Trapped!
An escape room
Before you set off on your adventure, please donate to your host’s ...
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Zoom wine tastings have proved popular - we normally attract around 15-20 people. They are informal but we hope you will learn something from them as well as enjoying some good company.

1.  ...
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Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and colleagues.

Click on https://zoom.us/j/4689584830 using your PC (with video/microphone) or laptop or iPad or Tablet or Smart phone. Download the app and indicate your name  (first Zoom visit only). You will enter the waiting room and Dave will invite you into the Coffee Bar. Turn on sound and ...
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Pilates is a great form of exercise that strengthens the core and tones you up. Mixed Ability means that Joy gives choices for each exercise to suit your ability. Joy's pilates emphasises breathing ...
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Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
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A new event - every second Thursday we will share our love of cooking. Topics might include dishes we have cooked recently, favourite recipes and recipe books, cooking tips, favourite ...
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Nina, of London IVC,  leads an informal Zoom chat on the topic of What's in the News. Bring along a drink and be ready to join a friendly debate. Zoom is an easy to use videoconferencing ...
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Dr. Charlotte Booth talks about the scientific theories underlying the folklore of the undead.

ADVANCE BOOKING REQUIRED:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cyber-cafe-scientifique-the-science-of-the-undead-registration-142334896507

Cafe Scientifique is a national movement for science and technology in casual settings: each has its own character but all are fun, engaging, informal and explore fascinating ideas in science and technology.

Charlotte Booth, author of A History of the Undead, is a PhD in Egyptology and was a professional Egyptologist for a number of years writing numerous books and articles on the subject. Since leaving the industry she found a new found writing freedom and her latest book, The History of the Undead, uncovers the truth behind the undead (mummies, zombies and vampires) by exploring folklore, archaeology and science to unravel the truth.

Are Zombie Real?

A brief introduction to some of the scientific studies that have gone into unravelling the truth behind zombies. Are they brain eating creatures risen from the dead? Or is it something more pedestrian?

  If you would like to practise using Zoom before taking the plunge into joining one of our growing programme of online events this is your chance. 

You will need a PC with a video camera ...
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The IVC hostelry "The Pub" presents a Psychedelic/ hippy Music Night. We will share Psychedelic ...
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Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
Click title for more details  

Pilates is a great form of exercise that strengthens the core and tones you up. Mixed Ability means that Joy gives choices for each exercise to suit your ability. Joy's pilates emphasises breathing ...
Click title for more details  

Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
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Basingstoke IVC Science Cafe would like to invite you to the following talk organised by the Science Discovery Group based in Emsworth near Havant.

https://www.sciencediscoverygroup.co.uk/news

The list of future talks from the Science Discovery Group can be found at the link below:

https://www.sciencediscoverygroup.co.uk/future-talks

The London IVC Zoom Gardening Club returns by popular demand but needs a new host.

Every other Thursday we will meet to chat about gardening. Topics might include: recent work in our allotment or ...
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An online talk from the University Of East Anglia London Lecture Series. These talks are open to anyone and promoted to you by Basingstoke IVC Science Cafe.

Prof Charlie Wilson (School of Environmental Sciences and the Tyndall Centre)

Digital technologies are woven into the fabric of everyday life. In this talk, Prof Charlie Wilson will explore the ways in which digitalisation is changing how we move, shop, interact, and manage life at home – and the impact this is having on carbon emissions... for better and for worse.

He will argue that digitalisation can help us make progress towards net-zero emission targets, but only if it is steered in that direction by public policy.

Nina, of London IVC,  leads an informal Zoom chat on the topic of What's in the News. Bring along a drink and be ready to join a friendly debate. Zoom is an easy to use videoconferencing ...
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  If you would like to practise using Zoom before taking the plunge into joining one of our growing programme of online events this is your chance. 

You will need a PC with a video camera ...
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We could all do with a laugh right now. So it's time to fire up your funny, and make this the most ...
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Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
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A group for folks who love poetry. Come along and present your favourite poetry. Or maybe read us one of your own poems. Or just come along to listen and enjoy. 

We are on Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/4689584830 Click on the link and you will enter the waiting room where Dave Lawrence will let you into the poetry parlour. The first time you use Zoom you will be asked to sign up - its free and easy to use.

