Shepway & District U3A Presents Liverpool & the Manchester Ship Canal WHAT’S INCLUDED 5 days / 4 nights duration Departing Sunday 12th - Thursday 16th August 2018 Return Executive Coach Travel Selected local pick up points 4 nights B&B at 3 * Last Drop Village Hotel & Spa 4 dinners - read overleaf for details Excursion package as detailed overleaf The Terracotta Warriors PRICES & SUPPLEMENTS Price from £499pp - Two share Sole Use supplement £39pp – on request Deposit £85pp (non- refundable/non-transferable) Balance due in full by the 29.06.18 Optional Travel Insurance £35pp (conditions apply) Includes Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) @ 20%. Simply Groups Ltd is an Appointed Representative of ITC Compliance Ltd who is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority HIGHLIGHTS Media City Liverpool & the Terracotta Warriors Manchester Ship Canal Cruise Port Sunlight Museum & Village Salford Quays & Media City Imperial War Museum Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre Anderton Boat Lift HOW TO BOOK Complete the attached booking form and return with your non-refundable deposit + Insurance premium if required to: Fred Dibnah Anderton Boat Lift Ms Katherine Robinson, 81a Seabrook Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 5QW. Tel. 01303 239420 This tour is operated by Simply Groups, Dalton House, 1 Hawksworth Street, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 9DU TEL 01943 605999 [email protected] www.simplygroups.co.uk Port Sunlight Itinerary Day 1 – Departure time from Hythe will be around 8am. A comfort stop will be made en route to Stratford upon Avon where you will have free time to purchase lunch and briefly explore the city centre, following in the footsteps of William Shakespeare – all entrance costs are payable locally. Departing here, we continue our journey to Lancashire and your hotel, where having checked in your evening meal is included. Day 2 – Today is dedicated to Merseyside where we begin today with a visit to Port Sunlight Museum & Garden Village where a guided tour of the village and a visit to the museum is included. There are exhibits for all types of visitor, including a special exhibition on Lady Lever, a model of the village and a typical Port Sunlight house plus you will find historical items from the village's past. It also has a well-stocked gift shop offering their very popular range of soaps - Sunlight, Lifebuoy and Pears to name but a few. Meet the village's creator 'Soap King' William Hesketh Lever and discover his vision for the village and its residents. Discover the architects who designed the houses, principal buildings and landscapes, and what influenced them. Experience what it was like to live and work here during the Edwardian and Victorian periods. Encounter characters from the village's past, discover Lever's flair for advertising and understand the terrible loss and sacrifice experienced by the village during the First World War. Departing here you will take a ‘ferry across the Mersey’ to Liverpool City Centre where you will have free time to the Albert Docks area which will appeal to anyone who has an interest in maritime, music and architectural heritage, as well as discovering a little more about the Beatles. Lunch can be purchased at Liverpool’s historic waterfront where there are numerous shops, cafés and also famous museums, many of which have free entry! These include the Tate Liverpool, The Museum of Liverpool, The Merseyside Maritime Museum, and the International Slavery Museum. You may also choose to visit The Beatles Story (entrance not included). An included visit to Liverpool’s World Museum and the stunning Terracotta Warriors Exhibition is scheduled for 4pm. This is the first time in more than 30 years that spectacular Class 1 National Cultural Treasures from the tomb of China’s First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, will be shown at a museum in the UK outside London. The Emperor’s vast burial site and tomb complex was discovered near Xi’an in North West China in 1974 and the story of the tomb’s Warriors will be displayed alongside important artefacts and research relating to the formative years of the Chinese nation. The Terracotta Army represents one of the most significant archaeological excavations of the 20th Century. You will be returned to the hotel early evening where dinner is included. Day 3 – Departing the hotel after breakfast we make our way to the starting point of the 6 hour cruise on the legendary Manchester Ship Canal, departing from Liverpool . This is a truly memorable journey along the 35-mile stretch of canal. It includes a lively commentary giving a revealing insight into the facts, the history and the dramas of one of Britain’s major waterways. The cruise takes in spectacular scenery leaving its passengers with an awe-inspiring sense of how its construc- tion shaped the city of Manchester and the North West of England. A packed lunch is included today for you to take with you on board the cruise which will end around 4pm at Salford Quays. Re-joining the coach, we return to the Bolton area where a 3 course early Fish ‘n’ Chip dinner is included at the Olympus Restaurant before returning to the hotel for a well- deserved rest. Day 4 – Today’s excursions include a visit to Salford Quays , where a tour of MediaCityUK is included! This new venue is one of the most ambitious projects in the BBC's history allowing visitors to peek behind the scenes. It is home to a whole host of BBC channels and programmes, including favourites such as Match of the Day, Blue Peter, A Question of Sport, Mastermind, BBC Breakfast, Radio 5 Live, CBBC, BBC Sport and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, to name just a few. The well-informed and friendly tour guides will entertain and surprise you as you walk in the footsteps of your favourite stars. This tour will give you a fascinating insight into how TV and radio work. You may also choose to have a go at making your own news and weather bulletin. The Quays is also home to the Imperial War Museum North (free entry) where you will have time to discover powerful stories that reveal how war shapes lives, from a soldier’s last letter home to the twisted steel of New York City's World Trade Centre. Housed in Daniel Libeskind’s iconic building representing a globe torn apart by conflict, a visit here is definitely worthwhile. Also included today is a visit to the Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre. As one of Bolton's best-loved sons, it is fitting that the memory of this steeplejack, engineer and TV personality is marked with a heritage centre in his home town. Situated in Fred's former home and worksite, visitors will be given a tour of the grounds, workshops and machinery collected by Fred over his working life. Tea and biscuits will be served during your visit and you can relax in the garden, the snug or the lounge and take in the atmosphere of this unique piece of English history. While restoring the property, its new owners made a number of interesting discoveries. These include a horizontal steam engine that Fred acquired in the early 1990’s, intending using to us it to replace the "Caroline" engine that was fast becoming under-powered and unable to drive all his machines. Returning to the hotel your evening meal is included. Day 5 – Checking out of the hotel at 8.30am, we travel south to Cheshire where a visit to the Anderton Boat Lift is included. This visit comprises of a trip on the boat lift and also a 40 minute river cruise . The Anderton Boat Lift is an incredible edifice, perched on the banks of the River Weaver like some giant three-storey-high iron spider. It was built by Edwin Clark in 1875 to lift cargo boats 50 feet from the River Weaver to the Trent & Mersey Canal. Like all great things, the concept is simple: two huge water tanks, each with watertight sealable doors carry boats up and down. The original counter-balanced system was replaced in 1908 by electric operation, but the lift now works hydraulically again. No description can adequately convey the sheer scale of this engineering feat. Departing here we continue our journey homewards, making a stop at Trentham Shopping Village where you will be able to purchase lunch. This truly unique shopping experience has a collection of carefully selected shops, offering a range of products to suit your lifestyle. You will be returned to your original departure point(s) during the evening. Simply Groups reserve the right to make minor adjustments to this itinerary due to circumstances beyond our control. .