Friendship Club
Everyone is welcome to join the Club, which, contrary to some people’s ideas, is definitely not just for old people! We have a very varied programme each year. From late March until early December, we go on an outing every second Wednesday and meet at Alstonefield Village Hall every fourth Wednesday. A coach collects those without transport from many surrounding villages. Every time we meet there is good food on offer, as well as plenty of laughter, plenty to make us think and to entertain us, and wonderful friendship.
After a long, cold, miserable winter, we were all looking forward with eager anticipation to our first meeting on 27th March – and then it snowed!! The meeting had to be cancelled, but lots of phone calls (a snow chain?) meant that a large number of people went on the first outing – to The Wren’s Nest (a Crown Carvery) at Glossop for a very enjoyable lunch. The ride there via Buxton and Chapel-en-le-Frith was lovely, but even more amazing was the ride back over the Snake Pass – still little patches of snow lying, but weren’t we glad we hadn’t planned to go two weeks earlier! We’d never have made it. We forget what spectacular scenery we have so close to home and it was a great opportunity to see this part of Derbyshire.
We eventually had our first meeting on 10th April, including the long-awaited cream tea. At our AGM we paid our respects to former members Jean Nicholson and Sally Oliver, and to Ethel Morris, a great friend to the Club, who had died recently. We are pleased to welcome a new member, Marjorie Mycock and volunteer, Carol Starey from Wetton. On this evening we had the first of our bi-monthly Bring and Buy Tables – an opportunity for members to give away things they no longer needed and make some money for the Club at the same time, as obtaining grants is getting harder each year. We were overwhelmed by the number of items people brought and bought and are very grateful for members’ continuing generosity.
On 8th May we returned to Hotel Rudyard for a carvery lunch and then called in Leek on the way back for a visit to Bridge End Garden Centre and/or the huge new Sainsbury’s store. On 22nd May, Richard Hobday, our local butcher from White Peak Farm Butchery in Tissington, talked on “Spring into Lamb”. While cutting up a lamb, he told us about breeding and rearing sheep, buying from markets, killing and cutting up lambs and advising on cooking them. Richard had generously donated the sausages for our “Sausage and Mash Supper” and they were so delicious that members rushed to buy them, and lamb joints, after his talk.
We are now looking forward to a season of varied visits – Uttoxeter, East Midlands Designer Outlet, Owler Bar, Knutsford etc and some interesting talks, especially ‘Spring into Lamb’ on 22nd May, when Richard Hobday will demonstrate various cuts of meat and talk about how to cook them, after we have eaten a bangers and mash supper which includes Richard’s very tasty sausages. If you would like to join us that evening, please let us know as we need numbers for catering.
We are always pleased to see new people – why not come along and give us a try? For more information, please ring Lorraine Hawkins (Alstonefield) on 01335 310353 or Ann Prince (Ecton) on 01298 84394.
Photographs: Top: Richard Hobday cutting up a lamb; Middle left: Christmas lunch at The Charles Cotton, Hartington; Middle right and bottom: Visit to Bridge End Garden Centre on the way back from lunch at Hotel Rudyard in May.
This page is maintained by Lorraine Hawkins
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