A message from John Henderson

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Jane and I would like to thank everyone for making the (first) Sloggers and Betters York weekend such an amazing event. We were 22 on the Friday pub quiz crawl and exactly sixty in number at the main event on Saturday in the Fox and Roman, whose staff excelled themselves in hospitality, organisation and (most importantly!) food and drink. We were sorry that Geoff (Gaufrid) and Chris (Samuel) were unable to make it to the event.

If you’d like to try the puzzle that was distributed on the day please click here. The solution can be found here.

And if anyone lost a pair of glasses in a green case, please get in touch!

 

22 comments on “A message from John Henderson”

  1. Thanks for all your efforts John and Jane – as you say the Fox and Roman did a great job. Saturday was hugely enjoyable – I wish I’d been able to make the Friday too – maybe next time.

  2. Thanks to you and Jane, John. Lovely afternoon, and nice to meet some new as well as old faces.

    My money on is on Sil van den Hoek as the owner of the pair of lost glasses.

  5. @ almw3 – what, lost glasses?
    Thanks for a cracking event, J&J, hugely enjoyable. And a very happy birthday to you, John.

  6. Indeed, thanks to J-squared for organising such a lovely event, with a particularly tough picture quiz! Great peeps, food, ale and puzzles. What more could one want? And HB2J.

  7. My thanks to J and J for organising a splendid event, and also to all the people (old faces and new) who helped to make it such fun. I had a really good time (in my case on Saturday and Sunday as well). Worth the long train ride to and from Cardiff. Best to all.

  8. Thanks to John & Jane for a terrific event. Terrified by the puzzle and the picture quiz.

    Nice to meet up with some old friends.

  9. Our first S&B and we agree with all the positive comments above. Thanks to J&J for the warm welcome. Still struggling with the Elgar puzzle though, even when sober.

    Dave & Linda

  10. Cath & I thank you too, indeed the calm down session on the Sunday was a pleasant way to end. Pity I didn’t get to talk to half the attendees.

  11. Thanks to the two J’s. It was a really enjoyable day with good food, good company and proper beer.
    Ron & Kath

  13. Thanks to everyone, especially John and Jane, who made Saturday an enjoyable get-together.

    It was good to see old faces and new.

    The venue was a good choice as others have also mentioned – please pass on our thanks to them.

  15. Hi John,

    My weekend itinerary:
    Friday pm: 6.00 Lift from home to Belfast; 10.30 ferry to Birkenhead
    Saturday am: 7.30 lift to York; 11.00 arrive at pub
    Saturday pm: 5.15 cab to York station; 5.40 train to Liverpool; 10.30 ferry to Belfast
    Sunday am: 6.30 cab to Belfast bus station; 8.30 bus to Derry-Londonderry; 10.15 lift home; 10.35 arrive home.

    All that for six hours in the pub – “was it worth it?” they ask. Of course it was and I’ll be back again next year.

    Highlight: talking to Eric Westbrook – much more interesting than talking Norwegian to my dog!
    Lowlight: unable to make sense of the picture quiz 🙁 but the “Landlord” might have had something to do with it.

  17. I heartily agree with everyone’s comments about Saturday’s get-together in York. To meet new friends known only by their pseudonyms online up till now was the real thrill (PeeDee, Beeryhiker, Poins, especially)and of course to meet old friends once more was just as good. I am now looking forward to meeting some of them again later next month at my crossword event at Budock Hotel in Cornwall.

    Thanks to John and Jane for their hard work organising and hosting the event — when shall we all meet again?

  18. @kenmac (15) You put my excuse, that York was too far for a day trip, to shame. But, then, you didn’t have to travel on our overcrowded trains. 🙂 MikeC did it from Cardiff. Now I feel embarrassed.

    I agree that chatting with Eric is always a highlight at these meets – REM, I’ll need to order my 3D Crossword Calendar online because I usually buy it at the autumn S&B get-togethers.

    I need some vicarious ‘joining-in’ – did anyone take photos? Jane?

  19. Belated thanks to John & Jane – a bit like my belated arrival, 4pm Saturday. Worth it even so. Next time, I’ll try not to get double booked, and make a proper weekned of it.

  20. Jan @18 – Big Dave was taking pictures, so they will probably appear somewhere in due course (I haven’t checked his site). Thanks for the kind words Tom @17 – I’m sure I’m not the only one looking forward to your Christmas special, so good luck with finishing that.

  21. Yes, these glasses were mine – well spotted, Peter.
    Perhaps I will see them again at the next crossword meeting – or not.
    Never mind, they were quite cheap.

    I already told John, with a reason, what I thought about this meeting: awesome!!
    Wish I could have made it the night before.

    Unfortunately, I was hopeless in explaining to some why BBC 4’s Detectorists is the best ever comedy show since The Office, which was the best since Blackadder, which was probably the best since Python.

    I liked it so much in York that I decided to miss the train I booked back to Durham (where I don’t live but where I stayed for a week until today).
    The later train added even more to the fun.
    Twenty nine minutes late, a woman constantly crying while texting , two men snorking, one person not having a ticket forced to pay over 60 pounds, two others sitting in the wrong train, six others having a birthday party, one man walking up and down talking to himself using the word f*****g about seven times per minute.

    Truly fantastic crossword party.
    Bad news though was that on the very same day the great Jack Bruce passed away.

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