A warm welcome ..
Welcome to the Upper Thames and Ridgeway National Trust Association (UTRNTA).
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The UTRNTA is the local Supporter Group for the National Trust, covering parts of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire not catered for by surrounding Associations.
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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:
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​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.
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​Some of our funds are donated to the National Trust to help in their work locally.
Our upcoming Events
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NEXT TALK
2025​
Tuesday 11th February Highworth
Stewart Smith
Coleshill
​" Top Secret talk about Secrets and Spies touching on The Secret Boys, The Secret Sweeties and The Secret Spitfires and the birth of James Bond."
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FUTURE TALKS
​2025​​​
Wednesday 12th March Cirencester
Bill King
The River At War
Bill King, a well-known local speaker, will explain why the Thames was such an important strategic feature and talk about its role in the defence of the country.
He will look at the way industry adapted along the Thames to serve the country, including airfields, boat building and aircraft production.
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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
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Tuesday 7th October Highworth
Dr Richard Fisher
'Three Choirs and a Reformation: English Cathedrals under the Tudors'
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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
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OUTINGS
​​​​​​​2025
​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
The 10 30am visit is full but another tour has been arranged at 2pm on the same day
Sorry both visits are now full
names to Gillian at millerwrde@icloud.com
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Monday April 7th
10 30am
Coffee Morning
meet at
Hilliers Garden Centre, Lechlade​
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THURSDAY 22 MAYth
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HUGHENDEN MANOR
Earliest records of Hughenden Manor date to 1087 in the hands of William, son of Odo the Bishop of Bayeux, then assessed for tax at 10 hides. Forfeited, the land fell into the hands of Henry I before it was given to his chamberlain and treasurer, Geoffrey de Clinton. The manor returned to the Crown until 1539 (Henry VIII); changes continued among non-royalty until ownership by Isaac D’Israeli, father of Benjamin Disraeli (note impactful change in spelling and name), Prime Minister 1868 and 1874-1880. Amongst the qualifications as Prime Minister it was necessary to own a country residence. Disraeli’s financial picture was, as we shall learn in an inspiring talk, precarious.
Our visit will include an absorbing 20-minute summary of the property including its second world war scene of the secret activity code named Hillside and information on the preparations for bombing missions including the Dambusters raid. The National Trust acquired the Manor in 1947.
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COST £18 per person, strictly limited to 50 participants.
Sorrt, this visit is FULL
Waiting list
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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.
New programme of courses released by Heritage and Rural Skills Centre
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Painting, blacksmithing, block printing, traditional lime plastering, leaded stain glass, pargeting, wood carving, lettercutting in stone or wood, landscape oil painting, making a willow bird feeder, glass painting, textures weaving, working in silver ..... these courses are on offer at the Heritage and Rural skills centre here in our area in Coleshill. Lasting one or two days these are EXTREMELY popular So if you are interested contact the national trust or 01793762209
pargeting, plaster or mortar applied to a wall typically with an ornamental pattern
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