Christmas Walk and Christmas Lunch 6th December 2023
Quite a large group of hearty walkers gathered at The Packhorse Pub at 10.45am in absolutely brilliant sunshine. This was such a delight after the rain of recent weeks.
Michael Howes, our walk leader, outlined the walk before we set off with warnings of the busy road crossings and unsurprisingly, the possibility of mud. Many had come prepared and were wearing gaiters.
Following our safe crossing of the busy road, we strolled through a combination of open fields, woodland and village lanes, visiting the hamlets of Tinkers Green, Trench Green and Tokers Green, near the small village of Mapledurham.We returned to the pub after 1.5 hours and a 3 mile walk, during which I was absorbed in lots of conversations with a friendly welcoming bunch of people.
We changed our boots and clothing ready to begin the celebrations in the pub. There was a variety of Christmas jumpers on display and I didn’t spot any duplicates. I want to know where people find these sweaters – Tescos, Asda, Primark?
Diana had cleverly organised a printout of our meal orders which made it simpler for the staff and us to know what we had chosen. I’m sure this is a good idea as we had booked and chosen some time in advance.
Before the food was served we had a photoshoot. I tried to capture the two tables of a total of 32 PVR members. I enlisted the help of a waitress who jumped onto a bench with my mobile phone camera. These photos were forwarded to the team for inclusion on the website and newsletter.
Personally, I would say that I’ve never eaten a group meal for such a large number where there didn’t seem to be any complaints. There was a great variety of food choices, plus vegetables and desserts and the food was hot. This was a culinary feat – The Packhorse excelled themselves on this occasion.
Pang Valley Ramblers are such a friendly group. We definitely had a fabulous time – a sunshine walk and delicious Christmas Lunch.
Huge Thanks must be given to Diana and her team for bringing us together in celebration on this beautiful day.
Joy
Pang Valley Member
PS This year’s Christmas Lunch has been provisionally scheduled for Wednesday 11th December 2024 at The Packhorse. Save the date!
Diana
Social Secretary