The new regular get together in Luton is changing date and venue. It will now be on the 1st Tuesday of each month at The Brache Beefeater on Osborne Road (opposite the Vauxhall Design building). So the next get together will be on Tuesday 2nd September not Thursday 4th September as advertised in Mensa Magazine and Empress. This works better for everyone who attended the first event.
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.
Why not start the weekend with a drink and chat at the Vat & Fiddle pub on Queensbridge Road on the outskirts of the city centre? We'll be there from 8.00pm and usually grab the first table as you enter the Goldings Room to the left of the bar. There's free parking outside or the pub is close to Nottingham railway station and Broad Marsh bus station if you wish to enjoy a pint or two.
Our first meeting is T@3 at Dobbie's Garden Centre, Fenny Stratford. Please join us for tea, cakes and chat - look for the Mblem in the restaurant. Contact me for directions and/or encouragement.
A date has been set for another of my scenic walks. Join me at 11.00am for a leisurely walk of approximately 3 miles along the Northants/Leics border, followed by a pub lunch. The meeting point is The Wharf Inn, Welford, NN6 6JQ. The village is on the A5199 and the pub is on the main road at the north end. If you can't make the walk but would like to join us for lunch, meet us in the pub around 12.30pm.
It's no fun walking in the wet so if the weather forecast suggests some rain it will be best to contact me the night before to see if it's going ahead.
It's the annual steam festival at the Leighton Buzzard narrow gauge steam railway and I'll be there from about 12.00pm. It is hoped that everything steamable will be in steam that day. Hope to see some of you there; the Railway is at Page's Park, about two miles south of Leighton Buzzard station but I can arrange pickups from either there or Flitwick if need be. Contact me for further details and encouragement.
We're at the Beekeeper pub/restaurant on Meadow Lane in Beeston for our 'natter and nosh' event. Find us on the long table just beyond the food order point at the end of the bar with a yellow Mblem on display. Feel free to come along any time from 7.30pm to closing for a meal, snack or just a drink plus good conversation.
We start with the 2SaOTM pub discussion at the 'Adam and Eve', on Lindum Hill. Once we've all gathered, ordered food and/or drinks and had a bit of a chat, we usually kick off our discussion topic around 12.30pm. This time it's 'What should architecture be about?' Once we've said all we feel there is to say on that, we'll wander on to other topics and general chat. The usual suspects often stay past 3.00pm, others come and go as they fancy, some join in, and others just listen.
Many thanks to Janine and Sandy for once again inviting us to their home on Mackworth Estate from 4.30pm. There will be tea and cakes in the afternoon plus optional table tennis, boules or board games if anyone is interested. Then in the evening there will be relaxing chat with the option of ordering a take-away. Hot drinks, soft drinks, cakes and nibbles will be provided but please bring any alcohol you wish to drink and a little money if you want to join in the take-away meal. You are welcome to come early, leave early, come late, and stay late. Please ring [Phone Number] for directions and to confirm you're going.
We continue our third Monday of the month quiz meetings at The Barge at Woolstone. Meet from 8.30pm in time for the quiz at 9.00pm - £1 per person. See www.vintageinn.co.uk/thebargewoolstone/ for the location and, if possible, let me know beforehand if you're coming so I can reserve a big enough table. We don't always get the same table, so look out for the Mblem. Contact me for directions and/or encouragement.
Be honest, have you ever sat there thinking "Actually, I'm bored with restaurants"? Ever felt the need for something different? Well how does a "Live Social Dining Theatre" grab you, eh? You might think it's just a world buffet, but you'd be wrong! We're off to More (www.morerestaurant.co.uk) on London Road at 7.30pm to grab a piece of the excitement. Give me a call/email by 1st September so I can book a table.
Finally I'm organising an autumn fayre to take place at Greasley Parish Hall (NG16 3QN) from 11.00am to 3.00pm. This is the same venue where we held our regional party night back in January 2009 (if anyone remembers that) and is easily accessible from J26 of the M1.
There will be nearly 20 stalls selling books, jewellery, allotment produce, cards, gifts and much more. Light lunches, teas and cakes will also be available. All proceeds from this event will go to Cancer Research UK. Do pop along and say hello to myself and my team of fundraising Mensans. We'll be the ones wearing white T-shirts with the Cancer Research UK logo.
Our '3rd Wednesday' get together will be from 7.30pm at the Standing Order pub on Irongate in the city centre. This is a Wetherspoon venue so good value food and/or drink. Look for the yellow Mblem on one of the long tables in the rear section of the pub. There is usually a good turnout for this event.
Meet me from 10.30am for a morning of informal conversation and coffee. This month we are returning to the café at Chenies Garden Centre - WD3 6EN. There's free parking and delicious cake! A good range of plants, garden tools, furniture, gifts and food can be bought in the shop. See http://www.vanhage.co.uk/garden-centres/chenies/ for further information. The café can get very busy, so please let me know in advance if you know you are coming so I can assemble enough chairs. You can still just turn up on the day.
We haven't been to the cinema for a long time so let's change that with a trip to Showcase Cinema on Redfield Way in Lenton (on the ring road near Queen's Medical Centre). I've advertised a rendezvous time of 7.00pm but please contact me in advance so we can decide which film to watch and in case we need to make that slightly earlier or later depending on the screening time. Hopefully there will be enough of us with Orange phone contracts to get us all in on a 2-4-1 deal.
We've changed the venue for our regular meeting which will now be at the Crown pub on Berkhamsted High Street. Have a drink and a chat or eat with us. The pub does good meals and is cheaper, so we are changing at a member's request. New members, partners, etc. are always welcome. You can park for free after 6.30pm in the car park behind Tesco's.
Our ever popular midweek eating meeting will be venturing to the Bowl Full Tapas bar towards the far end of West Parade, Lincoln. I'm writing this the day after a great Mensa evening at Carluccio's, talk varied from "Come Dine with Me" to Prof. Sandel's philosophy discussions, lots of laughter, not a dull moment - I loved it. So, let me entice you to join us this month and enjoy a meal with fun. The table is booked for 7.00pm, just let me know you're coming by 20th September.
After all that excitement, it's back to what us Tiggers know best and into the downstairs bit of The Craddock for our "Fourth Thursday" on the .er. fourth Thursday, meeting up at 8.00pm. I might even have brought you a stick of rock or something back from my holidays!
As ever, we'll be at the Cowper Arms, Digswell, Herts (by Welwyn North station) from 8.00pm. 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.
It's the annual St Albans beer festival, held at the Alban Arena in the city centre. I'll be there from 1.00pm and hope you'll be able to join me! Contact me for details and encouragement, or if you've not been to a beer festival before and want to find out a bit more.
If it's afternoon tea you hanker for, come round to my house near Alford from 3.00-5.00pm. We munch on scones and cakes washed down with plenty of tea while sharing our mental travels. This month it'll be about the Central American countries. Most of us research the bits that interest us, (we're different enough for it to be varied) and some just sit and listen. Contact me for further details, directions, or encouragement.
Sunday breakfast will be 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 for directions and/or encouragement.
Our 'eating meeting' heads north to South Normanton. The Castlewood (Brewer's Fayre) are having an Italian night with an eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet of pizza, pasta and garlic bread for only £6.99. The restaurant is just off J28 of the M1 and has ample free parking. Please let me know by 26th September if you'd like to join us so a table can be reserved.