Times Out Quiz Evening
Wednesday 16th November
On
Wednesday evening 16th November 15 Times Out members and 2 MOTO members
took part in a quiz night hosted by our members Alan and Pauline.
The questions were interesting and varied and to show how well they
were set there was only 4 points between all of the 4 teams.
There was also a
table quiz and a prize was given to winners of both the table quiz and
the main quiz (luckily they were different teams).
During the evening we had a buffet supper provided by The Binfield Club.
A really great evening and thanks again to our quizmasters.
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Times Out Trip - Twickenham Rugby Stadium Tour
Tuesday 18th October
  On
Tuesday 18th October, 14 of our members went for a tour round
Twickenham Stadium, the home of English rugby union. The tour lasted
about 1½ hours and the guide was very informative and amusing. We went
to all the places you can’t usually get to, including a sit in the
Royal Box.
The Rose and Poppy main gate
that the teams walk through was amazing, though it might not look so in
the photo, you have to see it for yourself.
 
A couple of interesting facts – it takes 100 police officers to control
the crowds at an England rugby game whereas it takes 1,000 at an
England football game.
The average beer consumption at an England game is 6 pints per person.
A very interesting tour and one
to be thoroughly recommend.
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Times Out Trip - Superbloom & Tower of London
Tuesday 16th August
 
On Tuesday 16th August 8 of our members travelled to London by train to
visit the Superbloom and Tower of London.
On arriving at Waterloo we walked to the London Eye where we boarded
the Thames Clipper for the trip to the Tower.
  Unfortunately on arrival at the Tower it started to rain
(weeks without rain, why today?) so we had to walk round the moat
containing the Superbloom getting wet.
Many of the flowers had died in the hot weather but there were still
some to see. Just when we finished walking round the moat it stopped
raining so we separated into smaller groups and found a suitable spot
to have lunch before going into the Tower.
  Three of us queued for over 40
minutes to view the Crown Jewels but it was well worth the wait, they
were magnificent. After the jewels we walked round The White Tower to
view the armoury which was spread over 3 floors with over 200 steps
going up and 200 more coming down.
  There is so much to see at the Tower that we will have
to return at a later date.
We all had return tickets on the Thames Clipper but there was up to an
hour delay so we walked up to the bus stop and went back to Waterloo
buy bus just in time to catch the 4.21 train back to Bracknell with a
minute to spare.
A very enjoyable, tiring and
eventful day.
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Times Out Theatre Trip - Barefoot in the Park
Thursday 28th July
 
On the evening of the 28th July
12 of our members went to the Mill at Sonning to see
Neil Simon’s ‘Barefoot in the Park’.
The play was a comedy with just 5 actors and was based on the life of a
newly married couple who were setting up home, 5 floors up (by stairs),
in a small apartment in
New York.
 
The acting and timing were excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed the
production.
As usual the meal was very good in both choice and
quality and we look forward to our next visit to the Mill.
Photographer:
Andreas Lambis
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Times Out Trip - Midsomer Murders Tour (Thame, Oxfordshire)
Wednesday 13th July
  On Wednesday 13th July 15 of our members went on the
Midsomer Murders Tour in the town of Thame where most of the scenes
were filmed.
We met at the Thame Town Museum first to view the history of the town
and many artefacts going back several centuries.
There was also an area specifically for the evolvement of the Midsomer
Murders programme and an area to commemorate the death 10 years ago of
one of Thame’s more recent celebrities Robin Gibb from the Bee Gees who
was born in Thame and was living there when he passed away in 2012.
Whilst we were there we saw Robin Gibb’s widow showing the Radio 2 D.J.
Paul Gambaccini around this special section of the museum.
We then went for lunch at various eateries around the town and
reconvened outside the Town Hall at our allotted time of 2.15 pm.
The guided walking tour lasted approximately 2 hours and the guide
showed us many buildings and locations used in the filming of Midsomer
Murders as well as giving us some interesting town history.
We finished the tour by viewing Prebendal, the house where Robin Gibb
lived and viewed his grave in the graveyard opposite his house.
This was a trip we can well recommend and suggest other BFU3A groups
try it as it was a great day out not too far from Bracknell.
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Times Out Trip - London Hidden Walk
Monday 20th June
 