Pilates is a great form of exercise that strengthens the core and tones you up. Mixed Ability means that Joy gives choices for each exercise to suit your ability. Joy's pilates emphasises breathing ...
Click title for more details  

Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
Click title for more details  

A new event - every second Thursday we will share our love of cooking. Topics might include dishes we have cooked recently, favourite recipes and recipe books, cooking tips, favourite ...
Click title for more details  

Nina, of London IVC,  leads an informal Zoom chat on the topic of What's in the News. Bring along a drink and be ready to join a friendly debate. Zoom is an easy to use videoconferencing ...
Click title for more details  

  If you would like to practise using Zoom before taking the plunge into joining one of our growing programme of online events this is your chance. 

You will need a PC with a video camera ...
Click title for more details  

 London IVC has a strong Open Mic presence so we have established our own Virtual Open Mic club. During the course of the evening we will enjoy entertainment - mostly musical - from IVC and ...
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Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
Click title for more details  

Pilates is a great form of exercise that strengthens the core and tones you up. Mixed Ability means that Joy gives choices for each exercise to suit your ability. Joy's pilates emphasises breathing ...
Click title for more details  

Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
Click title for more details  

The London IVC Zoom Gardening Club returns by popular demand but needs a new host.

Every other Thursday we will meet to chat about gardening. Topics might include: recent work in our allotment or ...
Click title for more details  

Nina, of London IVC,  leads an informal Zoom chat on the topic of What's in the News. Bring along a drink and be ready to join a friendly debate. Zoom is an easy to use videoconferencing ...
Click title for more details  

  If you would like to practise using Zoom before taking the plunge into joining one of our growing programme of online events this is your chance. 

You will need a PC with a video camera ...
Click title for more details  

Zoom wine tastings have proved popular - we normally attract around 15-20 people. They are informal but we hope you will learn something from them as well as enjoying some good company.

1.  ...
Click title for more details  

Join us online for a coffee evening and good chat using Zoom. This is a friendly video conferencing package which is easy to use and lets you share video and chat with your friends and ...
Click title for more details  

Glasgow City Break

Join the Merseyside Intervarsity Club in a Monday to Friday city break.

In the late afternoon on Monday, 12th April 2021, we meet in the centre of Glasgow. Each day we breakfast in one of the many cafés near Cambridge Street, then set out for the day. The itinerary is flexible and will adapt to the needs of members. For those in the know, the week follows the same very successful template as the 2018 Edinburgh visit. On Friday, we have a light lunch then strike for home.

Merseyside members are booked into the Hill Street Travelodge. Next door is a more modestly priced establishment, the Easy Hotel in Cambridge Street. Opposite Easy Hotel is the Double Tree by Hilton for those with deeper pockets.

On 28th October 2020, a single room at the Travelodge for the four nights is quoted at:

1. Saver rate                 non-refundable     ...
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An online talk from the University Of East Anglia London Lecture Series. These talks are open to anyone and promoted to you by Basingstoke IVC Science Cafe.

HOW CHILDREN LEARN WORDS: DIFFERENCES & COMMON PROCESSES

Prof Larissa Samuelson (School of Psychology)

Infants and toddlers vary widely in their rate of early word learning – variation that is predictive of later language development and school success.

In this lecture, Prof Larissa Samuelson will discuss the difficulties children face when learning even a single concrete noun, and the work being done in UEA’s Developmental Dynamics Laboratory to understand individual children’s unique word learning pathways – work with the goal of informing interventions for children struggling to learn words.

Time passes by Bishop’s Castle and so did the Luftwaffe. It is a small market town in southwest Shropshire, with a handful of pubs, restaurants, hotel, boarding houses and most importantly a campsite. It is the customary Merseyside IVC arrangement where each member is responsible for his or her accommodation and in the evenings, we meet to eat and plan activities.

The area is good for walking with historic attractions like Stokesay Castle; the country’s finest fortified manor house with Ludlow nearby. The Three Tuns has been brewing its own beer since 1642. In the town are a local museum and a railway museum.

The main party will camp at Foxholes and we will nominate a breakfast café. In previous years, several people have stayed in the town and it worked well.

We arrive on Monday 10th May and leave on Friday 14th May 2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop's_Castle

http://www.bishopscastle.co.uk/

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DUE TO THE COVID-19 SITUATION, THE AIVC COMMITTEE HAS RELUCTANTLY DECIDED TO CANCEL THE AIVC CONFERENCE IN TELFORD SCHEDULED FOR 11 - 13 JUNE 2021.

THE AIVC COMMITTEE WILL INSTEAD BE ORGANISING A VIRTUAL ONLINE CONFERENCE USING ZOOM LIKE 2020 OVER THE SAME WEEKEND.

**** CANCELLED **** This is the Intervarsity Club event of the year. It is an opportunity to meet members from all over the country. In June, the Association of IVCs is visiting the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.

