King's Lynn Plus

I’ve lumped both of these events together in one blog as they happened in very quick succession – the railway day on the Sunday, followed by an evening meeting in Hunstanton on the Monday.

What can I say about the railway other than what a great day out!  I may be slightly biaised though as railways (steam or otherwise) have always been “my thing” although not quite to the train spotter extent you may be pleased to hear!

A combination of pubs, walking and trains – with a chinese meal on a boat thrown in for good measure.  The train even had a bar – result – although the effect on the beer of being driven up and down the track for some time was quite interesting…

Some of us did the whole trip from one end of the line to the other, some got off at Wansford station to look around the gift shop/tea room/yard.  A mixture of steam and diesel trains pulling a set of carriages that takes you back to your childhood!  The only downside being the weather (slightly warm/muggy but dry) which changed drastically when we reached Ferry Meadows.  The idea was to indulge in either a bit of walking or a kite flying session there but the heavy rain put paid to both those ideas and about an hour was spent sheltering in/around the tea rooms instead!

Hunstanton on Monday evening continued that theme of being extremely wet – fish and chips in the car for some (and we even tried a deep fried Mars Bar for the first time), others went in search of food at a more undercover venue!  On to the arcades, where it was a close thing between Stephen and myself for the highest score at the “Bowlingo” (sort of a cross between 10 pin bowling and skittles) until Keith pulled a storming last frame out of the bag and trashed the lot of us!

Fruit machines, and the two penny “pushers” (my favourite) were the order of the day after that, and when everyone had had enough (or run out of money) we adjourned to the Ancient Mariner for a J20 or two.

And I don’t believe it stopped raining for one second of the evening….does anyone really believe it is August?

Christine T

Its a bit of a misnoma ‘Ten Pin Bowling’, as this insinuates that all TEN pins are meant to fall, which simply not the case, with one or two notable exceptions!

 9 of us gathered about an hour or so before kick off to take on food for the evnings events and amazingly the rest sauntered in on time.

We had a total of 17 bowling on three lanes and 3 watched, so there was lots of healthy competition (and heckling!)  The ‘dark horse’ of the evening was Alan, who is the complete opposite of the archetypal American bowling expert.  I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that he has a sound technique and does not drink.

It was nice to see our three potential new members taking part and enjoying ourselves.  We have always been proud of how we make newcommers feel welcome and we are obviously doing something right as they are all joining.

 Paul C – Activities Officer

A bit of a mouthful as a title for an event goes, but for a party planned to start on Friday the 13th, the Halloween bit seemed appropriate!

The weekend started around 2.30ish on Friday afternoon, with the pitching of tents and unloading of cars, somehow the afternoon just flew by and suddenly it was time to do the fast food order.  Amazingly the local chinese didn’t flinch at nearly a £100 order, and had it ready in just 1/2 hour – with a further £60 being spent at the pizza house!  Karaoke, a bit of a dance, and then the party games started!  Pass the parcel with “trick or treat” forfeits, giant jenga, giant twister, apple bobbing………..I think all helped along with a little alcohol……!!!!!

Saturday saw a trip to the largest beer warehouse in England, which was just down the road.  They stock an amazing variety of beers, largers and ciders, along with a fairly good selection of spirits and glassware.  A discount had been negotiated, but even with this I think a fair amount of money may have been spent there! 

Some headed off for the National Rounders Competition in the afternoon, held at The Walks in the town, others stayed to sample the beer and prepare for the evening Barbeque.

Drinks were drunk, BBQ food was cooked and eaten, we had visitors from all over the place, including Cleethorpes, the West Midlands and Hampshire and it was a good chance to meet some new faces, and catch up on all the gossip with the familiar ones.

Karaoke followed barbecue, disco followed karaoke, and more jenga was played – did I mention the fancy dress?  No, well I think the photos will speak for themselves – amazing how rough you can make yourself look with a bit of make up and some funny teeth (who said I usually look that rough!).

It was all over far too quickly, as these things usually are.  Roll on next year!

Christine T

On a Tour de France theme this year, due to it being on the same day as the start of that event, several teams headed off on foot around London answering questions and looking out for landmarks that we had briefly (60 seconds?) been shown at the start!

Well I’ve never been a particularly fast walker so the pace of this one came as a bit of a shock – the timescale left us no time for dawdling around sightseeing, but we did visit some particularly scenic parts of London, taking in St James’ Park and Palace, The Mall, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, The Strand, to name just a few, plus some interesting parts that you wouldn’t normally see if you did the normal tourist type routes.  We saw the English home of tea (Twinings in the Strand), a strange white cube shaped building (aparently a work of art in its own right) somewhere near the London School of Economics, and the fountains at Somerset House (home of the dreaded Inland Revenue).  Actually when I said we saw the fountains, we actually walked right through the middle of them – most refreshing!! 

The treasure hunt began and ended on a boat on the Thames opposite the London Eye, which was most scenic as dusk fell and the lights came on.

The results of the Treasure Hunt, as far as our team went were disappointing, but that certainly didn’t spoil the day.  No-one quite had the energy for the nightclub on the boat afterwards, however!

Christine T

So who fancies themselves as a would-be Robin Hood?  Well that would be just me then!  Despite my only experience of archery being a couple of taster days, one while I was still at school and another on a Plus holiday years ago, I headed over to Sutton Coldfield to try my hand in the competition.

Most of the afternoon was spent in tuition, and practice, and just as we thought we were getting the hang of things the competition started and they replaced our nice big targets with something half the size!!  Needless to say, my score wasn’t exactly impressive, but I thoroughly enjoyed the day and somehow despite my low score our team actually walked off with the trophy - in no small part due to Adam’s expertise with a bow.

