Glossop Gateway

JANUARY 28th - WARHORSE & KFC

2012-01-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

It took three buses to get everyone to Ashton Moss today to see Steven Spielberg's "Warhorse". During the pick-ups, Andrew had a go on Karl's trampoline.

Mark tried to film it in the hope that the inevitable accident would raise £250 for club funds from "You've Been Framed" but there was no accident, unless you count Andrew landing in the broken ice and getting a wet bottom!

The plan was to watch the movie then have some lunch but we had to reverse that when we were told that the screen was broken! So, it was only quarter to eleven when thirty five of us descended on KFC for "brunch" . It's amazing what you can do in an emergency - even though some of us had not long had breakfast we still managed a meal and a free ice cream!

Once back at Cineworld, we passed time in the VIP lounge waiting for the film by posing with the Muppets and chatting.

Can you recognise the mystery person disguised as an owl?

Luckily, Cathy had brought some spare tissues because we needed them - it's a great film and a real tearjerker - you can see a trailer here

Leaving the cinema, it was a case of three into two, when one of the buses wouldn't start. We managed to squeeze all the passengers onto two buses, while new driver Graham Brind waited for the AA with one or two others who couldn't fit on the other buses. Thank you, Graham, I hope the experience hasn't put you off for good!!

JANUARY 21st - NEW PROGRAMME

2012-01-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

We spent some time today watching videos of the recent Christmas dinner at the Bulls Head and the Party at Hadfield Centre before Andrew handed out copies of the new programme - I'll post a link to it later when I get an email copy of it. There was noticeable disappointment when members, staff and volunteers realised that a trip to Stockport Hat Museum wasn't included.....again! Check out these photo's and see everyone putting on a brave face.

I'm sure we'll enjoy the activities lined up for the next few months, starting with a trip to see "Warhorse" and McDonalds next Saturday - don't forget to bring £20 to cover tickets, transport and lunch. We'll pick up between 10am and 11am and should be home by mid-afternoon. See you then!

JANUARY 7th 2011 - FIRST AID TRAINING

2012-01-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

Sue was up early applying her best lipstick ready for today's first aid training, thinking she would be the only woman giving the kiss of life to ten men! Actually, that's not quite true - trouper that she is she'd come straight from working a night shift. Also, things have moved on in the first aid world and there's not so much kissing now - check out the video from the British Heart Foundation's

"Hard and Fast" campaign.

Trainer Jools took us through the basics, including the

3 x B's-

Breathing - the most important sign. If the casualty isn't breathing they will die within a few minutes unless steps are taken to encouraging breathing until help arrives.

Bleeding - Steps should be taken to stop or slow loss of blood until help arrives

Bones - broken bones are not usually life-threatening unless the break has caused severe bleeding. The patient should be stabilised until help arrives.

We did get a chance to pucker up on the dummy that Jools had brought along (no, not Andrew!) and here we see (clockwise from top left) Andrew Lomas, Andrew Leeson, Jools treating Pete's severe head injury, Mark, Sue and Paul showing off their techniques.

For anyone who'd like to know more, the St Johns Ambulance website is very useful - go to sja.org.uk

DECEMBER 10th - CHRISTMAS FANCY DRESS PARTY

2011-12-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas Elves, a Toy Soldier, a T-Bird, Cowboys, a Vampire, a Hippy, Elvis, The Singing Cowboy, Father Christmas, Snow White (Wit-Woo, Phil!), a Gorilla, The Caped Crusader and Ebenezer Scrooge were among the guests at this year's Gateway Christmas Fancy Dress Party!

It was the first time we'd partied at Hadfield Youth Centre. The only thing we overlooked was the fact that there isn't a chimney but we eventually managed to convince Santa Claus that it was OK to use the door and once we'd eaten and had a few dances, he made his grand entrance.

Once seated on his "throne", everyone formed an orderly queue while Santa gave out gifts one by one.

Many thanks to everyone who helped organise the party, provide and serve food and set up and clear up - another great evening!

OCTOBER 22nd - CALENDAR MAKING

2011-10-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Once we'd got over the shock of Carl trying on his Hallowe'en costume (below),

we cracked on with the business of making calendars.
With hundreds of felt tips laid out, everyone showed their creative side and there were some great designs by the time we'd finished.

I've not shown any finished ones here so I won't spoil the surprise if any of these are destined to be Christmas presents. Christmas Day is one date we're all looking forward to!

OCTOBER 8th - PUB BREAKFAST?????

2011-10-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right! We've been out for breakfast before and we've been to the pub before but, today, 36 of us rolled up at the Royal Oak on Sheffield Road for a slap-up breakfast in a pub! And what a breakfast! Here are Kev and Sue helping serve up in the kitchen,

while everyone else awaits the feast. Check out the Cathy's-eye-view of how to tackle a breakfast this size!