Accommodation is reserved at the Mercure Telford Centre Hotel from Friday, 12th June to Sunday, 14th June 2020. The hotel is well equipped with restaurant, swimming pool and health club. On Saturday evening is the exclusive IVC Gala Dinner. The weekend coincides with the annual AIVC conference.

The hotel is 0.3 miles from the railway station and a similar distance from the bus station. It has a large free car park. The Telford Shopping Centre is nearby.

There are a tremendous number of attractions in Telford and nearby.

Attractions include

The World Heritage Site, Ironbridge Gorge Museums
Video
Blists Hill Victorian Town, Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, Furnace Kitchen, Iron Bridge Tollhouse, Jackfield Tile Museum, Darby Houses, Broseley pipeworks, Tar Tunnel, Coalport China Museum & Museum of The Gorge. Also, there is Ironbridge Town with the eponymous bridge with tollhouse, cafés, shops and restaurants.

The National Trust is at Benthall Hall, Morville Hall, Attingham Park, Wrightwick Manor, Dudmaston and Wilderhope Manor. English Heritage has Lilleshall Abbey, Buildwas Abby, Wenlock Priory, White Ladies Priory, Wroxeter Roman City and Boscobel House.

Walking areas include the Wrekin, Apley Woods, Granville Country Park, Dothill and Town Park. To the north is Long Mynd.

Other attractions include the Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford, The Exotic Zoo, Shropshire Raft Tours and the Telford Steam Railway. Telford Ice Rink, Telford Snowboard and Ski Centre.

Greatdays Holidays is administering bookings.

Option A - 2 Nights including 2 Breakfasts and 1 x Gala Dinner + Entertainment 

Twin/Double rooms £129 Per person 
Single rooms £179 Per person
 
Option B -Saturday 13th June 2020 - 1 night including 1 Breakfast and 1 x Gala Dinner Dance + Entertainment

Twin room £86 per person
Single room £114 per person

Option C - Saturday 13th June 2020 - Gala Night only – Includes Gala dinner + Entertainment + Welcome drink

£35 Per person - Single rooms (limited) – Early booking is highly recommended

Bookings are now live via the greatdays website –Just £25.00 Deposit to secure and guarantee your place.

To book your place, please use one of the following links:

To book your place at the conference including accommodation for Friday 12th June x 2 nights, click here: https://www.greatdaysholidays.co.uk/tour/AIVC-Conference-Shropshire2

To book your place at the conference including accommodation for Saturday 13th  June x 1 night, click here: https://www.greatdaysholidays.co.uk/tour/AIVC-Conference-Shropshire1

Monday, 21st June 2021, is the longest day and the first day of summer.
Join Merseyside IVC for ...
Click title for more details   PRICE DETAILS:     £8.10/person/night (over 60 £7.10) 2020 prices
SHARED WITH:   Basingstoke Friends, London IVC, Guildford and Surrey IVC (Formerly WSIVC)

Llangollen Canal - Saturday, 31st July 2021 for Seven Nights

Join MIVC members for a week’s canal cruise starting and ending in Middlewich, Cheshire. On Saturday, 31st July 2021, the Fjord Viscount and Stavanger Fjord will depart and head towards Llangollen. They will travel out then return by the same route. In all, there will be seven nights afloat.

The cost is £550 (including a £100 deposit). The price is overstated, so that the trip is viable with less than full occupation. Merseyside IVC will take no profit. To book, first contact the organiser, Nick Wilkinson, and he will provide the club’s bank details. The last time that Merseyside rented a canal boat, the crew all received a cash refund on the first day.

(Note 06OCT20 - Nick’s email is locked until 06NOV20, so please contact him via Facebook or telephone.)

In the wake of 2020’s cancelled cruise, a virtual cruise was made on the Intervarsity Club Outdoors page on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/177780525916602
Don’t forget to read from the bottom going up. It is the template for 2021.

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Corona Virus

The holiday market continues to change. In earlier years the MIVC was able to book late in the year before and secure boats for May. It was intended to book for May 2021, but in August 2020 the first availability was for the end of July 2021, almost 12 months in the future. It appears that many other people have decided on canal holidays.

The price has increased considerably compared with previous years. The main reason is that we now renting in peak season.

It is impossible to know what the corona virus regulations will be in August 2021. Each crewmember will be prioritised based on the date of his or her deposit. Thus, if groups are limited in number, those who booked first will travel.

The future is uncertain and all that we are able to say is that Merseyside IVC will not profiteer. If Merseyside IVC says that you may not travel, you will receive a full refund. If required, crewmembers are to arrange their own cancellation insurance.

