East Midlands S & B in Nottingham – Saturday 13th May

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Update 2/5/17:

Thank you to all those who have indicated that you will be coming to the Nottingham S & B on 13th of this month.

We have been informed that we will need to vacate the area in the Pitcher and Piano allocated to us by 5.30pm. Several people have suggested that they might move on to other hostelries in the evening anyway and we can suggest some venues for those who are not familiar with the city.

For those who have expressed interest in the walking tour, please meet Bert (Chris) at the Costa Coffee booth in the main concourse of Nottingham train station at around 11am. The walk is likely to take about an hour. If you arrive earlier and have some time to kill, there is an outdoor photographic exhibition in Station Street just outside the concourse – photographs of Britain from the Air. If you are not arriving by train, and are perhaps using one of the Park and Tram services from the M1 Junction 24 or 26, the trams all stop at Nottingham Station, with a short walk to the main concourse.

Joyce (Lynette) will be meeting and greeting at the Pitcher and Piano from 11.30.

If anyone needs more information on finding the venue, please add a comment and we will try to help!

Looking forward to meeting everyone.

************************************

An announcement from Bertandjoyce (Chris and Lynette)

Peter and Eileen have agreed to hand over this year’s East Midlands S & B to us. The event will be held on Saturday 13th May at the Pitcher and Piano on High Pavement on the edge of the Lacemarket area, approx 10 minutes walk (or one tram stop) from Nottingham station. There are Park and Ride facilities using either the tram system or buses for those travelling by car.

The Nottingham Pitcher and Piano is housed in a converted Grade II-listed Unitarian chapel with an original Burne-Jones stained glass window, a good selection of wines, draught ales, lagers and ciders, and a varied menu of hot and cold food from which to choose your lunch. An area will be set aside for us from 11.30a.m.

For anyone who is interested we will be happy to conduct a short walking tour of the city centre from 11a.m. More details to follow if there is any interest.

Please put the date in your diary and let us know if you would like to come, and if you are interested in the walking tour.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in May.

75 comments on “East Midlands S & B in Nottingham – Saturday 13th May”

  1. Thanks, Bertandjoyce, for agreeing to organise this. As a Nottingham resident, I’ll be very pleased to come if I can. However, at this stage I’m not sure whether I’ll be in the country. I’ll let you know nearer the time.

  5. Dear Valentine – what is S & B? I am smacking my fingers which want to reply with lots of ruderies!

    It’s Sloggers & Betters being a Spoonerism for Bloggers and Setters. But 15 squared lolvers and surkers, like me, are very, very welcome.

    I hope to be there.

  6. Valentine@4: S&B stands for “Sloggers and Betters”, a spoonerism of “Bloggers and Setters”. It’s a get-together for anyone keen on cryptic crosswords and offers a chance to meet the crossword setters and the folk who write these blogs – plus plenty of your fellow-solvers. There are usually some specially-compiled crosswords for you to try and often a quiz as well. Everyone is very friendly and great time is usually had by all. See you in Nottingham?

  8. I’m an East Midlands resident, so I’d be up for this. One possible complication that needs rebolving, but you can certainly put me down as a probable. Not for the tour, though…

  10. You’ll have to put me down as an improbable for this one, since there is rather a lot of water between England and New England. But I do yearn to come to one of these celebrations and change familiar names into familiar faces. Jan, I’m working on thinking up some of your naughty responses!

    For now I’ll have to stay on this side and ape my betters.

  12. Many thanks to Bert and Joyce for organising this one. The venue is really beautiful; the beer and food is good; and the company will be, as always, welcoming and stimulating. I won’t go on the tour, but if you don’t know Nottingham, you should, because the P&P is near the Lace Market, and the quarter is full of history.

    In my diary and looking forward to seeing old and new faces there.

    Peter

  14. I should have said that since I live in Nottingham, I will probably give the tour a miss, unless you want help with stewarding…

  15. … and I should have added that as I’m only at the other end of Brian Clough Way I know Nottingham well enough to give the tour a miss.

  16. We’re in England in April but only for a week, so unfortunately we won’t be able to make this one. Have one for us.

  20. Oh I wish I could be part of this get-together. What a treat it would be to put faces to names. The forum has really expanded my enjoyment of solving the cryptics in The Guardian, as I have remarked before when posting. I hope it is a wonderful time for you all – and if you are ever in Australia, you have a friend here on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland!

  21. Julie & Valentine

    Even if you can’t do it in person, you can put some faces to names if you go to Big Dave’s site http://bigdave44.com/ and check The Gallery (it’s under Features) and browse through the many pictures of Cruciverbal Meetings.

