June 2026 Meeting

Although it wasn’t quite the warm and summer June evening we all hoped for, fifteen members duly turned out for our annual Tipplers’ Stroll.

This year, Heather (ably assisted by Debbie) and Mo and Chris were our hosts which meant that the strolling distance between the two venues was manageable and, as it happened, the rain kindly let us stroll in the dry!

Our hosts treated us to an interesting array of red, white and rosé wines and a fine spread of nibbles, snacks and strawberries and cream and a lot of bonhomie was exchanged!!

We owe a big thank you to our hosts for a very successful evening.

Our next outing in the Summer Party on Tuesday, 7th July starting at 7.00pm at the South Nutfield Cricket Club.

Janet Bailey 822333

May 2026 Meeting

Our bingo evening last week was only attended by a dozen members, which was disappointing as the organisers had gone to the trouble of obtaining a bingo machine and a load of cards to be completed, plus prizes (of wine, of course!) handed out by Graham to the winners of one line or for a whole card. 

Janet acted as bingo host, or Caller, with great aplomb and kept us going at some speed. 

Despite the small group it was a very pleasant evening, as always.

Next month will be our Tipplers Stroll starting at 7 pm but I won’t announce whose houses we are visiting in case things change. You’ll have to read next month’s write-up to see who will have been the two hosts! We will pray for a fine evening!

Liz Lake

April 2026 Meeting

Most of our members attended an evening of cocktails, hosted by expert Barry Wilkins, assisted by his wife Sandra. To get into the party spirit we had been asked to dress formally, evening dress for the men or lounge suits, smart attire for the ladies with at least something sparkly. Jane Sandiford rose to the occasion in a splendid sparkly trouser suit - see photo – and others adorned sparkly tops.

Barry gave a potted history of the cocktail, which started in America when Prohibition (1920-1933) led to devising sophisticated fruit drinks. The best hotels served these with listening or dancing to jazz, which became very popular.

We were given a few cocktails to try, with non alcoholic versions too. Starting with Singapore Sling (gin based with cherry brandy, Cointreau, grenadine and pineapple), then Tequila Sunrise (tequila, orange and grenadine), Between the Sheets (brandy, rum, white rum and orange which was considered very strong!) and Gran Mimosa which has only 2 ingredients, chilled sparkling wine or champagne and an equal part of orange juice. An addition of a splash of Grand Marnier is optional.

Whilst sampling the drinks, served with French bread slices with tasty toppings, Barry quizzed us on the subject of cocktails and alcohol generally. For instance, did we know what was the first civilisation to produce and use alcohol. Most people thought of the Greeks or Romans but apparently it was the Egyptians! Other questions had very informative answers.

As usual Mary and Derek provided an extensive raffle – a lot of boxes of sweets or biscuits as prizes this time. A good evening was enjoyed by all.

Our May 5th meeting will be Bingo and other games. I for one will look forward to that!

Liz Lake

March 2026 Meeting

Tuesday, 3rd March saw 14 members and 1 guest gather at the Royal British Legion, Limpsfield for a Skittles Evening with Supper. Names were picked randomly and 5 teams were quickly organised namely Doux, Demi Sec, Sec, Extra Dry and Brut (sweetness levels of champagne with Doux being the sweetest and Brut the driest). 

We had time for 6 rounds with a hot, tasty, supper being served at half-time. The final result was a win by Extra Dry (Heather, Mary and Derek) with the top score of 117. The player with the highest individual cumulative score was Mary with 44. Graham H. and Heather both achieved top individual scores of 13.  

Happily, no-one scored a duck. Many thanks go to Graham and Caroline for not only organising the teams but doing an excellent job on the scoring and supplying the prizes.

Our next meeting on the 7th April is an Evening of Cocktails!

February 2026 Meeting

Our February meeting was Race Night. But instead of betting on horses we bet on pigs! Very realistic looking pigs each with a soft, stuffed jockey attached, with different coloured tops. Only 8 pigs with jockeys to a race, and each race didn’t take long so it was more fun than watching a whole horse race. 

As usual we were each awarded a mythical £100 to spend on bets and were given a colourful printed race card with ten races, named for example “Trotters Trading” with Only Fools and Horses characters, or “The Snorker Sprint” with Chorizo, Frankfurter etc. The person with the most money at the end of the evening and the runner-up were given a nice bottle of wine as a prize. Yours truly had fantastic luck in each race – my strategy was to go for the pig with the highest odds and place £20 on it. We were allowed three bets in each race and my chosen pigs mostly had a place. So with a £100 start I accumulated £1150 and the winner, John, got over £2000. If only it were real money! If only I had such luck on real horse races I went to years ago! Everybody won more than they started out with, so it was good fun. 

Our thanks go to Graham and Caroline Hill for setting this up and running it throughout so efficiently. We also had a raffle, thanks to Derek and Mary Freeman.

Our March meeting will be the popular skittles evening with a hot supper held at the British Legion in Limpsfield on the 3rd March - 7pm.

January 2026 New Years Dinner

As usual our first meeting of the year was a social dinner out. Like last year we went to the Red Lion in Bletchingly. There were 27 of us and we appeared to be the only diners, so hopefully the pub appreciated our visit. Between us we must have tasted everything on the menu! 

There was a short list of “specials” which included lamb chops, however there were only two available and three people wanted them so there was a debate as to who would have them! Ian politely chose another dish, which he enjoyed. When the chops arrived they were dry and tough, which was disappointing but the rest of us had a delicious meal. A lot of people had sticky toffee pudding for desert which certainly didn’t disappoint!

Janet kindly handed out the printed programme of events for the year, which will follow the normal format. One difference later on is to be an evening of cocktails, which should be interesting. 

Our summer outing is planned to be a visit to a brewery – makes a change from wine!

Liz Lake

All in all it was a very jolly evening and we look forward to the February 3rd meeting, which will be Race Evening!

December 2025 Meeting

Our Christmas party evening was attended by 27 members, which is almost everyone. We kicked off with a generous amount of mulled wine kindly provided and served by Graham, who topped up our glasses frequently!

We paid our deposit for our January meal at the Red Lion and bought tickets for the special raffle that evening which included several bottles of wine and a large hamper of goodies, attractively presented.

Val ran through the draft programme for 2026, to which there were no objections.

Everyone had generously contributed to our buffet supper, which was much enjoyed. After it we had a Christmas quiz, provided by Janet. The questions were supposed to be easy but the top scoring table only managed 11 correct answers out of 20. Perhaps we had had too much mulled wine!

It was a most convivial evening, only slightly dampened by the foulest of wet, windy weather in which to get home!

Our New Year Dinner is on Tuesday, 13th January 2026. For further information, please contact Janet on 822333.

Liz Lake