A new venue to try on Wed 3rd at 8.00pm as we head to The Fayre & Square pub/restaurant at The Gynsills in Groby for an eating meeting get-together. Even if you can't make the main course, I strongly recommend the Tuck Shop Ice Cream Cake!! Wow! Please let me know you're coming! (http://tinyurl.com/gynsills)
Please join us on the 4th from 8.00pm for informal First Thursday chat at The Old Beams at Shenley Lodge. Feel free to join us for a meal or just a drink - look out for the Mblem or mag. See http://www.mcmullens.co.uk/oldbeams for location, menu etc.
Hitchin Thurs 4th from 8.15pm. FThOTM. Normal service resumes! As ever, we're at the Millstream, Cambridge Road, Hitchin. 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.
Find us at the Vat & Fiddle pub on Queensbridge Road from 8.00pm on Friday 5th for a drink and chat. We usually grab the first big table inside the Golding's Room to the left of the bar. New faces always welcome. Phone in advance if you need directions or just turn up on the night.
Join Mark Sandford for the matinee performance of Dry Rot by John Chapman at the Swan theatre in High Wycombe at 2.30pm on Saturday 6th. Ticket prices range from £18.50. Described as a flawless physical comedy with secret doors, split-second timing and an all-star cast, Dry Rot tells the story of a "get rich quick" plan involving a "kidnapped" horse, a French jockey, a crooked bookie, an eccentric Colonel and his wife. Guaranteed to have the audience roaring with laughter! The cast includes Liza Goddard, Gareth Hale, Neil Stacy and Derren Nesbitt. For directions or encouragement please ring Mark on [Phone Number]
Watford, Monday 8th at 8.00pm, Treasure Hunt! I'm not sure what format this will take yet. It depends on the weather so it could be an indoor pursuit if it rains. Details will be emailed to the group - so if you're interested and not on my email list then let me know. It should be fun, challenging and up to my usual brain teasing standard! Look out for my email nearer the time please.
From 7.30pm on Thursday 11th we'll be at the Beekeeper pub on Meadow Lane in Beeston for a meal or just a drink. This is a very informal event so pop in briefly or stay all evening. Our October offer is £10 off when spending £25 on food so we can club together to order and each save a couple of pounds off the already low prices. We have a regular reservation of the long table near the food order point at the end of the bar. Look for the yellow Mblem. Forward planning, our "natter & nosh" event at the Beekeeper on 13th December will be the Nottingham Mensa Christmas meal with pre-booking required. I've already booked 15 places but more can be added subject to availability. 2 courses for £9.99 or 3 courses for £12.99. Please contact me to see the menu or to book.
The Northampton area meeting is a week later than normal (and also an hour earlier), for reasons that will be explained on the night. If you want to find out then 8.00pm on Thursday 11th should be marked on your calendar and The Three Horseshoes, High Street, Ecton, NN6 0QA, should be marked on your road atlas. Our second meeting is a week later; on Thursday 18th at 8.00pm.
Janine and Sandy are once again opening their home on Mackworth Estate to Mensa friends on Friday 12th. Pop along from 4.30pm for tea and cakes and a chat after work or come later for a buffet (please BYOB and a buffet contribution) and an evening of socialising with maybe an optional game or two. Please phone [Phone Number] for the address and directions. Their last event attracted a good number of people - but being an "open house" just not all there at the same time!
October sees the usual 2SaOTM on 13th, with a lunchtime pub discussion and general chat at the Adam & Eve on Lindum Hill, from 12ish, discussion starts at 12.30. This month: 'What is the criminal justice system for?' All are welcome to join us to give their view or just listen.
Sunday breakfast will be at 10.15am on Sunday 14th, but PLEASE NOTE, we are going to give Wetherspoon's a try for a change. It's on Midsummer Boulevard West, next to Chiquito's and not far up from the railway station (NOT the other Lloyds/Wetherspoons nearer the shopping centre and next to Jurys Inn). Come for a full breakfast, a snack, or just a drink - look for the Mblem on a table.
Find us at the Standing Order on Irongate in the city centre from 7.30pm on Wednesday 17th for our "3rd Wednesday" get together. We'll be on one of the long tables in the low ceiling area at the rear of the pub with a yellow Mblem on display. All welcome for food and/or a drink!
On Wednesday 17th we continue our eating ventures with a trip to La Trattoria in West Street, at 7.00pm. Booking is essential by 14th please.
The Roadshow heads off to one of the county's most famous pubs: The Boat at Stoke Bruerne, NN12 7SB. We will be in the lounge - which is the first room on the left when you enter via the car park entrance (or the last door on the right if you've moored your boat on the canal!). The Mensa magazine, or another Mensa symbol, will show you who we are. If you need any further information contact me (contact details below).
On Thurs 18th at 8.00pm there's a chance to delve into the hidden mysteries of life, the universe and a drink as we meet up for our regular Third Thursday of the Month gathering at The Craddock Inn in Leicester (http://tinyurl.com/leicsMensaTTOTM). Usual place, usual time . . . new suspects? Please feel free to give me a call for encouragement, directions, pre-orders.
Watford, Monday 22nd at 8.00pm, pub meeting We're back to the Essex Arms, Langley Way, Watford, WD17 3EG. Please look for the Magazine on the table. New members always warmly welcomed.
Our final event in October, at 7.30pm on Thursday 25th, is a Pan-Asian meal at The Silk Road on Grafton Gate, near the railway station. See www.thesilkroadrestaurants.co.uk for details. Please let me know by Tuesday 23rd if you are coming, so that I can book a table.
On Wednesday 26th we will meet as usual at the Old Mill at 7.45-ish, the pub set back from the London Road, next door to the Esso petrol station. If it is fine we will sit in the garden. Come and chat / drink/ eat and see what happens.
Digswell (by Welwyn North Station) Fri 26th from 8.00pm. LFOTM. As ever we'll be at the Cowper Arms, Digswell, Herts (by Welwyn North station). Call me for more details and encouragement. The pub is next to the railway station, which is served by stopping trains from Kings Cross to Cambridge and Peterborough.
On Saturday 27th some of my fundraising team will be doing a bucket collection for Cancer Research UK at Top Valley Tesco between 10.00am and 4.00pm. If you're in the area please come and say hello. As a treat for our efforts during the day we'll be having a Halloween party in the evening. You are welcome to join us at my home in Langley Mill from 8.00pm. I'll provide a buffet (there may be snake jelly and severed fingers again!) but please bring whatever you wish to drink. Fancy dress costumes are encouraged - if only to scare away the annoying trick or treaters! - but not compulsory. Some bed/floorspace available for overnight guests. Please contact me for directions and to let me know you'll be there to help catering. There can be an extra hour of partying as we change the clocks!
Then some of our regular philosophical discussion boosted by tea and cake: Teatime Thinking at my house near Alford on Sunday 28th, 3.00-5.00pm. We'll be considering Kant's suggestion that one should only do what would be ok if everyone did it. I'm very happy to give info., encouragement, directions, just ask, [Email]
At 7.30pm on Tuesday 30th we're going for a Mexican meal at Chiquito at Pride Park. I've checked the football fixtures and there is no match scheduled for that evening so parking should not be a problem. Menu at www.chiquito.co.uk and their current offers are 2 courses for £9.99, or a free starter or dessert with any main course, or 20% off your food bill. I always aim to find restaurants that are good value for money and suggestions are always very welcome. If you'd like to join us for this "eating meeting" please let me know by 26th so I can reserve a table.