COVID-19 Links : Lostwithiel Area U3A

COVID-19 Links

Featured Event: A guided online tour of the Palace of Westminster

In a 45-minute free online talk your presenter takes you on a guided 360° virtual tour. You will have a detailed look inside several rooms including the Commons Chamber, Lords Chamber and Central Lobby with its magnificent octagonal ceiling.

The presenter will share some of the fascinating history of the building, and talk about how each room is used today to support the work of UK Parliament.

Also included is Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the building and scene to many historic occasions including the trials of Guy Fawkes and King Charles I.

For more details and to book a time slot see this page on UK Parliament website.

Learn A Language with Cornwall Libraries

You can access over 80 free online language courses with your Cornwall Library card: Details here

Cornwall Library also provides members with free access to a wide range of online resources. These include electronic books, eAudiobooks, online newspapers and magazines, More details here.

Free Plays, Musicals, Classical Concerts and Operas

A daily guide to events available via this link

Links to other theatres and Concert Halls

Barbican Theatre - Read, Watch & Listen
Glyndebourne Festival
Sadler’s Wells
National Theatre
Royal Albert Hall at Home Free streaming with artists sharing their work from their homes to yours.
Royal Opera House
Shakespeare's Globe
Southwark Playhouse
Wigmore Hall
Jermyn Street Theatre
Concerts from Royal Scottish National Orchestra
The Metropolitan Opera New York offers a different free "live" performance every day.
More Opera from around Europe available via this website
Cornwall's Miracle Theatre is showing plays on-line. Check their YouTube channel
An extensive guide to free stage shows from WhatsOnStage.com
Live-streamed and archive classical concerts available online. (provided by Classic FM)
Another comprehensive list of (mostly free) Theatre, Dance, Opera, Music, Visual arts, Museums and galleries to view at home from Cultural Digital
The online version of The Stage Newspaper regularly updates this page with details of plays being streamed on-line. These tend to include provincial theatres as well as West End productions.
BBC Arts Culture in Quarantine - Bringing arts and culture into your home. Frequent updates available on twitter.
Creative Challenges from Kneehigh Theatre

A vast amount of information about various aspects of The Edinburgh Festival still available on-line. Here are a selection of links:-

Museums and Galleries

Links to Virtual Tours

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour
Tate St Ives
More from Tate Gallery
Explore the British Museum from home.
Collections from Museum of London
Natural History Museum - 11 ways to explore from home
National Portrait Gallery - Virtual Rooms
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Washington DC. Very impressive site including a Virtual Tour of the museum
Visit 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites via Google Earth
Virtual tours of museums around the world compiled by Time Out Magazine
Arts and Culture around the World selected by Google
Art UK is the online home for every public art collection in the UK and represents a collaboration between over 3,200 British institutions.
The Arts Society have a CV-19 site where they want to "connect people through a shared love for the arts".
The Art Fund is another website with a Museum "What's On" list
Four programmes from BBC4 about Museums in Quarantine. Includes British Museum, Tate Britain, Tate Modern (Andy Warhol), plus Young Rembrandt exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,
National Archive October 2020 Newsletter offering several on-line talks

Vikings: Live from the British Museum

Free Films

A selection of websites offering free films

Archive Films from British Film Institute
Watch 1,150 movies free online. Includes classics, indies, film noir, documentaries and other films from Open Culture.
Free films from UK Film Channel available here
The Internet Archive has a vast number of films, generally at least 50 years old. See here
The BFI’s Britain on Film showcases thousands of preserved films taken from the last 120 years of British life.
TED Talks - influential videos from expert speakers on education, business, science, tech and creativity,
Lectures from The Royal Archaeological Institute

Books and Reading

The Great Big Book Club "........set up by authors for book lovers in the time of lockdown. Watch interviews and live-streams with your favourite authors. Read reviews from our favourite bloggers. "

Writers Against COVID19 - The project was begun when the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, with a short story published every day

YouTube Videos

Links to Live Events, Sports, Cooking, Study, Workouts, Music and much more. Visit YouTube Spotlight Page

Family History Resources

Free access to the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland available from 15th May and continuing for a week, until 21 May. The Dictionary can be accessed here.
TheGenealogist is offering a free package of their most useful record sets, their image archiveand digital magazines for beginners to use for 3 months. No card details, no subscription. Details here.
A large number of documents held in the British Library can currently be accessed for free. Suggest you start here to explore.
Access The National Archives for free

Virtual Garden Visits

Chelsea Flower Show from 18 to 23 May available on-line from RHS website
Central Park New York
Eden Project at Home
Virtual tours of National Trust properties
National Garden Scheme Virtual Visits
Kew Gardens and Wakehurst
Looking for more gardens to visit? Try this list from TheEnglishGarden.co.uk

Real Garden Visits

Restormel Castle Re-Opens 1st August - Instructions for Lostwithiel Residents

From a facebook post 26th July 2020

"Restormel Castle will be re-opening on Saturday 1st of August 2020. We are looking forward to welcoming back all of our visitors especially locals from Lostwithiel.

