10th - 11th December 2011
Optional attendance at Saturday evening performance of:
Saturday 10th December
Nigel & Pauline Thorley |
Roger & Joan Wood |
Peter Stant (S N G Barratt) Colin Perks (Guest of S N G Barratt) Colin Margetson & Jan Allport mark & Lindsay Askwith Peter Harrington & Suzie Cooper Apologies from: Mike & Viki Horlor Ron & Sheila Lee John & Gillian Whalley |
Thanks to Austin Holmes and Lynne Walker for using their business connections, and influence, with The Old Hall Hotel management in securing favourable overnight terms, excellent facilities, and super service from the hotel staff. Their help is much appreciated.
Following our disasterous experience at The Palace Hotel I would like to thank all those that contacted me to suggest an alternative Buxton venue for our Christmas lunch.
I accept that car parking in arrangements in Buxton, and at The Old Hall Hotel in particular, are far from ideal, but I have to say that I received much support when I suggest we returned to The Old Hall in March 2012 when The Bakewell Tart 2 Run will take place. Suggestions by email please if you are not in agreement!
Thanks again.
Lynne Walker
Personal Assistant BAE Systems and Facilitator to XK8 Forum Christmas Lunch.
XK8 Forum Christmas Lunch Report
Old Hall Hotel - Buxton
10 th and 11th December 2011
In the immortal pantomime words of Widow Twankey ‘it's behind you'. Yes, thank goodness, it is behind us, the anxiety that is. Only days before we were due to rendezvous at The Old Hall Hotel for lunch in Buxton, that jewel of a town in the Derbyshire crown, truly a place of great beauty in the summer, but, alas, in winter, unlike Blackpool, it's not known for its fresh air and fun; the ever cautious Met. Office issued a severe weather warning for Scotland, not a million miles away from our intended venue. The severe weather up North came as promised, the Snake Pass, and the Cat and Fiddle, two important roads into Buxton became impassable due to snow, and that is when the fingernail biting began; would we, or wont we be able go ahead with the arrangements to meet up with our fellow enthusiasts? That was the question. If we went ahead as planned would everyone feel sufficiently confident enough to risk making the journey? How long could we wait before advising the hotel of the need to completely cancel our lunch, or to adjust the numbers attending, downwards?
Well all's well that ends well; all those planning to stop over on the Saturday night to attend the performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the magnificent Buxton Opera House turned up, though it is true that one couple whilst travelling on the M6 were so engrossed, heatedly discussing the wisdom of making the journey that they missed the all important junction 19 and consequently arrived later than planned!
The lovingly restored Buxton Opera House is an exquisitely beautiful Edwardian theatre and well worth a visit, the pantomime was very good too with an abundance of dancing and jokes, though at times the jokes did seem to be a bit childish, boom, boom! Interestingly, just over the street from the theatre is a quaint hostelry into which, after the show our enthusiast theatre lovers ventured; what a lively place it turned out to be, not at all as one would have expected knowing what a backwater we were in; more like a restrained night club taking advantage of the licensing laws by going well past the normal 10.30pm closing time and into the early hours of the following day.
On Sunday morning the weather conditions looked to be still favourable for both driving a car, and for even more torrential rain. We had received prior notification that two cars from our Sunday number would be unable to be with us, firstly, Mike Horlor, our Forum Coordinator, and Vicki; Mike, earlier in the week had major surgery on his right hand in order to release the tight grip he had on a sizeable value bank note. Secondly, Ron Lee, and Sheila, Ron had to cry-off due to a hospital appointment in London. Ron is a true Jaguar racing enthusiast, who has just finished writing his first book which will be published and on sale sometime during the first half of 2012, it is, I am reliably informed by Ron, a ‘must' motoring read for next year.
As the appointed hour for us to assemble for lunch approached it was with eager anticipation that we awaited the remainder of the 30 diners to arrive. Our own dedicated lounge, with excellent bar and hotel service made it an ideal location to meet up with old friends and acquaintances from previous JEC XK8 events. Thankfully, only one of the expected couples arrived at the eleventh hour having been delayed en route because Nigel and Pauline, having set off to join us, Nigel absentmindedly thought they were going to see his mother which took him in the wrong direction completely; easily done I'm told, boom, boom!
Also in our party were two guests. Mr Peter Stant of S N G Barratt who requested to join us so that he could seek out opinions from us for what should, or not, be included in their replacement parts catalogue. He was well received and was pleased with our response. Our other guest was Mr Colin Perks, a friend of Peter Stant's and an owner of an XK8 and an XKR, both of which are in bits, perhaps this rather unkindly, explains their friendship!
At 1.30pm, precisely (Angela please note), the JEC XK8 Forum members of our party, and our two guests, took their seats at one of the 3 beautifully prepared 10 place setting tables, a bevy of beautiful waitresses descending upon us to take our choice of dishes from the hotels' Festive Lunch Menu. It wasn't long before the dining room was filled with the sound of chatter, and whilst the vegetables were being served it emerged that Kathryn Fidler is something of an expert when it come to sprouts, suggesting they are lovely raw in a salad and can also be used in a competition to guess how many sprouts there are on a stalk or stick, boom, boom.
To bring the proceedings to an end everyone was thanked for coming to Buxton and it was agreed that The Old Hall Hotel had provided us with excellent facilities, a first class lunch, and, notwithstanding the car parking difficulties, consideration should be given to finishing there at next year's Bakewell Tart 2 on Sunday 11th March 2012, which starts at 9.30am from The Stoke on Trent Holiday Inn, where special terms have already been agreed of £69.00, including breakfast, per double room, please phone early to avoid disappointment. This date was chosen because it follows on from the XK8 Seminar at Castle Bromwich on Saturday 10th for those that want to make this a very special and memorable XK8 weekend.
*******************************