Unfortunately, Jean Gunness no longer organises these trips to venues of special interest. This page remains as a tribute to all her past efforts. They have included, plus many others, excursions to The Meterological Office, The UK Space Centre and The Houses of Parliament.

The articles below give some idea of the success of these visits.

On Wednesday, 6th November (we had purposely avoided the 5th!) a group, ably led by Jean Gunness, assembled in the rain at 10.45 a.m. outside the Houses of Parliament. At 11.00 a.m. Robert, our guide, led us through the security checkpoint at St. Stephen's entrance and there we were standing within the cradle of our democracy!

The present Palace of Westminster, to give the Houses their correct title, was designed by Charles Barry and was built to replace the old palace destroyed by fire in 1834. Barry's palace is a magnificent, highly ornamented building in the Perpendicular Gothic style. Much of the beautiful interior and exterior ornamentation and decoration was designed by Augustus Pugin who worked with Barry from the very beginning of the project. The Lords' and Commons' chambers came into permanent use in 1852 but the building was not completed until the 1870s.

Unfortunately, due to preparations for the State Opening of Parliament on 13th November, our tour of the palace was somewhat truncated, missing the Queen's Robing Room and the Royal Gallery. However, there was more than enough on which to feast our eyes and our minds and to make our visit so very worthwhile.

Highlights of the tour were the Prince's Chamber with is portraits of the Tudors and the Stuarts, the Lords' Chamber with its red leather benches and magnificent royal throne and gilded canopy, and of course, the Commons' Chamber with the Speaker's chair and the red stripes on the carpet, two swords widths apart, separating the government and opposition benches. For me however, the 'jewel in the crown' was Westminster Hall, the only part of the original palace to have escaped the fire of 1834. It was not only because of the stupendous wooden hammer beam roof, but more because of the sense of history one felt when standing within the Hall. What one would have given to have been present at the trials of Thomas More (1535), Guy Fawkes (1606), Charles I (1649) and so many others, all held within its walls.

In one short visit one can only gain a general impression of the Palace and its great beauty and interest. I am sure that everyone in our group was thrilled by the visit and is extremely grateful to Jean for arranging it on our behalf.

An 'arresting' visit to the Thames Valley Police Training Centre

Sulhamstead House was the focus on 29th January for the visit of 24 of our members to see some of the work carried out there on our behalf by the Thames Valley Police. The very imposing building (sometimes known as "The White House") dates from 1744 and is situated in lovely surroundings high above the Thames. Before visiting the Police Museum we were welcomed to the house and training sections by Ken Wells, our retired police guide.

We went to "the dogs" straight away on our tour - the Police Dog Compound, where the animals are trained over several weeks for varying duties. There were only four dogs in residence (out of 35 in service): two German shepherds and two spaniels. As Helen, the trainer, explained, most were out on duty, and they all usually stay at night with their handlers at home. German shepherd dogs are used for patrol and rescue duty, whereas spaniels and labradors are used as sniffer dogs for the detection of explosives and drugs.

Next, in the garage workshop, Keith detailed the fleet serviced there which consists of 200 vehicles used for various purposes, often fitted with special devices for road patrols, etc.

The next call was to the Underwater Search Team premises where Bill, the diving technician, gave a fascinating outline of the very specialised training and equipment required to carry out, not only underwater searches, but also special building searches and recovery and flood rescues. This unit is one of only fourteen in the UK and is on 24 hour call.

Ken Wells then showed us round the museum which since 1968 has included exhibits from the former constabularies of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxford (which make up the Thames Valley Police). It is a very interesting museum, covering law enforcement from Anglo Saxon days through Edward III's Justice of the Peace Act 1361 to today. Police uniforms, equipment and communications systems of modern types complement the collection of old summons books. A key exhibit is the memorabilia from the Great (Biggs) Train Robbery of 1963 which most of us remember (but didn't profit from!).

Overall it was an excellent visit with courteous hosts, and our thanks are due to Jean Gunness for organising the event.

Ralph