Andy Lomas had his own special way of tackling the breakfast - that was to try and put all of it his mouth at the same time. I saw a nature programme once about a snake that could do that, but only after it had dislocated its own jaw! The photo's a bit fuzzy but I can tell you there about ten rashers of bacon on that fork!

And a final mention for our two blonde bombshells, Lorraine and Sue, who organised today's activity. Thanks, girls, your t-shirts say it all!

Don't forget next week is a day-trip to Blackpool, so don't forget your packed lunch and your sunscreen!

OCTOBER 1st - QUIZ TIME

2011-10-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

You wouldn't believe it was October as we sweltered and sweated in the lounge at Charles Street. Finally, we all headed outside to the garden where Mark took to the microphone. Luckily, he didn't start singing, as we hadn't got last week's karaoke backing tracks.

Instead, we divided up into teams for a quiz.

With exciting rounds such as "Gameshow Catchphrases", "Blow It, Hit It, Twang It", "General Knowledge", "Silhouette Round" and "Soap Time", the brains cells were working overtime. Apart from a heated debate about how long Glossop Pool is and how many lengths are in a mile, all went well and, with a fantastic score of 51 points, the winning team was "Manchester United". Captain Danny is pictured below clutching the generous prize of a giant tube of Smarties with his jubilant team mates.

If you want a taste of the fun, check out the "Silhouette Round", below - who are they?. Email me if you want the answers!

SEPTEMBER 24th: VIVA LAS VEGAS

2011-09-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Things weren't looking too promising at Hadfield Centre as we eagerly anticipated a morning's karaoke. The Two Andrews were scratching their heads looking bewildered (nothing new there, then!), trying to work out how to get the music working until somebody pointed out that the big round button is the "ON" button. Once that was sorted, things just got better and better.

The atmosphere was like Caesar's Palace when Carl arrived, looking like one of the Rat Pack, bringing a touch of Vegas with him, along with his signed copy of "The Best Of Joe Tilly", a great singer we saw in Blackpool in the Summer.

Today, pop-pickers we had Paul singing "We Are The Champions" - Cathy with "Wannabe" - John and Julie doing a great version of "Mamma Mia" - Emma dancing to Darren's "Everything I Do (I Do For You)" - Leslie Griffin singing "Money Money Money" - Roger playing guitar to Martin's "Jailhouse Rock" before a trio of duets - Hayley & Alison raised the roof with "Don't Ya Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me?" - Nick and Roy with Elvis's "D'y'ever get?" and Joy & Wayne with "Back for Good" - Danny raised the volume levels to "11" by singing Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" with Mark (there is a video of this but there's no way that's being released for public viewing!) - Jonathan and Sue gave us their version of "Mamma Mia" before Carl & Annie's "Any Dream Will Do" and Alan's "When You Say Nothing At All"

As if the singing wasn't enough excitement for one day, we also celebrated driver Paul Mellor's birthday - I won't say how old but the two "4" candles give a clue. Here he is blowing them out as we sang "Happy Birthday"!

SEPTEMBER 10th - NEW PROGRAMME

2011-09-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the new Gateway programme which takes us up until after Christmas. You can click on either image to enlarge and print off, if you haven't altready received a paper copy. You'll notice Andrew has also included a newsletter on the reverse of the programme - this will be available every three months when a new programme is printed.

SEPTEMBER 3rd - SKYDIVE DVD & PROGRAMME PLANNING

2011-09-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Charles Street was buzzing with anticipation this morning at the thought of what we might be doing over the next few months. First, we were treated to repeated showings of a DVD of Andrew Leeson's Skydive from a couple of weeks ago. When someone sends me some photo's I'll put up that posting but this was where our raffle winner, Jolene (that reminds me of a song), joined our intrepid volunteers Kevin & Pete McKiernan, Tony Lomas, Karen Duff and Andrew to jump out of a plane somewhere over Nottingham. There was a slight sigh of disappointment when Andrew's parachute DID open but it was an impressive feat of bravery by all of them and raised a whole load of money for the club. so thanks to all who jumped, helped sell raffle tickets, bought raffle tickets and sponsored the jumpers.

After the DVD and some toast and tea, we reviewed the activities from the last few months and then invited suggestions for the new programme. Yet again, Mark's suggestion to visit the Stockport Hat Museum was loudly booed and then ignored (one day, one day...), as were his ideas for the Rossendale Slipper Museum, Northwich Salt Museum and the Annan Porridge Museum (although he had to admit that was a bit far!). So it looks like we'll be filling our time visiting funfairs, theme parks, tenpin bowling, pub lunching, live shows, quizzes, parties and all the usual stuff! Maybe I should start up a separate Museum-visiting Club - any takers??

JULY 30th - PRIZE DRAW, SWIMMING AND MCDONALD'S

2011-07-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

We had a busy morning today. First of all, we met up in Norfolk Square where Councillors George and Jean Wharmby performed the draw for our summer raffle - the winner will join seven other volunteers on a tandem skydive on August 21st and the runner-up wins a LCD TV (names will be published later).

