Our weekend began with a cream tea on Friday afternoon, and the first opportunity for us to put names to real faces. Eddie firmly fixed the starting bribery level for the writing competition as £500. By the end of the weekend the decimal point had moved somewhat to the left.

We retired to refresh, and met again at 7.30 in the bar. Courtesy of Paul (Thank you, Paul), we all enjoyed an aperitif or two whilst we mulled over our choices from the menu. The dinner, of many courses, was superb and seven almost empty bottles later (Simons was empty!), we retired to the lounge for coffee and homemade fudge, a quick dillo, and Eddies quiz (part one...questions 1 to 30...excluding question 7). Joint first place went to John Pollard and Mike Hopper. The tie break winner was Mike, and he won Eddies first prize of a Computer (?) Tool Kit. John Pollard was then awarded his first prize..a single malt smuggled in from Ireland. There was no prize for the lowest score, and no-one asked who got it either. . By 'Bushmills 50% empty' most had turned in. By 'Bushmills 75% empty' so had the rest. Early morning Tai Chi was arranged by Jane Hopper for 5.30, to be held on the lawns.

The Tai Chi was not well attended. Breakfast was. Eddie looked resplendent in his orange W?OL sweatshirt, and Andy Mordan ensured he ate enough to survive over the long winter ahead. Directions were given out for travel and meeting up at Eden, and we all departed at 10.15. Four cars remained in convoy. Eddie took the short route. We arrived at about 11. Eddie joined us at 11.45. Thanks to Mike for having the noddle to take Eddies mobile number so we were able to locate him at our meeting time of 11.30 and confirm he was 'on his way'.

The weather truly couldn't have been better for Eden and we were met in the entrance by our guide, Cathy, for a tour. She appeared holding a feather-topped bamboo cane. It seemed a little OTT, but it soon became mighty obvious why as we entered the busy Biomes and she disappeared into the crowd. (and this was apparantly a quiet day for attandance at Eden!) At one stage Cathy had to attend a lady who had fallen. John Pollard kindly took her bamboo cane, taking on the appearance of a mighty fine maori lollipop man. At the end of the tour we disbanded as a group, exploring Eden at our own pace and arranging to meet up again before dinner in the bar.

Our meal this evening was a surprise gormet menu, with a different wine for each course ; and all credit to the Pencubitt, it was exceptionally good. We were served canapes in the lounge with a glass of sherry, and given a menu naming and describing the wines (but not the food) for each course. Claire, our waitress (she owns the Pencubitt Hotel with her husband Mike 'the reclusive chef') would then serve that particular courses chosen wine, and would follow by bringing in our food. Then, after pausing to wait for Eddie to reach his latest punchline, she would announce the name of the dish we had been given.

We enjoyed:

Canapes- Fillet of Beef Satay, Mange Tout and Devon Blue, Walnut Surprise
Starter-Roast Parsnip Soup, Parmesan Cream
Fish Course-Roast Fillet of Wild Cornish Sea Bass, Ratatouille Bruschetta,Tapanade Dressing
Main Course-Roast Fillet of Exmoor Venison. Braised Belly Pork. Celeriac and Apple Puree.Tomato with Wild Mushrooms. Fondant Potato. Red Wine and Black Treacle Sauce.
Cheese Course-Beenleigh Blue Mascarpone, Cornish Honey
Dessert-Sweet selection plate. We were each given a plate with small portions of Rosemary Creme Brulee, Clotted Cream Ice Cream, Hot Ginger Sponge and Butterscotch Sauce,and a Warm Thyme Scented Plum

Dinner was followed with coffee and home made chocolates in the lounge.

If it sounds delicious, I can assure you it tasted even better. The general consensus after the dessert was to hunt out the chef .........which I tried to do but he ran away (story of my life!). Some wonderfully humerous conversation flowed over dinner, with one particularly lovely tale of how law abiding Irish country folk continue age-old practices.

Our after dinner entertainment Eddies Quiz (Part Two...questions 31 to 60 excluding numbers 57-60). The winner tonight was John Frankis whose prize was a CD holder (which Lone is looking after for him).

Breakfast on Sunday morning was followed by our departures back home, or to en-route stopovers. Andy bravely decided to attempt to complete our whole journey home without a stop for lunch ;-)

It would be difficult to think of an itinerary to follow on from this meet but with Pencubitt food, Cunningham and Hopper Kareoke, and a very large bowl of Janes Fruit Punch we might just manage it ;-)

Kerry

Last updated 5th November 2001