IBM Retirees Club (Midlands)  

                                  (www.retireesmidclub.org.uk)

 

January 2012 Newsletter 

Editorial 

We had not been to the Ardencote for a while and from comments received our members thought it had been an excellent idea to go here for the Christmas Lunch.  Many thanks Carole.

Thanks also to Simon for organising our New Year festivities in Cornwall.  An excellent hotel with good food and a friendly staff - so good that Simon is planning another trip for New Year 2012/2013 - see later.

You will see a number of events announced in this newsletter and I hope you will find them of interest.

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In true IBM fashion, I have been doing a bit of Newsletter re-organisation.  Nothing TOO radical but I thought it a good idea to bring all things relevant to events together.  Let me know what you think. 

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The next meeting of the PC & Technology Group will be on Friday 20th January 2012. Time: 11:00am - 1:00pm. IBM Warwick, Room CW2G005  The main topic will be 'Geneology' by Martin Ferrier together with Tim Lloyd's approach to this subject.  If there's time, Alan Bridgman will tell us about backup using Acronis.  All members are welcome but if you are not already a member of the Group, please email Roger Goodman at ladevie@dsl.pipex.com  to let him know you will be attending.

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Brian Wilson, Newsletter Editor. Telephone: 01926-777710 e-mail: brian_h_wilson@msn.com

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Events 

Diary of Events

Click here to see the list of the currents year's events.  It will be updated as changes occur.

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Announced Events

This section contains the current status of all announced future events.  It will be updated on a monthly basis.

  

I was hoping to give details and booking form for our Spring Lunch with speaker in this issue but we are having trouble finding a suitable venue.  The plan is to hold the event around 14th March but I will update as soon as possible when we know something more definite.  

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Review of Recent Events

New Year in Cornwall

To avoid the risk of being snowed in over New Year's Eve, we took ourselves down to the Porth Veor Manor hotel, near Newquay, Cornwall. As it turned out, a wise choice. The weather was a little uncooperative, but the hotel's friendly staff and excellent food more than compensated. The hotel's programme started on Friday evening with a Welcome Reception of Buck's Fizz, followed by dinner. Before the Gala Dinner on New Year's Eve, a Champagne Reception put everybody in the right frame of mind to enjoy the Gala Dinner, accompanied by squeakers, balloons, funny hats, party poppers, and an R&B Soul singer. After a late breakfast on New Year's Day, a number of us went for a walk around the nearby Porth Bay and out onto the headland - an ideal way to blow away any cobwebs! After dinner on New Year's Day, we managed to get our heads together sufficiently to participate in a Trivia Quiz. Although none of our number won first prize, one of our teams managed a creditable third. On 2nd January, we all said our goodbyes but said that, if it could be arranged, we might be back for a repeat performance at the end of this year.

Simon Barratt

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Booking Conditions

It is important that all members are aware of any conditions which apply to events in which they would like to participate.  Click here to read the terms and conditions.             

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Photographs from Past Events

Attendees at events often take photographs and these make an interesting historical record of what the Club has done over the years.  Click here to view a selection.

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Chairman's Notes

Please accept my very best wishes for a Happy, Peaceful and Healthy New Year. 2012 promises to be an interesting one, with the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee. Hopefully, these great events will not stop you supporting our more modest ones.

It was great to see so many of you at the Christmas lunch. Thank you for your support and I hope that you all enjoyed yourselves. I mentioned the need to get enough members to attend the Club's Annual General Meeting (AGM). This year we will be back in IBM Warwick for the first time for several years on Monday the 19th March. I am also working to get a good IBM speaker to make the meeting more worthwhile. We shall probably provide your free lunch at the Falcon after the meeting as an additional incentive for you to attend! More details will follow.

As those of you who attended the Christmas lunch have already seen we have a varied programme of events for this year. I hope to see many of you at these throughout the year. Enjoy!

Alan Bridgman, Chairman, IBM Midlands Retirees Club

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April 29th 2012 - Sunday Lunch on the Great Central Railway (Organizer: Phil Dalton)

Railway travel offers countless pleasures, but best of all must be dining aboard a steam train. Back in the 1950s, travellers could take their seats in the restaurant cars of crack expresses like the 'South Yorkshireman' and the 'Master Cutler'.

They could become immersed in the thrilling experience of combining good food with excellent service at speed, whilst enjoying the ever absorbing countryside flashing by. As their train ran into a busy platform those people waiting opposite could only enviously regret that they were travelling second class.

Today, on Britain's only main line steam railway, passengers can reserve a table and be wined and dined in similar style, savouring sumptuous first class fare with every detail catered for. So, whether you're old or young, climb aboard, relax, and prepare yourself for an experience without equal.

During daylight journeys, the train pauses on its journey between Loughborough and Leicester North on Swithland viaduct, with its magnificent views across the reservoir to Charnwood Forest.

The train departs Loughborough at 13:15 and is scheduled to return at 14:47.  See below for connecting train times.  

Your ticket includes:-

- Sunday Lunch on the Great Central Railway's "Elizabethan" service

- 1st Class All Day Rover ticket on the Great Central Railway valid on all trains

and will be sent by post nearer the time.

