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.
Rochdale Town Hall and Co-op Pioneers’ Museum
Wednesday 15th October 2025
Leave Knutsford Bus Station at 9am prompt
Cost: £45.00 per person
During this visit you will be introduced to two different examples of Rochdale’s involvement in its industrial heritage.
The price includes:
- All travel and tips
- Tours of the Town Hall and Co-op Museum
- Welcome tea or coffee
- Lunch of sandwiches and cake.
Rochdale Town Hall was designed by William Crossland and opened in 1871. It is a grade one listed building symbolising the town’s rich industrial standing in the textile trade. According to Historic England the building’s ornate stylings are rivalled only by the Palace of Westminster. Since our last visit in 2016 the Town Hall has undergone a painstaking and labour intensive three year major restoration costing £20 million and it only reopened in 2024. Our tour will highlight much of this renovation work as well as the impressive New Town Square outside the Town Hall.
However, we will start our visit to Rochdale back in 1844 when food and drink contained very questionable additions in order to increase profits. In Toad Land the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society opened their first little store selling pure unadulterated food for fair prices and honest weights and measures. This was the birth of the Co-op movement which is still going strong today. You will see the layout of the original shop, hear about the Pioneers and view the museum’s exhibits.
In both venues we will be divided into two groups because of restrictions of space and both will provide our refreshments: tea or coffee in the co-op and lunch in the Town Hall. Places for this trip can be bought via PayPal or Debit/Credit card using our On-line Tickets page or by sending the booking form together with a cheque, made payable to Knutsford u3a, for £45 per person to Lynda Harris, 10 Lindop Close, Knutsford, WA16 8AY. Tel 01565 621058. If you would like confirmation of your booking please include a stamped addressed envelope.
World of Glass and ‘Dream’
Thursday 18th September 2025
Leave Knutsford Bus Station at 9.15 am
Return about 5 pm
Price £35.00
This visit is a re-run of the popular one we did in 2016 which was enjoyed by our members. A visit to their website will show that this attraction is in danger of closing so our visit would be timely and welcome.
The World of Glass is dedicated to the local history of St Helens through the lens of the glass industry. During our visit we will be shown the story of glass making by visiting the Victorian Cone Building and underground tunnels beneath the furnaces and by seeing the displays of fascinating objects made of glass from around the world.
The price includes:
- Coach travel
- Tea or Coffee on arrival
- Guided Tour with an expert guide
- Buffet Lunch of sandwiches, quiche, salad and snacks
- Glass blowing demonstration.
Before we return to Knutsford we will take a short drive from to base of Sutton Manor Community Woodland, the site of Sutton manor Colliery which closed in 1991. Here you have the option of a walk, of approximately 10 minutes, up to see the Dream Sculpture by Jaume Plensa. This a depiction of a girl’s head standing 20 metres high which was created as a memorial to the colliery. You may well have seen this when travelling east along the M62.
Places can be bought quickly and easily using our On-line Tickets page or, alternatively, by post enclosing a cheque made payable Knutsford u3a together with this booking form. These should be sent to Lynda Harris, 10 Lindop Close, Knutsford, WA16 8AY, Tel 01565 621058. If you want confirmation of the booking please include a stamped, addressed envelope.
GORTON MONASTERY AT CHRISTMAS
Tuesday 2nd December 2025
SOLD OUT
Departing from Knutsford Bus Station 11 am
Return to Knutsford 5 pm approximately
Cost: £62 per person
Our Christmas outing this year takes us back to the Gorton Monastery. This delightful and popular venue, which is rather special at Christmas, is offering an event to start the Christmas celebration – a festive lunch and a talk. This is an opportunity too good to miss.
We will arrive at the Monastery at 12 noon in time for mulled wine before the talk which starts at 12.30. The details of the talk are not yet finalised but, judging by past experience, it should be interesting. The lunch will follow at 1.15pm/1.30pm. It will be a 2-course Festive lunch (main and dessert) followed by tea, coffee and mince pies. Again the details of the menu have yet to be finalised but the word ’Festive’ gives us some idea of what is included. I appreciate that this notification is very early but, to make a group booking it was necessary.
Information about Gorton Monastery can be found on the internet at www.themonastery.co.uk
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
TBA.
For a review of the Holiday in Hampshire, June 2025, click here
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