A bit of a travel experiment today! We travelled down to my Brother’s by train. We left just before 8.45 and after a short drive to Bedford (dropping-in on Steve and Denise), then grabbing the train at Bedford, and finally, changing at Farringdon. Three hours later, we were at Bromley South – a tad quicker …
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Category:Restaurant
Strada Various
It’s that time again when us Trainers (‘the 5ive’, because there’s 7 of us – don’t ask!) all assemble for our regular catch-up. Venue of choice tonight was Strada in Great Queens Street, close to Holborn Tube. Before the get-together I met up with Angela outside the London Palladium beforehand (Scooby-Doo? Boy, this place has …
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Sean/Prawn/Bourne
It was off to Sean’s first thing to continue our pruning marathon. One very full wheely-bin and a sack-full and we were all done… until the next time!Before… After… The next stage was to drop into the local dump (oh, the excitement) and get rid of the extra bag full of foliage – but the queue …
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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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Passport to Pimlico
Day 1 (Thursday)Dolphin House Serviced Apartments So, here we are at the Dolphin House Serviced Apartments in Pimlico, London, for a short break. It’s an opportunity for us to be tourists for a few days, and take in the sights and sounds of the Capital. Wow! the Apartment provides everything – a spa, a grill …
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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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Return to The Nut Tree
David and Valerie picked us up and it was off to Bicester Shopping Village for a look round. We arrived just after 10 and as expected, it was really busy – although luckily, we got a parking space straightaway. We went our separate ways and agreed to meet up for about 12.30. There were plenty …
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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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Catch-up with Ian and Mags
For various reasons, our normal three-monthly get-together had got out-of-step and we hadn’t done this since September last year). I drove over to Ian’s and picked him up, and then we headed for The Red Lion at Claverdon in Warwick (just a short drive from Stratford-upon-Avon) to meet up with Mags. The restaurant was very …
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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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Essex Girl (and Boy!)
WEDNESDAYWe took a few days off and headed back to where it all began – Essex! Ann has a job interview in the area on Thursday, and we decided to make this pilgrimage to where we’d spent a big chunk of our life working for Mr Sainsbury. The time was the 80s, and it seems …
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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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Lunch at The Hare
We caught up with Geoff, Rhonda, Paul and Sue at the Hare in Loddington today for lunch. We’d originally tried to get in this evening, but they were fully booked! It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas!🙂 Unfortunately, we had to rush off, after about an hour-or-so (as Ann was due at the Job …
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Return to The Palmichael
Jo and Janet picked us up and we met up with Chris and Pete at The Palmichael. Gosh! we haven’t been here since 2012, and it was good to see that the food and service was as excellent as we remember it! We enjoyed a very warm welcome when we arrived, and we were soon …
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Family Lunch in Billingborough
We drove to The Fortescue Arms in Billingborough today for lunch with Denis. He was in fine form and, as normal, did the menu justice! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all …
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Three-monthly catch-up: Ian and Mags
I drove over the Stratford and headed for Ian’s for 6.30. From there we drove into town and met up with Mags at the rather splendid Edward Moon in Chapel Street. Apparently, it’s been here for many years, but we’d not got around to trying it until now. I’m glad we did though – probably …
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Birthday Weekend 2015 – Corby/Harrogate/York
Saturday Celebrations began with a lie-in until the ridiculously late hour of 7.45! Then, we headed out for a bit of retail therapy, descending on the rejuvenated Corby assisted by a greasy-spoon breakfast. After a short walk around the shops, we headed home. Tom and Julie had left a pressy for me, and not long …
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Shard Day
Down to London today, courtesy of that other smooth operator (see what I did there!), East Midland Trains, for my second visit to The Shard. I took on the Tower back in April 2013 when I met up with Peter J – we were both fascinated by, at the time, this ground-breaking construction (that had …
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5ive go to… Liverpool
It’s that time of year, when a few of us Trainers get together for a weekend of culture, food, drink and whatever else comes our way! In previous years we’d been to Stratford-upon-Avon (2012), Bath (2013) and Birmingham (2014). This year it’s Liverpool and a ‘Staycity Serviced Apartment’. Coming along for the experience this time around …
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Gambles in The Feathers
A family day today, as Ann and I blew the dust of the XKR and drove down to Roger, Jane and Oliver’s for lunch and to catch-up with Denis, who had been staying over. A very reasonable 28.8mpg on the way down including some lead-footed ‘magic moments’ to check that the car still accelerated as …
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Eastbourne or Rust!
After the torrential rain on the south coast last week, it was good to learn that we wouldn’t end up rusting this weekend as the weather forecast predicted a heatwave! So, we left home just before 9am, in the direction of Eastbourne, with a plan to stop of along the way, somewhere, and enjoy a …
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A Very Pheasant Evening!
After what felt like a very busy week (not bad for a retiree and a senior manager ‘between projects’), it was a perfect evening or a quick drive to one of our fave and local(ish) pub/restaurants – The Pheasant at Keyston. It was a beautiful evening and we even managed to bag a table outside. …
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Resurfacing the A14
We met up with Geoff, Rhonda, Paul and Sue today for lunch at The Vines. Unusually, the place was nearly empty when we arrived just before 12.30 but I guess it’s that time of year and lots of people are away on holiday. The weather was gorgeous – so much so, that Ann and I …
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Father’s Day – 2015
As it’s Father’s Day, Ann and I drove up to the oft-visited Fortescue Arms in Billingborough to meet-up with Denis and Bev for lunch. We took the XKR and it returned 23.5mpg for the round trip of 80-or-so miles. Not bad!Ann, Denis and, oh, the XKR!Denis was in good health, as was Bev who’s become …
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Ireland and back – in less than a day!
With Ann currently ‘between professions’, we took advantage of the good weather and drove over to Bedford to meet Denise M for lunch. Our pub/restaurant of choice was The Black Horse in Ireland, a village about a twenty-minute drive from Bedford. I haven’t been there since May 2011, and it hadn’t changed a bit. First-class …
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Life’s a (Kettering) Beach
It was a lovely day here today, so Ann and I met up with David and Val where our plan was to have lunch at The Vines after a walk round Wicksteed Park. Costa del Kettering Considering Wicksteed Park is on our doorstep, we don’t take advantage of its facilities perhaps as much as we …
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5ive’s Indian Summer
‘5ive’ is the name we gave ourselves – a group of Trainers from ‘back in the day’ when we all did work for British Airways, and dinosaurs walked the Earth. There were originally FIVE of us (hence the name), but now we are SEVEN (don’t ask!). We’ve kept in regular touch for over 10 years …
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