On Monday 20th
of June 17 of our members went on
the hidden London walk.
We travelled by
train to Waterloo and started the walk on
Westminster Bridge and on to parliament square to see the statues. Next we passed the Jewel Tower then entered
Victoria
Gardens on our way to Millbank where we had a break for lunch.
We view the archive
gallery at Tate Britain then
walked through Smith Square eventually arrived at the treasury and
downing
street where
we went over to
the cenotaph and the bronze memorial to women of world war two. We
finished the wal k on the embankment near Scotland Yard.
A very pleasant
day for the weather and the only hold up we
had was a change of trains at Staines on the homeward journey which
delayed us
by about half an hour, although some other party called an earlier
train and
got back to Bracknell without a problem.
Thank you again
two Alan and Pauline Buckingham for arranging the itinerary and
leading this trip.
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Times Out Trip to Wokingham Theatre to see The Father
 Wednesday 27th April
Photographs
courtesy of Simon Vail
On Wednesday 27th April 19 of our members attended the
Samaritan’s charity evening at the Wokingham theatre to see the plat
“The Father”.
The play was written by French playwright Florian Zeller and was
released as a film in 2020. The story is based around ‘The Father’ who
is suffering with dementia and the family who are having to also deal
with   it. A clip from the programme states:-
“Florian Zeller’s script is a fascinating read. He has managed to
present a story where the audience is immersed in the experiences of
the lead character. You are not just watching a play about dementia.
Zeller wants you to experience, even if just superficially, some of the
sensations of the condition - the disorientation and déjà vu.”
The actor playing the father was
excellent and we all enjoyed a very thought provoking play.
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Times Out Trip to Brookwood Cemetery
Friday 25th March
 On Friday 25th March 14 of our members went on a guided
tour of Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis. We
predominantly visited the Anglican section and passed quite a large
Muslim area as well. The cemetery is so big (about 450 acres and the
largest cemetery in Britain) that we could only see a small part of it.
The cemetery started in 1854 by the government owned London Necropolis
Company to take the overspill of bodies from the crowded cemeteries in
London; it is now run by Woking Necropolis and Mausoleum Limited,
subsidiary of Woking Borough Council. In the beginning a dedicated
railway was built from Waterloo to Brookwood to take this overspill and
there were 3 classes of travel to choose from; not that this would
bother you if you were in your coffin.
 We were told that there was an HS2 area where graves,
disturbed by the building of HS2, were moved to Brookwood.
We saw the graves of author Denis Wheatley, artist John Singer Sargent
and Tiller Girls manager John Tiller. Many of the other graves we saw
were of first and second world war soldiers, some holders of the
Victoria Cross.
There is a Greek Orthodox church and monastery within the cemetery and
we were allowed into the church where we were given a brief history and
told about its present day use.
 The tour lasted 2 hours and we were blessed with good
weather. Afterwards we were given a welcome cuppa and biscuits.
A very interesting tour and if you want any more info follow the link -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookwood_Cemetery
The tour was lead by a volunteer and her assistant from the Brookwood
Cemetery Society. The society run regular tours on the first Sunday of
each month at 1 p.m.
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Times Out Trip to Sir Harold Hillier Gardens
Tuesday 1st February
  
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On Tuesday
1st February 12 of our members visited the Sir
Harold Hillier gardens near Romsey, Hampshire.
We spent
some time
walking round the beautiful winter garden there (and playing in the
Playhouse) before making our way around the perimeter path, a quick
musical recital on the xylophone by Debby and past the large pond
full of fish. On our way we saw snowdrops, some camellia just
beginning to flower, Dogwood, Winter Fire, Witch Hazel and blossom
just showing on some trees.
At the
pond we took a detour into the woods where there is an area
fenced off with a few pigs busy doing whatever pigs in woodlands do,
maybe searching for truffles?
After
lunch we went to the Heather Garden via the Spring Walk; along
the way there were several statues, sculptures and memorials.
The
weather was quite mild although a little windy at times but dry
and some sun from time to time. Altogether a very pleasant walk
around the gardens which promise to be spectacular in the spring and
summer.
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Times Out Theatre Trip - Top Hat
Wednesday 5th January
  
  On
the cold evening of 5th January 18 of our members went to see the
musical “Top Hat” at the Mill at Sonning.
It was booked about 6 months ago and did not disappoint.
The cast were very proficient at tap dancing and many were also good
singers especially the two characters, Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont.
The costumes were well designed and the staging was excellent.
Before the show we had a very good two course meal plus coffee and the
service was also good.
  A
most enjoyable evening.
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