Lunch Club 2

The U3A Lunch club was originally started by Mary and eventually became too big so was split into two groups. The second was run very well by Jenny but pressure of work forced her to step down and I was asked to take over until some one else was found; 3 years later I am still here and it is surprisingly as popular as ever!

What is the Lunch Club? It is simply an excuse for a group of friends to meet on the 3rd Friday of each month to enjoy a pub meal and good conversation in each others company. Over the years some have left and some have joined and we now have about 20 members.

We started off keeping to local venues but nowadays, although we still go to local old favourites we now spread our tendrils further afield and since we encourage car sharing the journey is not usually a problem. There is no itinerary for visits because at each lunch we take suggestions for the next meeting and democratically decide. Two weeks before the next lunch all members are emailed or phoned with the details, and numbers are gathered so that I can book tables.

We have been to some picturesque pubs: our last meal of 2010/11 season was at ‘The Noah’s Ark’ in the Sussex village of Lurgashall; a very pretty old inn beside the village green. On a warm summers day we enjoyed a pre lunch drink in the well kept garden but with clouds rolling in we decided to lunch inside this beautiful ancient inn.

A very good lunch was had at ‘The Donkey’ at Tilford, ‘The Squirrel’ Hurtmore also ‘The White Lion’ Milford, ‘The Winterton Arms’ and ‘The Star’ at Chiddingfold. One of our favourites was ‘The Sir Roger Tichborne’ at Loxwood another very old and beautiful place as was ‘The Stag’ at Eashing.

Most of the time we all enjoy the fare on offer, fortunately there have not been any disasters so far and most pubs have been considered worth a second visit in the future.

If all the existing members enrol again we will have reached the limit of numbers that can reasonably be coped with but I will start a waiting list. So whether you are a member of the Lunch Club or not I wish you all ‘Bon Appetit’ and an enjoyable new season with the U3A

Richard Whitaker