  24. After having to miss out on BD’s birthday bash yesterday, I’m looking forward to this (barring act of Trump or bank balance). Many thanks to B&J for all the organisation – venue looks stellar – and can’t wait to see everyone in the pub.

  25. Thought I’d already sent this, but must have forgotten to submit! I hope to join you all at the pub at least; not sure if I’ll be in Nottingham in time to do the tour though, will confirm nearer the time.

    Thank you very much for organising this, Chris & Lynette – great choice of venue.

  31. As always, it will be good to catch up with those of you I know, and to put faces to a few more names. I am guessing that nobody is planning to arrive in Nottingham on the Friday, but if you are, let me know – I can certainly suggest a few pubs and would be happy to join you for a few beers…

  32. I only live at the opposite end of Brian Clough Way as well so will be there. As I am based in Nottingham I will not need the tour. Looking forward to it, especially having missed the last two due to mobility problems.

  33. Beery @31 – I won’t be around on the Friday, but am staying overnight on the Saturday so if yourgoodself and anyone else are about post-do I’d be more than happy to do something beer or food, but mainly beer, related. 🙂

  34. I will be around on Friday and I am also staying overnight on the Saturday.
    (as I bought myself a ticket for Procol Harum live@Nottingham, on Sunday)
    Hence (a favourite word for mathematicians!) beeryhiker, expect an email from me in due course.
    Looking forward to all of this.

  37. Hi B&J

    Thanks for organising this. I’m hoping to make it for the day. It’s a bit of a hike from Cardiff, so I’ll have to miss out on the tour. Look forward to seeing everyone.

    Mike

  38. I am moving to Nottingham this week and would like to attend both parties he walking tour and the meeting afterwards.

  39. Welcome to Nottingham P Ratan – we’ll be posting details of the tour in a few weeks time.

  40. Hello there, the chance of spotting a rare John Henderson in the wild has led me to be interested in attending this meetup. Is there still room for me to sign up?

  41. Matthew @ 40 Absolutely – we look forward to seeing you there. There is not really a limit on numbers and food doesn’t have to be ordered until the day. Details of the walking tour will follow soon.

  43. Count me in! Nottingum eh? At last, a reason for going there…

    Yeah, yeah, OK. Punch me when I arrive.

  44. I’d quite like to come to this but am returning from a long-haul trip only 36 hours earlier, so it will depend on the jetlag – will have to decide on the day

  45. I’d love to be there but logistics at present…..
    OK Julie-you may be the nearest solver to me!
    And there are two in Melbourne-and more I believe.
    We are not alone in our addiction!

  46. I see that lurkers are welcome too (!) and would like to add my name to the list. (To show my true colours, though, I should say that I am an ‘occasional contributor’ rather than a true lurker.)

    I very much hope to be there, but it does depend on whether my wife manages to get some mobility back after aggravating an injury to her knee a week ago. Prospects are cautiously good – for her and therefore for me.

    Unfortunately I cannot get there in time for the walking tour, so count me out of that.

    [PS. I haven’t attended this sort of event before, and you may have planned one or more crosswords and/or other brain exercises for the day, but I’d like to tell you that I have composed a couple of crosswords that I would very much like to offer to this solving community (at which they are aimed) at some point – if not on this occasion then perhaps at one of the other similar events taking place this year. I’m not a published setter, by the way, but I have some experience, and I’ve taken the trouble to get two experienced solvers to test these puzzles. If you need to see them I’ll gladly send them to you (the puzzles, not the solvers).]

  47. Alan @46.

    Years ago, Eileen suggested that it might be a good idea to blog puzzles that are especially written for these S&B events at Fifteensquared.
    As you can see from the ‘Sundry Puzzles’ category I have since (neutrally) blogged every single puzzle that was on offer during these meetings.
    If you are interested (and I’m sure you are), please send me an email at dalibor1@virginmedia.com .

    Meanwhile, the same applies to others who plan to provide one of their ‘brainchildren’ (yes, I know, never seen this pluralised …).
    But please, do not wait till the last moment but contact me before, say, Wednesday 10 May.

