On Thursday 1st at 8.15pm, our regular FTOM meeting:. If you've found any funny April Fools in the newspapers, bring a cutting or two along! We're at the Millstream, Cambridge Road, Hitchin, 10 minutes walk from the railway station Good food, good beer!
Thursday 1st April: a "Who are you?" get together. Meet up and decide what you want to do next! The Pub, New Walk Leicester (Just off Kings Street), 8:00pm. Partners welcome. Come and try a glass of 'Captain Pigwash' or maybe even a 'Hairy helmet'! For more details / directions / etc, please get in touch with Paul Coulson ([Phone Number], [Email])
First Thursday is at our regular venue of Jurys Inn Hotel on Midsummer Boulevard, on 1st April, from 8.00pm. Look out for the Mblem on one of the tables to the right in the foyer. Parking is a bit busy around Jurys and The Hub so we try to get in across the road and then walk through the underpass.
Last time Kev hosted our '5th of the month' event it attracted a whole new bunch of people so let's see if some new faces appear from 8.00pm on Monday 5th when you can find the Mensa group at the Vat & Fiddle pub on Queensbridge Road. Just look for the Magazine probably to the left of the bar or if you need directions please phone Kev on [Phone Number]. What better way to round off the Easter weekend? Me? I'll be flying back from Gdansk in Poland with some Mensa friends. If you're interested in our future weekend breaks in Europe get in touch.
The Northants meetings will be straying from their normal format for April so if you want to meet up with us take careful note. Our 1st Monday meeting will be on the 5th, but it starts at 11.00am at Stoke Bruerne, which is just off the A508 between Northampton and Milton Keynes. The meeting point is the dry dock by the Boat Inn, from where we will take a stroll down the canal towpath. If you don't fancy the walk we'll be back at the Boat for 12.15pm for lunch in the bar on the car park side of the pub. Be warned that Stoke Bruerne has no onstreet parking. The Boat has a small car park, there is the Pay & Display in Chapel Lane and the car park run by the local church in Shutlanger Road. The walk will be weather permitting, so you might want to contact me before you set off. There will not be a meeting at the Malt Shovel in the evening.
Sunday 11th finds us at Old Knebworth. Come and enjoy the joys of spring as we partake of a gentle 5½ mile walk in deepest Herts. Meet at 10.00am at the Lytton Arms, Old Knebworth (about a mile from Knebworth station) and we'll finish with a pub lunch. The pub is popular and booking is essential for the meal. Pub car parking is available with permission that I'll arrange beforehand. Hope to see you!
Do join us in the coffee bar at The Collection, Danes Terrace, 12 noon on Saturday 12th. Some have lunch/snack, others just partake of drinks. Usually we're at the far end of the room; spot the yellow Mblem. All very welcome, for more details/encouragement please contact Christine, who hosts these regular second Saturday meetings, on [Phone Number], or [Email]
On Monday 12th at 8.00pm you are invited to join in the fun, food and our Easter Quiz at [Address]. Places are limited to - so please contact me to confirm your place and for details about food/drink and details about the special quiz!
Paul is once again hosting our 'chicks & flicks' event on Wednesday 14th when we dine at Nando's restaurant on Forman Street before watching a film at Cineworld. Although over recent months we've skipped the film and instead stayed and chatted over an extra drink (easy when we get free soft drinks that are refillable!) and gone home before the snow got worse. Hopefully this month will be better weather and there will be a good choice of films. Meet Paul inside the doors to the Cornerhouse building at 7.00pm prompt. To be added to Paul's email reminder and film listings contact him on [Phone Number] or [Email]
The regular Roadshow meeting is on Thursday 15th and this month's venue is the Locomotive, Finedon Road, Wellingborough. We'll be there for 8.00pm and hopefully we will be catching up with the news from one of our American members.
Following last year's successful walk around Coombe Hill and Chequers, Ian has offered to lead another expedition in the Chilterns. This time we will start from and return to St. Lawrence's Church at West Wycombe - the one with the golden ball on the top. There is a large open air car park here, usually with an ice cream van. Access by car is up School Lane by West Wycombe school.
Meet by the hedge outside the church at 1.00pm on Sunday 18th April and from there we will walk down towards Bradenham, pausing to enjoy the gardens which should be open for Bradenham's Blossom Day. There is a £3 charge to go into the Manor gardens. We will then walk back to West Wycombe, taking in a tea stop at either the caves or the garden centre. Total length is approximately 5.5 miles, some mud, some slopes, and one uncultivated field.
