Chris and Gill parked at ours and we all made our way to Wimpole Hall. We haven’t been there since June 2011, when we went with Lee and Nicki. Today’s visit was our ‘Plan B’ – Plan A was originally to visit somewhere for a picnic, but the weather this week has been so hot …
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Category:Pub
Return to Uppingham
Another day, another lunch with friends! I can certainly recommend retirement!Today, we took a leisurely drive over to Uppingham to meet up with Nick and Celina. We started off by having a mooch around the town – always extra nice when it’s Market Day there. Amazingly, we got parked almost immediately too – that’s a …
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Victoria Sandwich
It was a welcome return to The Olde Victoria – not for a sandwich, but for something far more substantial: Sunday Lunch. The reason? a good catch-up with friends from our working days: Geoff & Rhonda and Paul and Sue. Last time Ann and I were here was back in July last year – surely …
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Swan Bake
It was off to The Lamport Swan tonight to catch-up with Mags. Unusually, this time, we were without Ian, our partner-in-crime, as he’s recuperating. However, Mags’ hubby, Alan joined us for the first time and more than evened-up the numbers. The last time we were here was in November 2016 for lunch, as part of my …
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That Lyveden Look!
Post Christmas, it’s always good to blow away the cobwebs and begin to get back into the routine of ‘keeping active’. With that in mind, Chris and Gill popped round and we headed off to National Trust’s Lyveden. We haven’t been there since August 2011! and blow away the cobwebs it certainly did! In fact, …
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St Albans 2017
We drove over to Bedford today and planned to hop on the train for the short ride to St Albans. However, Fate had other plans for us as the car-park was completely full and we couldn’t find anywhere else nearby with a long enough parking period. Instead we braved the M1 and drove to St …
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The Falcon and Fate!
We met up with Mick and Jane tonight at The Falcon Inn at Fotheringhay. We haven’t been here for ages – back in 2008, and as it was probably our first serious pub-eatery back in our Peterborough days, we were interested to see how much it had changed. Being Friday, the 13th, perhaps we should …
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Harey Sunday
This was nice. Lydia and Derek treated us to lunch together with David and Valerie for all the help I’d given them sorting out their broadband connectivity issues a few months back. Eatery of choice was the popular The Hare in Loddington. Unusually, the Pub car-park wasn’t rammed and we were therefore easily to able …
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Sunday Sondes
It was a welcome return with David and Valerie to the Sondes Arms today for their Sunday Lunch. We haven’t been here since last October, and it was just a busy as I remember it. Their reputation for serving massive, high quality portions for their Sunday Lunch obviously still continues! As we arrived, the queue …
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The Prisoner of Stamford
Time for my annual catch-up with my friend and film director, Eric Mival. We normally choose August because of the potential for good weather, but these past few days has just been appalling – rain, rain and more rain! So, it wasn’t really the ideal weather for taking the XKR for a spin, but luckily, …
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Brampton Halt for Six!
Today was my second visit to the newly discovered The Brampton Halt Pub & Restaurant, about a 30-minute drive from ours at Chapel Brampton. I’d accidentally discovered it with John C a few weeks back when he and I met at Sedgebrook Hall (it was almost next door!). This time, we met up with Geoff …
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Sedgebrook Hall
What a perfect evening! I took the XKR and drove over to Sedgebrook Hall to meet up with John Cullwick, a business associate from my early days as a self-employed Management Trainer. We had a quick drink outside before taking the short walk to the Pub next door – Brampton Halt. It was …
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First Visit: The Marquess of Exeter
We headed off to The Marquess of Exeter in Lyddington tonight to meet up with Mick and Jane S. The Pub/Restaurant/Hotel boasts: “One of the finest restaurants, pubs and hotels in Rutland” – so expectations were high! On one of the hottest days of the year so far, what could be better than taking the …
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To Hull and Back
We headed off to Hull today to meet up with our friends, Dennis and Sandra, for a cultural day out! It was an early start – leaving just after 7am – heading for Peterborough Station to pick-up the train to Doncaster and then changing for our final destination. It was a hassle-free journey (although the …
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We ARE Amused
Ann and I met up joined Geoff, Rhonda, Paul and Sue at The Olde Victoria tonight for a spot of nosebag and our three-monthly catch-up. Gosh, we haven’t been here for about a gazillion years and it’s now under new management. What a very pleasant surprise – in every sense. Very welcoming and friendly staff, …
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Russians in Northamptonshire!
