Reports - Weekends 2023

The Country Link Spring Weekend

By Essex and Suffolk Country Link

This Spring the Essex & Suffolk, and Norfolk, Country Link groups joined forces to welcome members from across the country to Knights Hill Hotel, Ling's Lynn.

On the Friday afternoon, after booking into the Hotel, there was time to relax and get ready for the evening's fancy dress party with buffet meal and disco, during which prizes were awarded for the best male, female, and group fancy dress costumes, (the theme this time was kings, queens, and rulers due to the coronation).

On Saturday several organised bus trips went out for the day, visiting:

• Snettisham & Norfolk Lavender
• Oxburgh Hall and Stow Gardens
• Spalding Flower Festival
• A walk to Castle Rising

The buses arrived back at the hotel in time to give us a chance to rest again before the black-tie gala dinner and disco. This included a raffle to raise money for Parkinson's UK.

On Sunday 4 more outings set off to visit Houghton Hall, a trip to Bawsey Pits, a coastal walk for the fit (including a paddle in the sea for the brave - or even stupid! - amongst us) and a guided tour around King's Lynn. Members are encouraged to drive themselves and/or to car share on the Sunday

Sunday evening was a quieter affair, with a buffet meal and quiz night. Each table had a picture quiz to fill in after the meal swapping their answer sheets with the adjacent table for answers to be marked. The winning table were given a large box of Kings coronation chocolates to share amongst themselves and the losing table won a packet of salad seeds each.

This was followed by a game of heads and tails where everyone stands up and gives £1 for the charity pot and a series of questions are asked each with a choice of 2 answers. One answer requires you to put your hands on your head the other on your bottom. People who select the wrong answer have to sit down until only one person is standing. Their prize was a large box of jelly babies. The final fund-raising event was rolling for the bottle of whiskey in which a bottle of whiskey was placed on one side of the dance floor and you had to roll/slide a pound coin from the other side of the floor the person nearest at the end wins the whiskey. (These two events raised a further £110).

On Monday we said our good-byes and checked out of the hotel to wend our way home, to recover, and wait for the Autumn weekend in Scotland.

To sum up everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend in a super hotel and we raised £699 for the Parkinson's UK charity.

Spring Weekend 2023

Hosted by Norfolk, and Essex and Suffolk Country Link groups at The Knight's Hill Hotel, King's Lynn.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon as seventy members of Country Link arrived at the Knight's Hill Hotel just outside King's Lynn. The hotel and grounds cover a large area, and there was plenty of parking for everyone. The downstairs rooms had a patio area with a table and chairs, and the upstairs rooms had balconies. There was a pool and gym too, for those who were feeling energetic!

We enjoyed a buffet on Friday night, with a particularly good disco - the DJ knew the sort of music we liked and lots of people were up and dancing. The theme for the fancy dress was King's, Queens, Emperors, and Dictators. The winners were Liz G from Derbyshire as the late Queen (well, she did live just down the road!), Tony P from Essex and Suffolk, and newcomers Margaret and David from Derbyshire.

Following an excellent buffet breakfast on Saturday morning, we went on the trips. Those who went to Snettisham Farm Park were able to feed the deer - who ate the paper bags too! They also enjoyed an impromptu talk about the bees there, before going to visit Norfolk Lavender. The trip to Spalding was interesting, with lots to see. Paul from Essex and Suffolk led an interesting seven mile walk which included a nature reserve and a castle; I hear that Paul is very clever at identifying different birds by their songs. The trip to Oxburgh Hall was interesting, with a guided tour of the outside of the house, and then we viewed the house itself. There was a nearby church which had been partially destroyed when the spire had collapsed in the 1940s. The sandstone carvings were amazing. Then followed a visit to Stowe Gardens - lots to see there, and beautifully maintained.

After getting back to the hotel, members had the chance to relax, chat or enjoy the pool or gym before smartening up for the formal dinner. A raffle was held to raise money for Parkinson's UK during the evening, and there were plenty of prizes to be won. The meal was followed by a disco.

On Sunday morning, members went on a variety of trips: on a guided walking tour of King's Lynn, to Houghton Hall, Sandringham Estate (as the new King and Queen were in residence, they were not able to go to the House), Bawsey Country Park, and Paul led another walk, this time along the coast. The sun came out and I enjoyed a paddle - ankle depth was enough as the water was cold!

The Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday afternoon, and this included the elections:

Chairman - Peter Hunt, Nottinghamshire
Vice Chairman - Dick Stephens, Oxfordshire
Treasurer - Lesley Sheaf, Oxfordshire
Secretary - Liz Goodwin, Derbyshire

Sunday finished with a buffet meal followed by various games, including a photo quiz, dingbats, roll the coin, and heads and tails.

After breakfast on Monday, members made their way home. Many thanks to Jane, Jenny, and Tony for all their hard work in organising a brilliant weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone again in Irvine in November.