortunately on this occasion, we were not successful in obtaining tickets for Friday Night is Music Night for Friday, March 12^th.

PLEASE do not forget our annual ‘Get Together’ on Saturday March 27^th at The Memorial Hall all.

STILL AVAILABLE: The voucher donated by one of our members for a two night weekend break for two people at the TLH Leisure Resort, Torquay. Valid until 30^th June 2010, with the exception of Easter and Bank Holidays. Offers over £30.00 for this weekend break will be donated to Keech Hospice Care (Children’s Branch)

1. Due to yet a further increase in postage, we apologise for the increase in the annual subscription to £10.00.

2. We are changing our subscription year to run from 1^st January to 31^st December.

Peter Donegan & the Lonnie Donegan Band – Friday 23^rd April

Camden Market – Sunday 25^th April - (Stevenage Travel)

RPO Grand Opera Gala – Monday 28^th June

Suffolk Coastal Tour – Thursday 29^th July

‘If it wasn’t for the ‘ouses in between’ –(Tour of London in Song) – Wed. 8^th September 2010 (Details May Newsletter)

York – Wednesday 13^th – Friday 15^th October (Details April Newsletter)

Land of Hope & Glory – Wednesday 27^th October

Christmas Cruise – Wednesday 8^th December (Details July Newsletter)

John Rutter – Royal Albert Hall – Saturday 11^th December 2010 (Stevenage Travel)

OLYMPIC LONDON – Monday 8^th March – Time of leaving from Shefford 08.00am. In three year’s time one billion people will be looking at the London we will see today. We meet our guide in Stratford at approximately 10.30am for coffee and biscuits in a lovely London Pub. We drive over to Pudding Mill and Fish Island and although we cannot go into the Olympic Park we do stop at a canny viewing point. Back to Stratford for our roast beef lunch and in the afternoon we begin a drive to see the venues for boxing, judo, shooting events etc. Price includes morning coffee/biscuits and roast beef lunch, sweets and drinks optional. £29.00 (Guests £31.00). We anticipate arriving home approx. 7pm. (Sold out) Please Note: This tour will finish at the Gunpit Café, at The Royal Artillery Museum for optional afternoon refreshments and NOT the O2 as previously stated.

ANNUAL GET-TOGETHER’ – The Memorial Hall, Shefford - Saturday 27^th March 2010 – 7pm until 10pm. Time has flown and we are fast approaching our annual get-together when we present your cheque to Keech Hospice Care. This is for the children both in need of hospice and community care. We will be suitably refreshed with an excellent buffet put together by May and her team. The entertainment this year will be a varied programme given by a company called ‘Patchwork’. We will also have our usual tombola and as an additional attraction before Easter we will have a giant rabbit in a basket , who at the moment is sad because he is nameless!!! For just £1.00 you can name this rabbit with the funniest name you can think of ! We will ask the representative from Keech Cottage Hospice Care For Children to be the judge. Price £10.50 (Guests £11.50).

IDEAL HOME EXHIBITION – Sunday 28^th March. Leaving Lloyds Chemist at 8.30am- Price £25.50 (Adults) £22.50 (Snr), £12.50 (under 16 years). (Stevenage Group Travel)

HAMPTON COURT PALACE – HENRY V111 Heads and Hearts. Wednesday 14^th April, Leaving opposite Lloyds Chemist, Shefford at 8.30am we will make our way to the fabulous Tudor Palace where we can be part of the celebrations of Henry’s wedding to his sixth wife Kateryn Parr. The Palace is made ready for the wedding with lavishly dressed rooms including feasting in the Great Hall and debates in the newly opened Council Chamber. Whether seeing the Palace Front decked out in splendor, passing warders in their new Tudor inspired uniform or meeting a live Henry and Kateryn, you can revel in this moment of history that happened at Hampton Court in 1543. Please do not get lost in the Maze!!! Price £23.50 (Guests £24.50) We anticipate arriving home approx.6,30pm. NB: There are cafes at Hampton Court Palace – serving tea/coffee and snacks also hot and cold lunches.

PETER DONEGAN AND THE LONNIE DONEGAN BAND – Friday 23^rd April. This is an evening of skiffle, blues, jazz and foot stomping from the band created by the undisputed King of Skittle. This will be held at The Plinston Hall, Letchworth Garden City and starts at 7.30pm. Cabaret style seating, dancing, licensed bar. Price £13.00 per ticket. Any problems with transport please let us know.

CAMDEN MARKET – Sunday 25^th April – Leaving Lloyds Chemist at 8.30am – Always something happening and plenty to see. Price £13.00. (Stevenage Group Travel).

