October 2026 Meeting

For our October meeting we invited Gerry James of the Reigate Beekeepers Association to give us a talk about ‘beekeeping’. Twenty two members and one guest attended.

What an entertaining and surprising talk it was. Gerry started by telling us about how his wife bought him a book about beekeeping for his birthday. That led to a one day course of working with bees and that in turn led to 14 years of beekeeping as a hobby.

We were told that there are 238 species of bees in this country, but they all have the same hive operational setup. Basically, the worker bees (females) run the hive and collect all the pollen and nectar which they put in store to survive the Winter when there is no foraging. The Queen bee starts laying eggs in the Spring when the nectar and pollen collection begins. Initially 50 to 60 eggs are laid per day, and this increases to about 1500 eggs per day from June onwards. The reason for this number of eggs to be laid is because the average lifespan of a bee is usually around 6 weeks, and at the height of Summer there can be 60,000 to 80,000 bees in a hive. The male bees are called ‘drones’ and there are far less of them than worker bees. The job of the drones is to mate with the Queen bee in order to create a future Queen bee when the current one becomes less productive.

Regarding the storage of the honey, the wax cells are cylindrical when built, but become hexagonal when connected to the adjoining cells. Another interesting fact is that bees only age when they are flying, so during the Winter they hibernate and emerge ‘at the same age‘ in Spring. The drones, however, are not so lucky as they are prevented from returning to the hive and die off.

There were many more fascinating facts about bees such as when the bees start swarming and how to encourage them to store more honey and how they communicate by sense of smell. Also Gerry brought along jars of honey, beeswax candles and beeswax lip balm which we were able to purchase. If you want to learn more then we would recommend that you contact The Reigate Beekeepers Association.

Our next meeting is our AGM on 3rd November at the Christ Church Centre 8pm.

Janet Bailey (822333)

September 2026 Meeting

Our September Meeting was Quiz Night! Seventeen members and three guests arranged themselves into teams but before the Quiz started our Chairman announced a minute’s silence in memory of Angela O’Mahony, a long standing member who had recently passed away. Our Question Master, Ian, then duly commenced the Quiz. The subjects ranged from Literature, History, General Knowledge, Film and TV and Quotes, not forgetting the two picture rounds (one on biscuits and the other on chocolates!!) 

After much brain-racking (and guessing) the team with the highest score of 51 consisted of Caroline, Jane, Kent and Graham H and were rewarded with mini bottles of wine and packets of Smarties!!! A big thank you to Ian for organising a very challenging Quiz. I think we all came away having learned something new. As always, Mary and Derek provided a wide selection of raffle prizes

Our next meeting on the 6th October will be a talk on ‘Bees’ given by Gerry James from the Reigate Beekeepers Association. We would hope for a good attendance for this meeting and of course guests are always very welcome.

Janet Bailey

August 2026 Meeting

During August the Wine Club did not have a formally scheduled meeting as we have found in recent years quite a few members are away on their holidays. However, this year some members were still looking for suggestions for an excuse to meet up on the most convenient date for a local tour or visit.

One of our members (Debbie) came up with the ‘novel’ idea of wine club members visiting a local brewery and suggested the Pilgrim Brewery as it was not too far away.

Consequently on Saturday, 8th August, eight members and one guest gathered at the Pilgrim Brewery, Reigate (the oldest craft brewery in Surrey, established in 1982 by Dave Roberts) for a tour and tastings.

We were greeted on arrival by John Fridd, the Master-Brewer. He invited us to gather in the brewing room and began by talking about the setting up and early development of the Brewery. Then he went on to explain about the purpose and practical functioning of the large vessels that were around us. His enthusiasm and knowledge kept us all captivated, as did the samples of beer that were being offered during the discussion about different hop varieties and alcoholic strengths. John explained how he had experimented to develop a low alcohol beer named Temperance at only 0.5% ABV by using hops that were much slower to release the natural sugars which converted to alcohol.

We also sampled the more traditional Progress Ale, at 4% ABV, and named after the type of hops used. After this, we ‘progressed’ to a stronger and very tasty Pioneer Ale, at 4.5% ABV this was described as an APA (American Pale Ale) due to the hops used. The previous beers were all based on barley, but the last tasting offered was a wheat beer called Saxon Ale. This was a very acceptable 5.2% ABV and most refreshing.

We thanked John for a most informative and detailed talk. He then gave us tokens to be exchanged in the Taproom for any drink of our choice, which included wine and soft drinks.

For our next meeting 1st September we will be back in our usual haunt in South Nutfield for a Quiz.

Janet Bailey

July 2026 Meeting

After a sweltering day it was very pleasant to sit in the relative cool outside the cricket club in an open-ended mini marquee. Janet had made splendid preparations in advance and we all contributed to a delicious buffet supper – cold meats, sausage rolls, the ‘renowned’ sausage plait, quiches and salads with several mouth watering deserts, cheeses and biscuits. 

As usual we took our own drinks and cutlery to leave a minimum of clearing up. Twenty seven people attended, including a couple of guests.

There was a cricket match going on but we didn’t have any games or quizzes this time – a few had Wimbledon quietly on their phones on the table! It was just nice to relax and chat. Another very convivial evening. Janet took photos – see one attached.

Our August meeting will be to the Pilgrim brewery near Reigate – a change from wine! 

Quite a few members have already signed up for that.

Liz Lake

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