Photo Galleries

Home About Us Projects Outings Talks Social Events Diary Photo Galleries Contact us Links

We have pictures of the outings and social events from July 2006 onwards, and a few earlier ones from other people of other events. Obviously most houses we visit don't allow interior photography

 The most recent ones are shown first. Click on the name button to go to the gallery; most will take you to a page of thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail to see a bigger picture.

Previous years - I've made contact with former member Tommy Thomas. Now living in Australia, he has some great pictures from outings in previous years on his personal website. Go to the 'Links' page for more information and to connect to his site.

Sissinghurst Our trip to Sissinghurst on 16 July 2010. Photos courtesy of member Bob Burt.
Barbecue 2010 On Tuesday 13 July 2010 we had our third annual barbecue. This is getting really popular, despite the fact that it rained for the first time in several weeks. It wasn't much, and it didn't stop us enjoying ourselves
Greyhounds On Friday 22nd January 2010 we 'Went To The Dogs' at Poole Stadium. A first time experience for many of us, and a thoroughly enjoyable evening
Christmas Lunch We returned to Dorset Golf & Country Club on 4th December 2009. We were all very well behaved, although the pictures make it look as though we spent all our time drinking.
Fish & Chips Quiz Our annual Fish & Chips Lunchtime Quiz on 12th November 2009
Concorde 8th October 2009 saw our visit to Concorde at Filton, near Bristol. Just a few pictures.
Arundells On 28th September 2009 we went to Arundells in Salisbury, the former home of Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath. A welcome return for Outings Secretary Anne Boneté who had been unwell.
Purbeck Vineyard On Friday 18th September 2009 a lucky few of us went on a tour of The Purbeck Vineyard in Harmans Cross (tour numbers are limited). Sophie, a lovely Swedish lady, showed us the vines and explained all about the process of growing and harvesting. We then went into their small winery where she took us through the process of making and bottling the wine. Inside she showed us how to assess wine by look, smell and taste. After a number of tastings we finished with an excellent ploughman's lunch in the restaurant.
Barbecue We had another barbecue on 16 July 2009. The rain started spot on time at 5pm. Fortunately we all managed to squeeze indoors in the Study Centre, except for one hardy group who ate outdoors under the awning.
Parham House Jay Burke stood in for Anne Boneté in running our outing to Parham House in Sussex on June 25 2009. He also provided these photos.
Regency Meal We had a Regency Meal at Corfe Castle Tea Rooms on Thursday 18 June 2009. Once again the catering staff did a wonderful job. They were so enthusiastic about what they'd done that they took their own pictures of us and the food!
Hampton Court Some pictures from our visit to Hampton Court on 28 April 2009
Italian Meal We had an Italian meal on 19 February 2009
Christmas Lunch On 5 December 2008 we ended the year with our Christmas Lunch.
Cheese & Wine On 18 November we had another successful Cheese & Wine evening in Wareham.
Cadhay (slideshow) This was our visit to Cadhay on 8 August 2008. For a change this is a slideshow that you can stop and start, rather than a series of individual pictures.
More Boules We weren't so lucky with with weather this year. It was much colder than last year but at least the rain that had that poured through the morning stopped. We still had a very enjoyable afternoon. These are just some random pictures - we split into two groups, so most of the pictures are of the group that Anne & I were in. Note: We didn't realise that boules is so dangerous - see the very last picture
Kennet & Avon Canal (2) On 24 July 2008 we went on another cruise on the Kennet & Avon canal. The difference this time was that the barge was horse-drawn. Thanks to member Angela Matthews for the pictures
Barbecue We were really lucky and had great weather for our barbeque at the Study Centre on 15 July 2008. Many thanks to the trust's catering staff, especially chef Ken. Apologies to those who I caught mid-mouthful when I took the pictures.
Elizabethan Dinner On 19 June 2008 we had an Elizabethan Dinner at the Trust's Tea Rooms at Corfe Castle. A terrific evening, thoroughly enjoyed by all who went. If you look at the pictures you'll see that some of the guests faded a little towards the end of the evening.
Mottisfont Pictures from the lovely gardens at Mottisfont Abbey, which we saw on 17 June 2008, when the old fashioned roses were at their best.
Study Centre Talks Study Centre Talks 2Our first try at using Studland Study Centre for talks and demonstrations on 11 June 2008. Good weather for an evening event. We also have some photos from the second session on Saturday 5 July.
Ightham Mote Some shots from the outing to Ightham Mote on 29 May 2008
Stourhead Some pictures of our trip to Stourhead for the Festival of the Voice on 10 May 2008. A glorious sunny day.
10 pin bowling On 6 May we restarted 10 pin bowling
New Members Tea On 1 May 2008 we had another afternoon tea for members who'd joined recently. Once again we were lucky with the weather.
Slimbridge A few pictures of our visit to Slimbridge on 28 November 2007. The wet weather may have been great for the birds, but it wasn't so good for photography.
Winkworth On 31 October 2007 we went to Winkworth Arboretum to see the beautiful colours of the autumn foliage. These photos are courtesy of member Shirley Summerlin.
Boules  On 13 August 2007 a group of 22 of us had an afternoon of boules and putting at Dorset Golf and Country Club. Great fun was had by all, and it was followed by an excellent afternoon tea. The photos don't need captions.
Hever Castle On 19July 2007 we took a group of members to Hever Castle in Kent.
Seacombe On 12 July we ran a trailer ride to Seacombe Bottom, hoping for better weather than we had when we did a similar trip two years ago. It was slightly better, but this time the trailer suffered a puncture. We had a wonderful view of the Exmoor ponies. The have been brought in by the Trust, as they are the only animals that will eat some of the weeds, including thistles, that have invaded the valley.
New Members' Tea On 10 July 2007 we had one of our regular teas for new members. We used the opportunity to make a presentation to long-time member Douglass Austin
Hidcote Manor On 20 June 2007 we took a group of members to Hidcote Manor Gardens
David Kemp David retired from his job at the National Trust in March 2007
Sherborne In what's becoming an annual fixture a group of members travelled to Sherborne on 13 December. There was time for shopping or sightseeing, then lunch, before going to a Carol Service at the Abbey (organised by the WI). Only one picture inside the Abbey, for obvious reasons, but a couple of group photos on the steps outside. The rest are people having morning coffee.
Christmas Lunch  In 2006 we thought we'd return to the Dorset Golf and Country Club, who treated us so well last year. As well as the lunch we had local writer and entertainer Jon Barclay, who talked about his life as a stand-up poet and performed some of his poems. We had a terrific time (well our table certainly did). Here are a few photos. The venue's not really conducive to good photography, as  three sides of the room are virtually all window, and it was a fine bright day!
Malmesbury On 15 August 2006 we took a group to Abbey House Gardens, Malmesbury in Wiltshire. As well as being delightful in themselves, the gardens also house some interesting sculptures and statues.

