April

Hooray it's Dinner Club time again and this month we have set our sights on the Fleece Inn, a popular pub situated on the edge of the picturesque hills in Holme, near Holmfirth. After a short car journey down windy roads we pulled up in the pub car park feeling optimistic  as the scenery really is beautiful and the pub looks welcoming.

We were  seated at a table in a cosy corner near the bar where we perused the menu. The Fleece Inn offers an a la carte dinner menu as well as a good choice of daily specials on the chalk board.  As we were served our nicely presented meals we quickly realised that this was more than just pub food, it was delicious and definitely more of a restaurant standard.  As we tucked into our dinner, the atmosphere in the dining room was freindly and relaxed, the service great, nothing was too much trouble. Despite the fact that it was really busy, the lady serving us still made time chat which put us at ease straight away.


Our conversation drifted from cake decorating, there had been a lot of birthdays and therefore opportunities for Catherine and I to practice our new hobby, to the Royal wedding. We discussed what we thought Kate Middleton's dress would be like, and the horrors of Diana's! And of course Prince William's receeding hairline came under scrutiny.


So finally to my Theme which was 'The Intellectual Dinner Club Desert Island Discs'. We have covered many topics so far during our time at the Intellectual Dinner Club, but music hadn't yet made an appearance, so I thought it was time for us to share our taste in music by choosing eight songs that represent different times in our lives. I was intrigued to hear what my fellow Witches would choose and how it would reflect their personalities.  Everyone found it really hard to narrow it down to just eight, Caroline declared that it was like having to decide which child to rescue in a disaster!


However the ladies didn't disappoint, some totally excellent song choices appeared and also some really surprising ones.  I cracked up when Catherine chose George Michael's 'Fast Love' and I don't think anyone saw my Gypsy Kings' 'Bambeleo' coming either! Ha ha! I enjoyed learning about Caroline's rock chick side to her personality and felt culturally educated by Amanda's choices, which she actually played snippets of on her fancy laptop.  

Those cool dudes The Gypsy Kings

  It turns out that looking back on our lives through music  showed us what a big part of your life it plays and that  listening to a song can immediately transport you back to another time and place.  


We left the Fleece  fairly late feeling full and happy and already looking forward to next time...

Phoebe x

March

There was a touch of warmth in the air this evening. Could spring be almost upon us? I took the rhubarb sprouting in my garden as a positive sign.

Tonight we were going to be seated in the 'dining room' part of 'The Riverhead Brewery'; ie 'The Riverhead Dining Room'. As we entered the bar the noise of happy drinkers washed over us. Pubs may be closing every week at an alarming rate but this place is certainly bucking the trend.

We took our places at the upstairs table but the seating arrangement was going to be a cause for some distress. It was rectangular and set with 3 places down one side and 2 down the other. Danni was at the end, seated across from nobody, and she wasn’t happy with the arrangement. She wasn’t in the best of moods anyway this evening due to a lack of monetary funds, and the unhelpful waitress who didn’t obligingly re-arrange the furniture wasn’t helping to calm troubled waters. If it hadn’t been for this little problem, I’m sure the evening would have been perfect. The décor is warm and comfortable with wooden flooring and soft lighting; and the food is absolutely delicious - I opted for the ‘stuffed pheasant breast + roast loin of venison’. It took a while as I’m a slow eater but I cleared my plate and savoured every mouthful.

As conversation resumed, the burning question on my lips this evening was ‘Who was your favourite – Starsky or Hutch?’. For me it’s always been Starsky. I can remember walking to school when I was about 8 yrs old and pretending I was his girlfriend. Phew, all this talk was making the room very hot and much wafting of menus was needed to cool us down. This almost spelled disaster as the air currents caused our candle to be blown out and we were temporarily without ‘ambience’.

I was very excited about tonight’s theme which I had called ‘Oh Glorious Ingerland’ and posed the question, what does England mean to you? It had been a thought provoking theme and set everyone to thinking about this place we call home. Catherine and Phoebe had both taken a trip to York to immerse themselves in the history of it’s streets; Caroline had questioned whether she wanted to remain in a place that tied itself up into so many bureaucratic knots; Dannii surveyed her family and friends to see where they felt Yorkshire fitted into the scheme of things; and I dealt with my ambivalence by recognising what I love about my country as well as where it disappoints. Some wonderful work was produced and we debated until we were the only ones left in the restaurant.

And so another meeting draws to a close. Goodnight, sleep tight. X

Amanda