TOUR OF THE COTSWOLDS – Wednesday 19^th May 2010. Leaving opposite Lloyds Chemist, Shefford at 8am. We make our way to the lovely old town of Burford where we will meet our Blue Badge Guide for our optional coffee/tea stop. From there we will travel to Bibury, situated on the River Coln, once described by William Morris as the most beautiful village in the Cotswolds, much photographed by visitors to this area. We then head for Barnsley, a delightful village near the home of model Liz Hurley then onto Cirencester, for a time the second largest town after London in Roman Britain. We will stop for optional lunch in Tetbury, a largely unspoilt Market Town, where the newly opened ighgrove Shop Highgrove Shop is a great visitor attraction, Prince Charles chooses the items that are sold in the shop personally and the profits go to support his charities. The afternoon will be spent at Chavenage House, an Elizabethan Houswhich has virtually been unchanged for 400 years and is still a family home with tours usually conducted by the present owner. The house has been used for many films and TV programmes, (Lark Rise to Candleford and the new adaption of Tess of the D’Ubervilles). We make our way back to Burford where we leave our guide before returning to Shefford at approx. 7pm. Price £26.00 (Guests £28.00).

CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW – Saturday 29^th May – Leaving Shefford at 8.am – Price £59.00. (Stevenage Group Travel).

LONDON MUSEUMS – Sunday 6^th June – Leaving Shefford at 8.30am. Plenty to see - there will be one drop off and one drop on which includes the Imperial War Museum. Price £13.50 (Stevenage Group Travel).

CAPEL MANOR GARDENS & FORTY HALL – Wednesday 9^th June – Leaving Lloyds Chemist Shefford at 9am. We make our way to Capel Manor where we can explore 30 acres of richly planted themed gardens including historical gardens, Italianate Maize, a Japanese Garden, the Jungle Gym Garden (designed by Kim Wild), Sunflower Street. The Seven Gardens, which make up Sunflower Street, were opened in 2005 by former student Kim Wild. Students who qualified in garden design were invited to enter the competition to demonstrate their expertise and design these new gardens. The winning designs have been realized. A selection of refreshments, (hot and cold) are available in the terraced restaurant. After optional lunch we will board our coach for a ten minute drive to Forty Hall – a Grade 1 listed building built in 1629 for Sir Nicholas Rainton who as a haberdasher made money importing silks and taffeta from Italy. He was briefly imprisoned by Charles 1^st, for refusing to a give forced loan to the crown. He also had a number of public arguments with the Archbishop of Canterbury who was a supporter of the King. Much of the original fabric still survives. There is also rich plasterwork carrying beautiful panels or musical instruments and acting masks. There will be time for an optional ‘cuppa’ before heading home. We anticipate arriving back to Shefford approximately 6.00pm. Price £16.00 (Guests £18.00).

AN EAST ANGLIAN PANORAMA – Wednesday 23^rd June – Leaving Lloyds Chemist Shefford at 8.45am. We meet our Blue Badge Guide in Sudbury at 10.30am for morning refreshments, after which we re-join the coach for a tour through the beautiful rolling landscape of the East Anglian farmlands dotted with English thatched villages and the great cloth towns of mediaeval villages Clare Cavendish and Long Melford. In Long Melford we stop to see Sarah and her team of skilled restorers at the Persian carpet studio. We then return to Sudbury for a tasty meal of chicken and mushroom pie, mashed potatoes and vegetables. After lunch there is some free time to explore this engaging Suffolk Market Town. To round off the day we return to the coach and head off to Lavenham where crooked and timbered weaver’s cottages line the main street of an immaculately kept town. There will be a gentle walking tour to show you the best of the town, after which you will have free time to enjoy optional afternoon refreshments before heading home. In Sudbury and Lavenham you are free to walk as much or as little as you choose. We anticipate arriving back to Shefford at 6.30pm. Price includes coach, morning coffee and lunch £28.50 (Guests £30.50).

RPO GRAND OPERA GALAS (Royal Albert Hall) Monday 28^th June –Leaving Shefford at 4.15pm Evening Performance. The Royal Philaharmonic Orchestra return for a Grand Opera Gala with appearance from Owain Arwel Hughes, Natasha March, Alfie Boe and the Royal Choral Society. Circle Seats. Price £32.50 per person. (Arranged by Stevenage Group Travel)

THE SUFFOLK COASTAL TOUR – Thursday 29^th July – Leaving opposite Lloyds Chemist, Shefford at 8am. We will meet our guide in Woodbridge for morning refreshments at 10.30am. Suitably refreshed we head towards the sea passing through Orford via Snape then to Aldeburgh, a town very much threatened by the awesome power of the sea where we see The Moot Hall. If you want you can walk along the beach and see Maggi Hambling’s controversial sculpture. Do look out for her sea paintings – they are wonderful. On to Dunwich for lunch, here the town has already been claimed by the sea but this is still a well known spot, largely due to the brilliance of the Flora Tearooms. Like the Pilot of Dungeness this is an exemplary example of that very British tradition of a famously good fish and chip lunch with a slice of bread, dessert and a cup of tea or coffee, included in the tour fee. In the afternoon, we continue along the coast to Thorpeness, an eccentric puzzle of mock Tudor houses, a man made lake and the quirky ‘house in the clouds’. We are heading to the little town of Southwold. Nothing noisy or garish could ever hope to flourish in this Edwardian resort. We join our Guide to explore the finest mediaeval church in England – home of ‘Southwold Jack’. The day draws to a relaxing conclusion with free time to enjoy the ambience of this jolly seaside town and pick a spot for optional tea before heading home at 4.45pm. Price including lunch £31.00 (Guests £33.00). We anticipate arriving back to Shefford by 7pm.

