INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

I was worried about the high turnout with 30 on meetup and another 8 on WAMM. In the end, I got 19, which was a relief but also slightly annoying. We set off down the road before heading over rugged ploughed fields to Diseworth. There was also a lot of Stiles which a dog walker struggled with. A tip I had previously was to plan the best part of the walk until last, since that's what everyone remembers. Everyone liked the pub stop and the return journey via the airport trail. Eight of us stayed for drinks in the Nag's Head after.

  I couldn't have made the starting location clearer, but, as last time, we were delayed by 15 minutes due to late arrivals. The turnout was 16, which was one of my best. Getting the ugly A46 out of the way and heading by the massive wind turbine into open fields and Cossington meadows. We went into Silby village for a pub stop and back into the meadows. Last few miles by the canal. Great weather, great conversation and great feedback.

  The bad weather forecast caused a few to drop out. In the end we got 10 people, there was some rain but it wasn't terrible. The main challenge was getting through the field before woodhouse as the plantlife was very high. Not far from where the above picture was taken. Stayed a big longer at the halfway point due to one of the group ordering food. She couldn't finish it all so gave me a couple of slices of pizza.  The weather started to look bleak on the way back but it held off.

Several people requested a Derby pub crawl, but none of them actually showed up to it. The turnout was around 20 in the end as the hot weather put a few people off. 7 pubs was a bit ambitious, but I pulled it off, starting at the silk mill. Progressing to old dolphin, standing order, Jorrocks, hideout, tiger and Noah's ark. It was a good mixture of familiar and new faces. The day was a good mixture of old school boozers, sports bars and karaoke. Everyone seemed happy until I got home. The following morning, I was left a 1-star review by someone I'd not seen, claiming I'd not been updating our location. This was false as I updated all the way round as usual. One person even replied to her in standing order, saying we were going hideout in 5 minutes. These things happen!!!

 I'd spent ages trying to find a 6-7 mile circular route but failed. So I created a longer route with the option of dropping out via public transport. The hot weather didn't help with the list dropping from 10 to 5 on the final morning.  The first leg from Shepshed to Belton went ok until we hit to problems. The first was a group of cows that started moving towards us a big aggressively. Then one footpath had become overgrown since the test walk. Read stingers and thorns. We reached the Queens head in Belton for the first break then headed slightly uphill to Long Whatton. Most of the footpaths we walked were rarely used. At the Falcon nobody dropped out and we stayed much longer than planned for food. Then did the final 3 miles back to Shepshed

  A slightly overcast day that cleared up and got hot very quickly. Had a late start due to the popular free car park filling up.  As we headed out, 2 of the walkers were a lot slower than the rest of the group. This made the full walk about 45 minutes longer than usual. There was plenty of friendly conversation, and the rest of the group didn't mind. Everyone enjoyed the views and Old Bunny Woods nature area.

Time to try something new, a pub crawl in a more rural area. Had to put a 35 limit on attendance knowing the actual number was closer to 25. Thankfully none of the venues were packed.  The Railway was a good start with it's spacious front room. The Nags head had a lounge that was like going back in time to the 1980s.  Pick of the day was the white lion, proper old school boozer with a pizza place out the back. Barely beer garden weather but doable. Harrington Arms was the final venue, more of an eating place with a small bar area. The numbers had dwindled by this point to less than a dozen. Got loads of good feedback the following day.

Not wanting to clash with a walk on WAMM I posted this on meetup only and got a lower turnout (5). Admittedly this was one of the furthest walks from Nottingham. Everyone liked the location and most hadn't been before. It took over an hour to reach the bottom of the park. This was a good indicator to the size of the place. We stopped at the White Horse on the edge of Birstall and one of my predictions came true. Two people turned up who'd got the wrong carpark despite me clearly stating which one it was. They came along for the second half of the walk. I got the bonus of a lift home.

No rain, minimal mud and a 20 person turnout. We headed out past Dishley pool and followed the river by Normanton on soar. Conversation flowed and we headed into town to the excellent and welcoming Dew drop pub.  After getting a little too comfortable we followed the main road back to Dishley.  We headed down Pear tree lane. Then through Baileys plantation, pear tree lane park and Rabbit wood before arriving back at the start point. Great walk with the added bonus of getting a lift home.

It was the standard evening at the crafty crow. Only went due to beat the streets the following day. Venue was initially busy on arrival but gradually thinned out. A reasonable night staying out longer than planned.

  60 signed up and another 20 odd on the waitlist. This was my biggest meetup hosted to date. Experience told me to half that figure. Got 18 in the organ grinder where the bar staff panicked in anticipation of 60 people joining. The good fellow George turned out to be a great venue with separate upstairs areas. The falcon was a bit too small for the size of the group which had swelled up to around 40 at this stage. It did annoy me that several people didn't take themselves off the list. The pub has a village feel to it. The Sir John Borlase Warren was another great venue with plenty of space. I had at least 3 drinks bought for me over the afternoon so I was doing something right. Finally it was the Irish bar. I’d done well and got great reviews. 

The time between Christmas and new year is always dead so it is a great time to schedule a walk. I was wondering how many would turn up on a cold foggy morning in Coalville and was surprised to get 22. My highest turnout ever. We headed through the estates before starting the climb. The mud was bad but not horrific. 2 issues included a woman who dropped out without telling anyone and an old man with poor eyesight. The view from the top was none existent but the mood amongst the group was excellent. Many had never been to the top before. The walk down was a lot easier, we had 30 minutes at the Rock where several left early. Then it was an easy 30 minutes back to the start point. My most successful walk to date with a bunch of 5 star reviews. Unfortunately there was an incident the following day that deserves a post of its own.

  Good walk but major problem, the weather forecast was awful. People were rapidly dropping out to the point where I wondered if anyone was turning up at all.  Due to waterlogged ground I skipped the first fields and went down the lane. The weather held off and conversation flowed. We headed through lockington and up the hill near the airport. A half hour pit stop at the jolly sailor followed. I was a bit worried about the fields at the bottom end of Donnington but they were fine. Another good walk despite the poor turnout 

  One place I'd been planning a pub crawl for a while. In the build up I panicked when the numbers went up to 25 so put a 30 limit in place. Half of them didn't turn up, but several people not on the list did. It was a slow start for the Berliner but conversation was flowing by the time we got to the hop pole. Wetherspoons was a bit too busy but we managed to get some tables for food. The popular crown inn was a great pub but far too busy for my liking. So we moved on to the star which was another great pub. Finally it was Beeston social, another great day out. People started leaving for food at that point. Made note to include food a stop on future pub crawls. 

  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.

  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.

  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. 

  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. 

  Another simple flat walk with a mixture of canal, woodland and open fields. A turnout of 10 out of 13 so percentage wise it was excellent. We headed down the canal where a few stopped to assist a boat going through a lock. An inexperienced man was shouting at his very upset daughter. Thankfully several of the group had experience. We headed into the woods where mud was minimal and the sun was out at the Malt pub. A few miles over fields where we encountered an unexpected display of blue flowers. No after walk drink but everyone seemed happy and I got good feedback.