INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

  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.

  Another music night with minimal travel. Only 2 others turned up, I can't figure out why this is often the case since it's a good venue. The numbers were lower than usual since it was a paid event. The singer was good although some of the songs were a bit subdued.  Steady night overall finished around 11.

  Probably not the sort of event I'd have attended by itself but seen it as an opportunity to plan a walk. I went from Ilkeston stopped at the festival for a few hours, then planned the rest of the walk on the way back. There was about 8 people turned up, all older than myself. Coupled with music that was subdued I quickly decided that I wasn't hanging around for too long. Enjoyed the food, had a bit of a chat and left after 2 and a half hours.   

  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.

  Essentially the same meetup at 3 weeks earlier but started in a different pub. "The Bell" was a far better venue than last time as all of us fitted around2 big tables and it was easy to socialise. The venue was busy and I felt a big pushed by the group organizer to be the one to talk to a socially awkward guy who was sitting alone. Moved up to the stage as per last time where the older crowd gradually dispersed after 7PM. Another fairly average night.  

 An evening out in Nottingham with few expectations. Met the group in Faradays which seemed more of an eating places with lots of tables reserved. A dozen of us turned up most of which were older than I was. Due to limited space we got split up across the venue which limited conversations for the first 2 hours. We then moved up the road to The Stage which far more lively and suitable. After the initial few drinks the night improved, but people started leaving. By this point I was clock watching for the train and left around 8:30. An average night at best.

  Following the afternoons drinking we headed to the second meetup. Coppers was a strange place to start, a dead quiet café type place an hour before closing time. Is was a good place to talk to new people so we spent an hour then headed to the Slug and Lettuce. Easter Sunday was busy but not completely packed, a pint of Peroni was a hefty 6 pounds 20 which was bad even by city centre standards. The atmosphere was good and we moved on to Revolution de Cuba. Not as good as the one in Derby but a reasonable night. Headed back to hotel at midnight.   

  Another drinking night after the days walk, met at the pitcher and piano, stayed for a couple of hours. Next stop was Das Kino just up the road, this wasn't great so we moved on to a third venue but I just wasn't feeling it and called it a night.

  No hotel available so this time I was at the mercy of public transport to get home. We started off at the Pitcher and piano which has to go down as the strangest pub I have ever been in. It's basically a church with the seats taken out and a bar placed in the same place.   It was nearly an hour of sitting at the bar before locating the group who were actually in a bar outside, we talked for a couple of hours before moving across the road. We headed across the road, nice place but not the kind of venue I'd want to linger all night. As time goes past midnight I need a more club like environment to keep going or I just fade away. Which is basically what happened. 

This was one walk where I didn't mind too much about covering old ground since it was a great walk last time. We headed through Wilford village and the church ground then onto Clifton playing fields and central park. Clifton Village was the final call for myself, we had the option of doing an extra 3 miles but as my hourly bus was imminent I bailed out.  

  It was a big of a trek to Ashbourne having to catch 3 buses just to get there but it was well worth it in the end. Arriving early with time for breakfast before meeting the group. Headed up the track and across field/rolling hills in the direction of Dovedale.  We voted on weather or not to climb Thorpe cloud, the only one who didn't walked round got lost and we ended up spending half an hour searching for her at the car park. The views from the top were good and well worth it. It was a very popular place as seen when we went past the stepping stones. We then stopped at the pub in Mapleton before heading across the fields back to the starting point. Had fish and chips with others at the bus stop before the long ride home.

  After breakfast it was the standard 6 mile walk. through the streets to Breck hill park, wood Thorpe park where we stopped for our break which was probably the highlight of the day. Then finally Digby park back near the starting point. While the company and weather were good the walk consisted of a high percentage of streets and very little park and woodland.  Not one of the best walks.....

  This was a first that I'd missed out on several times before, breakfast at a pub before a walk. The food was good as usual and so was the company. Only complaint was that it was hard to leave so close after eating.

 For this walk we met at the Apple Tree near Wilford nature reserve, everyone was having breakfast from a previous meetup which I missed out on as I didn't notice it on the website, note for future meetings. Got slightly lost in the nature reserve as the footpaths didn't match what was on the map. Headed down to Clifton and Ruddington where we stopped for our break which was a little strange since it was only meant to be an hour from the finish.  The mud slowed us down a lot and we had to keep stopping so the older ones could catch up. Normally we finish early but time was pushing on and I had to check into my hotel and get sorted out for my second meet that evening Last part of the walk was over Wilford hill, it was starting to get dark by then. Normally I would have gone back to the pub with the group but went to the nearest bus stop to get back to Beeston.

 With a poor Christmas/New Year combined with the end of suffering from long covid I made the decision to step things up a bit with meetup. The plan for today was to go walking during the afternoon, check into a cheap hotel get changed then go out for a separate meetup that evening.  Went all the way to Nottingham to discover the event had been cancelled. This is the first time to my knowledge that an event has been cancelled with less than 12 hours notice.  I had 8 hours to kill so I walked through Highfields park and Wollaton park which I'd been to almost exactly a year earlier. Checking into my hotel at around 4pm.

 I noticed something familiar as soon as I got off the bus and walked towards the start of the walk outside a pub. I have always promised myself I won't do repeat walks within a year of doing them before. Unfortunately I didn't check and at least half the walk was what I did back on the 22nd April. We went across Beeston hills fields to Bramcote hills park and revisited the hemlock stone. It was a good view over the hill before walking by the old disused canal through a couple of nature reserves back to the Nurseryman pub and grill. Nobody stopped for a drink and went straight home.  

  A part of Nottingham I'd never been to before near Broxtoe which was the start location. We headed on a mostly flat route that took us through Strelley village. Then it was across small woods and fields pass the water tower pictured above to Swingate then back to the start location. Had a drink in the Holly Tree farm before heading home.

 With the overdue Euro 2020 under way I was taking a mini break out of meetups but since this one didn't interfere with anything I thought why not. It was also only 5 miles instead of the usual 8, we met outside a pub on the main road and did a circuit of the nature reserve. It was flat and easy despite the muggy weather and another place I'd never been before. A few faces I'd not seen for a year since a few were still cautious about Covid.   To be honest I was a bit on the tired side due to lack of sleep so glad I didn't go any further. Had the chance to stay for a drink but with one bus an hour and the next one due in 10 minutes I opted for the early ride home.

  Good news I didn't have to catch multiple busses before I even started the walk, unfortunately I wasn't seeing anything new as the Nottingham group came over to Coalville this week. The turnout was a bit low compared to the usual with less than 8 people. We headed back into Whitwick via the Hermitage lake and towards Grace Dieu ruins via cademan woods, even passing by my own street which was not actually on the route plan. For once I could be a bit of a tour guide but to be fair Edward knew some things I didn't. From there it was up the old railway line between Whitwick and Swannington and back to Coalville. I did about 5 minutes of footpath I'd never walked on before.  Others commented it was one of the best walks we had done which was good to know for my local area.

 Typically I had a good walk from Kegworth to East midlands parkway station before I even started. Also typically I was going through an area less than an hours car ride from home that I'd never walked through in my life.  I also wondered why they put a train station in the middle of nowhere. It was a poor turnout, less than 10 people for what was a good walk on flat terrain in sunny but not too hot weather.  We headed through the villages of Thrumpton, Barton (where we stopped at the church grounds for our break), Clifton Grove and Wilford. The area around Clifton woods and along the canal was outstanding. Overall it was one of the best walks we had done, having good people to talk to along the way always helps. Somehow managed do get into Nottingham city center with the maximum of country side on the way in.