7.30pm at the 'Brache' Beefeater, Osborne Road, opposite the Vauxhall Design Building. There is parking. Come along for a drink and a chat, or just the chat. Food is available and new faces will be welcome to join.
It's been nice to see some new faces at our "5th of the month" event recently, but more are welcome! Look for a yellow Mblem on the table, usually the first one inside the Goldings Room to the left of the bar, from 8.00pm. From our table real ale drinkers can peer through the windows into Castle Rock Brewery and sample their wares from the bar. But you are equally as welcome to sip a Coke or order a warming cup of coffee. The pub is on Queensbridge Road which is near Nottingham railway station. There is free parking outside.
As ever, we're at the Millstream, Cambridge Road, Hitchin from 8.15pm. Good food and good beer both available! Call me for more details and encouragement. The pub is about ten minutes' walk from the railway station. Come and mark (almost) the end of February - along with January a contender for the most miserable moth of the year!
The following evening we're going to the dogs! A return visit to Nottingham Greyhound Stadium at Colwick to take part in one of their charity tournaments. Normal admission and race card costs £6.00 but I've been donated 100 tickets that I'm selling for a bargain £3.00 with all that money going to Cancer Research UK. Accompanied under 18s are free of charge. So you get a fun night out for not a lot of money whilst helping a worthwhile charity. You can arrive/leave anytime from 6.00pm to 10.30pm. There is ample free parking. Food and drink is available at the venue either in the restaurant upstairs (pre-booking advised) or in the cafeteria downstairs. You can either watch the racing on screens from the warmth of the large bar or see it live from the trackside or alternate between the two. Feel free to invite family, friends or work colleagues. But you must purchase tickets in advance as I'm not allowed to hand them out at the gate.
Join me at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at 2.15pm. The Natural History Museum on Akeman Street, Tring HP23 6AP, will be displaying over a hundred of the winning entries from this annual competition which has been running for 50 years. It is an open event which receives entries from both amateur and professional photographers. See http://www.nhm.ac.uk/tring/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/index.html for further information. Admission to the museum and the exhibition is free. Save yourself a lot of money by seeing this exhibition locally! The admission charge in London is £12.60 or £6.30 for concessions. If you would like to join me for lunch beforehand, probably at Prezzo's in Tring, please contact me by Sunday 1st February to confirm arrangements.
Sunday breakfast will be on 8th February at 10.00am at Carluccio's in the Centre:MK. You will probably find us in one of the red booths just in front of the restaurant- look for the Mblem on a table. Come for a full breakfast, a snack, or just a drink. Contact me at for directions and/or encouragement.
We haven't been to the cinema for a while so we will be rectifying that. I can tell you now that I'll be going to see the new Shaun The Sheep movie out that week! Please let me know if interested, I've advertised a 7.00pm rendezvous time but this may need adjusting once the screening schedule is known and we may need to meet earlier or later. Venue will be the Showcase Cinema in Lenton, off the ring road and near Queen's Medical Centre. The 2-4-1 offer should still be available for anyone with an Orange mobile phone account.
From 7.30pm we have our "natter & nosh" event at the Beekeeper pub/restaurant on Meadow Lane in Beeston. Again there is ample free parking. You are welcome to join us for a meal, a snack or just a drink. We have the first table beyond the food order point at the end of the bar reserved. Look for a yellow Mblem and probably a dozen or so happy faces.
As the 2SaOTM falls on the 14th, we felt duty-bound to have a topical pub discussion topic: 'Why St Valentine's Day?' I doubt that it will be sentimental chat, someone will know all about St Valentine and enlighten us, others will wonder about the importance of 'special days' and, no doubt, there will be surprise cerebral excursions down other roads. Come and find out how it goes at the Adam and Eve on Lindum Hill, 12.00pm - 2.00pm, free car park, pub food available, we're usually in the alcove, look for the Mblem.
Our monthly outing to the quiz at The Barge in Woolstone starts from 8.30pm - the quiz starts at 9.00pm and costs £1.00 per person. Look out for the Mblem. Please let me know if you plan to come so I can bag a large enough table.
Join us from 7.30pm in the rear section of the Standing Order on Irongate. Being a Wetherspoon venue the food and drink are excellent value. Arrive/leave when you like. A yellow Mblem will be on display on one of the long tables. New faces always welcome. Hopefully those we saw at the end of 2014 will venture out again.
Susan and Mark invite you to their home in Ilkeston from 7.00pm for an informal evening of socialising with optional pay-as-you-go Chinese take away to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the goat. Phone [Phone Number] or email [Email] for the address and to say you'll be there. BYOB if you wish.
We'll go for a leisurely walk around Fenny Stratford, just south of MK - for around 1-1½ hours. Meet at 10.30am in the car park in Denmark Street - look for the Mblem. We'll probably finish with lunch at a local pub. Contact me if you would like us to look out for you.
Our "eating meeting" returns to Sweet Temptations Tea Rooms on Church Street in Ripley for an exclusive evening of Caribbean dining from 7.30pm. The venue is opening especially for our group and numbers are strictly limited to 24 places. The cost is £17.95 per person and includes a three course Caribbean themed meal plus coffee/tea with mints and complimentary glass of rum punch. For menu choices and to book please contact me by the 17th. First come first served!
The ever popular midweek evening eating meetings continue with a return to the Ocean Chinese restaurant in Hykeham at 7.00pm. We particularly like this venue because the round tables make it so much easier to have communal chatting. If you would like to come too, you'll be very welcome but do please book with me by 21st February.
Just the one meeting this month, so make the most of it by bringing a friend / partner / random stranger to The Cradock Inn for our regular Fourth Thursday Discourse at 8.00pm. Look out for the magazine or Mblem in the lower bit, or give me a shout for more info.
As always, we're at the Cowper Arms, Digswell from 8.00pm, which is by Welwyn North railway station, which is served by stopping trains from Kings Cross to Cambridge and Peterborough. Good food and good beer both available! Call me for more details and encouragement.