20 to 23 November 2025 - Diary update

Thursday 20 November

The Aspire restaurant at South Trafford College. Another delicious meal with Paul and Jeanette.

We always seem to start with a cocktail

The paté starter followed some delicious bread that preceded the

gazpacho and bruschetta that we finished before my camera came out

 

Fish course - Cornish plaice, etc (all these courses look smaller than they appeared to be at the time

- we never go home hungry!)

Duo of lamb, etc

Duo of desserts, with double cream, then included in the £24.50 price is coffee and chocolates

We look forward to our next visit to this superb college restaurant.

Friday 21 November

Sue and Jenny went to lie in a sauna and swim in the sea at Criccieth.

They say they also did some yoga!

Saturday 22 November

While Sue was still playing at yoga, I enjoyed a 5km walk around Wythenshawe Park. It was their parkrun number 641 and it took place during a dry spell between showers. Full results are here. My time of 47:32 saw me in position 252 out of 264 - a nice gentle walk in full waterproofs.

Later - Jenny and Tim's (optional) black tie (I don't have one that fits) party at Hallé St Peters. A memorable occasion where we met a number of folk we'd not seen for some time. Many thanks for the invitation to this prestigious event.

Sunday 23 November

Sue and I met up with Phil and Sue for the Wilmslow 10km race. The Barbers were also there. A picture was taken before the start on a cool, showery morning.

I started from the back, with this rather long caterpillar.

With over 4000 starters, it took me about 8 minutes to reach the start once the race was under way. Not to worry, the 'chip' time is the one to go by. We finished with a couple more medals for Isabella to play with.

Our results are shown above. Paul and Laura had long gone by the time I finished, but the others kindly waited for me at the finish, where I jogged in just as the rain started. My first 5 km was about 35 minutes, the second 5km being 32 minutes. I was going quite well by the end!

Congratulations to Paul, who scraped home first in his age category.

Later:

After lunch, Sue and I went along to Sale Conservative Club to see Hootin' Annies Big Band, in which my son Mike is the resident guitarist. It was a great afternoon, with prestigious guest trumpeter, composer and arranger Mark Armstrong, together with singers Jenny Capstick and Dave Bredley completing the line up. They are next on at Sale on Sunday 7 December. All welcome.