INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

Bit early in the month but who cases, first meetup for a while but this one was going to be a big turnout. It was a case of bring your own food then at the end of the night they were begging people to take it because there was far too much. About half of the 60 people I had seen before including several my own age from the Leicester group. It was a bit of a quiet evening up until the final hour when the alcohol kicked for everyone. Unfortunately by the time I was enjoying the evening the night at the 102 club was over. Around half a dozen of us went into town and ended up in a club until the very early hours. I got home around 5am...…………………………….

With the night out in Leicester getting a tad repetitive I gave it a miss this weekend and opted to go Derby and from there a trip to Matlock bath . Some of us met in the Merry Widows pub just across from Derby train station and caught the train after an hour. I'd not been Matlock for over 30 years and it didn't bring any memories back when we arrived. Went in 2 nice if a little overcrowded pubs The Midland and the Fishpond with a short stop in the arcades in between. It had a very tourist town feel about the place and I'd never seen so many fish and chip shops on one street in my life. This picture was taken outside the fishpond. We then went to see the boat parade followed by the firework display, most of the group did question if it was worth paying 7 pound to see fireworks that you could have just viewed from the street for free. After it was stuff yourself with fish and chips before heading back to Derby, they were going for a drink after but my bus arr

Back to the Queen of Bradgate pub for the third time. The official attendance for this meet was 48 but in practice it was 30 which was still a lot more than usual. It was good to meet a lot more new faces and of course catch up with a few old ones. The main issue with the night was the heavy rain, nobody wanted to move on to anywhere else. Eventually we headed to O'Neil's for a couple before heading back to the  Queen of Bradgate of all places. This was the first meetup where I wasn't going into somewhere new for the first time. Admittedly this meetup is starting to feel a bit repetitive, I don't see why we can't try different places each week as the city center has dozens of pubs.

Change of plan, walking instead of drinking this weekend. This was the closest meetup to date from my house and was still 11 miles and 2 bus rides away. About a dozen of us went which we all agreed was a good number. It was a good day to walk, clear, sunny and not too hot. We headed around Staunton Harold reservoir and had a short food stop. Then headed on to Calke abbey where it was very busy but managed to get a table for another food and drink stop. After the walk I had 50 minutes to kill before the bus home so half the group went to the Wheel Inn at Ticknall, overall it was a good half day out and I was very tired by the time I got home.

It was a choice between Nottingham and Leicester so I picked Leicester due to the smaller group size. It was the same starting place as 2 weeks ago, the Queen of Bradgate pub. A couple of faces I knew made for an ok start to the evening. It wasn't as busy as 2 weeks before which was probably a good thing as it was packed. Second stop was the Gadabout , nice place but had the atmosphere of a restaurant. In fact some of us thought it was a restaurant but we didn't see any food being eaten. Revolution was the second place of the evening that I'd never set foot in before. We walked straight into a fight that was kicking off in a corner. Strangely only one bouncer came to intervene but it was over in 10 minutes. Despite that I liked the place and would have been happy to stay there the rest of the night. I was recognised by someone I met with another meetup group 5 months earlier. Unfortunately someone made the decision to move on elsewhere, being from a village I ten

I had 2 choices, a big night out drinking in Nottingham or a more low key pool and darts night in Derby. After a sleepless Friday I didn't have a 2am drinking session in me so I opted for the more low key pool night. We met at the Waterfall near the train station, nice building and layout (the pint of carling I had was a bit flat). There was about a dozen of us with 2 faces I recognized from previous meets. Spent nearly 2 hours having random games on the aged tables in the back room. I won 4 lost 3 which was not bad for saying I'd not been on a pool table in years. After that we went to a nearby pub called the Brunswick an old school real ale pub. We all played a big game of darts between us (I won on double 2).  Overall a steady night...………..

After fan club night I couldn't wait to get back over Leicester again, another new group to try out. Bumped into 2 people I'd met from previous meets which is always a good thing. The queen of Bradgate was our starting point for the evening with over 20 people sitting around one big table. It turned out there had been another meetup with another group taking place earlier that day. A couple of people turned up drunk from that meet and joined us to continue into the evening. After an hour or so, several of the drunk people moved on because they wanted to go to a lively place with a dancefloor. We arranged to meet them at Lloyd's after we had drank up, from this point the group fragmented.  Lloyds was a bit loud for that early in the evening especially when you are trying to have conversations with people you have only just met. We decided to move on, with our group mixed with the other group, we walked down a street when suddenly some people would go into a pub while

First night in Leicester for nearly 4 months, first with this group and it was long overdue, this event was put up at the last minute but the attendance was close to 20. Started in Lloyds which was easy enough to find, arrived early to watch a fight taking place outside but thankfully it cleared up by the time the group trickled in. It was as good a place as any to start. Hogarth's was a good pub which I could have spent a lot longer in.   Spencer's was a small pub you could easily miss and walk by, 3 pubs I'd never set foot in before and they were all good. I couldn't believe I'd never paid more than 3 pound a drink in the city center, Highlight of night was of course the fan club, I had been here before but not for 20 years !!! Proper old school, sticky dance floor and drinking cans of red stripe. I'd much prefer 90s music over 80s but you can't have everything. We did turn up early so it was fairly empty, but got fuller after midnight.

