IBM Retirees Club (Midlands)
(www.retireesmidclub.org.uk)
January 2006 Newsletter
Editorial
20 members and guests ventured forth to the Christmas Markets in Prague. Apart from the markets, members were impressed with the efficiency of the transport system and agreed that UK could learn a lot on this subject - however, we felt quite at home seeing Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Debenhams amongst the more obvious Prague attractions. This was something of a first for the Club as we went by air and our thanks to John Smith for organising a most enjoyable trip.
Our annual Christmas Lunch saw 91 members and guests attending and an enjoyable time was had by all - I think the staff were wondering when we were ever going to go! Thanks to Tony and Gordon for organising this.
Looking into 2006, don't forget our first two events, the first one being for the Chinese banquet in the evening at the Emporers, Leamington on 26th January and the other for lunch with Nell Gwynne at the Jephson Gardens Restaurant, also in Leamington, on 26th February. If you haven't already done so, get your booking forms to the organisers as soon as possible. Details appeared in our December 2005 Newsletter
- Click here for Chinese Banquet booking form
- Click here for Jephson Gardens and Nell Gwynne - Go to Map for Jephson Gardens
Later in this Newsletter you will see the announcements for our trips to Edinburgh (for the Tattoo) and to Spain (for wine tasting, etc.) together with booking forms. As most members will know, we have to ask for deposits at an early stage because we have to put money up front to pay for tickets, etc.. There is also a preview of our trip to the Royal Horticultural Society HQ at Wisley - if you like gardens and gardening, this is not to be missed - further details next month.
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I have been concerned to hear that several members have not received my email anouncement of the Newsletter availability (me included on one occasion!). We are investigating this problem but in the meantime would any members who do not get the message please let me know - just to remind you, I aim to publish around mid-month (i.e. 14th or 15th) so it is worth looking on the web around that time. At the time of writing we are not sure where the problem is but one possible could be because the defences on your own PC are blocking some messages; Tony Mancell has pointed me at a web site which you might find helpful - www.howtoadvice.com/BlockedEmail
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Brian Wilson, Newsletter Editor. Telephone: 01926-777710 e-mail: brian_h_wilson@msn.com
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Annual General Meeting, Thursday 16th March 2006
Our 2006 AGM will be held at Warwick on Thursday 16th March commencing at 11:00 with coffee available from 10.30. ALL MEMBERS VERY WELCOME - THIS IS YOUR CLUB SO LET US HAVE YOUR IDEAS, REQUESTS FOR EVENTS, ETC.
If any member has a burning issue they wish to raise, please let me know the details so that the Committee will be able to give a better reply.
It is planned to adjourn for a pint and refreshments to the Waterman on the A4141, just a short distance from Warwick and with plenty of parking, after our AGM. To help us organise the refreshments please send a note to cal@qrob.fsnet.co.uk or ring 0121 704 9677 if you intend joining us.
Carole Robertson, Secretary.
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Visit to Wisley RHS Gardens, 23rd May 2006 (organiser Terry King)
There will be a one day trip to Wisley RHS gardens near Woking Surrey on Tuesday 23rd May 2006. In addition to the magnificent gardens, much research is done at Wisley (see the RHS website www.rhs.org.uk for further information). A coach will collect us from IBM Warwick early morning returning early evening. A guided tour of the gardens and a 2 course lunch will be included.
More details and a booking form will be appear in a future newsletter but please record the date in your diary if you intend going. The organiser can be contacted by email at terryaking@hotmail.com and by telephone on 01327 260132 should you wish to discuss details in the meantime.
Terry King
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Edinburgh for the Tattoo 15 - 18 August 2006 (organiser - Ray Castle)
Join us for a short summer break in Scotland including an evening performance at the world famous Edinburgh Tattoo. The preliminary itinerary is as follows:-
We will leave IBM Warwick at 8am on Tuesday 15th August. After a lunch break at Gretna we plan to be at our hotel in Falkirk sometime mid-afternoon. We have bed and breakfast accommodation reserved at the Antonine Hotel (www.antoninehotel.com) , plus dinner on the first two nights and lunch on the Thursday. The hotel is situated in the town centre close to all tourist amenities. This is a new hotel, which has already earned a good reputation for food and comfort.
