INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

  A night out in the city centre was slightly overdue it involved 2 venues the cosy club followed by the Hockley arts club. Over 70 people were on the list but typically half that number turned up. The first venue was a nice place if not massively overpriced. I caught up with a few old faces and got talking to a few new ones. The second venue was had loud music although they kept mixing the styles often to ridiculous levels. It was a good night until I returned from the toilet to discover 90% of the group had left.  A good night overall and I managed to arrange to go to a gig with another member outside of meetup thanks to this night.

With 5 star reviews and excellent feedback I quickly started planning the second walk to host. I opted for a circular walk this time (to help the motorists) and also found a starting point with free parking. We started in Shardlow and headed north doing a circuit of St chads nature reserve before heading towards Breaston via coffin walk. I was worried about the mud that I encountered on the test walk but it turned out to be a lot drier. One of the group happened to live in  Breaston and recommended the Chequers inn on the high street which turned out to be a nice place to stop. It got a little too comfortable and we all had to persuade each other to move on.  We had to take a detour for a mile due to mud but that was pre planned. Then followed the canal from Sawley back to the starting point. Had a few drinks and a good chat in the new inn after.

  I'd done beat the streets a couple of years earlier. We met in the Horn in hand for breakfast before heading to the venues. First stop was whiskey stain at the red room which I didn't plan to watch but were ok. I then made a dash to Rough trade to see Grain who to be honest weren't great but that was the only time I went that venue.  Cam mannix who I'd seen before at splendour put on a good show at rock city. From that point on all the bands I wanted to see were at rescue rooms. Bloodworm were ok, but lacey were far too heavy for my taste so I went back to the horn in hand for a diet coke and a rest. Others from the group were also taking a bit of time out. By the time we went back the cost of living were on at 19:00 and the crowd were getting louder. Unlike last time I didn't spend long alone due to losing people. The publics and The chase put on a great show the crowd got very rowdy with crowd surfing and concerned security. It was a good end to the day. As peop...

  The main focus was beat the streets on Sunday but since I was staying 2 nights. I might as well join the meetup that was just up the road. The Crafty crow was a slightly more up market venue located at the top end of friar lane. About a dozen of us turned up including a couple who were going tomorrow. It was nice and social but nothing heavy. The crowd started to disperse around 10pm.

  Normally I wouldn't be bothered to travel to a walk that was only 3-4 miles but it was the most boring weekend of the year. After a catch up we headed past the nice houses and into the fields where it got very muddy very quickly. We went down the appropriately named "bog lane" where it was so bad I had to hold on to the fence all the way down. The rest of the walk was done on solid ground, they opted for a walk around the lake at the end but I lost them in the last 10 minutes and got the bus home. 

  I'd been given an organizers spot on a drunken night out years ago but never got round to actually using it. I used a day off work to plan a route that I posted on meetup. Initially I was a bag of nerves especially having to post details on parking (I don't drive), planning for bad weather and what to do if people turn up late. The attendee list never went higher than 16, overall 26 people signed up, 7 attended including myself, some dropped out on the day and some dropped out without updating on the website. Expecting a mud bath we headed into Cotgrave country park and followed the Grantham canal all the way to Bassingfield. The ground was reasonable, the weather was mild and the conversations were flowing. It's a lot easier with a  small group. We crossed the fields, the busy main road and had a short pitstop at the garage before heading into Skylarks nature reserve. The path to the river Trent was the only major muddy part which we overcame in a few minutes...

  Arrived early with accommodation booked expecting a very busy night out. Walked into town and it didn't seem any different to a normal weekend night. Met in Weatherspoon's expecting it to be 3 deep at the bar but we all found a table without any problems. The plan was to stay in there until 11pm then head to the fan club. Some of the "usual suspects" didn't turn up and it had an "older crowd" feel about the night.  The fan club quickly filled up and it turned into a "good but nothing special" kind of night. Left around 2:30am.  

  Met in the Bell Inn where we stayed for a couple of hours before taking a walk around the Christmas market.  Unfortunately a small error in judgement ruined most of the night. I waited for a tram to pass while the others ran across the road just before the entrance. In doing so I lost the group in the tightly packed crowds for the next 2 hours. I walked around and grabbed a venison burger (nice but overpriced). Giving up I went to Weatherspoon's for free Wi-Fi to find they had gone to the Pit and Pendulum, only on arrival to discover they had gone to pitcher and piano.  By the time I caught up with them there was less than an hour to my train and the group was starting to disperse. 

  Not the sort of thing I ever envisioned myself doing on meetup but nothing else was happening that day and the weather was awful. I'd debated with Chris on numerous issues on walks and was persuaded to join his group. They meet in a downstairs room at the malt cross every 6-8 weeks.  It began with a 30 minute slideshow highlighting the good and bad of the pharmaceutical industry (which to be fair was well balanced). Followed by a debate, I thought 20 people was far too many but about a dozen people including myself did the majority of the talking. For the record I'm pro science, pro vaccine and consider the alternative medicine industry a scam. Needless to say a hardliner who promoted the theory that covid vaccines make you magnetic (a fringe theory even among antivaxxers) dominated most of the conversations. I expected a lot to be like her but the group was balanced, the debate was civilised. There were a wide range of subjects which off topic such as face to face...

  Meeting in Weatherspoon's for a well needed breakfast it was cold crisp but clear day, perfect for walking. We headed downriver across the suspension bridge onto Melton road, I thought it was going to be a mostly urban walk until we got to an old trainline called the green line all the way to Edwalton.  The half hour stop for coffee was well needed.  We headed past the gold course and followed the canal back to the city as it was starting to get dark. An excellent walk, unfortunately no pictures.