January Newsletter

Here we are in 2004: and another year of events to look forward to. But first I would like to correct the last newsletter. I reported that Hugh was accompanied by Irene at the November meeting. This was completely wrong, as he was accompanied by his wife, Liz. So apologies to Hugh and Liz. I expect making apologies for previous errors may become a regular feature for my newsletters.

Now to the Christmas party. Twenty five of us turned up at the Hilton on a snowy night and had a grand night. The food was good, the service was fine and it had a good party atmosphere. Everyone stayed to at least midnight and some, I am told, stayed on until 2am. Everyone seemed to have good time and we had an excellent raffle with lots of prizes.

To abbreviate the proceedings:

Best looking in a party hat - Andy , for his grinning china man impression.

Best attempt at dancing by a male member of the party - Derek (well his partner made him look good)

Most popular dance track - I'm a Believer, by the Monkees (very sad!)

Award for stamina on the dance floor - Ian and Elizabeth

For sartorial elegance - Jack and his motorcycle motif tie

For winning most prizes in the raffle - Graham (we lost count)

For picking out his own winning tickets in the raffle - Andy

Best raffle prize - chocolate motorcycles all the way from Germany (and I won them)

Worst raffle prize - scented candles, possibly in attendance for the second time at the Christmas party (apologies to the contributor of this prize, but clearly you didn't like them either)

For perseverance (unrewarded) - Graham, and his twelve attempts to win the bottle of house bubbly.

Colin also made a presentation of a hamper to Brian and Angela for all the work they have put into running the club - our thanks to them both.

So all in all a good night and we also made a few pennies for the club with the raffle.

There was also some good news - Dave and Julie have finally found their dream home in Arran. It should make a testing trip for Dave on his little Trumpet to attend future meetings.

I have also been surfing the net over the holiday period looking at possible venues for our summer camp in the Lake District but have had no success in finding caravan or bunk house accommodation for two day letting in advance. So if you know of any, then contact me.

The next meeting is on 25 January at Horsemill. Please come along as we will be reviewing the proposed calendar of events for 2004 and updating you on the search for a summer camp venue. ps.

To expand on one section of the newsletter. I have been scouring the Lake District on the net for a venue offering low cost caravan site or bunkhouse accommodation. Although I found six sites offering two or three day hire, they all turned out to be unsuitable either because they were full up, would not accept weekend hire over a month in advance of the dates required, or were only looking for family parties.

Bunk houses seemed to be called camping barns and are mostly in remote locations at the end of muddy tracks - not suitable for our Cruiser buddies. There are also more expensive holiday lodges to hire but these are generally as expensive as B&Bs. The best bet now looks to be picking an urban centre - such as Keswick, Windermere or Kendal providing a list of B&Bs / hotels and letting everyone pick their own choice.

Camping sites are no problem and can be found round all these locations although most pitches are not bookable in advance. So come along to the January meeting to air your views on what options we should now consider

And finally to those who have not found it yet - the Scotland South website is up and running and can be found at http://freespace.virgin.net/scotlandsouth/Index.htm Click here: Home