Houses of Parliament coach trip

Woman: "Is it all right now, Henry?"
Man: "Yes, not even scratched."
, (November, 1940)
Forty-nine of us could not have had a better day than yesterday for our coach trip to London . The fog cleared and the sun came out. Stopping at Fleet was worth while to relax everybody with time for refreshments. We still got to our destination in plenty of time. The group I was with had an excellent knowledgeable lady guide who took us around both houses of Parliament. My impression of the parliament building was one of sensing the history despite the building being relatively new. Both debating chambers seemed smaller than they do on Television. The queen's chair was impressive with its gold covered wooden mouldings. Julian Lewis went out of his way to see everybody and gave an impromptu tour of the cupboard in the lower crypt where the suffragette who eventually died under the hooves of the king's race horse hid herself so that she could give the Houses of Parliament as her census address. The cafe in the older original parliament was to be recommended for its value and quality. All of us then went our separate ways. Twenty-one came back later to view the debate in the house of commons, some to shop, some to get tickets for the London Eye. We went fourteen in all to the underground cabinet rooms and for those who remembered the war years it was interesting to see how the war was fought and the decisions made while we trembled in our earth covered corrugated roof Anderson shelters. Marchwood Motors provided a good coach an excellent driver. Thanks to everybody who helped make this a great day for the U3A and a thank you for the Awards for All for making it possible.