For Wednesday 16th we plan a relaxed day of touring visiting Perth, Pitlochry and a selection of visitor attractions before returning to the hotel for dinner.
Thursday 17th starts with a free morning to relax and perhaps visit some of the local attractions, including the famous Falkirk Wheel. We will have lunch (in lieu of dinner) at the hotel and then make the short journey to Edinburgh for an afternoon of sightseeing and shopping, before making our way to The Castle for the 9pm performance of the Tattoo. Visit the official Tattoo website (www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk) for full information and the programme. This performance is being filmed by the BBC for later transmission, so, you never know!
Friday 18th. Following breakfast we check out from the hotel and make our way back. We are considering Lancaster for our lunch stop and plan to be back in Warwick around 6pm.
The total cost for this package is just £195.00 for members and first guests. We have a small number of singles that can be accommodated at this price. The price for second guests is £225 sharing, £255 single. We are asking for early bookings and a deposit of £25.00 per person, as we have already paid up front for the Tattoo tickets, plus a deposit to secure the hotel rooms. To make sure of your place on this trip please send your bookings to the organiser as soon as possible. Further details, together with the request for the balances due will be published in the newsletter later in the year.
Ray Castle
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Rioja/Navarra plus Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao with Wine and Jazz, 8-13 October 2006
(organiser Rick Paslawski)
The club will be running a trip to northern Spain on Sunday the 8th of October 2006 for five nights of good wine, good food, and good music topped off with a dollop of culture. The exact cost is somewhat dependent upon numbers and members will be advised as soon as possible, but the cost will be between £380 and £365 per person when sharing a hotel room and ship cabin. Unfortunately the club is unable to subsidise single travellers on this tour, and the single supplement will be £55. These prices are slightly higher than the usual club trip to Europe, but still represent excellent value. The price includes two nights accommodation on the ship travelling to and from Santander, three nights in a 4-Star hotel in Logrono on a b&b basis, numerous private wine tastings and meals, the opportunity to listen to the Panama Traditional Jazz Band every evening, a visit to the world-famous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and the services of Stephen Barrett, a highly experienced and well regarded wine expert as our host.
With over twenty-five years of experience in the wine, food and hospitality industry, Stephen Barrett has a good reputation as a wine and food writer and critic. A one-time award-winning restauranteur, Stephen is equally happy tutoring small informal groups of individuals or large formal gatherings. His wide and extensive repertoire includes staging and leading wine tastings, providing wine education and training, running wine and food pairing workshops, and hosting wine weekends at some of the UK's top locations. He is the co-creator of Channel 4's Wine Hunt, becoming the programme's Wine Consultant, and is a proprietor of a bespoke wine tour business encompassing wine locations in France, Spain and Portugal. Stephen's extensive Wine, Food and Travel experiences make him a much sought after Wine Entertainer on the UK circuit. We are fortunate to have him as our host on this trip.
The club trip has been organised to coincide with another tour going to Rioja at the same time which has a "Wine with Jazz in Rioja" theme. This parallel tour will be accompanied by the well known Panama Jazz Band who will be playing on the ship and at our hotel in Logrono, and thus will provide opportunities for the traditional jazz fans in our party to sit in on their gigs.
The following summarises an itinerary that was arranged for another private group in 2005, and is being used as the basis for planning our trip. The tour company we are using has been running immensely successful wine trips to Rioja for the past ten years, and they believe that this tour to northern Spain is the most successful of all the wine trips they organise. The areas we will visit, Rioja and Navarra, offer a very friendly atmosphere which is typically Spanish, with little obvious tourism in view. The local bodegas we will be visiting are very welcoming, and as well as providing the opportunity to sample their wines, allow us to purchase at very advantageous prices some really excellent wines from both famous and less well known producers. Good food is also a very important part of this tour and if you've always thought of Spanish cuisine as paella and tortillas you're in for a very pleasant surprise.
