Calendar of Events
Here
is a summary of the events planned for the year 2009/10 This will be updated at
regular intervals.
If you wish to attend one of the outings or events, then
please append your name to the lists during one of our monthly meetings. Alternatively,
as soon as you have decided to come, please email David Norris (click here): David
Payment, ideally by cheque, should be made to the Hon Treasurer John Penfold
and made out to "Boxmoor and District Probus Club", with the name of
the event on the back. Payment should be made as soon as possible and at least
one month before the event.
Refunds in the event of cancellation will be
made according to the established rules of the club. | EVENTS
| September 2010
October
2010
November 2010
December
2010
May
2011 |
| SeptemberDate: Thursday 9th September
"Oxford
Castle and the Ashmolean"
Leaving for a morning visit to Oxford
Castle to learn about the people and events from the castle's turbulent past,
with guided tours of the 18th prison. Arriving at Oxford Castle, we will split
into three groups to enjoy the "Oxford Castle - Unlocked" experience. Our costumed
character guides will reveal the site's colourful past, taking in Saxon St. Georges's
Tower to enjoy panoramic views of Oxford, and descending into the dark atmosphere
of the 900 year undergound crypt. You will also experience the austere confines
of the 18th century Debtor's Tower and prison D-Wing. During your tour you will
meet some of the Castle's past inhabitants, including John Lilburne, the political
and religious radical held captive awaiting trial for treason, and the Prison.
Warder.You will also be able to view the mound of the 11th century Motte and Bailey
Castle with its Vaulted Wall Chamber.
There will be opportunities to take
tea/coffee in the Castle's café, and look around the site at your leisure. When
you have completed your tour, you will free to debouch on to the streets of Oxford
for lunch and/or shopping.
Following free time for lunch and exploration
in central Oxford (about 2 hours), our afternoon visit takes us to the newly refurbished
Ashmolean Museum with its world-famous collection of Art and Antiquities. Again
we will split into groups for guided tours of about 1 hour duration, but there
should be ample time for members to make their individual visits and to take tea
before departing at 16:30.
Departure is from Camelot at 8:00am.
Return
from Oxford about 4:30pm, arriving back in Hemel Hempstead at around 6:00pm.
Cost:
£22.50 per head.
Booking list open - places available.
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 | October
Date: Tuesday, 19th October
"Kill or Cure"
A coach based tour which explores the history of medicine in London.
In the morning we are conducted through 2000 years of medicine and
nursing in London, taking in creepy tales of the bodysnatchers of St.
Barts and the barber surgeons of the Old Square Mile.
After lunch we visit the Wellcome Collection with its Medicine Man gallery
of curiosities.
Departure is from Camelot at 9:00a.m.
We leave London at 4:45p.m., arriving back at Hemel Hempstead about 6:15p.m.
Cost: £30.00 per head (includes morning tea/coffee and lunch).
Booking list opened July meeting.
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| December
Date: Wednesday, 15th December
"Annual Christmas Lunch"
Once again, this popular event will be held at the Boxmoor Lodge Hotel.
Start
time : 12:30pm
Cost: TBA.
Booking list opened at the August meeting.
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| May
Date: Friday, 20th May to Monday, 23rd May 2011
"Spring Break to the Hythe Imperial Hotel"
A 3 night stay in the 4 star Imperial Hotel with Spa on the Channel coast. The hotel is ideally located for visits to the Cinque Ports and the surrounding countryside.
Long before the towns were formally recognised as the Cinque Ports, around the time of the Norman conquest in 1066, the five original ‘head ports’ of Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich were busy fishing and trading centres.
For more than 500 years the five towns provided the ships and men who guarded king and country from frequent and vicious attacks in return for special privileges. This unique confederation of South East England Channel ports was the original force behind England’s maritime power.
Under the system of ‘ship service’, the ports were required to supply 57 ships, each with a crew of 21 men and a boy, for 15 days every year. In return the ports were granted special rights which included, amongst many other things, exemption from the jurisdiction of certain courts and the right to levy their own local taxes. These ships were used not only in warfare, but also to transport the King, his family and armies between England and Europe. Neighbouring towns and villages eventually joined the original five towns and were known as ‘limbs’ and helped fulfil the quotas of ships and crew. The ‘two Antient towns’ of Rye and Winchelsea later became head ports in their own right.
The early 14th century saw a sharp decline in the power and influence of some members of the Confederation. The South East coast had been devastated by extremely violent storms in the previous century, permanently changing the coastline and making some harbours unusable. When a permanent navy was founded in the 16th century by Henry VIII the days of the Cinque Ports as a collective force were numbered.
Price includes dinner, bed and breakfast and a full programme of excursions.
Estimated cost: £310 plus £45 single supplement.
Booking list opened August meeting – a few places available
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