The IBM Retired Employee Club (South Hants)
www.shrets.co.uk

The IBM Retired Employee Club
(South Hants) Newsletter

May/June 2011

Forthcoming trips

Chatsworth Revision

**PRICE REDUCED**
Last chance to book this excellent trip at a now reduced price (new price also applies to people who have already booked)

A 3 Day Visit to Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall

Itinerary:

Day 1: Wednesday 5th October

We depart North Harbour and travel to the centre of Newbury for a coffee stop by the canal. After coffee we head to Royal Leamington Spa for lunch where you can view the parks and gardens and also enjoy some retail therapy if you wish.After lunch we continue north to Castle Donnington where we will spend 2 nights at the Hilton Hotel where you may find time to enjoy it's leisure facilities. We will arrive there for evening dinner.

Day 2: Thursday 6th October

After a leisurely breakfast we depart for our visit to Chatsworth House when you can enjoy the splendour of its wonderful interior and the beautiful gardens. We depart Chatsworth to arrive in time for evening dinner at the hotel.

Day 3: Friday 7th October

After breakfast we head north for Hardwick Hall then depart after lunch and return home via the National Memorial Garden & Arboretum near Litchfield arriving back in the Portsmouth area early evening.

Members will need to take out their own travel insurance.

Lee Valley Olympic Tour

This is a city and Village tour which includes a cream tea on the Cruise, but does not include lunch or morning refreshments.

The Lee Valley follows the sometimes urban and sometimes leafy banks of the River Lee, London’s second river, from the Thames opposite the Millennium Dome through the East End and up through Essex and into Hertfordshire. Join us for our unique, entertaining and informative day exploring this valley of contrasts. See how far work has progressed on the Olympic Park at the urban end of the Valley and enjoy a cream tea cruise at the leafy end near where the canoe and kayak 2012 venues are being created.
We meet the guide at 10-30am to buy morning refreshments at ExCel exhibition centre in London’s Royal Docks which will need no further construction work to host the Boxing, Judo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Table Tennis and Taekwondo. We drive through the Lower Lee Valley to a canny viewing point for the Olympic Park from where we get a really good view of the 80,000 seat Stadium. Is it “magnificent” or “a bowl of blancmange?” You decide.
You’ll also see progress on the Velodrome, Aquatic Centre and the Olympic Village. This huge project is totally transforming the Lower Lee Valley in East London.

We’ll drive through the East End, past the Hackney Marshes and up through Churchill’s Woodford constituency and a slice of Epping Forest to the attractive market town of Waltham Abbey for lunch where legend tells us King Harold was buried after his defeat at Hastings. Gunpowder and silk & calico printing were important industries here and for centuries the night soil carts trundled overnight out of London to feed the crops in the fields and glass houses.

After lunch we drive past the site for 2012 canoe and kayak events and board our boat at Broxbourne for a gentle ninety-minute cruise through quiet countryside in the Lee Valley Park which has more area covered by water than the Norfolk Broads. A delicious cream tea, included in the tour fee will be served before we return to the wharf to head home at 4-45pm.

There is a short walk to the viewing point for the Olympic Park which involves a shallow slope, but apart from that there is very little walking required to enjoy this “moment in history” day out.
If we use two coaches, the second coach will do the route in reverse.

The Lion King
Award-winning Disney musical based on the 1994 movie

Produced by Disney Theatrical, The Lion King is of course based on the 1994 animated film of the same name.
The show goes back to basics, taking inspiration from a number of different cultures in its music and presentation. Rather than recreating the image of the well-loved Disney characters, the animals are created using giant hollow puppets and costumes that effectively evoke the characters, for example, Japanese Banraku puppetry is used to portray a number of animals, notable Timon the meerkat.
With the sweeping score from Elton John and tribal-flavoured incidental music and unique lighting, The Lion King is visually stunning, with twenty-five species of animal, bird, fish and insect vividly represented. The show also incorporates all the space it has available, using the vast stalls of the Lyceum Theatre to draw theatregoers into the show. This has certainly proved to be a winning formula, with The Lion King having played to over 40 million people worldwide.??The Lion King’s appeal was noticed from the outset, with the first production opening in Minneapolis in July 1997 and moving permanently to Broadway only three months later where, once settled, it swept the board at the 1998 Tony and Drama Desk awards. In 1999,
The Lion King opened in London and Toronto.

Shuttleworth- The Flying Proms

Another trip we need to book early as tickets are expensive. We take advantage of early booking discounts and will only purchase the number we require so please book by the closing date..
Spend the afternoon looking round the static displays of historic aircraft and vehicles at the Shuttleworth Trust, Biggleswade, and Bedfordshire. Visit the romantic Swiss Garden - a Regency style garden with Victorian additions. Then settle down at 7pm to watch the flying display - a selection of vintage aircraft flown to classical music played by a full orchestra. A heady mix of tradition and nostalgia make for a truly memorable evening. The event concludes with a spectacular firework finale. You may want to enjoy your own picnic during the evening events so come prepared.

Summer BBQ

Some of you attended the Club’s first Summer Barbecue last year; it was such a success that we have arranged another similar event for this summer. Provided we get sufficient numbers the Lunch will be held in the Arden Suite at New Place, Shirrell Heath, Southampton, Hampshire SO32 2JY on Thursday July 21st. Many of our members will know the former IBM Training Centre and its delightful setting with its lovely grounds. Because members will be making their own way to New Place, you will know that there is plenty of free car parking available and we will have free access and will be able to stroll around and enjoy the environment. For a somewhat modest price of £8.00 per person, (drinks are not included in the price) we have agreed a delicious menu that we hope will satisfy all tastes and budgets and give members a proper chance to enjoy each other’s company. The event starts from 12.00 (noon). We hope the following menu and the chance to meet old friends will tempt you to come.
Sirloin steak, 6oz Angus beef burger, Cumberland sausages, and bean burgers for the vegetarians, will be served accompanied by garlic bread, jacket potatoes, char grilled Mediterranean vegetables, pasta salad with pesto dressing, mixed rice salad, coleslaw, mixed green salad, and tomato salad.

Flying Legends Air Show at Duxford

The Imperial War Museum at Duxford is one of the finest aviation museums in the world. This year we are planning a trip to see the famous “Flying Legends” air show.
Allowing for a coffee stop at Clackett Lane the coach will arrive at Duxford around 1130 which will allow time for a look around the museum before the flying programme starts at 1:30pm.
Please note that there is one restaurant and one cafeteria at Duxford, and although there will be various mobile caterers there as well you may wish to consider taking your own picnic.
In the words of the museum: “Flying Legends are two words which instantly evoke the very best of classic aircraft displaying at Duxford in one of the world's most celebrated air shows.
The Fighter Collection and the Imperial War Museum are proud to present the 2011 event; another un missable fusion of power, sounds and nostalgia.
We are delighted to announce that The Horsemen, the world’s only P-51 Mustang formation aerobatic team, will be performing at Flying Legends - complete with their own aircraft shipped over from the USA.
Experience the show-stopping performance of The Horsemen at Flying Legends 2011 - once seen, never forgotten!
The Flying Bulls will also be performing at Flying Legends. This much-anticipated display will be the only UK visit by The Flying Bulls in 2011. The Flying Bulls' Lockheed P-38 Lightning reg. N25Y and Chance Vought F4U-4 Corsair reg. OE-EAS will perform a stunning display as part of an unrivalled programme of aerial excitement.”