Embedded Files
As we move from year to year, this is where you'll find older news and articles. The current year's news will be on the Home page.
19/12/2024
This year, we had our Christmas Lunch in Neilston Bowling Club, combined with the ladies of the Neilston Golden Girls. Apart from a really nice buffet lunch, there were entertainments including a singer, a ceildh band and even dancing. More details here.
13/12/2024
With our excellent chef John not available and Raymond having an alternative appointment, 15 of us opted to go to The Pad for a full breakfast, which was very nice as always.
6/12/2024
After a breakfast roll and hot drink in Neilston Bowling Club, we headed down to Lochy's in Barrhead for an hour of pool. More details soon.
29/11/2024
We had a bit of a quiet week and just had a breakfast roll, hot drink and some friendly chat in Neilston Bowling Club.
22/11/2024
As an alternative to the planned Glasgow Central Station tour, which was cancelled, we had an interesting tour of the Glasgow City Chambers instead. More details and photos here.
15/11/2024
We had a reasonable turn out this week as John McLean was back and cooked us another one of his full breakfasts, which was very tasty as usual.
Our mountaineer Alec is a bit unwell so we all wish him well and hope he's back with us again soon.
8/11/2024
With our chef John unwell this week, it was down to Raymond, Ronnie and myself (mostly Raymond and Ronnie) to make the breakfast rolls.
1/11/2024
With Raymond just back from being rained very heavily on in Spain and not a lot of time to arrange a more academic outing, we opted for a quick breakfast roll and hot drink in Neilston Bowling Club, and then back down to Lochy's in Barrhead for another game of pool.
We haven't gotten any better since last time but we all had another enjoyable hour of pool. More details and a few more pics here.
18/10/2024
After a quick breakfast roll and hot drink in Neilston Bowling Club (welcome back chef John), we went down to Lochy's in Barrhead for a game of pool.
All reports point to it being an enjoyable outing, which we're likely to repeat regardless of how appalling some of us are at pool. More details, pics, and videos here.
11/10/2024
We had meeting in Neilston Bowling Club where, after a mix up with the sausage order and with chef John on holiday, we found out to cook and make our own rolls on sausage and tattie scones. 🧑🍳
We also welcomed in new member, Billy.
4/10/2024
We had a another longer-distance outing this week that saw us taking the train to Dundee, courtesy of Scotrail's Friends and Family discount, for a visit to Discovery Point and the V&A Museum. More details and photos here.
20/9/2024
An early start saw us some of us take the train to Greenock for a visit to the Scottish Fire Brigades Heritage Trust. More details here.
13/9/2024
We had a tasty breakfast at Neilston Bowling Club, then headed into Glasgow for a tour of Bridgeton Bus Garage, home of the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust. More details on that here.
13/9/2024
We had a short committee meeting where member Phil Reilly agreed to join the committee as treasurer (proposed by Raymond Kerr, seconded by Allan Ogg). Raymond to pass all relevant paperwork to Phil and Allan to liaise with Phil regarding getting him access to our online files.
11/9/2024
We had a committee meeting to discuss the way forward, given our treasurer Steve Pettigrew's resignation. Raymond will talk to the bank regarding any necessary changes that need made. Steve has passed all the relevant paperwork and files to us so we're now looking for a new treasurer.
7/9/2024
Our treasurer, Steve Pettigrew, has decided to step down from that role. Many thanks to Steve for all the work he's done for us from the group getting set up, applying for grants, and managing our finances until now.
6-7/9/2024
We had two meetups this week.
One on Friday for a breakfast roll in Neilston Bowling Club and on Saturday, some of us headed down to Ayr for The International Ayr Show - Festival of Flight. More details and some pics from that here.
30/8/2024
We had a meeting at Neilston Bowling Club along with a roll and hot drink and we discussed our various ongoing grant funding applications. Many thanks again to John McLean for cooking the snacks - very tasty.
It looks like NWL have agreed to give us basic funding for three years and we also have an application in to VAER for additional funding, which we're hoping will help us get out and about. Both of these grants come with some conditions and restrictions so we may have to cut our cloth a bit to suit these and possibly self-fund a few more special outings, as we have already done for some.
We're very lucky to have people in the committee like Raymond, Steve and Jim that are good at negotiating group discounts and sourcing cheap rail tickets as we did for our Millport, Waverley, Oban and Dundee trips.
We're also looking for more suggestions for things that the group can do in the coming year so we'll draw up a list of what we have pending and have a scout around for other possibilities.
23/8/2024
After a quick breakfast roll in The Pad, we headed into Glasgow for another game of snooker at Reardon's Southside. Until I get some copy from those in attendance, there are a few more photos here.
