INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

  The Birmingham pub crawl almost didn't happen due to train strikes, the rail companies only confirming that a few trains would run to and from Leicester a couple of days earlier. I'd been to the city just once in my entire life (train connections don't count). Only 8 of us were there from the original 30 but it was enough. The weather was perfect not to hot but warm enough to sit outside. We met at the Basshouse before heading down to the Malthouse. The pub scene was lively and I had an instant "why have I never done this before feel".  Next up was the Tap and Spire followed by the canal house which was a little too busy and had long waits for drinks. Thanks to the trains we were unfortunately clockwatching and a few of us managed to squeeze one drink in at a place near the train station before the uncomfortable journey back to Leicester.

  It was a simple repeat of the walk we did last summer. Straight down the canal path then turn off to the Victoria pub. Stayed for about 90 minutes then headed home. A good sunny day after some terrible weather.

  It was a refreshing change to do a walk in my own area, especially after all the travelling of the last few weeks. I'd done Coalville before but it was a slightly different route this time. We headed round Coalville town football ground, I even covered ground I'd never walked on before. It was through the industrial estate to Swannington, where we followed the train line until a blockage caused us to make a detour. Crossed the field to Thringstone where we has a pitstop at the Bulls Head. After Gracedieu ruins a couple got lost and a couple more bailed out of the walk to the bus stop. We were doing far more mileage than planned so it was slightly rerouted going back.  At least the rain held off......................

Other than a band in a pub and beat the streets I'd not done any live music events with meetup. Originally it was just one day but then they changed it to two days. I figured that if it was good I'd do the full weekend next year. I'd stayed the night at the excellent and very social Igloo Hostel. I walked to the park and soon found the group. We headed passed security where it would have been easy to smuggle my own alcohol through. We had a "base" where at least someone was all day. This eliminated my fear of spreading most of the day alone or searching for others in the group. The weather was bad all day with on and off rain. I'd reached the point where I couldn't get much wetter by 2pm. As for the music I pre planned which bands I was going to see a week earlier. Cam mannix were not great but listenable. Jealous nostril were a bit better. Motormof at the small stage wasn't my thing but a better option than cheesy stuff like the Sugarbabes. I took a b...

Walking friends put on a 4 miler every Friday evening. Normally I wouldn't attend due to travel time vs length of walk. However I was in town for the weekend music festival so I thought "why not". We met at the train station and proceeded in the direction of Beeston and passed the marina. It was a warm sunny evening with a lot of people.  We went by the river Leen which in reality is a wide brook. Onto the river Trent then back to the train station via the meadows.

  Meetups in Derby had dropped off to the point where I nearly considered not paying my annual subscription fee. But breakfast in Wetherspoons followed by the Caribbean carnival seems definitely worth going to. After a year it was good to catch up with some old faces. After an excellent breakfast we headed to the start point for a mingle then waited for about 45 minutes for the carnival to start. The parade consisted of around a dozen music lorries followed by mostly women in bright colourful costumes. I was expecting groups of drummers like I'd seen in Guadeloupe, apparently they were there the previous year. I was under the impression that we were heading to a park where they had live music and food stalls. Unfortunately the weather was constantly changing between sunny and heavy rain. So I had a drink back in Wetherspoons while waiting for the bus home.

Nottingham bound for a Birthday party with a night in a hotel booked. It was simple itinerary drinks at the magic garden until 11 then mojo until late. The rooms upstairs were like putting a bar in someone's house. Nice place but at 6 pounds 50 for a pint extortionate even by city centre standards. It was still a good night and good to catch up with some old faces.  Mojos was a bit different as a large percentage only stuck around for the first half. I had a few drinks but it felt something was lacking. When the security removed one of our group who appeared to have done little wrong I decided that it was time to leave at around 2am.

I couldn't help but notice that this meet up was almost identical to one we did exactly a year ago. We met in the distillery which was booked up for a party so the eaters went elsewhere. Next was a rooftop drink at the Rutland and Derby followed by the Globe which was one pub I'd don't recall being in before. Finally was the exchange bar where the weather was still good enough to sit outside. There was talk of moving onto the clubs later but I'd started far too early for that and bailed out.

  I was amazed this walk was even happening, first I'd been on the pub crawl yesterday but woke up feeling ok. Then the heatwave reduced the 30 walkers by the hour to 8 by the time I arrived at the start. To be honest it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We headed north then along a footpath due east, before joining the back of the airport trail. The airport was one side and soulless warehouses on the other. The rest point was Greggs in the terminal before the most interesting part of the walk. It was surprisingly scenic for saying we were so close to the airport with ponds and shaded woodland. There was about a mile of road before the aeropark where loads of people were plane spotting. Then a short walk through the estates back to the start point.

This was one meetup I was looking forward to, a day out in a completely new town. No accommodation thanks to a wedding so it was going to have to be a late bus/train home. The only quiet pub in town was the Admiral Nelson slightly out of the centre, where we started before heading into town. While the Mercado lounge was not really a pub we did come across some nice places.  The town had an upmarket feel to it, by Fernie hall some of the group started getting loud and annoying the bar staff. I finished off at the Freemasons arms after an impressive day where most of the venues were busy.