If you would prefer to join us at the gardens or just for tea and cake, let me know and we'll arrange a time and look out for you.
Please ring me or e-mail me for directions / encouragement or just to ensure we don't set off without you!
Monday 19th April: Bowled over: Bowling at Hollywood Bowling at Meridian Leisure Park (0116 263 1234) at 7.30pm for a couple of games, and come have a meet and a chat as well! Partners /families welcome (although kids that beat me will be severely frowned at!). Families / concessions are better off booking a lane directly (as they'll get a bigger discount), anybody else, get in touch with Paul Coulson (as above) by April 10th at the latest, and he'll put some groups together.
Our regular 3WOTM meeting at the Standing Order in Derby falls on Wednesday 21th this month. Join us for a meal or just a drink and some great conversation from 7.30pm. Look out for the yellow Mblem on a long table in the area just beyond the bar. Please feel free to contact me, for more details/directions or even if you just want some encouragement.
Our Third Wednesday meeting at the Old Beams in Shenley Lodge is on 21st April from 8 pm. If you're definitely planning to come, please let me know as it will help us to grab the right sized table, but don't let that put you off deciding on the spur of the moment - you'll still be welcome. See www.mcmullens.co.uk for location and menu details. You can eat or not, as you wish - their food is quite good and reasonably priced. Look around for the Mblem - we don't always get the same table each time but we are often in the small room through on the extreme right.
Finally, we have an additional Roadshow meeting on Thursday 22nd and it's a crossborder raid into North Bucks. The Robin Hood in the village of Clifton Reynes is our target and you'll find us in the bar. Any members nearby in Beds or Bucks are welcome to join us.
Our St George's Day celebration will be at the home of Lesley and Geoff Walker near Newark from 7.30pm on Friday 23rd. We're encouraging you to wear red and white, there will be an English themed fun quiz, and our kind hosts will be serving ye olde English sausages and mash. Vegetarians will be catered for if known in advance. Bring whatever you wish to drink. For directions and to help the catering please contact Lesley on [Phone Number] or [Email]
On Saturday 24th at 7.30 pm we'll eat at the Admiral Hornblower pub/hotel at 64 High Street, Oakham ( LE15 6AS for satnavs). Please see the website at www.hornblowerhotel.co.uk for more information. I'll try and book a table by Friday 16th to ensure we get in (it's a popular place), so I'd be grateful for names before then, please. I promised a Thai meal when we found a decent place, and I've just had the second recommendation of a fairly new one opened in Melton Mowbray on the Oakham road; if anyone has had any experience of it, feedback would be great: if positive we could try it in May.
Help us celebrate St George's Day at 12.30pm on Saturday 24th April (well ok, a day late!) with lunch at the Beefeater restaurant at the Priory Marina, Barkers Lane, Bedford MK41 9RX . If you can wear something red and/or white, so much the better! Please let me know by Wednesday 21st April if you plan to come, so I can book a table.
Join us on Sunday 25th from 1.00pm to (sort-of!) mark St George's Day, for a traditional carvery lunch at the Broadway Hotel, Letchworth, a few minutes walk from the station if you don't fancy driving. Traditional English puddings also available! I will buy a pint of beer or equivalent for anyone wearing red and white, and another for anyone who can quote in full Henry V's speech (as "reported" by Shakespeare).
This month the last Tuesday eating meeting takes place in Derby on 27th. We'll be meeting at 7.30 pm at Wok 1 Cantonese restaurant on Woods Lane near the city centre where an eat-all-you-like buffet costs just £7.95. Please contact Maxine on [Phone Number] or [Email] by 23rd to reserve a place.
On Wednesday 28th at 7.45pm-ish we will meet in the upper room in the "Eat Fish" restaurant on Berkhamsted High Street. All members young as well as adult very welcome, you do not have to eat, just have a glass of fruit juice or any other drink and enjoy the chat. However the food is good and reasonable if you are hungry. Having a room to ourselves helps the conversation, so do come and join in!
On Friday 30th from 8.00pm join us for LFOTM at the Cowper Arms, Digswell (near Welwyn village). Good food and good beer available to suit all tastes! The venue is next to Welwyn North railway station (Kings Cross - Cambridge and Peterborough line with trains every 30 minutes). Do come along and try it out for yourself!