Join Us For A Visit
We organise a small range of visits during the summer months – sometimes by car and sometimes by coach.
Note that all visit places must be pre-booked and paid for using the booking form on the buttons below. Payment can be by bank transfer or by cheque, according to your preference.
Details of how to pay will be given in the confirmation email that is sent when you book.
Note that we operate a car share policy on car visits to help people who feel unable to undertake the journey themselves take part. Details are shown on individual vist details and booking forms.
Select image to display visit details and book a place
2025 Visits Programme
St Bartholomew's Church, Tong
A Car Visit and lunch on Wednesday 25th June
A day not to be missed.
St Bartholomew’s Church at Tong is renowned as a ‘treasure house’, it’s historical and architectural significance being well documented. It is a Grade 1 listed building because the present church has remained almost intact for 600 years with only one later addition, the chantry chapel – called ‘The Golden Chapel’ because of its rich colouring and magnificent fan-vaulting.
The church, together with a priests’ College (now disappeared) and Infirmary (ruined) were the inspiration of Isabel de Pembrugge in the early 15th century. The misericords in the chancel testify to her desire for 13 poor people to be cared for by 5 clergy provided they prayed there 3 times a day and said masses for her deceased husbands.
It has a superb collection of medieval alabaster tombs and effigies, original carvings and brass work.
The church is unusual as it has a central square tower that becomes octagonal just above the roof level with an octagonal spire on top. It houses the Great Bell of Tong, the largest swung bell in Shropshire dating from 1518.
The tour will take us around the church and it’s surrounds and tell of its literary connections (Shakespeare and Dickens) as well as royal historical associations: Henry Tudor, Catherine of Aragon and King Charles II, following his escape after the Battle of Worcester when he hid at Boscobel nearby.
The tour will be followed by lunch in the Parish Rooms.
Meet: Tong Church – near Weston Park, Weston under Lizard at 11.15am
Sat Nav: TF11 8PW Organiser: Ruth Williams
Booking deadline: June 15th
Price: £17 pp – includes lunch of meat and salads, dessert and tea/coffee (please specify any special dietary requirements when booking).
Skittles at The Royal Oak
A Car Visit and lunch on Tuesday 29th April
Our inaugural skittles event last year had to be cancelled, due to problems with the venue. Now under new management, The Royal Oak is ready for you to come and join us for some fun at our skittles day, to be held upstairs at The Royal Oak.
We have booked the skittle alley at the Royal Oak, Newport Road, Gnosall for a session at 12 noon. A buffet lunch will be served and drinks will be available from the bar.
As we can only accommodate 20 people, early booking is essential. There is a large carpark at the rear.
Hope you will join us for a fun afternoon.
The price includes the buffet lunch – what more could you ask for?
Price: £14 pp
Booking deadline : 15th April – Please Note: this suggestion proved popular when first advertised last year and the maximum number of participants we can book is 20 – so please act now if you want to join us!
Organiser: Margaret Winfield
Meet: Royal Oak, Gnosall at 11.45 for a 12.00 start Sat Nav: ST20 0BL
Shugborough Forest Garden
A Car Visit on Thursday 10th April
Our friends at Shugborough have offered to give our group a talk and a tour around the Forest Garden – our guides will be Caroline Beacall and Lizzie Pellowe
We’ll have a walk around exploring the work that the Shugborough team are doing in creating the garden. We will be walking on newly laid hard paths with good access – not muddy.
The world is changing, and our planet desperately needs us to take climate action, yet so many of us don’t know what to do for the best, which decisions should we make and how can we individually make a difference.
The Forest Garden at Shugborough will offer insight, inspiration, and simplicity on how our gardens can be environmental champions, absorbing carbon, supporting plant and wildlife diversity and celebrate natures beauty. A forest garden is densely planted into layers with a wide range of plants which create a natural defence to pests, diseases, and extreme weather conditions such as drought. It is low maintenance, produces a wealth of edible and practical crops and works in harmony with nature and its seasonal patterns and cycles. A forest garden has the capacity to capture significant amount of carbon, feed and protect a wealth of wildlife or organisms as well as ourselves.
