INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

  I found a free carpark and a walking area that had only been open to the public for a couple of years. Better still it was close to home, also an experiment on how many people would turn up. The answer was about half a dozen. Weather was perfect as we set off along the lane to the outskirts of the park. It was a good mixture of open fields and woodlands. A 30 minute break was taken at the Harvester where it was warm enough to sit outside. Then into the park proper before heading back into Shepshed.

  Admittedly this was too soon after the last one with a very similar itinerary. Over 120 were on the list with 3 organizers sorting it all out, rather them than myself. Starting at the pitcher and piano is was good to catch up with people if the venue itself was over familiar. The good news as the next venue blind rabbit had big screens up for the boxing where we watched A Joshua get stuffed. Only a few dozen made it to Mojos which didn't surprise me, I lasted until around 1:30

  I'd heard about this for years and finally got the opportunity. 5 pubs and one bus for a tenner. Unfortunately, loads dropped out leaving just the 3 of us. A 30 minute delay occurred when one of the buses was cancelled but they found another. Our first stop was a beer festival at Thorpe Langton. We had an hour which sounds a lot but the queues were big. We then went to a few village pubs including Burton Overy and Kibworth Beauchamp. A great day and as the beer flowed people got more social. Unfortunately the journey home was a nightmare.

A 2 hour debate between about 20 people in an upstairs room in a pub. Not as heated as the previous one about the pharmaceutical industry. I provided the following...... Police show minimal interest in lower level crime especially when it involves juveniles. Part of the problem is the amount of paperwork they have to complete in order to process. Then the courts will often give minimal punishments. Easier to brush it under the carpet, as a result more people don’t bother reporting it. Crimes unreported as public lose faith in police - BBC News Coronavirus lockdowns . Police openly admitted they didn’t have the resources to enforce the rules and many lockdown fines went unpaid. Regardless of your opinions on covid/lockdowns it doesn’t paint the police or justice system in a good light. OPINION: "There simply aren’t enough police officers to enforce a lockdown" (wiltshire999s.co.uk) Majority of coronavirus fines unpaid in some parts of England, data suggests | ITV News Use of ...

  The weather wasn't great and it was an event I was generally lukewarm about attending. It was closer than home to most and I used the journey to plan future walks.  We visited a few stalls located near the clock warehouse but I felt we spent far too long hanging around. As usual I was one of the youngest in this group. Then we headed up the canal for coffee and some nice but overpriced chocolate orange fudge. A stop at the Malt Shovel pub followed where we chatted for around 45 minutes. We went down to the boathouse for more of the same. By that point I'd seen enough and headed home.

  Slightly disappointed with only 4 people turning out, free carpark, on a bus route and great scenery. Apart from a short section being overgrown (I was prepared with pruners) it was a clear walk all the way round. Everyone seemed to like the route along with the stop in the Star pub at West Leake. One of the girls was autistic and hadn't had much contact with anyone outside of family and one friend in 6 months. She chose my walk as the first thing to do and was exchanging contact details. Good to have made a difference. 

  3 venues and over 80 people on the list. Rather them than me organising !!!!! Got to the Pitcher and Piano first and was quickly joined by most of the others. Expected more people in town for a bank holiday weekend.  Second venue was All bar one which I don't recall having been before. Upmarket and a bit on the expensive side even by city standards. The annoying thing was that the 40 plus meetup crowd and filled the place and they only has 2 bar staff on which was poor. Finally onto Mojos where several of us felt that we go too often. I lasted until around 1:30am.

  Back to another daytime pub crawl in Leicester. The idea was to throw a dice at each pub to decide the next venue. Bit strange but it worked out ok. Starting at the old horse on the other side of the train station. Nice place with a massive beer garden. Second stop was Loaded dog, a sports bar with loads of screens. Where photo was taken. It was a bit of a trek back into town but we followed NEW WALK a path I don't think I have ever been down. The grand union was only a small place and we seemed to fill it us, there was around 20 of us by this point. Next door was the Kings head, we sat outside upstairs. On the main road was the Barley Mow, several described it as a "rough pub" but it seemed fine on arrival and we stayed longer than expected. The beer was also cheap by city standards. Finally I finished at "spoons" and was clockwatching for public transport.  A good day out.

  Another walk with another reasonable turnout (10). We met at Newton lane carpark and followed an anti clockwise route. It was hillier than I expected since I always plan the opposite way around. The group kept getting strung out due to 4 being a bit slow which was a minor annoyance. Otherwise the rain held off until we reached the pub in Kimberley. After a good chat we headed off down the old railway line and back to the starting point via the canal.

Second pub crawl II hosted, this time around Trent bridge. Unfortunately a far right protest and counter protest was in town. While this didn't affect us directly, several people dropped out as a precaution. We started at the Trent bridge inn, where half the group joined and the rest came later on. We sat outside at the embankment and the brewhouse.  Wetherspoons was packed due to the lower drinks prices and we struggled to find a table. We then moved on to the Waterside which was a popular choice. The weather was good, drinks were flowing. Finally we ended up at William Gunn which was another good choice. A few were planning their nights out from here but I was done for the day. It was another great afternoon and I had the motive to plan more in the future.