Probus Christmas Lunch 2017
The Clifton Park Hotel  -  Thursday 14 December

 

Another very successful Christmas Lunch, but this time at the Clifton Park Hotel.  As you'll know, there had been some rumbling dissatisfaction for a while with the Chadwick, the main problems being the heavy pillars in the dining room, which tended to isolate some tables from others, and the food and service, which were the most complained about.  A small team was tasked with finding a suitable alternative venue and given a shortlist of the Glendower, the Clifton Park and the Bedford.  I wouldn't entertain the Bedford, since it had treated us so badly when we used it for the President's Get-Together in 2014, so Elfyn Gittins, Mike Bell and I surveyed the other two and agreed the Clifton Park was the better, although its big disadvantage was its almost non-existent car parking.

But what was particularly gratifying this year's event  was that we had 58 attendees in all, about the same as last year (when every previous year had seen a small drop in numbers) and an especially good statistic this time was that no one at all had to drop out.  Last year we had a record number of people who couldn't attend at the last minute, making it impossible to refund them.

Thanks to everyone who let me know what they'd thought of it.  The vast majority were very enthusiastic.  There were a few niggles with other things, but we'll address these with the management when we make arrangements for this year's Christmas Lunch.  The expected problem with car parking didn't turn out to be nearly as bad as we'd thought, perhaps because - knowing it could be difficult - quite a few chose to use taxis.

Many thanks to all those who supported the event by being there!  It was an excellent atmosphere.  And, of course, thanks to all those who helped the party along.

We're back there this year, but we've had to move to a Friday (instead of our traditional Thursday) because the hotel is hosting special events on all the Thursdays we could use.  So this year's date is Friday, 14 December - do keep it free in your diaries!

Cliff Elliott
Scial Secretary

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