February 2011
TaffMog’s Winter Weekend, 2010 was a great success, in spite
of the fact that severe weather conditions in the form of heavy snow prevented
3 couples from attending.
53 members, from as far afield as Derbyshire, Kendal and
Surrey arrived at the Marriott St. Pierre Hotel, Chepstow on Friday, 3rd
December to make a full weekend of it, including both our Chairman, Brian Lee
and his wife Jean and our Vice Chairman, Andrew Hirst and his partner, Sara.
The hotel was most comfortable and the staff couldn’t have done more to help.
The Friday evening was an informal affair, with everyone
enjoying their meal in the Zest Restaurant. This set the friendly scene for the
weekend. After breakfast on Saturday we set off on one of Stuart & Jackie’s
scenic runs to Tintern for a light lunch at the Abbey Mill. Here we were joined
by two more couples. Then it was back to St. Pierre for the customary mince pie
reception, by which time the rest of our party had arrived, making 65 members
in all.
The Saturday night was, as customary, a formal occasion and
the ladies, as always, looked stunning while their partners looked like
gentlemen. Thank you to Caroline, who had again provided us with an odd ode
that summed up the year’s activities and got the evening off to a good start.
The meal was followed by a slide show, which eventually
worked, thanks to the help of Stuart, Carl, one of the hotel staff and the guy
in charge of the disco. Not a problem really! Then came our famous charity
raffle. We were fortunate to have been
given some excellent prizes by our web site sponsor, Newtown Motors of Cwmbran
as well as by the Morgan Motor Company and the St. Pierre Hotel itself.
Together with donations made in lieu of distributing Christmas cards, we raised
over £500 for the MS Society’s Therapy Centre in Swansea. Dancing then
continued until the early hours.
A run on Sunday morning took us to Llancaiach Fawr Manor
House near Nelson (Mid-Glam.) for tea & coffee before being escorted on a
tour of this magnificent 16th Century building by staff who appeared
to have stepped right out of that era.
The weekend ended here with a carvery lunch before members
bade their farewells and headed for home.
I am grateful to Stuart & Jackie for all their help in
making the weekend a success.
We will be heading to foreign climes for next year’s event
at the Salford Hall Hotel, near Stratford upon Avon.
Nick & Elizabeth’s noggin had to be held in daughter,
Katherine’s house due to building work at their own home. Sixteen members
turned up and were warmly greeted with mulled wine to take the chill off the
evening. Peter took over the bar and made sure that no one went thirsty. A lot
of time and effort had gone into the preparation of the food, which we all
thoroughly enjoyed. My only problem was that I couldn’t do justice to the
desserts – there were just too many of them – although I did try, as did
everyone else. A big thank you goes to Nick, Elizabeth & Katherine for a
most pleasant evening.
The final meeting of the year for TaffMog was the Christmas
dinner at Usk. Thank you, Jackie, for organising this once again. The evening
was well attended in spite of some members being away on holiday and others
with works parties or legs in plaster or even heads wrapped with vinegar and
brown paper. Our members no longer seem to just bounce when they fall over!
Let’s hope Jackie and Mollie make full and speedy recoveries.
Rob & Kay tried to give the impression of feeling guilty
about winning BOTH the raffle prizes. They wouldn’t qualify for RADA on that
performance but they were very generous in sharing the Ferrero Rocher and
considering (just) opening the whisky.
By the time you read this we will have held our AGM and
should have a full programme in place for the year. Full details will be
forwarded to all members and will also appear on our website.