Well, Groupies, here we are once more in the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. How time dost flieth. Hope you're all fit, well and enjoying life.

We kick off with Adrian's event, 'The Hollies' at Gawsworth on 7th August. 10 enthusiasts went along on this occasion and for once, the weather was gorgeous. A picnic on the sun-drenched lawns put everyone in party mood and they were swinging long before The Hollies even arrived! (I use the term 'swinging' loosely folks in the context of the 'swinging' sixties.) Then the Hollies came on and gave a complete rendition of all their greatest hits and weren't there a lot of them? They finished off with brilliant performances of 'He Ain’t Heavy, he's my Brother' and 'The Air that I breathe.' I am told that there was only one original member, Tony Hicks (now 64) whilst Billy Elliott, the drummer (68 and looking

good) joined a year later in 1963. The rest joined the Group between 1986 and 2004 but it didn't really matter when they joined, it was a great night, enjoyed by all who attended.

Then on 8th August, again at Gawsworth, Jan organised tickets for 'The Magic of Abba.' Again, the weather was perfect and we picnicked all afternoon. Some members then went for a tour round the house and those who didn't, spent their time chatting and socialising. The band was very lively right from the start and people were dancing on the lawns as well as in their seats. Apparently there was one drunken extrovert who looked like a kebab seller, (nothing to do with our select well-behaved lot), who conducted the audience from the lawn. Bet he had a sore head the next day!

On 15th August, Lynn organised a Thai buffet at the Chilli Banana in Wilmslow. 20 gourmets booked for this culinary delight and 19 of them enjoyed sampling the various components of this 4 course banquet. One, who shall be nameless as he's shy, stuck to good old fish and chips - whatever turns you on, Geoff, I say! Anyroad up, there was a nice atmosphere all evening and so the Chilli Banana turned out to be not so chilly after all!

Again on the foodie front, a meal at The Lime Tree Restaurant attracted 12 people on 29th August. Jan arranged this one and as usual, it was a very nice 3 course meal and excellent value to boot and after everyone was replete, they all adjourned to David's for coffee and a nosey round his flat.

On 5th September, Mike (Longden) organised a hot pot supper at The Thieves’ Neck (Davenport Arms to the uninitiated.) A whopping 28 people went along on this occasion and had a very nice time and although the food was very tasty there were comments that a sweet would have been nice as well. Still, nowt's perfect and apart from the fact that the women far outweighed the men, a good time was had by all. (Particularly the men!)

Now for the walks’ reviews:

On 9th August, our venerable leader, Roger, led a walk from Whaley Bridge, along the canal and up to Black Rocks beside the Moorside Hotel. 13 people joined him on this lovely, sunny day and were rewarded with great views and great camaraderie. Our best mate from Doncaster, 'Gentleman' John Holmes led a walk on 16th August, from Black Rocks at Cromford (a different set of black rocks from last week however) to Wirksworth. On the journey to Cromford, when our merry band reached Matlock Bath, we were amazed to see 100's and 100's of scooters all in pristine condition with lots of mirrors and shiny accoutrements on them, holding up the traffic but did we care, not a bit, they just looked so magnificent that we just sat there in our cars with engines overheating, totally enraptured! It was a lovely day again and 9 people joined him for this picturesque walk with some great views. Sandwiches were eaten in the fresh air at Middleton Top and at the end of the walk some people, who are no doubt on diets at present, went for yet more tea and cakes at a local caff. Satisfying or what?

On 23rd August, in place of Roger Griffiths' walk, Roger P. did a stroll in Lyme Park for non-walkers. However, it bucketed down with rain and although 12 turned up, only 9 braved the elements as 3 found the rain too heavy to get to the boot of their cars for their waterproofs! However, later, the rain eased off and the remaining 9 had a very pleasant walk up to Lyme Hall for coffee.

Derek and Ian, our popular walks 'duo', attracted 8 people for their 8 mile walk around South Head, Chinley and Chinley Churn on 30th August. Rain was forecast (when isn't it) but it actually remained dry for the duration of this very pleasant walk which included 2 steep inclines. A nice meal at The George Hotel finished off the walk in fine fashion.

Again, on 6th September 4 walkers joined our leader, Roger, on the circular walk around the perimeter of Lyme Park on a very nice day. The reason for the depletion in numbers was that the group who are going to the murder mystery weekend in Llandudno are also walkers and on that day they were heading not for Lyme Park but to Chad's Theatre to get costumes for said murder mystery weekend. It didn't matter; the faithful four had a great walk in nice weather and cosy camaraderie was the order of the day.

9 enthusiasts joined Graham on his walk in beautiful Dovedale on 13th September. Although Graham was 5 minutes late (you should get Julie to set the alarm clock a bit earlier, Graham) it didn't spoil a thing as it gave the rest something to talk about while they waited for him to arrive and aren't they glad they waited. It was a nice day weather-wise and everyone enjoyed a lovely bracing walk in this delightful area.

On 20th September, Derek led yet another walk, this time around the Goyt Valley area. On this occasion 5 stalwarts turned up on a sunny day and were rewarded with some great views from the top. Again this was quite a hard walk which is probably why only the bravest turned up. The meal at The Cat and Fiddle pub was at the end of the walk so all they had to do then was fall into their cars and drive home, knackered but happy. Oh, I forgot, apparently there was a bikers’ convention at The Cat and Fiddle and so the only lady on the walk was treated to the sight of lots of macho bikers in tight leather gear. Oops, throw a bucket of water over me!

Now for the 'thank you's’.

On the entertainment front, our thanks go to Adrian, Jan (twice), Lynn, Mike Longden and Chris for taking

the time to organise events on our behalf.

On the walking front, thanks to Roger (twice), 'Gentleman John', Derek/Ian (twice) and last but certainly not least, Graham (even though he was 5 minutes late), for keeping our thighs honed to perfection. Thanks also to Tom, to the Saturday evening greeters, to Brendan and Guy, to David, to Pam and to anyone else who has wittingly or unwittingly added to our enjoyment for the last 2 months. And so it's goodbye from me for another 2 months - see you around Christmastime.