| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Convenor: | |
| Group email: | Holidays and Outings group |
| When: | Various |
| Venue: | Various |
Our Summer Picnic at the Wycombe Museum gardens
After the blistering temperatures of July, the weather on the day of the High Wycombe u3a picnic dropped to a much more tolerable level, provided you could find some shade from time to time.
As we all tucked into our picnics, we were thoroughly entertained by our very own ukulele band, the u3a Strummers, joined by a bass guitar player and a percussionist. Before long, we were all singing along and waving our hands in the air.
The homemade entertainment continued with a paper aeroplane competition, where everyone made their own aircraft, some displaying impressive engineering and folding skills! When all the planes were launched together, the results were mixed. Some returned to their owners like boomerangs, while others covered an impressive distance. Steve was the clear winner, out-flying the other by several metres.
Rosemary also created a "Guess the Landmark" picture quiz. Picnickers had to identify landmarks from around the British Isles. There were no prizes, but there was plenty of discussion, particularly from those who had visited the places themselves.
The afternoon flew by in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, with plenty of laughter, conversation and shared enjoyment. A big thank you goes to everyone who helped organise the event, especially Karen, to the musicians who kept us entertained, and to those who came up with such imaginative activities. It was another wonderful example of what makes High Wycombe u3a such a welcoming and enjoyable community to be part of.
Our visit to a Japenese garden
A big thank you to Rosemary and Mike for organising a u3a Open Gardens visit for us in May '2026. Seventeen of us enjoyed a beautiful Japanese Garden In Downley (by booking only). Every detail was perfect and we were made very welcome, enjoying tea and biscuits as part of the visit.
We were all happy to make individual donations to the owner and creators charity.
Looking back at our previous u3a holidays
2025 u3a Holiday to Cheshire and the Welsh Borders
Click on the Photo to download the report of the u3a holiday to historic houses and heritage of Cheshire and the Welsh Borders.
2024 u3a Holiday to Devon.
May 2023 the u3a Holiday was in Suffolk. This year on our trip to Devon the organisation as always was excellent and we came away invigorated, inspired by Sylvia’s unflappable leadership and looking forward to the next one.
After a long period of wintry June weather, we were blessed with five days of actual summer in Devon before our return to another June winter back in High Wycombe. In those five days we visited Exeter Cathedral, six country houses and had a boat trip up the River Dart. Although six country houses in five days might seem a bit much, all were well worth visiting – I would cite Cothele, an ancient house with a wonderful and absolutely authentic collection of furniture, tapestries etc dating back over five centuries, and Greenway, Agatha Christie’s house on a hill overlooking the River Dart, as particularly interesting . Perhaps if there had been an extra day we might have varied the trip with something different, such as a journey up the Dart valley on an antique steam train.
The hotel was of a very good standard and the food was plentiful and extremely well cooked - I have to admit to putting on some unwanted additional pounds. As with Suffolk last year, we took our meals with different people each night - a great way to mingle and welcome newcomers – and plenty of animated and occasionally hilarious conversation flowed naturally.
A particularly nice touch was the “surprise” Pimm’s party on the Hotel terrace overlooking the sea on the last night. Overall, it was a really enjoyable trip, with interesting places to see, excellent food and entertaining conversations.
2023 u2a Holiday to Suffolk.
We are relatively new to the U3A, having been members for only about eight months.
The U3A trip visiting historic and cultural locations in Suffolk was particularly attractive, as the itinerary included interesting places such as Constable Country, Sutton Hoo, Aldeburgh, Beth Chatto’s garden and one or two stately homes that were new to us. Read more.