wrkadm5 | Ferndown U3A

Tea at the Museum – Kingston Lacy

Dec 22, 2019 | 20192020Archive

Thursday 12th December was not a nice day. Those of you who can remember will recall that there was not a deluge of rain, more a precipitation of Biblical proportions, a prelude to all the flooding in the locality. We who had arranged to go to Kingston Lacy to see the Christmas decorations, inside the house and the illuminated gardens outside, watched with a degree of trepidation as it poured and poured and poured.

And then, as if by magic, the rain stopped at about 3pm and there was even a glimpse of some unaccustomed yellow stuff in the sky as we made our way to Kingston Lacy. Everyone who said they could come and their guests, arrived as if there had been no adverse weather conditions at all. After suitable sustenance in the café – we’re not called Tea at the Museum for nothing! – we made our way into the house to see the Christmas decorations.

The inspiration for the decorations, both on the stairs and adorning the enormous Christmas trees in some of the State Rooms, was ‘Making Memories’ and was taken from the Edwardian journals of the Bankes children, including the last owner of the house, Ralph. The trees were beautifully decorated and the presents wrapped in brown paper and ribbon, which took me back to my childhood. (Oh dear, showing my age now…) Some members enjoyed the board games set out in the Saloon – dominoes, snakes and ladders and jigsaws. And of course we were able to enjoy the wonderful art collection on the State Room floor.

And then it was time to venture outside. A choir sang Christmas carols in the courtyard and the fine weather held. All agreed that the gardens and trees were beautifully illuminated, especially the fernery, which looked magical. There was more to see this year than last and the Japanese garden was the subject of many photographs. Thoughtfully, there were rubber mats on the soggiest paths so everyone who wanted to was able to safely negotiate the illuminated route and see all that they wanted.

So, unexpectedly, given the weather at the start of the day, we were able to do everything that we wanted and enjoy Kingston Lacy at its festive best.

Pam and Kay

Visit to old fossils

Nov 24, 2019 | 20192020Archive

Visit to old fossils
On Thursday 21st November members of the Tea at the Museum group visited the Etches Collection at Kimmeridge for the afternoon. This is a modern, purpose built museum housing the lifetime collection of Jurassic marine fossils (157 million years ago) belonging to Dr Steve Etches. A resident of Kimmeridge village, Steve’s passion has been to collect and reveal the wonderful fossils along a five mile stretch of coastline close to his home and from a couple of local inland quarries. A National Lottery grant enabled the community to build a modern village hall and a stunning museum to house Steve’s collection; it opened in 2016.
Steve’s star finds are displayed in large display cases arranged according to themes and our excellent guide, Sarah, explained clearly what we were looking at and why it was important. Steve has found some completely new species including the “missing link” in the evolution of bivalve molluscs for which Darwin had searched but been unable to find! The collection is internationally important and Sarah explained it all to us in a most interesting way.
It can difficult to imagine what a prehistoric creature looks like based on some fossilised bones. The museum solves this problem in two imaginative ways. The first is to project onto the sloping ceiling images of marine creatures swimming through the warm Jurassic seas and the group enjoyed watching ichthyosaurs, ammonites and predatory cuttlefish ‘swimming’ across the ceiling, much as one would in a viewing tunnel in an aquarium.
Some of the group enjoyed engaging with the museum’s latest technological innovation – using a Bournemouth university designed program to create three dimensional representations of some of the Jurassic creatures that could be walked around as though they were actually in the gallery.
Earlier fine weather turned to afternoon rain but that did not deter our hardy group from making the short trip across the road to the Clavell Restaurant for tea and cake. On the way home, some of us met a large group of friendly and curious locals…

KIM (7 of 10)

Palmerston’s Folly – Fort Nelson

Nov 24, 2019 | 20192020Archive

33 members of the Discovering Wessex J1 Group went to Portsmouth on Friday 15th November, to visit Fort Nelson which is now the home of the ROYAL ARTILLERY Museum. We were shown around the whole installation by 2 very knowledgeable official guides looking at the museum galleries, the displays of historic guns from ancient cannons to modern artillery pieces. One of which was 200 tons in weight and ran on railway tracks and used to fire huge shells 7 miles. We also saw the ramparts with their original cannons etc. The visit ended with a walk down the underground tunnels into the magazines, stores and barracks areas. Many enjoyed a tasty lunch before returning to Ferndown by the coach. A very enjoyable trip.

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Swanage and the Jurassic Coastline

Nov 23, 2019 | 20192020Archive

Following a talk on Durlston Castle and Swanage, the “Discovering Wessex” Group went on 18^th October to visit the area. The visit started at Durlston Castle where, after refreshments in the tearoom, we toured the castle and visited the exhibition area which included a “Rock” exhibition explaining the Jurassic Coast and highlighting actual fossils within the rock. Despite rather windy and showery weather, a hardy group then descended to examine the Great Globe before continuing along the coastal path to the Tilly Whim Caves, taking shelter in the Poet’s Hut to avoid a shower.

The afternoon was spent touring Swanage town supported by a guide, David Haysom, who is the curator of the local Heritage Museum. David described and illustrated the historical development of Swanage from fishing village to a major stone export centre and eventually to the current seaside tourist attraction. David also identified many of the recycled London monuments provided to Swanage by John Mowlem and George Burt which included a trip round the gardens of Purbeck House Hotel.

Despite the inclement weather, the group had an enjoyable and informative day and were only slightly damp by the end!

Bon Viveurs – Keyneston Mill perfumery

Nov 5, 2019 | 20192020Archive

In September, the Bon Viveurs Group visited the “Home of Parterre Fragrances” at Keyneston Mill. The visit started with a guided tour of the themed botanic gardens from which the ingredients for the perfume are grown and harvested. The tour of the gardens was followed by a visit to the distillery where the fragrances are extracted from the flowers before being blended to produce the luxury Parterre perfume.

The visit was completed by an afternoon tea in the “Scented Botanist Bistro -Café” where a fascinating range of cakes flavoured and decorated by edible flowers were enjoyed by all.