16th July: Chairmans day out.
The annual care in the community day took place with the Chairman's Mystery tour leaving the sunny platforms of Runcorn to head for destinations unknown.
The usual carer rate of one Robert to 4 was exceeded, so we were OK to go! There was a difficult moment when we lost Roy in his "only you can see me Jeff" jacket, but we soon bumped into him again. It would have been a sorry tale if whilst on his first real outing with the carers, we could not have seen the "Blond" (his words) recent retiree enjoy the day.


"Only you can see me..."                      Duncan taking his "medicine"

A train, a tram and a steam train saw the crew end up in Ramsbottom, where Robert endured a tricky uphill jaunt, nifty fifties style, to the top of Peel Road (I think), where the Chair had selected the Eagle and Child as the venue for dinner (or lunch, depending upon education and where you were brought up) The food was very good, with a fine selection of beverages and of course, Robert had the pudding he had dreamed of at the bottom of the hill. Many thanks to Greg, Rosie and the staff for putting up with a group of seniors with trouble on their mind!

The Eagle and Child

"Pudding"- make your own jokes..

An obvious discussion on....

Enjoying the country air

The return journey proved as beneficial to assuring good hydration as the leaving. Robert seemed to have misplaced a bottle of Red in the prior hours only for it to arrive mysteriously in the luggage rack of our return steam train on the East Lancs Railway. It had travelled well and ensured that no-one became dehydrated on the short journey back to Bury.
Once ensconced in the Trackside bar of the East Lancs Railway, the party sampled the copious number of craft beers and various snacks and pies that were on sale.

East Lancs Railway Trackside Bar

With control of the group now gone, The Chair told them the tram was every 12 minutes back to the urban reality of Manchester and beyond. The group decided that they were not going to endure the rush hour and "it's better to stay here and enjoy the beer."
Thoroughly rehydrated, the care team led the way with a dishevelled Robert leading the peloton back to Bury tram interchange.
A very enjoyable day, missed most of the rain (by staying in the pub!) and all returned safely. The current Chair, being in his final year hands on the baton to whoever else want s to pick it up and lead the care in community trip next year and beyond...

24th June - How Tickled We Were
A night of scriptwriting for comedy legends. We were lucky enough to have amongst us some comedy gold. A rich vein of talent, seen by so few,  Roy Dixon; a friend of one of the meetings stalwarts, Keith, came along to give us a talk on his life as a scriptwriter for comedic legends such as Ken Dodd.
Roy's early years working in local newspapers and then the move into commercial script writing gave us an insight into the life of both comedian and their back room boys, grafting away at the typewriter or scribbling on fag packets to get a laugh for the guy out front.
Working at short notice, sometimes minutes from deadline, a very entertaining evening with many questions asked by the floor. Thanks Roy