We picked up David and Valerie and headed off to The Derngate to see Russian Masters performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The journey there was straightforward, but parking near the Theatre was a nightmare – even the multi-storey was full! Eventually, we found a space in a nearby street, but I think if we …
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Weekend Ware
We drove down to Roger, Jane and Oliver’s on Friday night for a weekend of all sorts of things! These days, I’m never far away form a technology projects – and happily, this weekend was no different! First job was to reset Oliver’s Tablet and re-install everything because it had become slower and slower over …
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It’s Saturday, it’s Stamford!
(Oliver turned 13 today!!!) We set off for Stamford early to do some shopping for the various ornaments and other bits & pieces in readiness for the Lounge makeover in March. Someone was smiling on us, as we had a very productive time and picked up something in virtually every shop we visited! Then it …
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New Year’s Eve 2016
This year, we drove up to Matlock to share New Year’s Eve with Ralph and Karen. We set off from ours just after 1pm and arrived just before 3 – a straightforward, hassle-free journey (and the longest so far in Ann’s new car). The venue tonight is the Peak Edge Hotel where we’re going to …
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My 60th: Swan for Lunch!
My penultimate celebration meal today as we met Paul, Sue, Geoff and Rhonda at the Lamport Swan for lunch. A thoroughly good lunch, a good long chat and a couple of bottles of splosh as presents – PERFECT!! Thanks everyone! I had a great time! More Gifts!! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in …
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The George and Eric
The View from the York BarI met up with film director Eric Mival today at The George Hotel in Stamford for a catch-up and a bite to eat. For a relatively small hotel, this was a major achievement, as we’d try to do this two weeks ago – and managed to not find each other! …
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21st Century Fox
We took the XKR to The Snooty Fox in Lowick tonight to meet up with Geoff, Rhonda, Sue and Paul. Just our luck that we spotted a coach as we pulled into the car-park and that meant a 20-strong coach-party also had the same location in mind! As a result, even though the staff were …
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EXCELlent Day
It was off to our good friends Nick and Celina today for lunch and a quick teach-in to boost my Excel skills. It was good to see their place since our last visit. – two-and-a-bit acres plus a horse and a tractor made it more of a tour than a simple visit! It was turning …
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Mid-week Break in Worthing
WednesdayWe set off just after 8.30 and decided to go via the A14, the M1 and the M25 via Heathrow (rather than our ‘normal’ A14-M11-M25). Distance-wise there wasn’t much in it, but Google Maps suggested it would probably be quicker – at just under three hours. Well, even though it didn’t seem like it at …
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Matlock for May Day Weekend
SATURDAY After my final Committee Meeting as Chair for The OCA yesterday, it was good to know we had a relaxing long weekend coming up with our great friends, Ralph and Karen in Matlock. We left around 10.30 and had a trouble-free journey (helped by the new bit of the road linking the A14 to …
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Chilled-out Saturday – Friends, Friends, Friends
SATURDAYThis was a weekend focussed on friends. Ann picked up Lee on Friday as she was staying with us until Sunday afternoon. Nicki joined us later on Saturday and we all piled off to the ever reliable Thornhill Arms for lunch. You can’t go wrong with prices like that! and although the food was its …
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George and the Flagon
Another day and another flagon of Guinness! This time it was the Garden Room at The George in Stamford where we met up with Nick and Celina for lunch. It was great to catch up as we haven’t seen them since our anniversary do last year. Well, maybe not a ‘flagon’ – but does ‘three …
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The Canterbury Rails
Wednesday, 23rd: ArrivalIt’s Ann’s birthday on the 25th, so we thought we’d slip away for a few days. The destination of choice this time was Canterbury – and we did it all by train! (me, on a train, what, for ALL of the journey? – some mistake surely!). Actually it was a bit of no-brainer. …
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Tourist Times – London
Occasionally, we leave the ‘wilds’ of Northamptonshire and head for the capital – as Tourists. We’ve always found it’s amazing what you see when you are on foot, especially in a big city like London. Thursday We caught a leisurely 11.26 from Kettering and headed for our home for the next two nights – it’s …
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Return to Titchmarsh
With everything packed including the kitchen sink, in preparation for our holiday tomorrow, we took a drive over to Titchmarsh and the rather splendid Wheatsheaf Pub and Restaurant. Apart from the obvious attraction to great pub-grub, The main reason was to catch-up with Jane and Mick for the annual girlie-pressy-swap and a catchup with each …
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