Dates for your Diary
Participation in any event listed here is open to the whole SWHerts u3a membership, although places may be limited on some trips.
Please contact the relevant organiser to check availability.
SOCIAL EVENTS BILLBOARD Carol Stanton This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Quiz Group are holding their Annual Fish and Chip Supper Quiz on Tuesday 17th March 2026 at All Saints Church Hall, Leavesden, All Saints Crescent, WD25 0LU.
Doors will open at 16.15 and the quiz will start at 16.45 sharp. To ensure a good mix of knowledge, on arrival you will be randomly allocated to a table. If you arrive with one friend, you will be allowed to sit with them. But please don’t move from your allocated table.
You have the choice of Fish and Chips, Chicken and Chips or Vegetarian option. Bring your own Drinks.
Tickets will cost £13.00 and will be on sale for the next three General Meetings.
February
Mon 9 General Meeting at Stanborough Centre: Speaker: Jonathan Jones: “Stanley Holloway”
Wed 18 Coach Trips 1: Imperial War Museum (Check ticket availability)
Coach Trips 2: No trip this month
March
Mon 9 General meeting at Stanborough Centre: Speaker: Brian Cookson: “London Bridges”
Tue 17 Quiz Group Annual Fish and Chip Supper Quiz, All Saints Church Hall, Horseshoe Lane, Leavesden
Wed 18 Coach Trips 1: Wakehurst Place NT & Millennium Seed Bank, Sussex (Tickets on sale today)
Thu 26 Coach Trips 2: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre—Barnum (Tickets on sale today)
April
Mon 13 General meeting at Stanborough Centre: Speaker: Andrew Sheldon: “Digital Forensic Casebook”
Wed 15 Coach Trips 1: Sutton Hoo NT Woodbridge, Suffolk (Tickets on sale March)
May
Mon 11 General meeting at Stanborough Centre: Speaker: Tony Tutton: “That’ll be the day—the life, music and influence of Buddy Holly”
Mon 11—15 TFA: 4-night break in Torquay
Wed 20 Coach Trips 1: Museum of Natural History, Oxford (Tickets on sale April)
June
Mon 8 Annual General Meeting at Stanborough Centre. No speaker
Wed 17 Coach Trips 1: Brighton (Tickets on sale May)
SWHerts u3a holds regular Monthly General Meetings on the second Monday of each month, from 10.00 am to 12:00 noon, at The Stanborough Centre, 609 St Albans Rd, Watford WD25 9JL. Doors open for members at 9.15am. Please do not enter before then.
Next month’s meeting will be on Monday 12th January 2026
PEARL & DEAN CONTACTS
To advertise an event or place any information in the ‘Pearl & Dean’ projected on-screen notices at a General Meeting, please send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,uk or contact Roy Adcock.
COACH TRIPS 1
Coach Trips 1: Leader: Roger Frost (01923 465739)
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Wednesday 18th March 2026. Wakehurst Place NT and the Millennium Seed Bank, Haywards Heath, Sussex.
Stroll through a sensory haven of winding pathways and towering birches, in a garden especially designed to be enjoyed in winter. Every winter, Wakehurst becomes the seasonal home to Galloway cattle and Hebridean sheep. They visit from nearby Ashdown Forest as their usual food of purple moor grass is dormant during the colder months. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank celebrates 25 years of ground-breaking research and conservation this year. You could join a Millennium Seed Bank Atrium Guided Tour to discover the important work scientists undertake behind the glass.
Depart at 9.15 am Stanborough Centre, St Albans Road, Garston. Return approx. 6 pm. Tickets: Coach £18.00. Entry for NT Members is free.
Non-members pay £16.50 on the day.
COACH TRIPS 2
Contacts: Lorraine Law (07906 500974)
and Gill Dobson (07769 963532; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Our next coach trip is to Aylesbury Waterside Theatre on Thursday 26th March for a matinee performance of Barnum. West End favourite and TV star Lee Mead stars as the legendary 19th century showman P.T. Barnum. The show has been choreographed by Oti Mabuse of Strictly fame. Tickets are £60.00 all-inclusive of the show and coach fare. They are on sale now.
Coach pick-up from Stanborough approx 12.45 and arriving back approx 6.pm
LONDON WALKS
These gentle walks are open to all members. Pre-booking is not usually required unless the walk includes admission to a Museum or Gallery.
TRIPS FURTHER AFIELD
Leader: Mike Findley (01727 845122)
Currently on sale is a 4-night break in Torquay by coach with a full package of excursions starting 11th May 2026. An exciting, fully-featured break including a murder mystery dinner. There may be some limited double/twin rooms available but all single rooms are taken. Albania starting 3rd October 2026 Details of our fully featured one-week Albanian holiday have now been finalised. This includes a full tour of this enigmatic country accompanied throughout by a tour guide, almost all meals, 4 star hotels, UK transfers and many sites of historical and scenic interest. Price: from £1,469. A single room supplement of £199 applies. A unique opportunity to see somewhere different. Take up so far is good, but places are still available.
Albania, starting 3rd October 2026
Details of our fully-featured one week Albanian holiday have now been finalised. This includes a full tour of this enigmatic country accompanied throughout by a tour guide, almost all meals, 4 star hotels, UK transfers, and many sites of historical and scenic interest, etc . Price from £1469. A single room supplement of £199. A unique opportunity to see somewhere different.
Reminder—Riviera Travel Partnership scheme with the Third Age Trust.
Members who take holidays with Riviera Travel can earn commission for our u3a. In 2022, we received £675 from Riviera for holidays booked by our members. Claiming the commission is easy. When booking a holiday, members should say they are SWH u3a members and ask for commission to be paid. Riviera Travel will pay the commission to the TAT who then notify our Treasurer and transfer it into our SWH Bank Account
As Sergei would say — “Simples”