16/8/2024
We had a meeting at Neilston Bowling Club, where we had another excellent breakfast (thanks to John, Steve and Raymond) with sausage, black pudding, fruit pudding, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, potato scones, toast, and beans.
9/8/2024
We headed into Glasgow for a game of snooker and a chippy lunch. Much fun was had at the tables and much food was eaten at the chippy. More details here.
2/8/2024
We had a meeting at Neilston Bowling Club, where we had another mid-morning sandwiches and cake spread with tea and coffee (thanks to John, Steve and Raymond).
We discussed plans for getting to the Bute Highland Games on the 24th and another attempt at getting to the Vikingar! Visitor Attraction in Largs.
We also welcomed in another new member.
26/7/2024
With quite a few of us attending a local funeral, we had a full breakfast in Neilston Bowling Club. We also had a visit from Anne Marie Kennedy and Janice Connery from Community Transport East Renfrewshire, who offer a range of transport services to the community. More details here.
19/7/2024
At last, we made it onto the Waverley for a trip "Doon the Watter" to Rothesay. It was a long but very enjoyable day. More details here.
16/7/2024
Given the high pollen counts we're currently experiencing, we've added some resources for tracking that to the Air Quality and Water Safety section on our Health and Wellbeing page.
12/7/2024
With quite a few of us on holiday, unwell or otherwise occupied, 14 of us we made it for a full breakfast in The Pad, where Lindsey and Linda are always welcoming and they always serve a decent plate of food.
9/7/2024
Given that we said we'd look into some short walks for the group at our AGM, we've added a Walking and Keeping Fit section on that to our Health and Wellbeing page. We're still working on some local guided walks that anyone can do so watch this space.
5/7/2024
Many thanks to the Bourock Variety Club, Barrhead's amateur dramatic club. They put on an annual show, the proceeds of which are distributed between many charities and they've kindly given us a donation of £200, which is most welcome.
You can keep up to date on what they're up to on their Facebook page.
5/7/2024
We had a quick breakfast roll in Neilston Bowling Club, then headed for Irvine Maritime Museum. More details and photos here.
28/6/2024
Due to the last-minute cancellation of our trip to Rothesay on the Waverley, now re-scheduled for the 19th of July, we met in Neilston Bowling Club for our usual breakfast roll and hot beverage and did a bit of planning. We:
re-scheduled our trip to Dundee to visit Discovery Point and the V&A Museum to the 4th of October.
decided that visiting the Cruachan Power Station was logistically too difficult, given their opening times, the train times and the lack of somewhere to get lunch.
decided to visit the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine on the 5th of July.
14/6/2024
We went into Glasgow today and had a very nice lunch in La Fiorentina, followed by a tour of Govan Old Church and The Govan Stones. More details here.
7/6/2024
We had a very nice mid-morning sandwich spread in Neilston Bowling Club, where we welcomed in another new member. Many thanks to big John and wee John (self-titled) for preparing the tasty repast.
4/6/2024
We had a committee meeting this evening and discussed:
the state of our current finances, which are okay
applying for ongoing funding from NWL, chasing up the Kells Trust and looking into a Winter fund
given the popularity of our Oban trip, ideas for another long-distance visit by train
the logistics of our upcoming trip to Rothesay on the 28th of June
possible cultural activities, e.g. A Play, A Pie and A Pint - Lunchtime Theatre at Òran Mór, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and the Govan Stones
researching some short local/nearby walks that would suit our main age group
The full minutes are here.
31/5/2024
After a quick breakfast in Neilston Bowling Club, we headed over to Rouken Glen Park for a stroll followed by a visit to their garden centre café . More details here.
24/5/2024
After a bit of lunch in Neilston Bowling Club, we headed over to Nitshill for our third visit to the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre. More details here.
17/5/2024
We had a meetup at Neilston Bowling Club for a roll on sausage and a warm beverage. Our numbers were down a bit with three of us on holiday, one in hospital, one at a funeral, one unwell, and two working but we also welcomed in two new members - Phil and George.
10/5/2024
With the weather turning a bit nicer this week, we took the train for Largs with a view to nipping over to Great Cumbrae on the ferry and having lunch in Millport, which is what happened. More details here.
3/5/2024
A last-minute change in the weather saw us cancelling our intended trip to Largs and the Vikingar! Visitor Attraction. Instead we had our first meeting in Neilston Bowling Club for our usual chat and breakfast roll and tea/coffee.
Given that we had sufficient numbers attending, we also decided to have our 2024 Annual General Meeting. You can read or download the minutes of the AGM here.
