The dinner weekend started with some stunning UL ringing at Bow. This was followed by a visit to Ye Olde Watling. Much beer was consumed by all, although I wish I could purge from my memory the sight of Peter and Linda Jasper doing what brothers and sisters from Dorset do (have a good snog) throughout the evening. The alcohol might have had something to do with this event since by all reports Linda redecorated most of London on her way back to Wimbledon in an interesting well-known UL shade: ‘hint of vom’.
The peal band was not entirely successful on the Saturday morning at Wandsworth. After waiting 45 minutes for some keys we only managed to ring for 45 minutes. Luckily it was just in time for the pubs to open so, after a quick couple of pints and a round of Sambuca before midday, we got a bus to Queen’s Tower (getting there in time to have another quick one in the Zetland Arms). The dinner day quarter at Pimlico was far more successful with Laura Matheson ringing her first quarter peal for the Society. The dinner (superbly organised by Katie Town) was at the Calico again (amazingly they really wanted us to come back). The food and wine were great. Olly Cross was even seen having the vegetarian option, although it was rumoured he asked for a side dish of steak to go with it.
Winston Churchill once said: “There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you.” Well personally the speakers this year made it look ridiculously easy to make an after-dinner speech, although I am sure some UL members were seen attempting the two more difficult things later in the evening and being less than successful.
The speakers were:
- Roger Bailey (society)
- Simon Bond (visitors)
- Peter Jasper (dog speech)
After the speeches the UL moseyed on down to the dance floor, for some S Club, ABBA and other well known hits. I think the photos clearly indicate the general skills of the UL dancing through the night.
On the Sunday the Society rang a quarter peal of To The Pub Doubles at St Bart’s. This was to commemorate the spectacular last place achieved by the SUA band one year earlier, ringing the same method. The judges’ comment was: “Sounded more like From The Pub Doubles”.
Disclaimer:
Since it’s been almost been a year of nagging from Poodle and Jones for me to write this report, I decided I had to put a legal disclaimer on the report. This report contains my recollections of the weekend (some reconstructed from photos) and may not be entirely factually correct. Some events may be missing because I value my life> others may be clouded by the passage of time and much alcohol consumed during the evening. Some descriptions (e.g. stunning ringing) are purely opinions that may not be shared by everyone present at the event. If there is any inaccuracy in the report I hope it is so wildly inaccurate that it actually is more aesthetically pleasing to the reader.
By Quentin Jackson