top of page
Buscot House DSC00623a.jpg

Creating
Unforgettable
Memories

A warm welcome ..

Welcome to the Upper Thames and Ridgeway National Trust Association (UTRNTA).

The UTRNTA is the local Supporter Group for the National Trust, covering parts of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire not catered for by surrounding Associations.

We attract members from a wide area centred on Cirencester, Lechlade and Highworth.

In addition to your existing membership of the National Trust we offer events such as:

​Local talks on a wide variety of topics

Day-trips to NT Properties and other places of interest

An annual spring holiday

 

​The talks take place in the winter months and are held in Cirencester, Lechlade and Highworth.  The outings are in the warmer months, and are typically day-trips by coach to NT sites which are further away.  The holiday in 2023 was based in Sheffield and included five National Trust sites in that area.

​Some of our funds are donated to the National Trust to help in their work locally.

IMG_1875.jpeg

OUR MEMBERSHIP

Unforgettable

Memories

IMG_1883.jpeg

OUR EVENTS

Unforgettable

Memories

Our upcoming Events

UTRNTA (2).png
Forest

NEXT TALK

Thursday 16th January

2 30 pm Lechlade Memorial Hall

  Lew Lawton       

Terracotta Warriors

The buried army built to protect an emperor for eternity was discovered in the 1970’s when a farmer was digging a well.  In the 50 years since, the Army has become one of China’s most popular tourist destinations.  In truth no photographs can truly portray the amazing view that befalls you when you first enter the pavilion covering Pit No 1.  But in this illustrated talk which includes some of the history of Chinese culture, language and characters, Lew does his best to tell the story of this immense standing army. 

FUTURE TALKS

2025

Tuesday 11th February Highworth

 Stewart Smith

Coleshill

Wednesday 12th March Cirencester

Bill King

The River At War

Thursday 17th April Lechlade

Peter Williams

Life as a Military Spy

Peter Williams spent four years in Berlin in the 1980s as an officer in BRIXMIS, the British military liaison mission to the Soviet army in East Germany.   At that time and throughout the Cold War British, American and French liaison teams took part in unarmed 3-man patrols which took great risks to check on the readiness for war of the Soviet and East German armed forces beyond the Iron Curtain.  He will describe extraordinary activities that were shrouded in secrecy at the time, but which have been declassified and revealed to the public in recent years

Tuesday 7th October Highworth

Dr Richard Fisher 

'Three Choirs and a Reformation: English Cathedrals under the Tudors'

In this illustrated talk Dr Richard Fisher explains how the nineteen cathedrals of medieval England were administered and funded, including their curious division into two very distinct organisational groups.  Henry VIII is infamous for his dissolution of the monasteries, but not so well known for creating six new dioceses, bishops and their requisite cathedrals from abbeys spared destruction.  Yet which did he choose to save and why?  Using examples from the west of England, focusing on the cathedrals at Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester, the story is told of how our cathedrals survived the Reformation and contributed to the distinctive worship of the emergent Anglican church.

Saturday 15th November Cirencester

Castle in Island
OUTINGS

Tuesday December 10th.

Christmas Tea

Sadly, the Christmas Tea is cancelled

Have you ideas for visits for next year?

Please let us know if you have

We are coming to the end of this year's programme so please look out for next year's programme

In the meantime why not visit the News and Gallery Section and see what we have enjoyed this year

Just click on the writing for a fuller report

 

2025

Wednesday February 5th 2025

NEW YEAR LUNCH

at

Blunsdon House Hotel

£40.00

                                    

     Please contact Joan Craigie for more details

                            01793 762622

Wednesday March 5th

10 30am

A visit to the Bodleian Storage Unit at South Marston

SN3 4RY

Swindon to Shrivenham Rd.

A tour of the building  which contains 16 million books

fascinating organisation

Limited Numbers, names, after Chtristmas, to Gillian millerwrde@icloud.com

SPRING  HOLIDAY 15-19th June 2025  

Suffolk

. We will be based at the Dragonfly Hotel on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds. We will be visiting Knebworth House on our way to Bury.  On the following day  St Edmundsbury Cathedral and Ickworth House .On Tuesday we will travel to Long Melford,with one of the longest main streets in England, to a moated tudor House , Kentwell Hall, followed by a visit to Holy Trinity Church at the top of the village. Wednesday we will go a bit further to see Sutton Hoo, and on to Lavenham Guild Hall and  the beautiful village in the afternoon. On Thursday we leave our Hotel and head for home stopping at Syon House for lunch and a tour of the house. Then carry on to our home destinations arriving  around 6pm in Cirencester.

The Cost   of the holiday will be around £600.00  plus extras like single supplements, booked lunches  and guided tours. English Heritage and Historic Houses members will be discounted  at those venues.

I do hope that many of you will join us to see the best of Suffolk.  

(to print)

bottom of page