Kennet & Avon Canal On 6 July 2006 a group went on an outing to The Courts, which was followed by a trip on the M. V. Barbara McLellan on the Kennet & Avon Canal. We don't have any pictures from The Courts, but we do have some from the boat trip, which went as far as the Avoncliff Aqueduct.

New Members' Tea On 29 June we had one of our regular New Members' Teas. We invite people who've recently joined to come along and meet each other, and meet Committee members. In recent years we've been able to meet in the Trust's Study Centre at Knoll Beach, Studland. We've also been lucky to have the Trust's David Kemp come along and talk briefly about this innovative building, and about the Trust's other work.

Hartland Moor On 21 June 2006 we ran a trailer ride starting from Castle View, and going across Hartland Moor. We heard from Trust staff about the creation of the heathland, and the subsequent loss of it from most of southern England. We saw rare orchids and heard about the geology and ecology and the flora and fauna of this unique area. Finally we saw the Trust's Red Devon herd, and had a fascinating talk with farmer Grantley Smith who is responsible for them. With the herd was Pride of Purbeck (see below).

Little Sea Just a couple of shots of Rees Cox who led a guided walk round Little Sea on 3 June 2006.

Pride of Purbeck  This is a story all on its own. I'll try to write more about it later, when I add a page about projects that we've supported over the years, but briefly we purchased this pedigree bull for the National Trust's Red Devon herd on Hartland Moor. The pictures show him arriving at the farm in November 2005.

A Vice-Admiral Surprised When Surgeon Vice-Admiral Sir John Rawlins visited Swanage in October 2005 to talk to us about his life in the Navy he got a big surprise. Another guest was Dr Moira Laffey, Deputy Head Teacher of Old Malthouse School at Langton Matravers - and she brought with her the school records containing details of Sir John's two older brothers who were pupils at the school in the 1920s and 30s. His delight is plain as he sees the record of his brothers' attendance.

"I didn't go there, I wasn't clever enough", he said. Too modest - he became an eminent surgeon and inventor and was, for three years, Honorary Physician to the Queen.

Langton Matravers In May 2005 we ran a trailer ride starting from Keates Quarry in the area between Worth Matravers and Langton Matravers. We learnt from Kevin Keates, the quarry owner, about the quarrying in the area. We then saw the wildflower meadows above the cliffs, the Exmoor ponies, cattle and sheep, and we learnt about the craftsmen who have quarried and used the stone locally. We ended up admiring the views from the cliffs at the bottom of Seacombe Valley. I didn't take many photos on the trip because, despite appearances, it was cold and windy, and I hadn't dressed for the weather.

This page was last updated 30 August 2010

© The Purbeck Association of The National Trust