RIVERS OF WINE’ – 7^TH – 14^TH August 2010 –This year’s overseas holiday will be aboard the Prinses Christina for an 8-day cruise. This tastfully furnished ship includes a forward lounge on the promenade deck, with a dance floor and bar. A restaurant, spacious open-air sun deck and comfortable en-suite cabins, with beds at floor level. The ship sun deck and comfortable en-suite cabins with beds at floor level. The ship is fully air-conditioned. Day 1: Cologne, Day 2: Andernach, Day 3: Cochem, Day 4: Boppard, Day 5: Rudesheim, Day 6: Koblenz,Day 7: Konigswinter, Day 8: Disembark Cologne. The price per person sharing a twin cabin. Lower Deck is £655.00, Main Deck is £30.00 per person supplement, Main Deck de-luxe £60.00 per person supplement and Promenade Deck £90.00 per person supplement. This Price includes, coach from Shefford, tour manager throughout, return tunnel crossing, daily excursions, full board and luggage handling.

A deposit of £60.00 per person is required, along with the optional insurance premium of £39.00.

LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY – Wednesday 27^th October – Leaving opposite Lloyds Chemist at 8pm. We begin at Fire Power! In the historic Woolwich Arsenal for morning refreshments before taking a seat for the atmospheric fields of fire – archive film on massive screens with smoke, searchlights and shaking floors. You will meet young soldiers on site who will have served or will serve with their units in Iraq or Afghanistan. We will then set off by coach to see the old barracks on Woolwich Common now home to 1,000 infantry following the closure of Chelsea Barracks. This is the Olympic venue earmarked for the shooting events. Back at the Woolwich Arsenal a roast chicken or vegetarian lunch is served and there’s time for a stroll through the impressive galleries to see exhibits spanning the centuries from the Roman Empire to National Service. Then we head by coach to Stratford just across the water to a viewing point for the Olympic Park. You will see the vast Stadium, the Aquatics Centre and the Velodrome. Seeing the Olympic Park take shape and discovering how London is gearing up for the big event is truly exciting and inspiring. At the end of the afternoon, we will stop nearby to buy a cup of tea ready to head home at 4.45pm. There is little walking save a walk of approximately 300 yards, some of it gently uphill, to the Olympic Park viewing point. Price including morning coffee and lunch £32.00 (Guests £34.00). We anticipate arriving back to Shefford by approximately 7pm.

THEATRES 2010

BUDDY HOLLY – Mark Robinson the UK’s No.1 Buddy is backed by a band reminiscent of the Crickets in their hey day. Joined by special guest s paying tribute to Roy Orbinson and The Everley Brothers. Featuring classics such as ‘Peggy Sue’ ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘ Wake up little Susie’ etc. Saturday 15^th May, Leaving Lloyds Chemist, Shefford at 6.30pm. Price £27.50.

LONDON THEATRES (Arranged by Stevenage Group Travel) All Prices include coach.

MATINEE PERFORMANCE

LION KING - Wednesday 17^th March - Lyceum Theatre (Leaving Shefford 10.30am) Royal Circle Seats £39.50 (Tickets value £53.00)

LES MISERABLES - Wednesday 31^st March - Queens Theatre (Leaving Shefford 11.00am) – Stall Seats £39.50 (Sold out)

LEGALLY BLONDE - Sunday 2^nd May - Savoy Theatre (Ieaving Shefford 11.30am) - Dress Circle seats £48.50 (Tickets value £62.50)

AVENUE Q - Saturday 15^th May - Wyndhams Theatre (Leaving Shefford 12.30am) Stall seats (Face value £55.00)

LES MISERABLES - Wednesday 19^th May - Queens Theatre (Leaving Shefford 11.00am) – Dress Circle seats £40.00

WAR HORSE Tuesday 23^rd March – New London Theatre – Stall Seats £49.00 (7pm performance)

EVENING PERFORMANCE - Coach Leaving Shefford at 4.15pm

IMPORTANT NOTES –

For holidays which include hotel accommodation Shefford Leisure Group acts as an agent for the Tour Operator, their terms and conditions apply. (Copies of these are available from your organisers or see the Operator’s websites).

INSURANCE: Personal Insurance at preferential rates can be obtained from either John White (Insurance Consultant) – Tel: 01926 641493 or the N.J.Heritage Partnership, through Stevenage Group Travel. See our booking form for details of how to take advantage of this arrangement. and we are sure you will receive all the help and advice you need.

To book contact Enid on 01462 851397, 

email: enidpamment@aol.com

Stevenage pickups possible for most trips.