  48. Dear copmus@45,
    You live in a beautiful place!
    Please let me know if you are going to be on the Sunshine Coast at any time. I’d really like to have a cuppa and share crossword experiences. Great to know that there is a fellow Queenslander on the fifteensquared forum. Perhaps email me just in case we get to Townsville on our next cruise to northern waters. We have been as far as the Whitsundays many years ago, but only got to the Keppels last time. A sailing adventure further north has been planned but not yet actioned.
    Do you know who are the Melbourne-based solvers? I have jollyswagman, William and paddymelon in mind?
    Julie in Queensland, Australia
    julieallen53@hotmail.com

  49. Dear Valentine@10,
    Until I read this post, I did not realise you were a New Englander, though I was aware through your presence on the forum and your references to Americanisms that you live in the US.
    I will be in your part of the world in late September/early October.
    The plan is that my friend and I (both English teachers) will do about five days visiting the places of the poets and writers who are so special to us. We have a sketchy outline which includes Hartford (Mark Twain), Amherst (Emily Dickinson), various Robert Frost sites in Vermont and New Hampshire, Concord and Cambridge (Emerson, Thoreau, LM Alcott, Longfellow, ee cummings, TS Eliot), Harvard, a drive-by in Salem just for Arthur Miller’s sake; plus of course the Freedom Trail in Boston. Would love to get to Blackwood Pond too (Provincetown) as Mary Oliver is a big favourite. But what with taking some “leaf-peeping” opportunities in your “fall” along the way, we may be trying to do too much.
    Just let me know if you have any tips for the travellers from Down Under, or if you want to intersect for a cuppa and a chat about cryptic crossword experiences. Would love to meet you.
    Julie in Australia
    julieallen53@hotmail.com

  51. Thank you B & J, but it looks as if I shan’t be able to come after all (various problems after a recent fall). Enjoy yourselves!

  53. We are planning to arrive in time for the walking tour. How do we recognise Bert (Chris)? A newspaper open at the crossword?

    Looking forward to the day, sorry to hear you can’t make it JuneG.

  55. We’re sorry to hear that June and Steve won’t be able to make it – perhaps we’ll see you at the next one?

    In answer to Jenny and Charles @53 – Bert will be wearing red trousers and will be looking out for anyone who might be looking for him around the Costa booth!

  56. Thanks for the good wishes; look forward to seeing you all again in York (if not before and assuming no more accidents!). In the meantime, have a good time next week.

  57. I should be there all being well. My train’s due in at 11:00 so if it’s on time I’ll join you for the tour. Nottingham was my stamping ground back in the early ’90s so it’ll be good to see how the old place has changed.

  58. Richard @ 57: please let us know where you are coming from and Bert will wait for your train to arrive – provided it’s not more than 15 minutes late!

  60. I’d like to re-sign up, I no longer have to work this weekend. Should be at the Pitcher and Piano around 13:00.

  61. I think I will join the walk – might even learn something, and there is no rain on the weather forecast!
    As for post-event pubs, I was thinking about options and I realised that these days I very rarely venture into the city centre on a Saturday evening, so my expertise on which pubs are quiet enough to talk in is rather limited and out of date!

  62. In case you didn’t notice it in yesterday’s blog of the excellent Eccles Indy puzzle, Eccles is intending to come to the Nottingham S&B, but will not be around until after we have to leave the Pitcher and Piano. He did however make the following comment with regard to hostelries for later in the day, or on Friday evening for anyone who is around:

    “The best beer pub nearby is probably the King Billy on Manvers street, about a quarter of a mile away,away from town. Keans Head is just round the corner from the Pitcher and Piano, but is small. There is a Brew Dog pub in Hockley, but that will probably be very busy (as will all of Hockley).
    If anyone is around on Friday, a quick half may be in order?”

    We have to confess that we’ve never been to the King Billy – it looks to be a good traditional pub, but is in a slightly out-of-the-way location. Like beery hiker, we do not tend to frequent the city centre on a Saturday evening, so cannot really comment on the central area pubs. We have however sampled the Kean’s Head in the past – as Eccles says, it is very close to the Pitcher and Piano in the Lace Market area – it is small and will tend to fill up quickly – but it serves six cask ales and has a good reputation for both beer and food.

    There are several pubs with real ales on tap in Canal Street, out of the city centre area, but near the railway station – Fellows Morton and Clayton, Canalhouse, Via Fossa, Newshouse and, a little bit further away from the station, but in the same area, the Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which claims to be the oldest pub in the country, with rooms cut into the rock under the Castle.

    We’re sorry we won’t be seeing Daedalus, but pleased that beery hiker will be joining the walking tour and that SteveM can make it after all.

    Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday – we’re out all day tomorrow, but will check for any further messages tomorrow evening.

  63. Hi Bert, my train is due in at 11:00 exactly so I’ll dash to the Costa booth but if I’m not there by five-past please don’t feel obliged to hang around.

  64. While we are talking about pubs near the station, The Vat and Fiddle is the Castle Rock brewery tap, which is just down the hill – the beers are excellent and relatively cheap, and I will probably be there this evening.

  65. Hi BertandJoyce@62

    If the sun is shining the pubs you mention by the canal will be heaving, I used to frequent these on my way home from work, when I caught the train.

