Outings, Visits and Holidays
Contact: Lynda Harris
Tel: 01565 621058
Email: info@knutsfordu3a.co.uk
Details and booking arrangements will appear on this page of the website, also in the Newsletter, and will be announced at the monthly General Meetings.
BOOKINGS FOR OUTINGS – Clarification of Procedure
The preferred method of booking is by Credit / Debit card or PayPal on our On-line Tickets page. It is very easy to use and you will get email confirmation of your booking.
Alternatively bookings can be made by using a bookings form and a cheque made payable to Knutsford u3a. Please write the name of the performance or outing on the back of the cheque and send to the event organiser. We will contact you only if your booking has not been successful. If you want confirmation that you have the places you want, please enclose a stamped addressed envelope. Usually your cheque will not be paid in until two weeks before the event. If an outing is fully booked when we receive your cheque you will be informed and placed on the waiting list.
Places on u3a trips and outings can only be booked for full or associate members of Knutsford u3a. If you need to bring a companion/carer to enable you to take part in a trip or visit please see our Accessibility Policy.
We hope to take bookings for the current outing at our general meetings but, as our outings are proving very popular we cannot guarantee the availability at the time of the meeting. In other words please book early to be sure of a place!
The outings subcommittee hope you like the outings we plan. Please contact Lynda Harris on 01565 621058, or email info@knutsfordu3a.co.uk if you have any ideas or suggestions for future outings.
TOUR OF BRIDGEWATER HALL – (and lunch!)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 12TH
Depart Bus Station 9.45 am prompt
SOLD OUT
Cost, including transport and lunch, £34.00
The Bridgewater Hall, built 26 years ago as a ‘state of the art’ concert hall, is a building filled with hidden features and surprising facts. On this guided tour we will see many areas normally off limits to the public, and hear about the careful planning that makes the superb acoustics of the hall.
You will see how the whole 22,500 ton construction has no rigid contact with its foundations. Instead, the whole concrete structure is supported by earthquake-proof giant springs, which ensure no external vibrations mar the acoustics in the hall. I have been told the sight of these springs is unforgettable!
Hopefully, we will also learn about the amazing, enormous organ and hear much more about the design of the whole building.
The whole tour takes about an hour and a half and includes a climb beneath the building to explore the undercroft. Following on from the tour we have a three minute walk around the outside of the hall to the Rain Bar pub. Here we will have a simple sandwich lunch (though I have been promised chips!) with tea or coffee. Other drinks can be purchased from the bar.
Please note :-
- The visit to the undercroft will entail climbing up and down two metal staircases.
- There is NO morning coffee available before the tour. Please consider buying your own from Booths before we depart!
VISIT TO THE HEPWORTH GALLERY, WAKEFIELD
Wednesday, 2nd April 2025
Departing from Knutsford bus station at 9.15 am
SOLD OUT
Cost: £31 including transport, entrance fees, gallery tours and coffee on arrival,
OR £28 if you have a National Art Pass. (N.B. This is not a National Trust card!)
The Hepworth Gallery is an award -winning art gallery, opened in 2011, overlooking the River Calder in Wakefield. Named after Barbara Hepworth, who was born and brought up in Wakefield, the gallery has an impressive collection of work by Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, L.S Lowry, and Henry Moore amongst many other significant contemporary artists.
The Gallery also hosts important temporary exhibitions. Currently, this is ‘Forbidden Territories’ covering 100 years since the origin of Surrealism, one of the most influential artistic movements of the twentieth century.
Following coffee on arrival, our visit will include an introductory tour, after which you will have plenty of time to make your own tour of the galleries and to purchase your own lunch in the restaurant.
We would expect to leave about 3.30 pm for a return to Knutsford at about 5.00 pm.
Hampshire & Winchester Holiday
Monday 16th- Friday 20th June 2025
Following our happy and successful holidays in Northumberland and Norfolk – and, of course Slovenia – we are happy to announce we have arranged another for 2025. We will again be using the excellent help of the travel company, Simply Groups. Click on these links for the full itinerary and the printable booking form.
Hinde-Hampshire-16.06.25DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Friday, 2nd May – local visit to Rostherne Church, Tabley House and Chapel followed by tea and cake at Tabley.
Tuesday, 13th May – A visit to Chirk Castle and Gardens.
Wednesday, 25th June – A visit to Blackwell House and the Jetty Museum (provisional)
Sunday, 6th July – trip to Ness Gardens followed by a Mersey Estuary Cruise.
Thursday, 13th August – A visit to Southport Flower Show.
For a review of the Holiday in Northumbria, June 2022, click here
For photos of the Hebridean Holiday, May 2017, click Hebridean Holiday Photos
For photos from the visit to Highgrove, August 2017, click Highgrove Visit Photos
For reviews and photos of the visits listed below, see the Reviews of Group Events, Outings and Visits page:
JCB Factory at Rocester, October 2014
Morgan Factory at Malvern, September 2015
Birmingham, September 2017
Wentworth Woodhouse, September 2018
Whitworth Art Gallery and the Portico Library, Manchester, November 2018
Chethams Library and Manchester Cathedral, March 2019
Black Country Museum, Dudley, West Midlands, May 2019
Tissington, June 2019
Cruise, Manchester Ship Canal to Liverpool, July 2019
Lichfield Cathedral and the National Memorial Arboretum, September 2019
A Day of Merchandise and Molecules: Visits to the Amazon Fulfilment Centre, near Manchester Airport, and to Waters’ Mass Spectrometry near Wilmslow, October 2019
Gorton Monastery, December 2019