What better way to forget about February, the most depressing month of the year, than to join us for a drink and a meal? As ever, we are at the Three Magnets, Leys Avenue, Letchworth. Thursday nights are curry nights but other food (standard Wetherspoons' fare) is available as well. Leys Avenue is the main shopping street in Letchworth and is a few minutes' walk from the station (Kings Cross to Cambridge line). Call me on [Phone Number] for more details and encouragement.
On Friday 3rd we're taking part in another charity tournament at Nottingham Greyhound Stadium in Colwick. Gates open 6.00pm, first race 6.28pm and last race finished by 10.30pm. You can arrive/leave any time during the evening. Food and drink are available at the venue as well as ample free parking. Tickets are a bargain £3 (half normal price of admission and race card) with all that money going to Cancer Research UK. Accompanied under 18s admitted free of charge. So if you've never been greyhound racing before why not give it a try and come and cheer on our allocated dog? Feel free to invite friends, family and work colleagues as I've kindly been donated 100 tickets by the stadium so the more the merrier.
Round off the weekend with a drink and chat at the Vat & Fiddle pub from 8.00pm on Sunday 5th. We're usually on the first table in the Goldings Room to the left of the bar and a yellow Mblem will be on display. The pub is on Queensbridge Road not far from Nottingham railway station and also adjacent to Castle Rock Brewery.
Thursday 9th sees us at the Cadland pub/restaurant in Chilwell (NG9 5EG). We meet from 7.30pm on tables 20-24 at the far side of the bar. Menu at www.emberinns.co.uk but you are welcome to join us later for just a drink.
Our monthly pub discussion is on Saturday 11 February at the Adam and Eve on Lindum Hill. We start gathering at about 12 for general socialising and start our low key discussion at about 12.30. This month we are wondering, "When does handing out unsolicited advice become interference rather than help?" I still wonder whether I should have suggested to that burly workman that it's not a good idea merely to lean a stepladder against a wall without any support ....basic physics methinks ..... would it be partly my responsibility if he slid down the wall and broke his wrists? I'd feel obliged to warn a child of a riptide or quicksand, what's the difference, where is the boundary to responsibility? There is pub food available to feed the brain cells whilst cogitating. Free parking.
We like T@3 so much we've decided to take it on tour! So our first event in February is a foray over the border into Northamptonshire on Saturday 11th for tea, coffee & cakes from 3pm in Podington Garden Centre restaurant. All members welcome as usual, but Northants members particularly so.
The Leicester Comedy Festival began life back in 1994, and is now one of the highlights of the year. From big names to the just-starting-outs, there are comediens and comediennes to suit all tasts. Normally, we wander round with a programme in hand to one of the many pop-up venues and see if there's spaces. If not, we head to the next and so on and so on. We'll meet up at The Corn Exchange in Leicester Market Place at 6:00pm (note: there are acts going on all day. so feel free to start early!) and decide where to go from there.
Join Dave and Alison at their home in Flackwell Heath for a relaxed evening of indoor board games. Arrive for an 8pm start on Monday 13th February. Please contact Dave on [Email] or [Phone Number] for directions and to let him know which games you would like to play.
Chutney, at 27, Easton Street, High Wycombe, HP11 1NT always gets excellent reviews. Join Mark there for a meal at half past seven on the evening of Wednesday, February 15th. Menu details are at: http://chutneywycombe.co.uk/index.php/menu/ Please let Mark know you are coming on [Phone Number] or by e-mail at [Email].
We return to the Standing Order on Irongate in the city centre from 7.30pm on 15th for our "3rd Wednesday" event, the earliest date it could fall. Join us at any point during the evening for good value food and/or drink and a variety of conversation. Look for yellow Mblem on a long table in the rear section of the pub. There are usually 15-20 of us.
Alphabet Event - N is for Nature Trail
Our "N" alphabet event takes place at 10.30am on Saturday 18th and will be a nature trail at Attenborough Nature Reserve (NG9 6DY). Meet in the car park (£2 donation requested for parking) and there will be a choice of three routes. The shortest is 3km and goes around the pond which should be full of ducks in the winter. The middle distance is 4.2km and should take around an hour at a comfortable pace. It heads towards Long Eaton and back along the River Trent whilst spotting jack snipes, stonechats or even short eared owls. The longest trail is 5.9km around the perimeter of the entire nature reserve. Will you spot all three species of British woodpecker? All walks are free and include the chance to sit in one of their hides and are suitable for all ages. Why not bring the family? Please contact Maxine to express interest in case this event needs to be postponed due to inclement weather. It could be doing anything in February!
Our monthly visit to the Barge in Woolstone for the quiz is on Monday 20th. Meet from 8.30 - the quiz starts at 9pm and costs £1 per person. Please let me know beforehand if you're coming so I can bag a large enough table.
Last Friday is at our usual venue of the Cowper Arms, Digswell. The pub is next to Welwyn North station and is served by stopping trains from Kings Cross to Peterborough and Cambridge. Good food, beer and conversation guaranteed! Please call me on [Phone Number] for more details and encouragement.
We return to Brown's, next to Jury's Inn on Midsummer Boulevard, for breakfast on Sunday 26th. Join us from 10am for a full breakfast, a snack, or just a drink.
After that randomness of the Comedy Festival, we'll head back to the normality (if you can call it that) of our regular Fourth Monday combined eating meeting at The Stamford Arms in Groby from 6:30pm and pub social from 8:00pm. Whatever you do, don't forget to leave room for the pud at just a quid. Connoisseurs of all things Dessert recommend the hot chocolate fudge cake with ice cream (guaranteed by the serving staff not to contain any calories at all, so there's no reason not to!)
Our monthly eating meeting is just about food, drink and socialising, no ethical conundrums intended, at Thai No. 1 on the Bailgate in Lincoln on Tuesday 28th February at 19:00. All welcome but please book with me by 24th if possible, thanks.
At 7.30pm on Tuesday 28th our "eating meeting" takes place at Kathmandu Nepalese restaurant on Church Street in Ripley (DE5 3BU). See menu at ripley.kathmandugurkha.co.uk and reserve your place with Maxine by 24th latest please. A little bit of trivia from their website. Gurkhas have been part of the British Army since 1815. The name Gurkha comes from the town of Gorkha, a western region of Nepal. During World War II nearly 112,000 Gurkhas fought for the British. Currently there are about 3,500 Gurkha soldiers serving in the British Army in a variety of roles, mainly in the infantry but with significant numbers of engineers, logisticians and signals specialists. During the two world wars 43,000 men lost their lives. The soldiers are still selected from young men living in the hills of Nepal with more than 28,000 youths tackling the selection procedure for just over 200 places each year.