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Sep. 26th, 2009 05:26 pmWent down to the New Forest for the annual reunion of the 2006 'Chain Gang', held at the Sir Walter Tyrrell pub - about 200 yards from the Rufus Stone and named after the bowman whose stray arrow did for King Rufus.
We arrived at the same time as John and Margaret from Rushmoor; after saying our hellos in the car park we all entered together, to find Pat and Peter from HCC and Brian and Audrey already there. Peter and Marian from E*******h came in right behind us and everybody was soon merrily chatting away over drinks - a Scrumpy Jack in my case.
As David was our host I was surprised he wasn't among the first to arrive, but I soon guessed he'd decided on making a grand entrance with everyone already there. In the end Jim, Maria and Sue trailed in behind him, all joining us when we were already seated in the dining area. Of course I had massive kisses and hugs with both Maria and Sue, and Sue said "thank you so much, they really keep me going" - I thought she meant my kisses and hugs, but she was talking about the funnies I regularly send on to her from work.
The only absentees were Brian from Hart for family reasons, Charles who'd been too unwell to travel and Fred and Margaret as no-one had been able to contact them. On the bright side, that meant this year I was spared an afternoon's grilling about why I wasn't being pro-active about resurrecting my love life...
Me ma, Tony and Richard all naturally gravitated towards each other so I spent a pleasant afternoon in their company, comparing lives and talking about the goings-on in Havant and Basingstoke local government. I went for very tasty lamb shank with sauté potatoes, followed by a toffee ice-cream sundae. Tony bought me a couple of Scrumpy Jacks :)
Shortly after we'd all finished our main course David gave a little speech to thank us all for coming and to say a few words about the absentees. He said "I was talking to Charles from the Island in bed last night..." Massive catcalls and round of applause. David then explained he'd been on the phone last night to Charles who'd been really gutted he was too ill to come, as Agnieszka had been planning to drive him up. It would have been nice to meet up with her again; David even remembered my singing to her in Polish...
David had said I'd have to press gang someone into hosting next year's gathering so once he'd finished his speech I rose and asked if there were any volunteers. After a brief pause Pam said "We'll do it", so I said "Thank you, John and Pam, well done." As I passed by Pam's chair she said "I think you'll find it'll be just Pam organising."
By the end of the afternoon, we had people coming forward volunteering to organise the gatherings for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Future delights include a charabanc trip to the Test Valley, and a combined London Eye/London Ducktour outing courtesy of Sue.
Peter, Marian, me ma and I all walked over to the Rufus Stone before we went. Marian reckoned there's some doubt as to whether the stone is on the actual spot where King Rufus fell; she says some historians think that, given the fairly short time in which his body was carted to Winchester, it's more likely the spot is somewhere around Beaulieu. We all observed, tongues firmly in cheeks, that it had to be pure coincidence that Henry I was in the area and ideally placed to rush to Winchester to claim the crown when Rufus came a cropper...
We arrived at the same time as John and Margaret from Rushmoor; after saying our hellos in the car park we all entered together, to find Pat and Peter from HCC and Brian and Audrey already there. Peter and Marian from E*******h came in right behind us and everybody was soon merrily chatting away over drinks - a Scrumpy Jack in my case.
As David was our host I was surprised he wasn't among the first to arrive, but I soon guessed he'd decided on making a grand entrance with everyone already there. In the end Jim, Maria and Sue trailed in behind him, all joining us when we were already seated in the dining area. Of course I had massive kisses and hugs with both Maria and Sue, and Sue said "thank you so much, they really keep me going" - I thought she meant my kisses and hugs, but she was talking about the funnies I regularly send on to her from work.
The only absentees were Brian from Hart for family reasons, Charles who'd been too unwell to travel and Fred and Margaret as no-one had been able to contact them. On the bright side, that meant this year I was spared an afternoon's grilling about why I wasn't being pro-active about resurrecting my love life...
Me ma, Tony and Richard all naturally gravitated towards each other so I spent a pleasant afternoon in their company, comparing lives and talking about the goings-on in Havant and Basingstoke local government. I went for very tasty lamb shank with sauté potatoes, followed by a toffee ice-cream sundae. Tony bought me a couple of Scrumpy Jacks :)
Shortly after we'd all finished our main course David gave a little speech to thank us all for coming and to say a few words about the absentees. He said "I was talking to Charles from the Island in bed last night..." Massive catcalls and round of applause. David then explained he'd been on the phone last night to Charles who'd been really gutted he was too ill to come, as Agnieszka had been planning to drive him up. It would have been nice to meet up with her again; David even remembered my singing to her in Polish...
David had said I'd have to press gang someone into hosting next year's gathering so once he'd finished his speech I rose and asked if there were any volunteers. After a brief pause Pam said "We'll do it", so I said "Thank you, John and Pam, well done." As I passed by Pam's chair she said "I think you'll find it'll be just Pam organising."
By the end of the afternoon, we had people coming forward volunteering to organise the gatherings for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Future delights include a charabanc trip to the Test Valley, and a combined London Eye/London Ducktour outing courtesy of Sue.
Peter, Marian, me ma and I all walked over to the Rufus Stone before we went. Marian reckoned there's some doubt as to whether the stone is on the actual spot where King Rufus fell; she says some historians think that, given the fairly short time in which his body was carted to Winchester, it's more likely the spot is somewhere around Beaulieu. We all observed, tongues firmly in cheeks, that it had to be pure coincidence that Henry I was in the area and ideally placed to rush to Winchester to claim the crown when Rufus came a cropper...