Menu

Starter:

Main Course:

Vegetarian Options:

Dessert:

Coffee and mints

Cost for members and 1st guests = £26, Second guests = £39

Parking at Loughborough is fairly restricted, although there is unrestricted street parking in Great Central Road. (Postcode for Satnav: LE11 1RW)

As attendees have an All-Day Rover ticket, why not use the more extensive parking available at Quorn & Woodhouse (LE12 8AL) or Rothley (LE7 7LD)stations and take a Great Central service from there? These services start from Leiceter North station, but again car parking is fairly restricted. Train times are as follows:-

Leicester North             dep 10:10 10:45 11:45

Rothley                         dep 10:21 10:57 11:57

Quorn and Woodhouse dep 10:29 11:08 12:08

Loughborough                arr 10:36 11:15 12:15

Trains depart Loughborough to the station where you left your car at 15:15, 16:00 and 16:45.

Please send a completed booking form (stating, if appropriate, which vegetarian option is required) and a minimum of a deposit of £10 per person to the organizer:-

Phil Dalton, Tanglewood, 22 Warwick Road, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CV35 9LX by Friday February 24th

Phil Dalton    Email :- phil_dalton@btinternet.com

- Go to Booking Form

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Trip to the Isle of Wight - 13th to 17th May 2012 inclusive (Organisers: Alan Bridgman and Barry Wiggins)

We are planning to travel to the Isle of Wight in May 2011 for a combined rambling and sightseeing trip, which will continue our recent series of successful trips to the Isle of Purbeck and the Forest of Bowland. The Isle of Wight was the most requested location out of all your suggestions that we received last year.

The trip is from Sunday 13th May through to Thursday 17th May 2012. We are booked into a lovely country hotel, the 3-star Bourne Hall Country House Hotel in Shanklin. Shanklin is a resort of great character and olde-worlde charm with many interesting small shops. The picturesque old village is home to picture-book cottages as well as inviting tea rooms. Shanklin is famous for its Chine, a dramatic fissure in the rock where a 45ft waterfall cascades through boulders and ferns to the shore.

This trip we are using the services of Group Travel Limited who know the island well.

We are still putting together the sightseeing part of the trip which include as many of the following as possible - Needles Old and New Batteries, Osborne House, Brading Roman Villa, Carisbroke Castle, Adgestone Vineyard and the Isle of Wight Steam Railway - to cater for a variety of tastes!

Barry Wiggins and Terry King will be planning some fabulous, challenging and unforgettable walks - more details of these later.

The cost includes coach travel to and from IBM Warwick, return ferry crossing, 4 nights dinner, bed & breakfast, and the services of the Group Travel tour driver.

Alan Bridgman, Sightseeing Organiser

Barry Wiggins, Rambling Organiser

- Go to Booking Form

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Coach Trip to the Hampton Court RHS Flower Show - Thursday 5 July 2012

A day at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Flower Show, set in the spectacular grounds of Hampton Court Palace (alongside the River Thames), in East Molesey, Surrey.

This Annual event offers an abundance of gardening ‘extravaganza’ including:-

The cost of this magnificent day out will be between £35 and £45 for members and first guests depending on numbers. Second guests £55.

In order to get some idea of the number of reduced price tickets we need to book, can you indicate your possible interest by emailing me at the address below with the number in your party.

Barry Wiggins   Bwiggins@southbank.freeserve.co.uk

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Poll For Interest -- New Year's Eve Gala Dinner Programme, Porth Veor Manor Hotel, Newquay

Following on from the success of our visit to Porth Veor Manor Hotel for their 2011/2012 New Year Celebration, there is a possibility that we can return for their 2012/2013 programme.

If you would like to be included, please complete the booking form and send it, together with a cheque for £15 (fifteen) per person, to Simon Barratt, Laurel House, The Green, Tredington, Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4NJ, to arrive no later than 29 February. The hotel will hold all available rooms for us until then. Any bookings made after that date will be subject to availability.

If we get insufficient numbers, and the excursion has to be cancelled, your cheques will be destroyed.

Simon Barratt

- Go to Booking Form

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Announcements and Advertisments

Access to Bedfont Lakes

Our IBM Retiree Administrator has a number of Retiree badges which can be used to access the Bedfont car park.   If anyone would like one, please let me know.

Alan Bridgman  Email:- abri@waitrose.com

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Sub-Groups of  IBM Club and Retirees Club

IBM Retirees PC and Technology Group (founded by Harry Green)

The IBM Retirees PC and Technology Group meets every alternate month for a lively discussion on PC and technology topics in the digital age. There are usually one or two specific presentations given by members or by outside speakers, which the members of the Group have requested. We try to provide a reasonable balance between PC "techie" topics, new technology, and topics of a more general nature such as digital television, Internet telephony and digital photography . So whether you are a newcomer to the PC or a more experienced user, we hope you will find something of interest. You are very welcome to join us.

Contacts:-   Roger Goodman  email:- ladevie@dsl.pipex.com           Alan Bridgman   email:-  abri@waitrose.com

- Go to meeting dates and other information

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IBM Midlands Golf Society

IBM Retirees and spouses/partners are eligible to play, the events being subsidised by IBM.  The fixture list for 2011 is attached, together with proposals for 2012.  

Please contact one of the undersigned with any queries.

Contacts:-     Graham Seal  email:- gaseal@sky.com           Michael Davies   email:- enosmd@ntlworld.com                

- Go to Fixture List and contacts

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Click on the links below for specific information.  Links to booking forms are from the event announcement. 

                

            IBM Midlands Retiree Club Constitution     Committee Contacts         Agm Minutes

                                        Newsletter Archives                          Newsletter Production     

                      IBM Alumni Programme                                                   IBM Shares

     IBM Pensions Trust (Rewards, IBM Contacts, IBM EPP and other useful information)         

                                              Parking at Bedfont Lakes and Harrow