Dowsing Demonstration, Vivary Park, Taunton
Illustrated Talk: “Carnival in Trinidad”
Illustrated Talk: “The Red Cross – Across the World and Round the Corner”
Visit to Bristol Old Vic for Behind-the-scenes Tour
Visit to the Imperial War Museum, London
Visit to Whitestaunton Manor, Chard
Illustrated Talk: “Crosse Connections”
Visit to Sherborne Abbey and School
Visit to the Somerset Military Museum, Taunton
Lunch – and A Talk About Otters
National Trust Quantock Centre AGM
Visit to “SS Great Britain” and Boat Tour of Bristol City Docks
Visit to Cotleigh Brewery, Wiveliscombe
Visit to Churches in North Somerset
Illustrated Talk: “Rosemoor – Past, Present and Future”
Visit to Ilfracombe Lifeboat Station
Visit to Blackmoor Farm, Cannington
Visit to Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Gloucestershire
Illustrated Talk: “Colour, Contrast and Conservation in the National Trust
Visit to Montacute House and Tintinhull Court
Wednesday 4 January and Thursday 5 January 2006
Gilbert Adams has practised dowsing for many years. With the use of a divining rod, he will demonstrate his skill to search for underground water and minerals. Members will be given the opportunity to conduct their own searches.
Saturday 7 January 2006
West Monkton Village Hall, Monkton Heathfield, 2.30pm
Hazel Tyzack, a member of the Quantock Centre, will present an illustrated talk about carnival in Trinidad. This large event is held two days before Ash Wednesday. Most of the population come to enjoy the music of the steel bands and the colourful costumes.
Tuesday 10 January 2006
The attractive market and border town of Monmouth retains its medieval street plan, with fine Georgian buildings. There will be a conducted tour of Cornwall House, dating from the 17th century, a family home with many original features.
Members will be able to visit Drybridge House, with its magnificent room interiors, and the Nelson Museum with the world-famous collection of memorabilia associated with the Admiral.
Within a short walking distance are St Mary's Church, the Shire Hall where the trials of the Chartists were held, Great Castle House and the famous 13th century Monnow Bridge.
Wednesday 11 January 2006
After lunch at the White Horse Inn, Bradford-on-Tone, Ian Billinge, a member of the Quantock Centre, will give a light-hearted talk about his experiences working in a bank 50 years ago. He will let out some of the terrible secrets of what really happened behind the formidable doors of the great institution where, as he will reveal, he became a manager by mistake.
Wednesday 18 January 2006
Heathfield Meeting Hall, Monkton Heathfield, 2.30pm
Teams will be made up in fours. Members are invited to come with friends as a team or to come on their own and team up with others.
Saturday 21 January 2006
West Monkton Village Hall, Monkton Heathfield, 2.30pm
Michael Page, a Red Cross member for more than 30 years and also a members of the Quantock Centre, will trace the history of the Red Cross – the largest voluntary organisation in the world – from its origins on a battlefield in 1859 to the drafting of the first Geneva Conventions in 1864. He will include his experience of running a relief operation in the Caribbean after a hurricane.
Tuesday 24 January 2006
Formerly the Theatre Royal, which opened on 30 May 1766, the building is now the oldest working theatre still in continuous use. The Bristol Old Vic was established in 1946.
There will be a guided tour of the theatre, going backstage to see the paint shop, scenery and props stores, wardrobe, and under the stage, and also learn about the history of the famous old theatre.
Friday 27 January 2006
This date is Holocaust Memorial Day. A special exhibition at the Museum traces the rise of the Nazis and their hatred of the Jews and other minorities to the Final Solution, with a large model of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
For members not wishing to see the exhibition, there is much else to see at the Museum, covering the First World War, the Battle of Britain, rationing, Women's Land Army, Colditz, the Burma-Siam Railway, the Berlin Wall, National Service, crimes against humanity, post-war Britain, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Suez Crisis, the 1940s house and much more.
Wednesday 1 February and Thursday 2 February 2006
Stuart Moore went to Australia in 1962 on a £10 assisted package. He prospered, and after returning to this country, he restored Whitestaunton Manor, Chard, to exceptionally high standards. The gardens were excavated by television Channel 4's Time Team. They discovered part of a bath house from the 4th century. Dendrochronology has dated some of the roof timbers to 1438. The house was never “improved”, and the magnificent fireplaces, ceilings and other features have now been restored to their former glory.
Tuesday 7 February 2006
This visit has been arranged to learn about the history of this once-important building (not the County Museum or its collections). The tour, led by John Bainbridge, Education Officer with the Somerset County Museums Service, will include a visit to the garden which is now part of the Castle Hotel and a chance to see one of the St James Street Almshouses in the Museum grounds.
Saturday 11 February 2006
West Monkton Village Hall, Monkton Heathfield, 2.30pm
John Porter will introduce us to Andrew Crosse who lived at Fyne Court, Broomfield, in the first half of the 19th century. He was an early worker in the new science of electricity and known locally as the “Wizard of the Quantocks” or the “Thunder and Lightning Man”.
