5ive go to London

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In what felt like years in the planning, ‘The 5ive’ met in London today. Guess how we got our name?

Guess no more! Back to the ‘dawn of the time’ (1999 actually!) when a number of us in our day jobs as self-employed Management Trainers first met during a very large project for a then ‘favourite airline’.

We got on really well – there were dozens of us Trainers, all with slightly different skill sets, but with two things in common – we loved what we did, and we knew our stuff! And even though our audiences (probably totalling thousands over the length of the project) were sometimes a ‘tough crowd’, all of us enjoyed the challenge and where, eventually, a few of us became lifelong friends.

Thus, ‘The 5ive’ were born! We’re a small group of like-minded individuals with a love of London, food and the occasional tipple! 😊

Then things got slightly complicated when we welcomed some new members – and, as a result, we evolved into ‘The 7even’, aka The Magnificent Seven’. Since then, over the past 20 years and so, we’ve met very often as a group for meals and even spent weekends away together!


The 5ive do Stratford-upon-Avon (October 2012)
The 5ive do Bath (October 2013)
The 5ive do Birmingham (October 2014)
The 5ive do Liverpool (September 2015)
The 5ive do Bristol (I missed that one!)


Today was one of those get-togethers but PhilipP and RickA unfortunately weren’t able to make it this time. So, it was left to the five of us to sample the Anatolian and Mediterranean delights of the oft-visited (by us) EV Restaurant located off The Cut in London.

I was last to arrive for our 12.15 booking (due to a sluggish underground journey from St Pancras). Kisses and hugs all around as we hadn’t seen each other as a group for almost a year (actually, after a bit of head-scratching, at our 10th Wedding Anniversary party, last December!).

It was great to see everyone and the food was excellent – and just how we remember it. Sadly, the service was NOT – and definitely on the relaxed side (polite version!). Still, it didn’t spoil our reunion, and 2½ hours went by in a flash! 😲

The portion sizes seemed to have grown somewhat since our last visit here and as a result, we probably ordered too much food (but it’s what you do isn’t it!?!? 🤔

But there’s always room for Dessert isn’t there? 👍 And whilst the majority of us exercised constraint, I certainly didn’t, and shared the Sun-dried Apricots with Angela.

It was now 3pm and after paying our dues, we headed off (initially anyway) each in our own direction. Whilst Antoinette, Carey and June headed for Waterloo, Angela and I took the short walk to Southwark Tube. But, just to keep us on our toes, we found the Tube Station closed – with no explanation! Shutters were down and a few other potential passengers were scurrying around outside trying to make sense of it all (as were we!). I can’t recall ever finding a Tube Station closed without any form of notice! 🙁

‘Tick tock’ as they say, so we didn’t hang around. A short walk to Waterloo where Angela headed for her train whilst I aimed for the Tube. It was all a bit of a rush and I eventually got my timed Train from St Pancras with just 3 minutes to spare! All a bit too close for comfort in my book and I need to rethink timings for future visits to the smoke.

No such hassle at the Kettering end of my journey, as Ann was there to pick me up! 👍

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