Saturday 16 October, Literary Day at Moat Brae, Dumfries, doors open at 11.00.
Speaker: Carol Hogarth, on her love of Ransome’s books in childhood, and her subsequent life in sailing and writing.
Since Signals went to press, some details have inevitably changed, the main one being that there are now no guided tours of Moat Brae, and therefore there is no need to book for them.
HOWEVER, if you are intending to come, please let Winifred Wilson know as soon as possible, and leave an e-mail address or phone number in case of unforeseen circumstances, such as cases of Covid causing closure of the house.
We need to have names and contact details for ‘track and trace’ purposes, so please let Winifred know by Friday 8 October.
In addition, rather than us all crowding into the café, with the social distancing required, we are to meet and have a buffet lunch provided for us in the Garden Room. This has its own entrance door by the disabled parking spaces at the extreme right of the building, as you look at it from the front; is all on a level with its own toilets, including those for the disabled; and access to the garden at the back.
Please enter by this glass door, and not by the main entrance to the house. You will then be given a name sticker, so that staff can easily identify us as part of TARS group, as we have been offered an inclusive price for access to the house and garden, and of course the Library, plus a cold buffet lunch. Please don’t wander round the house or garden without the sticker. There is a lift to all floors of the house.
The cost per person is £10, including lunch, a very good bargain! If you don’t want the lunch for any reason, you can of course go elsewhere in the town, and pay just £5.
The house now opens at 11.00, not 10.00 as in Signals, and closes at 16.00. Lunch will be at 12.30, and the talk from Carol Hogarth at 14.00 in the Garden Room. TARS Library will be open for attendees until 12.30, and after the end of the talk until 16.00.
Winifred’s contact details: e-mail: winwilson2003@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: 01387 252696
Mobile: 07768 806267
Please check the Moat Brae website: www.moatbrae.org or phone 01387 255549 for house visits.
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Hawes Inn: Birthday Lunch and AGM – Saturday 15 January 2022
Further details of this event later.
We were hoping that TARS Northern Region would be meeting at the Queen’s Hall Hexham for Karen Babayan’s Swallows and Armenians exhibition on October 2nd. Unfortunately this event has had to be cancelled as work on the venue will not be finished.
However, the exhibition will be going ahead from October 23rd to November 20th and Karen is inviting TARS members to join her then for the opening.
On Saturday 23 October she will be doing an illustrated talk at 3pm, followed by a book signing and then Shakeh Major Tchilingirian will lead the Circle of Life, a circle dance in honour of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide who were helped by the Altounyan and Collingwood families at around 4.15pm. This will be followed by drinks.
Of course you may want to see the exhibition on another day.
If you would like to attend you will need to book through the box office number tel:01434 652477 once it has been advertised in the next couple of weeks.
TARS Book Group
goes Zoom!
The first online meeting of the new TARS Book Group is scheduled on Zoom for
Saturday October 23 at 6pm
Any TARS members welcome Discussion topics: Our three Summer books:
Spylark, Voyage of the Sparrowhawk and Lark, plus your suggestions for winter reading
Join Zoom Meeting hOps://us02web.zoom.us/j/86729682678?
pwd=ZDhEL2ZhRlE0N3dOc3kzNE1tckdnUT09
Meeting ID: 867 2968 2678
Passcode: 603330
More details, including copy-and-paste address, international contact details for the Zoom meeting on our
TARS website page: Members Area > Society Information >Book Group
We are leaving these details as we are hoping to run a similar event in October 2022
Sorry, Covid bites again and we have cancelled this event for now.
Overlooking the sea and prom, this beautiful setting has drawn us back. The lunch will be a sit-down meal followed by a talk, with cake to round off the day.
We will be joined by members of the public to hear the popular speaker, Viv Wilson who will be speaking on Teignmouth Waterside Tales, a film show, embracing the significance of this resort’s coastal location during the past century. This will include footage of a 1930s Shaldon sailing regatta and J Class yachts at Babbacombe.
Please contact Barbara for ticket.
Literary Weekend
1st – 3rd April 2022
OXFORD
We are pleased to announce that the next
Literary Weekend will be held in April 2022 in
Oxford, at St Edmund Hall, otherwise known
as Teddy Hall, one of oldest teaching
institutions in the world, established in 1286.
Located in the heart of Oxford, it makes a
perfect venue for our weekend of stimulating
talks, sightseeing and camaraderie. The small
and accessible campus has everything close
at hand, including a large lecture room with
space for our library and stalls, good single
and twin rooms, a large dining hall, bar and
pleasant courtyards and gardens.
Speakers: We welcome and invite talks
from TARS members; if you would like to
speak at the Weekend, either a short cameo
or a longer presentation, please contact Peter
Wright as soon as possible, either by email:
peterwright180@btinternet.com, or by
phoning him on 0121 443 2910. We will
announce the full programme of speakers
and all other details in the next Signals, along
with the booking form. In the meantime,
please book the date in your diary now.
New members or first-time attendees will be
particularly welcome.
Please note that parking in Oxford is scarce.
Broads Cruise is back in 2022!
The Hunters Yard ‘Coot Club’ Broads cruise, postponed last year due to Covid, is now to take place next year – July 23-30 2022.
Six of the fleet’s Teasel-style yachts (one actually was the Teasel in the BBC TV adaptation) have been reserved.
Famously engine-less, they now have quiet electric motors to cope with the Broads’ busy traffic.
Contact Neville Khambatta, Tars member and chairman of the Norfolk Heritage Fleet Trust,
on 01692 678263 or info@huntersyard.com.
Meanwhile the yard has been busy refurbishing the sailing dinghy that played Titmouse in the TV adaptations.
As you follow the signs there is a Y +fork and you need the left fork, and the field is on the right (second gap in hedge?). You will see a large blue tent and some S&A pennants.
We start on Friday when you can arrive. Activities available include crossing the Wade, paddling through the backwater weeds, sailing along the creek or in the more open waters o Chichester Harbour. It is a secure site on an almost traffic free peninsular and great for Outlaws. Brilliant woodland for free-range Outlaws, and good coastal walks. We have a bbq on Sat night. Costs have gone up as we have to supply portaloos. Cold outdoor showers available.
Don’t forget to get yourself a permit for the harbour for your craft.
A trail over Pictish Scotland. Bring your car or get to Inverness area by train
Itinery Sat 3rd September
06.35 depart Edinburgh Waverley
10.28 arrive Inverness or Tain
(then car to Inver, near Portmahomack)
12.00 lunch at Inver Restaurant
(then car to Tarbat Discovery Centre)
13.30 Tarbat Discovery Centre
16.15 leave by car for Nigg – Cromarty ferry
17.00 (or thereabouts!) ferry to Cromarty
19.30 dinner at Royal Hotel Cromarty
(then stay overnight in various B&Bs in Cromarty area; (the Royal Hotel is fully booked!)
Sun 4th September
09.00 Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie
12.00 lunch at restaurant to be determined
14.30 depart on Jacobite Rebel for 2 hour Loch Ness cruise
16.30 return to Inverness centre, maybe for a snack
18.57 depart Inverness
22.41 arrive Edinburgh
Chris says:
Join us for a lovely day out floating along the Thames for an hour. We will meet at 10.30 am at the Trout Inn, where cars may be left while we go on the 11 am sailing. (NB there are 2 other Trout Inns nearby so make sure you go to the right one). We will return to the Trout Inn for lunch and then go and have a look round Kelmscott Manor, an Arts & Crafts gem, and maybe finish off with a cream tea.