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http://www.canaljunction.com/canal/llangollen.htm

https://www.canalguide.co.uk/canals/llangollencanal.html

https://llangollen.org.uk/

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Copied from http://www.andersenboats.com

The Llangollen Canal is justifiably one of the more popular boating holiday canals in Britain. Most of its route is through unspoilt agricultural countryside, but with just enough locks and waterside villages to add interest. As the canal winds its way into Wales, it also features outstanding scenery and some world famous aqueducts. There are also has several short tunnels on this canal, to add to the excitement.

Through rural Cheshire towards Wales

Leaving Middlewich by way of an arm of the Shropshire Union Canal, the route has fine views over the valley of the River Weaver before making its way directly through an area full of Shropshire's 'black and white cows' to the main line of the canal. Here a short deviation would take you to the 'black and white buildings' of Nantwich.

Turning off at Hurleston Junction, the Llangollen Canal itself then ascends a short flight of locks and sets off across open country, winding its way through Wrenbury under quaint old wooden lift bridges. It is worth pausing at Marbury for a short walk up to its remarkable church. As a bonus, several of the locks on this section have good pubs adjacent. At Willeymoor you don't have to walk at all, because there's a delightful pub slap bang alongside the lock.

Gradually you have become used to locks, but at Grindley Brook half a dozen come all at once, the top three being telescoped together as a 'staircase' which can be something of a bottleneck in the summer season, especially on Thursdays when all the boats that have travelled towards Llangollen from the English end of the canal are busily heading back to base. Boaters have been in the habit of taking a taxi or catching the bus from Grindley Brook into nearby Whitchurch, but part of the old arm which once led right into the town has been restored to provide visitor moorings, and it is difficult to resist mooring up here and walking into this interesting old country town, famous as a centre of cheese-making. In the heyday of the canal a special cheese boat left here daily for Manchester, its hold covered with white canvas to keep the cheese as cool as possible. Beyond Whitchurch there are no more locks for many miles, though there are a number of lift bridges to be raised and lowered with the same windlass you use for operating locks. 

Ellesmere on the Llangollen Canal

Passing briefly in and out of Wales, and crossing the mysteriously remote 'mosses' the canal reaches Shropshire's 'Lake District', skirting several of the charming meres which were formed hereabouts the end of the Ice Age.

One of them, Blake Mere, is separated from the canal by the slenderest of margins, and makes a beautiful spot for a picnic.

A short tunnel preceeds Ellesmere, a timeless old town with some particularly good shops specialising in local produce.

The town arm provides pleasant moorings near to the canal company's original workshops, still used by British Waterways as a maintenance base, and the staff here welcome enquiries from passing boaters.

Amazing Sights

At New Marton you pass through the last pair of locks on your way to Wales. Soon the canal is running parallel to the London-Holyhead road. Then it turns a wooded corner and you are confronted with two huge stone bridges, an aqueduct and a viaduct, carrying the canal and a railway respectively, across the valley of the River Ceiriog, from UK into Wales.

Border crossings don't come much more dramatic than this, especially as, on reaching the far side of the aqueduct, the canal plunges almost immediately into a long tunnel. From moorings at either end of this tunnel it's a short walk into the little town of Chirk, useful for shopping and with a 14th century castle to visit as well. The mountains, which have been simply pale outlines on the horizon, become more tangible as the canal slips into Offa's Dyke country.

World Heritage Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Winding through woodlands you come to the River Dee and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the most astonishing feat of waterway engineering anywhere in the world. The 18 kilometres of canal from Chirk to Llangollen was awarded World Heritage site status by Unesco in 2009. A hundred and twenty feet above the river, in an iron trough no wider than the width of you boat, crossing the aqueduct is tantamount to flying through mid air!

You could be forgiven for thinking that the last lap into Llangollen would be an anti-climax. It is nothing of the sort, as on a high shelf above the Vale of Llangollen and surrounded by high limestone ridges, the canal makes for its terminal wharf.

Exploring Llangollen

Twenty six hours cruising away from Middlewich, should leave you with plenty of time to explore some of Llangollen's well known attractions. Take a ride further on along the Dee Valley by steam train; visit Plas Newydd, where the Ladies of Llangollen were the centre of gossip in the 18th century; climb up to the ruins of Castell Dinas Bran, over a thousand feet above sea level; visit the Canal Exhibition Centre; stroll along the last two unnavigable miles of the canal to the famous Horseshoe Falls; or just wander about the charming streets of the town, grateful that you haven't got to find a parking space!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangollen_Canal