Christine T

Bit short notice this one, as most of the best parties are, but Dave & Sherrie invited everyone to a pudding party at their place in Necton on the early May Bank Holiday Sunday, with a walk beforehand to work up an appetite and a sleep-over to recover!

Well of course when we found out it would clash with the Monacco F1 Grand Prix, arrangements were made to arrive slightly early so we could catch the action before using up too much energy.

The day came, puddings were made (some of us got a bit carried away trying out new recipes), overnight stuff packed and…….down came the rain!  Off I went to Swaffham, one less for the party already as my partner Stephen had to work, watched an extremely uneventful F1 race with a predictable result.  Phone calls were made and received as the day went on with the more sensible people not fancying walking in the rain!  Four of us were left by the time the walk started – it was ok, just a little light rain, right?

Wrong!  We got drenched!  Four miles in the pouring rain, trying to avoid the larger puddles – luckily on the whole our waterproofs held out, but thank god I packed a change of clothes anyway!  We soon all dried out, and the puddings were revealed with a few drinks to help things along!

Definition of heaven?  Well it could be going to a party where there are more puddings than people!!  We were certainly going to struggle, from memory I think we had a sort of parkin thing, a cherry sponge, a steam apricot pudding, rhubarb cheesecake tart, eton mess, lancashire cheese & apple cake – thats all I can remember but I know there were more, plus a pineapple and some chocolate – and of course Dave’s home-made custard – yum!!  Washed down with a good desert wine.

Certainly a small but select party, but one of the more memorable ones!

Christine T

The next of our regular walks took us on a circular route starting at Grimston, via Roydon common, through Castle Rising and back to Grimston following Babbingly Brook (at least I think so – my local geography isn’t brilliant!). 

Expertly navigated and led by Dave & Sherrie, the walk saw us walking through woods, over streams, taking our life in our hands as we crossed two main roads (one of which was the extremely busy A149 – twice!).  Lunch stop was at the Black Horse in Castle Rising where some good food was enjoyed by all.  I wasn’t going to have a pudding – it was the others, they made me!!!!

We saw some wildlife – some of us saw a live deer, then on the way back Sherrie found a deer of her own, in a slightly less pretty state, on a foray into the trees!

A pretty tiring route this one, I am sure Dave told us 7 miles before we started, Sherrie corrected that to 8 as we walked!  So exhausting in fact that we felt the need to stop at the pub in Grimston for refreshment before heading back to the cars!

Christine T 

We thought it may be fun to have a make your own pizza party, especially for some of the hen-pecked, ham-fisted males in our group! Added to which there was a mini fayre next to the pub.

 I was brave and took Daniel (who at 9 has inherited his Dad’s ability to be stupid at all time) on the ride that you sit in and go round in circles.  Looked a bit tame on the ground, but was a touch quicker than it looked.  We got a ‘lovely’ long ride as nobody else was on the ride.

Oddly enough had a beer in the pub after thsi and then returned to Christine’s for the main event

 Christine had made a huge dollop of dough, the theory being to take a lump and press it into a baking tray and add whatever took your fancy as toppings. 

 Much amusement was had watching dough getting massacred and a certain member (who shall remain nameless) loading his base up so it resembled a cross between a pyramid and armagedden.  Even more funny was when he tried to eat it and it seemed to have a mind of its own and made several bids for freedom.

Feeding time at the zoo complete the plan was to walk to the pub and get involved in kareoke, but sanity prevailed and the bright idea was had to paly Telly Addicts on DVD.  Boys vs Girls, and guess who lost – bah humbug.

Paul C

The day dawned bright and breezy and armed with a hangover from hell after a works reunion party that got well out of hand, we took the scenic route along single track roads lined with dykes and ditches to Christines.

 ’Only a little stroll’ was the motto of the day.  Once on the marshes and amongst the WASH bombing ranges the wind turned into a hurricane and always seemed to be in our faces.

 About an hour and a half later we got back and departed in convoy for a 20 minite drive to Holbeach,, which gave me an opportunity to rest my hangover, where we had booked a table at a pub/restuarant.  14 full stomachs and a few beers later we had the bright idea of haveing an Easter make your own pizza party.

 Paul C

Five of King’s Lynn group made the trek to Brean Sands near Weston-Super-Mare for the Plus Easter Holiday and it was certainly well worth all the driving.  Best bits:

Party in Hillingdon’s caravan Friday night/Saturday morning – headbanging in the kitchen!!  Going to bed as it was starting to get light.

Being roped into line dancing on Saturday afternoon – not sure that was such a good idea – co-ordination suffered a battering after the late night on Friday!

Saturday night’s band – a Committments tribute band – had to be heard to be believed!!

Saturday’s fancy dress – so many pirates!  Both myself and Kirsty from So’ton Friends were relieved to get out of costume by the end of the night though.

Party in Hillington’s caravan Saturday night/Sunday morning – dancing in the kitchen again! Going to bed before it started getting light this time!

Sunday trip to Cheddar Gorge – great real ale/cider in the pubs, a bit of a wander round the shops and then on to Rich’s Cider Barn to check out how they produce cider, taste samples and purchase supplies!  The hot mullled cider was the highlight of that one!

Sunday night parties rather more subdued, some of us even caught up on some sleep while we were there (you know who you are!!)

So much more, but its all a bit of a blur at the moment!!!!

Pictures will follow asap.

Christine T