Next visit 18th May 2011

Wednesday 18th May. We have a guided tour of Benfleet. This is a follow up to the slide show given by John Downer in February. We can park in the Hoy and Helmet car park and walk round to St Mary the Virgin, High St/Essex Way, South Benfleet, SS7 1NA for 10.00am. Lunch at the Hoy and Helmet about 12.15 for those who have booked.
£2 per head not including lunch.

Wednesday 15th June a tour of buildings of historical and archaeological interest in Billericay.
Meet 10.00am at Billericay railway station, Radford Way, CM12 0BP
£2 per head

We still have space on our trip to the Essex Police Museum in Chelmsford on Wednesday 17th August.

The Museum is situated in the Police complex near Springfield Road and has many interesting exhibits including uniforms, truncheons, handcuffs, a cell and many photographs showing the history of the Force since its formation in 1840. There is also a shop with a variety of gifts for sale.

Afterwards there will be a guided tour of the old Chief Constables house and the stables. Then we watch the everyday dramas unfold in the FIR, the Force Information Room where all the 999 calls are taken, instructions passed to police on duty all over Essex and the helicopters controlled.

There is very limited parking at the site but it is within easy walking distance of the Chelmer Village Retail Park where there is ample free parking. On returning to your car you can indulge in some retail therapy and enjoy a coffee at Costa’s.


Book visits with Heather Flemmings, monthly U3A meetings, email heatherfl@lineone.net or phone 01702 204943
Pay David Fryer-Kelsey, monthly U3A meetings or post 113 Greensward Lane, Hockley, Essex, SS5 5HS. Cheques made out to U3A Rayleigh please.

Titanic exhibition Thu 31st March 2011

March saw our first coach outing. 48 members went to the Titanic Artefacts exhibition at the O2 arena followed by a visit to Greenwich.
The O2 arena is built from the old Millennium Dome on the south side of the river Thames. It holds a large stadium, several smaller exhibition centres and many cafes and restaurants. The surrounding area is still being developed – there is a Tube station, a bus station and much parking space. There is also a river side walk.
The exhibition features over 300 real artefacts recovered from the ocean floor along with room recreations and personal stories. There is a very real feeling of the tragedy of the event.
The coach then took us to Greenwich where the members had the opportunity to visit any of several different sites including the Royal Observatory, National Maritime museum, Queens’s House and the Old Royal Naval College.
The Royal Observatory up on the hill is fascinating with collections of astronomical instruments, timekeeping apparatus and of course the Greenwich Meridian line.
The National Maritime museum contains our fabulous naval history including Nelson’s uniform from Trafalgar. The building is being extended and remodelled.
The Old Royal Naval College was built as a home for old sailors and was used for training purposes until a few years ago. We took time to see the famous painted ceiling in the hall designed for the old sailors to eat in. When finished it was considered too grand for them and they never actually had their meals there.
Cutty Sark is still being refurbished. There was a fire there which delayed the work but fortunately much of the structure had been removed for renovation and was saved.
Our members made their own way round the many attractions and sampled the many eating and drinking places in the historic centre of Greenwich before returning to the coach for the journey home.

Burnham on Crouch Wed 16th March 2011

On Wednesday 16th March we explored the old sailing town of Burnham on Crouch.
We met at St Mary the Virgin church at 10.00am. This is situated to the north of the town and obviously was somewhat separate from the waterfront, which was perhaps deliberate when it was built because of the risk of flooding. Members of the church kindly supplied us with tea and coffee and then one spoke to us about the fine old building and its monuments and history. There is a large cemetery which is no longer used and an even larger green in front which could perhaps have been used for village fetes etc. Just behind the church was an ancient farm or hall with a large moat coming very close to the church yard.
We then returned to our cars and drove to the High Street and gathered at the Clock Tower where we were met by members of the Burnham Historical Society for our tour. The Clock Tower was built in 1877 as a memorial to Laban Sweeting, a local oyster merchant and philanthropist.
We had an interesting tour of the waterfront, the High street and some of the narrow side streets. There are many, many listed buildings in this small town and Royal connections with the sailing. We finished at the Museum in an old boat house near the waterfront and had more tea and coffee.
Then lunch. Most of us packed into The Ship on the High street and had a very nice meal. Most of the inn was shut for redecoration but we still managed to fit in.
Our thanks to the various people of Burnham who volunteered their time to make our visit a success. We gave donations to the church and the historical society.

Meeting at Cloisters Wed 16th Feb 2011

Our first meeting of the New Year was at the Cloisters attached to Rayleigh Church and allowed our members to reminisce about our visits in 2010 and to look forward to 2011 while enjoying a good old natter over tea and biscuits.
John Downer of the Benfleet and District Historical Society gave a very interesting slide show which whetted our appetite for our guided tour of Benfleet in May.