INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

  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.   

  After hosting a few successful walks it was time to try a pub-crawl. I picked a route inspired by the website  https://www.designmynight.com/nottingham/beer-gardens-in-nottingham   The route was Junkyard, Cross Keys, Magic Garden, Blind Rabbit, Pitcher & Piano and The Canalhouse. The junkyard was not a bad start apart from the weather which was awful. After an hour the numbers had built up to around 8. I went by 75 minutes per venue and people were messaging to say they were joining later on. The weather improved by the cross keys enough to sit outside. Most of them were impressed by the magic garden and we bumped into another group we knew at the blind rabbit. By the  Pitcher & Piano people were starting to get hungry and left so we never did the Canalhouse. Some came back for a later meet but I left by then. Got good feedback.....

Somewhere completely new was long overdue even though it required 3 buses. Starting opposite the gold course we headed towards Breadsall via Cloves Hill , Brackley Gate and Drum Hill. It was a great combination of rolling hills, t racks, fields and woodland . Breadsall seemed an upmarket type of place where we stopped for coffee and cake. From there we headed back to the starting point via Broomfield Hall, Morley Church and the Golf Course.

  Got up to 30 by Thursday, 20 by Saturday morning and 16 turned up which is my best to date. We set off from Rushcliffe park following the railway line south. Admittedly the narrow track wasn't good for having conversations with everyone in the group. This changed when crossing the fields towards Bunny. We had an interesting mixture of people. Everyone like the pub I choose for the usual half hour break. We followed the last 2 miles through the fields where a problem with my phone meant having to navigate from memory for half an hour. 4 of us went back to the pub in Bunny for an hour after the walk.

  This night out consisted of 2 places I'd not been to before followed by an old favourite, Mojos. We met at at King Willian IV an old style pub with a nice rooftop area which was good for a warm summer evening. Nice change but my first pint was a hefty 7.50. Then headed to Bustler a modern style place with loud music. We should have stayed longer to be honest as it was dead in Mojos on arrival. It did however pickup after midnight and went to being completely packed out. A good night that ended around 3:00.

  A well planned walk in my opinion but I ran into a problem, only 4 people signed up. With an average dropout rate of 50% I was seriously considering cancelling the walk. I hatched a plan B where if nobody turned up I'd use the time to plan another circular walk in the area. Thankfully everyone turned up, we headed out of Keyworth through fields and the villages of Plumtree and Tollerton. I already got good feedback as we walked. I also noticed that 4 people were a lot easier to keep an eye on than a dozen. Especially when we crossed a busy main road.  We stopped for 30 minutes at the Goose pub before following the canal back to Trent bridge. We then stopped at the Brewhouse for an hour. Despite the low turnout I considered the walk a success.

  I'd been saying for years that meetup should so a day at horse racing. So I jumped at the chance to have an afternoon at Nottingham.  The biggest disappointment was only myself and the event organiser turning up. We spent the hot afternoon alternating between bets, cold drinks and watching the races. He had a couple of winners and I had absolutely nothing.    Thankfully we met a women's meetup group and a couple of them recognised me from some of the walks we had been on. Got the first bus back after the last race.

  The 3rd annual Camden pub crawl didn't disappoint as it was another busy afternoon in one of the most touristy parts of London. According to my bank statement we did 11 pubs which was much more than normal. I also didn't get back until after midnight instead of the usual 9PM. 

 3rd walk I hosted and there was over 30 people signed up at one point. Only a 40% chance of rain but around 10 dropped out on the morning of the walk. There was 13 of us a the start. We headed out the castle grounds in an easterly direction, then followed the river to Ambaston. Down the country lane to the Harrington arms pub. Taking a half hour break before going back into the grounds. Overall the walk went well and the weather held off, some of them panicked towards the end due to the 4 hour carpark limit. But I improvised a shortcut and got them back in time. Nobody stayed for coffee and cake but I didn't mind.