Social Events at Woodlands 2015
Canal Boat Cruise
On the morning of the canal cruise the wind was blowing a gale and it was pouring with rain.., not a good start for trip from Chichester Basin! But by 1pm the weather had improved and by the time we embarked on our boat, the "Richmond", the sun was out.
We spent a couple of very pleasant hours cruising along the canal whilst being served cream teas and cakes. There was plenty of wildlife to be seen along the way, including Herons, Cootes, Swans and Ducks, as well as watching people boating or strolling along the towpath. We had the opportunity to go up on deck to where the Captain was steering and we had a stop at Munden in order to stretch our legs and see the scenery from the towpath. With the fine weather and excellent company, it made a perfect Sunday afternoon!
Summer Get Together
Once again John & Jean Cornelius were kind enough to let us have the use of their house and garden for our summer get together, and so, on a sunny afternoon in July we all gathered in their lovely garden for an afternoon of fun.
Although the weather was not as hot as we would have hoped for, quite a few hardy souls...., inclusing Dave, Deirdre & George braved the elements to test the swimming pool. Leading this team was Laurie Fountain who demonstrated his (now famous) underwater swimming skills while fighting George. After feasting on a meal of fish and chips brought from Oscars, and lots of scrumptious cakes and deserts made by Barbara, we all had a go at exercising out brains by trying to solve a quiz. This was followed by a raffle where almost everyone won a prize.
It was a lovely afternoon which we all enjoyed and our thanks go to John & Jean for the use of their lovely house and garden, to Barbara for her delicious puddings and to Nikki and George for all the hard work in organising the day.
Woodlands THIRD Annual Golf Day, 15th May
Once again held at the beautiful Hill Barn Golf course in Worthing.
What a success this annual event has turned out to be, growing year on year, with 21 players taking part this time. Whilst the weather was not as warm & sunny as previous events, it was dry all day & considering the awful weather the day before we had to count ourselves very lucky.
The course has very many interesting holes, some very demanding hills, including Heart Attack Hill, with its sponsor of the next hole by Ian Hart Undertakers. There are holes that have many bunkers & our chairman found most of them, they were like magnets, his golf ball & the bunker.
David Parr, who puts so much time & energy into the organising of the day, worked his wonders again with sorting out the teams as fairly as possible, (very difficult when you do not know everyone’s ability). When all the scores were in over the 7 teams there were only 7 points difference between the first & last teams. So very well done again David.
David Parr’s team had an Eagle on one hole which was brilliant & others has birdies. Talking of birdies, how wonderful it was to hear all the different birds singing away to their hearts content all around the course.
At the end, after a meal of ham egg & chips followed by coffee, David Parr that presented the prizes. The runners up were John Rowlands, Ian Burgess & Jock Black with a score of 79 & the winners were Bob Clark, Andy Bayford & Dave Richardson with 77.
Everyone said how much they enjoyed the day & hoped that we will be doing the same again next year.
Spring Ramble, Sunday 19th April
Ten brave souls joined in the Spring Ramble, organised as always by Ken Line, including Valerie Bacon, John Rowlands and Caryl & Paul Prior who joined a club walk for the first time. We met in the beautiful village of Slindon at the Old Forge which has been restored to a lovely shop and cafe all run by the locals.
Ken led us through the village and out into open fields and up hills to an old folly where, from this vantage point we could see right out to the Isle of Wight. We then walked through Slindon Woods and viewed a First World War Incinerator.
The weather was perfect and the ground dry which made for easier walking. The whole walk was very interesting, hearing a woodpecker and seeing wood anemones, a horse and rider and someone running past us at quite a pace.
The circular walk brought us back into the village and to the cafe where we had a drink, a bite to eat and a good chat.
Another great day with Ken to whom we were very grateful.
Christmas Evening, December 19th 2014
Some 35 members gathered at the Littlehampton venue for the Club's Christmas evening.
The evening started with some friendly competitive games loosely based on table tennis which brought out the competitive spirit but also were the source of great hilarity.
After a break for some splendid refreshments one and all joined in a singalong of Christmas music organised and well supported by Joanna Hanson at the piano.
During the evening memento plaques were presented to all persons who had been selected as Club person of the year since its inception.
There was general agreement that the whole evening was very happy and friendly.