After the meal we headed down to MOJO s an interesting bar that was a quarter full on arrival but got more busy as the night went on. Later people started dancing on tables and it got very lively. The turnout was around 60 according to the meetup page and as strange as it sounds it was a lot more difficult to get in a crowd. I was glad I got to know some of them at the meal beforehand and didn't just turn up to this one. Unlike others we stayed at the same bar all night (it's open to 4am) which I didn't mind as it was good. There was talk of moving on somewhere else but it never happened. Lasted until well after midnight.

Second attempt at getting a night out in Nottingham following the no show with another group previously. This was the first of 2 meetups on the same night, about 15 of us attended the first part which was the meal. I think that a meal around a table is the best way to meet a new group instead of a loud bar where people are just arriving at any time. The food was ok but more importantly I got on well with several of the group who all came to the night at the bar after.

I don't gamble much these days but a night at the dogs was long overdue. I'd been here before but not with meetup. Unlike previous trips this was not a heavy drinking night as I had the bus home to think about. 14 people was about the right sized crowd, unlike at the horse racing you have only 16 minutes between races so it was a constant circle of bet, sit and chat, go outside to watch race and repeat. I did better than usual and finished about 4 bets worth down in the end, Claire the event host just seemed to win everything. A good night was topped off when a couple gave me a lift not to the bus station but all the way home which saved me a lot of travel time.

After Derby, Nottingham was the next city to try for a night out with meetup. Slightly further on the skylink bus but doable it was good to get away after a quiet birthday weekend. Went to the fat cat bar ordered a drink and waited...….and waited. An hour and 3 drinks later still nobody had turned up despite me leaving messages on the page. The last skylink bus that went all the way back to the village was due so I called it a night. It was a wasted 2 and a half hours round trip!!!! Nobody on the group replied that night or the following day, yet if you click on the page for the event it says that 7 people attended which is obviously wrong. Lesson learned that some meetups are not what they seem...…..

First night out drinking in Derby for well over a decade. It was a hot and sticky evening especially on the bus going over. Arrived early and met the group in the standing order which I have vague memories of going in many years before. Being a slightly older crowd than the Leicester group and being a sitting outside type of night we went to pubs like the old silk mill. Also ye olde dolphin just across the road, it was a good social night with nearly 20 people. Finally we ended up in a loud place with a dancefloor. Unfortunately I'd peaked too soon as I went through my first few drinks very quickly after getting off the hot bus earlier on. I left earlier than I should but overall it was a good night.

After being removed from the Leicester group I thought I try a different city. Previously Derby and Nottingham were always special occasion nights out requiring expensive taxi rides to get home after midnight. Now we have the skylink bus going to and from those cities running via east midlands airport. A bit time consuming but cheap and doable. Not been those cities for decades so this was a dry run to test out the logistics of going. I rode to the airport where my bike would be safe in the cycle shed. Then went in the city before taking a steady walk to the Mosa restaurant . 12 of us attended the meal, it was an older crowd but they all seemed friendly enough. The food was good and conversation flowed with whoever happened to be sitting closest on the long table. Some went to a pub after but I was after a (rare) alcohol free weekend. One of them gave me a lift back to the bus station which was great. I would be going back to Derby

Had an unexpected e-mail 3 weeks after my last meetup. YOU HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GROUP LEICESTER 20s & 30s SOCIAL I tried to contact the group organizer Ben only to discover that he had blocked my messages. I did however spot a clue, the group had been renamed Leicester 20 to 32 social. I also noticed that a couple of peoples profiles who attended the 2 previous meets had been replaced with the words "former member". I thought it was pathetic to change the age range of the group especially after doing 2 great nights out. If everyone had been in the 18 - 25 age range and I felt out of place I wouldn't have come back the second time. But that wasn't the case. I will reach a point one day when clubs and loud bars won't be my thing but I can decide that for myself. I did message a couple of people to find out what was going on but the bottom line was it's Bens group, he paid to host it and there's nothing I could do. I immediately joined sever

I was in London for the weekend to watch the marathon on the Sunday. The plan for Saturday was to visit a friend who lives in Dorking and go walking around the area where she lived. Unfortunately a couple of days before I got a message saying she had to go back to Tenerife for a family emergency. So I looked on meetup and there was a walk going that day in the same area so I joined the group as a one off and met them at Victoria station. We got the train down to Leatherhead where I discovered that this was a very popular area for Londoners looking for an escape from the world of concrete. Now I'm very fit but it was obvious the organizer was a very strong walker who does this kind of thing all the time. As there was 50 of us we strung out a bit but there were plenty of people to enjoy random conversations with as you went along. The highlight was Box hill after the stepping stones which wasn't too difficult to climb despite being close to the end of the walk. N