Survivors of the July meeting met again as planned in November at the Hand in Hand. The group expanded as Peter Lee and Ed Cousins were able to join the party as well as the hardened level heads from July since when a few more “80ths” have been achieved. Most impressively, those coming by car were on the soft stuff, and those not so restricted fully tested the capability of their livers and kidneys as our picture shows.
Apart from the endless recall of college experiences from getting ferulas to avoiding actually learning anything, the discussion moved sporadically to the planning for the next “Big One” in September 2025. By then, just about everyone will have either passed 80 or will have passed away. So with this in mind, we got to the main conclusions as follows
- Friday 12 September 2025 will feature a dinner at a location yet to be determined. Things that have worked in the past will be repeated (eg audio visual memory slideshow, memorabilia on display, etc.) plus any new ideas yet to be gleaned from surveying the full class of 55 membership. It was agreed to keep the layout informal and if possible to just have one large table and EU style “freedom of movement” during the courses.
- Saturday 13 September 2025 Many have asked to have another “social” on the Saturday. This is particularly the case for those traveling a long way to attend and who plan to be around the area for a day or two. Unhappily, Gavin has now sold his estate and its verdant slopes which afforded the opportunity for JJ and the Sagalouts, the Moses Choir performances as well as playing croquet and other school sports. However, minds will be applied to come up with a plan for a “good old social” on the Saturday and one which those who can may even want to invite their wife, kids, carers or any “significant other(s)”. This will be worked on at a Spring meeting, but the general idea is to make the weekend really enjoyable and memorable
So with these thoughts having been concluded, and after nearly three hours or so, it was time to pay the bill and stagger home. The bill arrived and Peter Lee was asked to work out how to divide it by eight. The world class mathematician and chess player struggled with the fifth place of decimals so it was left to one of the others, to work it out using a calculator. Suspiciously, out of 8 people present, 7 wanted to pay their share in cash. The wallets came out and soon we had a large pile of brand new slippery sheets that pass for money these days. Your reporter, who was the odd one out, had not been exposed to cash for several years. So it was he that was sent to bar to pay his share via his phone and to hand over the “stash of cash”. It did seem odd to him that all the others wanted to keep things “off the balance sheet”, a topic for review at the next meeting perhaps.
Merry Christmas to all, and let’s hope for peace in 2025. We need to survive at least until September.
Comments received
Many thanks
I hope very much to be there certainly and possibly the Saturday as well.
Merry Christmas to all
Greg
It’s good news that next year’s arrangements were still in your minds. As for a venue I suggest a suitable care home, perhaps one near to the Hand in Hand or the Crooked Billet if they are still open by next year.
Mike Lattimer