After a morning start from Warwick on the Sunday, we will travel by executive coach to Plymouth in order to catch the 16:00 Brittany Ferries sailing to Santander. The ship used is the Pont Aven, the flagship of the Brittany Ferries Line, which is new (2004), vast (41,000 tonne and over 600 feet long), and fast (27 knots). It is thus much more akin to a cruise ship in size, space and facilities than a normal ferry boat. During the evening Stephen Barrett will be presenting a tutored tasting of the types of wine we will meet in Spain followed by dinner in the ship's main restaurant. Before retiring to a two-berth cabin for the overnight cruise there may well be a chance to catch the Panama Jazz Band in full swing.
Reaching Santander at midday on the second day, we drive southwards and into La Rioja for our first tasting at the modern Bodegas Lan just outside Logroño. We then continue into the city to check into the 4* Hotel Carlton Rioja which is situated on the main road in the centre of town convenient to all the shops and banks. We stay at the hotel for the next three nights on a b&b basis. Dinner is included on the Monday night and will be organised and hosted by Stephen at a nearby restaurant or at a bodega such as Campo Viejo.
After breakfast on Tuesday we will drive to Haro for a visit to Bodegas Martinez Lecuesta, a small but extremely high quality wine maker, still owned and operated by the family. From here we will drive to Bodegas Remelluri, an historic monastic estate just outside the town where we will visit their museum and operation. This will be followed by a lengthy lunch overlooking the vineyards. In the late afternoon we will visit the charming hilltop town of La Guardia before returning to our hotel in Logroño . In the evening Stephen will show us around the famous street of tapas bars in Logrono, Calle Laurel. Alternatively you may wish to listen to the jazz band playing at the hotel.
We set off on Wednesday morning to drive southwards into Navarra where our first visit and tasting will be to the Principe de Viana estate. Next we will be welcomed at the Bodegas Guelbenzu and after a visit to their vineyards and production facility we will have lunch in their ancestral home. After lunch we will return to Logrono for our final night and a last chance to enjoy the delights of Calle Laurel and/or listen to the Panama Jazz Band.
We leave early after breakfast on Thursday and drive to Bilbao where we park outside the outstanding Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art where entrance to the exhibition is included . In the early afternoon we drive to Santander to catch the 15:30 sailing to England. Before retiring to your cabin it will be possible to catch some more live jazz as the band will again be playing during the crossing. The ship is due to dock in Plymouth at 09:30 on Friday morning, and following disembarkation the coach will return us to Warwick in the late afternoon. .
To summarise the costing includes:- Ferry crossing with 2-berth cabin each way; all travel by executive coach; three nights' accommodation in 4* hotel with buffet breakfast; tasting and dinner on board ship, one dinner at a restaurant/bodega in Logrono; two lunches at wine estates; all excursions and visits as described; opportunity to listen to live jazz; services of Stephen Barrett as Host, Tour Manager and Leader.
If you would like to join this very good value club trip please send a deposit of £40 per person using the booking form. Please note that travel insurance is compulsory for this trip and you will be required to provide details of your policy before travelling. If you would like to have a four-berth cabin for use by two, then this may be possible and for which there is an additional charge of £27.50 per cabin per crossing (i.e. £55 in total for the outbound and inbound crossings). Please request this on your booking form and I will endeavour to obtain the upgrade.
As a a high level of interest has already been shown in this trip following a brief preliminary announcement at our Christmas Lunch, and as we are limited to the numbers we can accomodate on this trip, early bookings are recommended. If however you would like further information, or if you have any comments on the proposed trip (e.g. any specific bodegas you would like to visit), please contact Rick Paslawski on 0121 705 7719, rickpaslawski@tesco.net, or by mail at 4A Alderbrook Road, Solihull, West Midlnads , B91 1NH.
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Changes to Personal Details
Gordon Jones, our Membership Secretary, maintains the membership database so if you change your e-mail address or any other personal details - address, telephone number, etc. - please note that Gordon is the only person who can action changes. He can be contacted by e-mail at gordon_jones@lineone.net or telephone 01455-556192.
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Newsletter Links
Links to Booking Forms by individual events
Click here to see 2006 Diary Click here for Committee Contact List
Click here for General Notes About Events Click here for 2005 AGM Minutes
Click here for Archived Newsletters Click here for Membership Information
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