26/4/2024
We had another full breakfast meetup at The Pad, where we discussed our upcoming move to Neilston Bowling Club, a visit to Largs next week, and we're still looking at a return to the Harelaw Coffee Shop once the weather improves (it was pretty cold this morning).
19/4/2024
We met up in in Crofthead Bowling Club for a chat and breakfast roll and tea/coffee.
Everyone agreed that our all-day outing to Oban was a rewarding and worthwhile trip so we're looking for suggestions for more of the same.
We were still down a few heads this week and, with Raymond's wife Susan in hospital after an operation, no Raymond either so we're all wishing Susan, George and Ronnie a speedy recovery.
12/4/2024
We had our first full day outing where we went to Oban by train and had a tour of the distillery.
It was a long day but I think everyone enjoyed it - more details here: Oban
5/4/2024
We had a chat and breakfast roll and tea/coffee at The Pad, where we discussed the logistics of our upcoming Oban trip on the 12th of April.
We also talked about possible visits to the Scottish Maritime Museum sites in Irvine and Dumbarton.
Sadly, we were down a few heads this week due to illness so best wishes from all of us to George, Ted and Gordon and we hope to see you soon.
29/3/2024
We had a surprise full breakfast meetup at The Pad, where we discussed the possible venue for next week, and a return to the Harelaw Coffee Shop (once the weather improves) now that it's re-opened under new management.
We're also looking at admitting up to three more members from our waiting list in the next few weeks.
22/3/2024
We had our first Spring meeting this year at Crofthead Bowling Club where we successfully made a full breakfast for the lads. (thanks to John, Steve and Raymond).
19/3/2024
We've added a Health and Wellbeing page to our Help section It contains links to some health and wellbeing-related resources and apps so have a look here: Help
15/3/2024
Amid the truly horrible weather that only the West coast of Scotland can deliver, 15 of us made our way down to Crofthead Mill to re-visit the transport museum in J & M Murdoch's. More details here: J & M Murdoch - The Return
8/3/2024
A hardy core of us braved the cold and dreary weather and went over to Castle Semple Loch for a short walk and then a light snack in the visitor centre café. More details here: Castle Semple Loch
1/3/2024
We had a meeting at Crofthead Bowling Club where we successfully made our breakfast rolls in house (thanks to Ted, Steve and Raymond) and tried out the new coffee machine, which definitely produced a more superior brew.
Raymond also roped us into assembling the three coat racks he purchased for the Neilston Golden Girls meetings.
23/2/2024
We went for a tour of the Tennent Caledonian Wellpark Brewery in Glasgow and I think we all found it quite interesting, especially the freshly-brewed pint of lager in the bar at the end. More details here: Tennent Caledonian Brewery
19/2/2024
We've added a Help section, which will be where to find articles not in the news or activities feeds. The first post is about getting some help with your Technology like mobile phones, tablets, etc. so have a look here: Help
16/2/2024
This week's outing was a tour of Hamilton Mausoleum, once holder of the world's longest echo, followed by a nice lunch.
General reports were that everyone enjoyed it (and the lunch). More details here:
9/2/2024
16 of us met at The Pad for a full breakfast, which was very nice, and to sort out the logistics of getting to Hamilton the next week.
2/2/2024
The group met in Crofthead Bowling Club for tea, coffee and a breakfast roll and we had John Paul Tummon of Social Security Scotland in giving us information on what kind of benefits might be available to some of us. That proved very useful and John Paul specifically mentioned that the DWP Attendance Allowance could be worth checking out as most of us have reached state pension age.
We've also purchased a small coffee machine, which should help keep costs down while also delivering a better cup of coffee.
26/1/2024
Our first group outing of the year saw us head into Glasgow to visit the Riverside Museum.
More details here:
12/1/2024
The group met in Crofthead Bowling Club where we welcomed in three new members. We know there are still a few more on the waiting list so we'll try and look at that again soon.
We also had a visit from Bluey of Coffee Roasters Scotland so the quality of the coffee and tea took an upturn from our usual brews. It was a bit of a tight squeeze beside the bowling club but worth it.
7/1/2024
Our round up of the group's progress during our first year has been published and you can read all about that here: 2023 Round Up
5/1/2024
The group board met to discuss plans for 2024 and also had a look at our membership waiting list. We feel we now have enough resources in place to invite a few more Neilston men into the fold so we'll be contacting those on our waiting list.
1/1/2024
Happy New Year and all the best for 2024!
The 2023 News feed has moved to the Archive page so watch this space for new announcements during 2024.
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