INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

  4 months had passed since I'd done the test walk. It was an easy flat route and good weather so I wasn't too worried. WAMM was in progress of moving off meetup and going onto Facebook. So I could now post my walks onto 2 groups instead of 1. After a slight delay a dozen of us headed in the direction of west leake. The weather, ground and conversation were good. The pub stop was surprising busy then we headed back to the start via Sutton Bonnington. 4 of us went in the cap and stocking back at Kegworth.

  Been a while since I'd seen the Leicester group, we met at the clock tower before heading down to the park. Rain threatened to ruin the whole night but never went beyond the fine misty stuff. 6:30pm Fire performers 6.45pm Kids and noise-sensitive visitors’ Fireworks. 7pm Lighting of the bonfire 7.45pm Fire performers 8pm The main Fireworks Everyone headed to the exit at 9:30, we went Weatherspoon's where it was unusually crowded. 

 Attended a 2 hour debate where we discussed the Uk energy supply. The presentation included the big improvements that had been made in wind and solar energy. I was expecting it to descend into silly arguments about climate change but thankfully that didn't happen.   Planned a walk on the way home.

I was a lot better prepared than last year with accommodation and a band list on a spreadsheet. Colour coded to indicate yes, no or maybe. We met at Lloyds / Weatherspoon's, where we spent an hour before heading out to the 40 odd venues around the city. I had no preference for the first few hours and went with the flow. Started off in rough trade with a strange instrumental duo called Revenge of Calulon . Moving onto Brewdog to see "guts" before heading into Billy Bootleggers for Noise which were ok then another band I didn't particularly like. It was back to rough trade which was starting to get busy so I bailed out to see Luis then Whiskey stain at the Jam cafe. Less crowds and better music. Back at rough trade it was so busy you couldn't see the band plus the layout of the building doesn't help. Finished off the evening with some Myki Tuff at the metronome.

  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.