The aim of this new group is to share different recipes that will give an alternative to meals with meat or fish and bring new ideas to menu planning.
The sessions will be a demonstration of a dish being prepared and then cooked, with comments and questions invited from the members watching. There will be time for socialising over a cup of tea or coffee and cookies before the dish is shared out and tasted by the members present.
The group will be limited to 40 members and will meet on the 4th Monday of the month, from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm, at St Peter and St Paul’s Church Hall on Ruffs Drive. There is car parking behind the hall or on Ruffs Drive.
Our April walk was at Attenborough nature reserve – starting at the main visitor centre car park, we followed a figure of 8 route, taking in much of the river path, as well as Attenborough village and the church yard.
This was an easy walk, and there were some signs of Spring approaching, although the weather was still a little on the cold side. We paused in the churchyard to look at the memorial for the workers who died in the Chilwell armaments factory explosion in 1918, not long before the end of the war.
We stopped at the picnic benches near the centre for our lunch break. Several of the birds were taking an interest in the sandwiches, in particular a persistent swan!
Our May walk will be a bit further afield at Calke Abbey, and will be led by Dave Kay and Kevin Varey. We are grateful to members who offer to plan and lead our walks, and more members are always welcome – use the Medium Walks tab on our website to get in touch via email.
Sixteen NSGOM met with our guide, Shaun, for the start of a Minster tour that would collapse nearly 1000 years of history into 75 minutes. While seated in the Norman Nave what comes to mind is, how did they bring sandstone from quarries in Mansfield and then construct a three-story building featuring columns 30ft in circumference? It took 50 years (more than an average lifespan at the time) The Minster revolved around the needs of the people, stained glass windows were used to tell stories. The finest example, made in 1528, displays four biblical events, the colours are clear and vibrant and the scenes have perspective. Much within the Minster displays the skill of medieval craftsmanship; in the Chapter House there are countless examples of naturalistic carvings. One of our group had to find the hidden pig! The craftsmen carved what they saw around them; they saw the mythical Green Man and the ‘leaves of Sherwood’.
Next came coffee and cake, in The Refectory.
The Minster is near to the road that linked London to York, had extensive forest, deer, the Trent and 4 natural springs; an ideal stopping off point for, ‘progresses’ going to York; consequently, The Archbishop’s Palace was built.
In the afternoon our two guides Christine and Patricia took us into the State Chamber. We were given a short history of the lives of Cardinal Wolsey and James i. In the Bishop’s Garden, we were able to visualise how The Palace might have looked, built around a central courtyard.
The volunteer guides, who appreciated the interaction and banter with our group, displayed passion for, and dedication to, their work; intertwining history with anecdotes and concluded with a poem; making the day a memorable experience.
PS. The guides intimated that NSGOM was an erroneous description of those present.
A smaller group than usual (due to our meeting clashing with other group’s activities) enjoyed an early Coronation Celebration Singalong, a quiz on Charles’s life and Celebration Cake at St. Peters & St Paul’s Church Hall.
The meeting in April saw us a little down on numbers as it was still Easter week and some were on holiday. A few are still ill, and we hope you are well again soon to join us.
We welcomed two new members which was lovely and we continued in French to recap on some basics and to further thoughts on food and eating out, which we reinforced with group role plays. Well done all!
We recapped a tad on numbers and next meeting on Thursday 11th may at 10.30 am in the JGC Byron Suite, John and Sue are kindly going to organise French bingo. We shall also watch a video clip on wine tasting.