After the talk and tour you will able to take lunch at the Mansion Tearooms or the Park Farm Café.
Price : This visit is free to members of the Centre and their guests, although you will have to pay the standard admission to Shugborough if you do not have a valid NT card or volunteer card.
Meet: Visitor Reception at Shugborough in time for a 10.00am start Sat Nav: ST17 0UP
Booking Deadline: April 2nd Organiser: John Willis
Visits From Our 2024 Programme
Richard III Visitor Centre
A Coach Visit on Wednesday 18th September
This event is now closed
Leicester Cathedral reopened after an extensive 2 year restoration in November 2023. King Richard III was re-buried in the Cathedral in 2015 and we will have a 30 minute “Richard III” tour with a guide, and then time to explore the Cathedral at our own pace. The King Richard III Visitor Centre, just opposite, was built over the site of the Grey Friars Priory, where King Richard’s remains were buried 500 years ago, following the Battle of Bosworth.
The Centre houses, amongst other things, a Dynasty exhibition, which tells the story of his rise to power and also a new exhibition entitled Murder, Mystery and Mayhem. It is suggested that we will need at least an hour and a half in the Centre. We will need to divide into two groups and there will be plenty of time for coffee, lunch etc.
There is an on-site cafe and many other places to eat within walking distance.
Pick up: Wildwood Shopping Centre 8:50. NB Station pick up abandoned due to oneway system on Radford Bank.
Prices : members and non-members of the Centre £32.00
Booking Deadline: Mid September – This visit is definitely going ahead.
Organiser: Margaret Winfield
Fish & Chip Canal Cruise
A Car Visit on Friday 12th July
This event is now closed
Following the success of our chippy cruise last year, we have again booked a two-hour Canal Cruise with a Fish and Chip lunch on 12th July.
We will set off from Parkgate Lock and cruise down to Acton Trussel. Tea and coffee is included in the price and the Georgie Kate is fully licensed so there will be an opportunity to order other drinks and/or desserts on board.
Car parking is available at Parkgate Lock.
All visits must be paid for in advance.
Meet: 11.45 at Parkgate Lock, Teddesley Road for a 12.00 start.
Sat Nav ST19 5RH
Price: £25.00 per head
Booking Deadline: 12th June – Numbers have now been confirmed. However we can continue to take bookings but they will be subject to availability.
Organiser: Margaret Winfield
Harvington Hall
A Car Visit on Wednesday 17th April
This event is now closed
Discover the house of secrets! Step back in time to discover how English Catholics lived in terror during the second half of Elizabeth 1st’s reign.
An imposing medieval moated manor house, it can be traced back to the 13th century, each corner and staircase reveals a history of Recusant Catholic priests being hunted and the sordid history of torture and execution.
Harvington is unique. It has seven remaining priest holes, more than any other house in England and visitors can experience the unique beauty of Elizabethan wall paintings, original panelling and floorboards. The Hall’s staircases, passages and doorways disorientate and trick the mind.
The Hall is owned by the Archdiocese of Birmingham, bequeathed in 1923 by Miss Ellen Ferris, a wealthy Catholic lady, but it had links with the Throckmortons of Coughton Court (National Trust) in the early 18th century who had no use for it and it fell into disrepair.
NOTE: The Hall is not wheelchair accessible, apart from the ground floor. Chairs are offered in every room and alternative staircases for those with walking/mobility difficulties. For anyone wanting further information there is a 360 degree virtual tour on the Harvington Hall website to explore the logistics of the house.
There is uneven flooring on the upper floors.
Price: £11.50
Booking deadline: April 7th
Meet: Harvington Hall, 10.30-10.45 Sat Nav: DY10 4LR
Organiser: Ruth Williams
Refreshments available on site in the Malt House café.
If calling at Dudmaston Hall (National Trust) Quatt near Bridgnorth on the way home (optional), remember to bring your National Trust membership card or Volunteer card to avoid paying the standard entrance fee of £5.50.