    I’d go along with beery hiker and say The VAT and Fiddle is a good bet. There are also several good/great pubs on Mansfield Road starting at the Peacock and including The Fleece, but alas these are a good 20-25 minutes walk from the railway station and around £5.00 in a cab. i know these as I now catch the Red Arrow express bus from Nottingham to Derby from the Victoria Centre as it is both cheaper and more reliable than East Midlands Trains ! If anybody is going to the Victoria Centre the Emmett clock therein, is still a good sight on the hour.

  67. I’ll also go along with the Vat and Fiddle. An excellent pub and very handy for the station.

  68. Hi Bert and Joyce
    I will be at the pitcher by 1200, I was hoping to make the tour but I have injured my leg
    So the walk to the pub will be enough exercise for me
    Cheers
    Geoff

  69. I’m very disappointed to be missing it, but: (i) I have been under lots of work pressure* recently, and I have much catching up to do at home and in the garden; (ii) Tess (that’s our dog, for anyone who’s forgotten) needs to be looked after, and we’re already going to be leaving her in the care of neighbours next weekend.

    Have a lovely day, everyone.

    * The good sort of pressure for the self-employed, i.e. too much to do, but lots of it.

  70. Hi, I’ll be coming along with a friend who lives in Nottingham, should get there around noon.
    Kate

  71. Thanks to “B&J” for organising a most enjoyable afternoon.

    Sorry that I had to dash off for a train without giving the quiz answers…

    LINKS: “WONKY FRUIT & VEG”
    (Link: Anagrams)

    1 LEMON (Liz in 30 Rock, Felicity in Agatha Melon
    Christie’s Poirot, Keith e.g. Celebrity Juice)
    2 MAY THE FOURTH Yam
    3 ONAGER Orange
    4 LAKE PLACID Kale
    5 MILE END Lime
    6 WEEDS Swede
    7 GIF Fig
    8 APE Pea
    9 RAPE Pear
    10 KEEL (Howard) Leek

    “E.T.”
    (Link: characters in Alien (1979) – the franchise’s new film Covenant was released on Friday)

    1 NOSTROMO The Spaceship
    Its crew: played by:
    2 RICKIE LAMBERT Veronica Cartwright
    3 KANE WILLIAMSON John Hurt
    4 (Aloysius) PARKER (Thunderbirds) Yaphet Kotto
    5 MOTHERCARE Helen Horton
    6 DALLAS (Dallas Fort Worth/Dallas
    Love Field) Tom Skerritt
    7 JEREMY BRETT Harry Dean Stanton
    8 FAY RIPLEY (Cold Feet) Sigourney Weaver
    9 ASH RINDS Ian Holm
    10 ALIENATED …what they were

    LINKS: “MOSTLY IMPRACTICAL”
    (Link: May 11 2002: end of Cats’ original West End run)

    1 YE OLDE CHESHIRE CHEESE Alice
    2 (Catherine,) DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE The Aristocats
    3 GARFIELD (US President James, Sobers,
    Andrew in The Amazing Spider Man (2012)) Jim Davis strip
    4 HEATHCLIFF based on Wuthering Heights Peter Gallagher strip
    5 VIENNA Rising Damp
    6 TOM BAKER/SYLVESTER McCOY Tom & Jerry/Looney Tunes
    7 FELIX BAUMGARTNER Silent film era
    8 MR /BAGGINS [Meet the Parents & … Fockers
    9 JINX/PUSSY GALORE & Pixie & Dixie/TV show
    10 DEUTERONOMY Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by
    TS Eliot, on which Cats is based
    Cat names:
    The Cheshire Cat/Duchess/Garfield/Heathcliff/Vienna/Tom Cat/ Sylvester J Cat/Felix the Cat/ Mr Jinx(ks)/Bagpuss/Old Deuteronomy

    Cheers,

    John

  72. Thanks to Bert & Joyce for organising, to John for the quizzes and to everyone else for another entertaining day…

  73. I should also have thanked Sil for blogging the puzzles – I have not had time to finish any of them so I don’t want to read the blogs yet.

  74. Many thanks to B&J (nee C&L) for organising such a great event. A really good time was had by this particular drunka- I mean crossword enthusiast, and I look forward to the next one. Cheers also to John H for the fun quiz (did my best ever on it – though might’ve had a little help from the quizmaster himself), and thanks to Sil for blogging – and the setters for setting – the specially made puzzles (though I only had the time to do two) for the day. Finally – and I swear I’m not watching the Baftas – thanks to everyone in attendance who made the event itself special. Much fun all round with the meeting and the chatting and the boozing and I’d thoroughly recommend it to anyone who’s never neen to a crossword do before. See you all at the next one, which, in a bus-like style, is Tuesday in London at The George in Southwark, I think.

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