During these challenging times we need to restrict numbers of visitors coming to the castle therefore English Heritage has implemented an online booking system for all visitors.
You will need to book on line through English Heritage, Restormel castle and click on book now. Book your date and time slot and select corporate member option. As a local visitor please bring your ticket, along with photo id and proof of address.

There will be no admittance without a valid ticket even for locals due to restriction on numbers, we appreciate your understanding at this time.

29th May - Lanhydrock House Grounds Now Open

Lanhydrock House May 2020

Lanhydrock House 29th May 2020.
Image Credit: Lindsay Southgate

Lanhydrock National Trust Grounds are now open. However, you must pre-book a timed car park space in advance. Details here.

3rd June - Trelissick House

The car park, garden and countryside are open.

You need to book your visit in advance, by 3pm the day before your visit.

You'll be turned away if you arrive without a booking. Bookings open weekly every Friday: More details here

Lost Gardens of Heligan

The Lost Gardens of Heligan will re-open on Wednesday 10th June. COVID-19 government guidelines have been implemented with new essential measures across the Heligan site to keep our visitors and staff safe.

One of the main changes is the introduction of pre-booked timed tickets which enables staggering visits throughout the day making social distancing possible. More details on their website..

Also, find out more about what has been happing at Heilgan via their June Newsletter.

Eden Project

From 6 June the Eden Project’s Outdoor Gardens are open to a limited number of people who are able to safely visit.

All visits must be booked online in advance in timed slots.

Details on Eden Project website.

Other U3A Group Webpages

Members of Newquay U3A have set up a very comprehensive Virtual U3A
Bristol Group has also set up a Virtual U3A
National U3A Website offering "guidance and advice on coronavirus plus some great ideas to keep learning together"
National U3A Keep Learning Pages
Bicester U3A has a Coronoavirus Page on their website. A lot of details relate to local activities, but they also have good What's On and Things to Do sections.
Charnwood U3A offer an extensive guide to On-Line Entertainment including Ballet, Books, Keep Fit, Music, Poetry, and unusually Wildlife and Zoo Webcams
Arts in the time of Covid-19 ( April 2020) from Woodley and District U3A
Ilkley U3A has a Coronavirus Support Zone including a section on Making Good Use of Spare Time and a Quiz page.
Settle U3A has an on-line Covid Exhibition featuring Artwork, Crafts, Photography and Written Work
The Virtual U3A based in UK
U3A Online A Virtual U3A based in Australia
U3A Learning Resources (Registration needed to use some sections)

Lostwithiel U3A Groups with recent updates to their webpages

Several of our groups have added extra information to their webpages;

For Example:-

Ukulele Workshop page has videos of several performances plus photos from recent events.
The Strummers Ukulele homepage features some painting by group member Jenny and a homemade Ukulele built from beer containers by Clive;
Members of the Photography Group have started a Wildlife corner, a Gallery page, and a Virtual travel page. Also group member Jenny has started a blog detailing the progress of her wildflower meadow.
Our Cycling Group has been posting details of their solo, and in some cases couples, bike rides around the area

Connecting with others

National U3A website has a page with instructions for Keeping in Touch and staying connected with each other. see here
Video Calling advice sheet from BBC Radio Cornwall available via this link.
Want to know more about Zoom? U3A National Office tutorials now available. Register at https://www.u3a.org.uk/about/events/online-events

During April BT partnered with ITV to run a series of daily tech lessons to help you and your family stay connected. Episodes are available on-line via Top Tips on Tech.

On-Line Courses

A vast number of other on-line courses are available. Try searching these links to find a topic of interest:-.

Local Links

Cornwall Council Information about Coronavirus (webpage)
Cornwall Council Information about Coronavirus (pdf document)
CV-19 Advice from Devon and Cornwall Police
BBC Cornwall news stream
Lostwithiel Town Council facebook page
Lostwithiel Business Group COVID-19 pages
CV-19 Support Group for Lostwithiel (Local facebook support group with over 400 members)
Lostwithiel Newsletter for September
Lostwithiel's Virtual High street (facebook page with news from local traders)
Lostwithiel Jazz Cafe with ideas to keep you entertained with quality music, and out of trouble

Nancy Morris is making a knitted Christmas tree for St Winnow Church and is looking for people to knit 6 inch squares in any pattern and any size. More details on Lostwithiel.org.uk website

Royal Voluntary Service

The RVS has set up a Virtual Village Hall with lots of information including:-

Creative, Arts & Crafts,
Recipes & Baking
Health, Wellbeing & Exercise
Something Different
Technology Skills