Dacorum Association

Autumnal woodland on the Ashridge Estate, Hertfordshire, in November.

The Dacorum National Trust Association was formed in 1989 to promote the National Trust’s objectives in this part of south-west Hertfordshire.

Most of the the Dacorum Association's members live or close to the towns of  Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead and Tring.  Our subscription for 2016-17 is £10.00 for the first member and £6.00 for each additional member living at the same address.  Our membership year runs from 1 April to 31 March with subscriptions payable in April.  New members are welcome to join at any time. In the last 3 years, we have raised £23,900 to support the Trust. 
 
Our meetings are held at Berkhamsted Civic Centre, St John’s Church Hall, Boxmoor (Hemel Hempstead) and Potten End Village Hall.  The location of each meeting is indicated in the calendar of events below. Evening meetings start promptly at 8:00 pm and afternoon meetings at 2:30 pm.  A small admission fee is charged to help cover the costs of speakers, hall hire and refreshments.  Members are welcome to bring guests to any of our meetings.
 
We use coach transport for our visits to National Trust and other sites of interest.  For members’ convenience the coach stops at several pick-up and drop-off points in our area.  The trip destinations and prices are announced in our newsletter and members have priority for booking coach seats. Guests may be accommodated if a trip is not fully booked by members.        
 
The newsletter is published quarterly. In addition to activity reports and articles of general interest, it also provides details of forthcoming trips, meetings and pub lunches and tells you who to contact when it is necessary to confirm your participation.
 

Dates for Your Diary

December 2018

Weds 5, 12 for 12:30 pm : Christmas Lunch, Redbourn Golf Club

Weds 12, 2:30 pm : Talk - Noel and Ivor, Potten End Village Hall   

2019

January

Tues 8: Pub Lunch - The Chequers, Redbourn at 12.00 noon

February

Tues 12 : Pub Lunch - The Boot, Sarrat at 12.00 noon

Weds 20 : Talk - The Adam Family of Architects, Potten End Village Hall at 2.30 pm

March

Tues 12 : Pub Lunch - The Travellers Rest, Edlesborough at 12.00 noon

Weds 20 : Outing - Imperial War Museum

Tues 26 : Talk - The Greatest Survival Story Ever Told, Berkhamsted Civic Centre at 8.00 pm

April                

Tue 16 : Talk - The Silk Road, St John’s Church Hall at 8.00 pm

Weds 17 : Outing - Peterborough & Flag Fen Archaeology Park

May

Weds 1 : Outing - Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury & Ickworth

Weds 15 : Outing - Standen and Leonardslee Gardens

Weds 22 : Talk  The Real World, Potten End Village Hall at 2.30 pm

June

Weds 5 : Outing - Hever Castle, Kent

Tues 18 : Talk - AGM & Members Evening, Berkhamsted Civic Centre at 8.00 pm

July

Tues 16 : Talk - The Hospice of St Francis, St John’s Church Hall at 8.00 pm

No Meetings in August

Get in touch

Mr John Battye
Tel: 01442 874338
Email: jdbattye@hotmail.com

 

Meet a member

Hello, my name is Mary Mitchell and I joined the National Trust shortly after I moved to the UK in 1986, with my husband and three teenage children. We were delighted when the Dacorum National Trust was started in 1989 and with them we have visited a huge variety of National Trust properties, as well as other interesting places frequently included in our trip itineraries.

We have attended most of the holidays organised by the Dacorum Association , usually in a new area of interest and joining with other members who have similar interests. Hence we have seen a great variety of houses, gardens, woodlands and experienced more unusual items like steam train rides etc. over the 25 years.

We have a variety of overseas visitors so we have been able to share our pleasures and experiences of our visits with them. I have especially enjoyed the friendliness of participants and the keen knowledge of the volunteers at the different places we have visited. Trust places that particularly come to mind are Waddesdon Manor, Kingston Lacy and Biddulph Grange Gardens, but the list is very extensive.

Now that I am not so mobile myself, I recommend the shuttle busses often provided, and the coach drivers on whom we rely. Through our Dacorum National Trust we have been able to donate a generous amount of money to various sites visited or heard of through our monthly talks and excursions.