Mr Porter is Crosse's third cousin five times removed and has spent many hours researching his “Crosse Connections”.
He will also introduce us to Crosse's maternal uncles – Thomas Porter, who achieved the height of respectability and financial success, and his elder brother, Jasper, who fell out with his father and carried a grudge to the grave and beyond.
Tuesday 14 February 2006
During a three-hour cruise departing from near Exmouth, an expert birdwatcher will help with the identification of birds that will include avocets, ducks and various waders.
Wednesday 15 February 2006
In 705, Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, chose Sherborne as the site of his great cathedral. Few other towns in Britain have such a wealth of unspoilt medieval buildings. Edward VI founded the famous Sherborne School in 1550, saving intact the splendid Abbey Church, the almshouse and other monastic buildings. Members will be free to explore the Abbey at leisure in the morning. There will be a conducted tour of the School in the afternoon.
Friday 17 February 2006
This is a repeat of last year's visit to the Military Museum, again under the guidance of the Museum's Curator, Lieut-Colonel David Eliot. His enthusiasm and expert knowledge of all things to do with the Somerset Light Infantry will ensure an interesting visit.
Wednesday 22 February 2006
A talk and audio-visual presentation, “The Decline and Recovery of our Native Otters”, will be given by Ian Anderson following lunch at Taunton Vale Golf Club. Mr Anderson, a professional photographer, has written two books on otters and undertaken many otter surveys for the Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Vincent Wildlife Trust. He will explain how otters live, their food and territory requirements and how we can help them.
Saturday 25 February 2006
The 34th Annual General Meeting of the National Trust Quantock Centre will be held at West Monkton Village Hall, Monkton Heathfield, at 2.30pm. Agenda
Wednesday 1 March 2006
The “SS Great Britain”, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's innovative steam-powered liner, was built in Bristol and launched there in 1843. She was returned to Bristol in 1970 from the Falkland Islands after a chequered history, and has now been fully restored with the aid of grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The visit, starting with a trip on the Bristol packet boat, “Bagheera” (picture), round Bristol Docks, will take in Cabot's replica of “Matthew” and the Bristol Maritime Heritage Centre.
Saturday 4 March 2006
Cotleigh have been brewing award-winning traditional ales since 1979 in the old brewing town of Wiveliscombe. All the Cotleigh ales are named after birds of prey, and the brewery actively supports the Hawk and Owl Trust. The visit will be conducted by two members of the workforce.
Wednesday 8 March 2006
The first destination will be the fascinating small medieval church at Puxton, now redundant but in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Next will be St Mary's, Yatton, a splendid medieval building sometimes referred to as “the cathedral of the moors”, alongside which the medieval rectory and church house still stand.
The third and final destination will be St Mary's, East Brent, another impressive medieval church which also has a set of early benches, a 17th century west gallery and decorated plaster ceiling, and a chancel restored by William Butterfield in the 1840s.
Saturday 11 March 2006
West Monkton Village Hall, Monkton Heathfield, 2.30pm
The speaker will be Chris Birchall who has worked for a number of years at Rosemoor, the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens at Great Torrington, Devon, and seen them evolve. His talk will show how the gardens have changed over the years.
Tuesday 14 March 2006
The trip will provide the opportunity to look around the lifeboats at Ilfracombe and to hear from the Coxswain about the work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Ilfracombe Station in particular.
Friday 17 March 2006
Blackmore Farm was built in the 14th century and has retained many period features, including stone archways, garderobes, oak beams, and its own private chapel. The west bedroom has original roof trusses and a cob-and-lime plaster wall. The gallery features oak panelling and beams. The great hall has the original oak front door and a huge fireplace with lintel constructed from a single piece of sandstone. A wing was added in the 16th century. There are many other features.
Wednesday 22 March 2006
Slimbridge, between Bristol and Gloucester, has the world's largest collection of exotic wildfowl and is the only place in Europe where people can see all six types of flamingo. There are hides, observation points, walks, a tropical house, and a shop.
Saturday 25 March 2006
West Monkton Village Hall, Monkton Heathfield, 2.30pm
David Bastable, former Chairman of the Quantock Centre, will return to Taunton to give an illustrated talk showing the colours to be found at many contrasting National Trust properties which are conserved for the benefit of the nation.
Thursday 30 March and Friday 31 March 2006
The morning visit will be to Montacute House, the magnificent Elizabethan mansion, with fine collections, garden and park. Of special interest are the displays of Tudor and Elizabethan portraits on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the 17th and 18th century samplers from the Goodhart Collection.
The afternoon visit will be to the privately owned Tintinhull Court, near Yeovil, (not be confused with Tintinhull Garden, which is owned by the National Trust). This Grade I listed building was probably started in 1218 as the priors' lodging. It became Crown property under Henry VIII. The house has recently been restored and is now a comfortable family home.