Social Activities during 2024

In January, 30 members and guests enjoyed a lunch at Cottons Hotel in Knutsford.

In February, following a”normal” probus meeting, 25 members stayed on to watch a slideshow and talk by member Brian Winstanley (a professional photographer) where all the entries to the club annual photographic were shown, critiqued, and the winner announced.

In March 12 members visited a stamp auction house in Knutsford for an interesting talk on stamp collecting, stamp valuations and sales, followed by a free stamp album valuation for those attending. Several members had promised their wives world cruises if they made a fortune on the valuation and sale of their stamp albums, but unfortunately, the majority of albums were valued at between £10 and £20 and thus deflated members were unable to fulfil their (wives’) travel dreams!

In April, 19 members and guests visited the the Torrs in New Mills, guided by Pete Webb (who had previously spoken to us about the Torrs at one of our Meetings). This was followed by a meal at the Packhorse Inn, New Mills.

In May 22 members and guests visited the Wedgewood factory for a conducted private tour of the factory in full production, which was followed by a meal in the Wedgewood tea rooms with waitress service. The visit gave attendees an insight into how bone china products are made as they were able to watch the workers producing the finished products.

In June, 19 members and guests enjoyed excellent weather visiting a 1 acre private garden in Mottram St. Andrew, and then having afternoon tea in the garden served by the hosts.

In July, 21 members and guests visited Leigh Spinners Mill Heritge Centre – seperate post below.

In September, 17 members and guests visited Bramall Hall in Bramhall. This was a fascinating visit, with a personal guided tour of the fine Tudor Building with significant wall paintings. This was followed by a soup and sandwich lunch in the tearoom.

In October, around 30 members and guests attended a lunch at the award winning Church Inn in Mobberley.

In December, 40 members and guests attended Christmas Lunch at Statham Lodge.

Social Activities and Events

Throughout the year, we have a varied programme of group activities.

Bowls – April to September: Crown Green bowls every Monday afternoon on Crosstown Bowling Club’s green; occasional matches against various other local clubs; October to March: short mat indoor bowls on Wednesday afternoons at Alderley Edge Festival Hall.

Bridge – occasional social matches with other clubs during the winter months, generally with a pre-match meal.

Golf – primarily social; occasional matches with other clubs.

IT – meets virtually using Zoom, fourth Monday mornings (monthly except December); IT/modern technology related issues discussed; IT tips/warnings etc. passed on to the wider club membership; where possible, help provided to any Probus member who has a technical IT related problem. Pre-covid we met at Crosstown, but Zoom actually works quite well (no room costs, plus people sometimes need to refer to articles/bits of kit they might not have to hand at a live meeting); this will be kept under review, and live meetings may be resumed in the future.

Walking – second and fourth Tuesdays monthly; walks, normally within an hour’s drive (sharing cars) are 5 to 8 miles, followed by a pub lunch. An annual 3 or 4 day walking holiday is arranged, normally in the summer, most recently in the Lake District.

Christmas Lunch – recent lunches have been held at Statham Lodge in Lymm; partners and guests welcome.

Wining and Dining – regular lunches (on 5th Tuesdays) and wine tasting themed evenings with dinner; partners and guests welcome.

Other Events – occasional quizzes, plus regular trips to places and events of interest e.g. theatre, opera, country houses, historical towns, factories, museums; and sometimes the more unusual, such as a recycling plant, an industrial tomato greenhouse, the North West M6 Traffic Control Centre.