THIS GROUP IS NOW FULL
We open doors to modern or historical buildings in the vicinity of Plymouth that are generally closed to the public. Visits are usually scheduled for the afternoon and there may be opportunity to meet-up for lunch beforehand. We will give information about parking at or near the venue, try to organise car-shares and provide information about getting there by bus, if that’s possible. Otherwise, we generally meet at the venue about 10 minutes before the start of the visit. There’s usually no charge for visits, although some venues may ask for a donation. For some visits we ask a local historian to provide a guided tour, and on those occasions each person attending will pay the guide a nominal fee, in cash, before the start of the tour.
Our group leader, Anne Pengelly, organises all the visits. Enquiries about the group and its activities should be made to Anne via email to: anniepen7@icloud.com. Admin support is provided by Roger Coggan, who acts as Anne’s secretary, dealing with email circulations to the group members and updating the information about BV2 on the Plymouth U3A website.
Meets: The precise schedule for meetings depends on when the buildings we wish to visit can accommodate us, but this second Building Visits group will aim to meet on the fourth Monday of the month, or thereabouts, with visits typically starting at 2 pm. The group now has 70 members, so we use a first-come-first-served booking system for venues which limit the number of visitors in a group. If no limit is imposed, anyone on the members list or the current waiting list can attend. Some venues may require an up-front payment, so your booking will commit you to paying the appropriate amount, whether or no you actually attend on the day. We will also endeavour to circulate info. about public ‘open days’ at buildings & venues that are normally closed to the public.
The following list of places shows the type of buildings/venues we are interested in.
Plymouth synagogue. RNLI Lifeboat building. Stonehouse barracks. The Royal William Yard, Stonehouse. Plymouth City Council chambers, Guildhall and Lady Astor’s house. History tour of The Barbican. Thorn Park Pharmacy Museum. Stoke Church and Devonport Park. Union Street including Tamaritans Theatre warehouse. The former Royal Naval Hospital buildings at Millfields. Devonport Dockyard Heritage Museum. The Duke of Cornwall Hotel tower. Devonport Guildhall, Egyptian house and Market Hall. Mount Edgecumbe Masonic hall and catacombs. Saltash heritage museum and Mary Newman’s cottage. A guided history of Plymouth Sound (boat trip). Devonport High School for Boys. Plymouth’s water treatment plant. The Blockhouse Redoubt. The top floor of the Beckley Point building. Backstage tour of Theatre Royal. TR2 – Theatre Royal’s creative workshop, rehearsal studios and wardrobe. Plymouth’s new crematorium.