Then we all bundled into two buses and headed off to Hyde Leisure Pool, where we joined the queue, ready to get wet in the pool and on the slides. Most of us got chance to take a white-knuckle ride down the flume, bob up and down in the waves and fight the current in the rapids, as well as chilling out in the jacuzzi area.

Having worked up an appetite, we got back On The Buses ("I'll get you, Butler!") for the short trip to McDonalds in Hattersley. Hayden went for the healthy option of a packed lunch while Mark lost control of his calorie-controlled diet and stuffed himself full of 1650 calories!

However much we ate we still managed to have some fun, though, when the staff handed out animal masks - here are Nick, Cathy, Leslie and Carl modelling theirs (below)

JULY 23rd - NEW MILLS HERITAGE TRAIL WALK

2011-07-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe we should have checked as we set off on our Riverside walk around New Mills and the River Goyt but we soon realised that we were doing the walk the wrong way round so, when we got lost, we had to read the instructions backwards and turn the map upside down. Thankfully we turned the maps the right way up when we got back to the buses or Paul and Mark might've ended up driving to Buxton instead of Glossop!

Here we are on the bridge near the site of the derelict Torrs Mill at the beginning of the walk (or was that the end?)

It was a fantastic, sunny day as we crossed the Torrs Millenium Walkway, stopping to wave halfway across and being careful not to look down!

The walk is about 4 1/2 miles long and the second half is along the Peak Forest Canal towpath, where we saw plenty of barges and riverboats to wave at and ducklings to feed.

Once we got back into New Mills again, we walked past the Swizzels-Matlow factory and, with the smell of Love Hearts, Drumsticks and Parma Violets in our nostrils, we stopped for our picnic lunch near the Marina, before heading back to the buses and back home, worn out and ready for a nap before looking forward to next week's trip to Hyde Leisure Pool.

JULY 16th - THE GATEWAY SUMMER BALL 2011

2011-07-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Oh What a Night! A new venue for this year's Summer Ball - Windy Harbour Farm on the Woodhead Rd looked like the society pages of Derbyshire, with Gateway's finest dressed up to the nines and a strict door policy, enforced by Nick Kemp (below), helping to keep out the riff-raff.

Fifty of us danced the night away to "Cha-Cha Slide", "Saturday Night", "Big Fish Little Fish" and other party classics before word went out that the buffet was ready. Mark and Carol somehow managed to position themselves at the front of the queue, only to be barged out of the way by Paul, who led the feeding frenzy.

All in all a great night - check out the photo montage to see if you can spot yourself!

JULY 10th: MANCHESTER TO BLACKPOOL BIKE RIDE

2011-07-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday saw a team of twelve riders meeting outside Glossop station, legs pumped up and itching to get pedalling on the annual Manchester to Blackpool bike ride. We were driven by bus to the start at Old Trafford, with the bikes transported in a van kindly loaned by Adam Corbally, purveyor of Glossop's freshest vegetables.

The weather was kind to us this year, apart from a torrential downpour near Wigan, which made the road look like a river! By the time we reached Blackpool, however, the sun was out again and the crowds had gathered to cheer us and the 8000 other riders across the finishing line. Our group ranged in age from 18 to 73, with a special mention for Kate Fearns, who was riding, for the first time, in memory of her son, Jonathon, a long-time member of Glossop Gateway (you can read a little more about J here). Martin Potts had a major mechanical problem with his bike but still managed to complete the ride after replacing a wheel! Also John Kemp, not content with the 64 miles of the actual ride, jumped back on his bike as soon as he'd finished, until he racked up 73 miles - one for each year of his age (sorry, John, I hope it wasn't a secret!)

The emphasis of this ride is fun, participation and raising funds for a good cause, not how quickly you finish. That said, Andrew Leeson has begged me to mention that he finished half an hour before I did!

Once we'd rested our aching legs and been fully "refreshed" at the Counting House pub, we met up with the van and bus ready for the journey home. Below is the whole team on the prom by the North Pier.

Back row, standing, l. to r.: Graham Simpson, John Kemp, Kate Fearns, Martin Potts, Adam Hawthorne, Adam Mills

Front row: Andrew Leeson, Adam Corbally, Mark Pugh, Matty Hawthorne, Richard Parsons, Josh Pugh.

A great big "THANK YOU" to all those riders who joined us, and to their sponsors and supporters, and to Andrew Lomas and Paul Mellor, who drove us home in the bus and van, without any of whom this wouldn't have been possible.

*** STOP PRESS ***

Rumours were beginning to surface, after the ride, that a man dressed in shark-infested lycra was seen trying to smuggle his bike onto a bus between Preston and Blackpool muttering something about "I have to get there before Mark!" If any more information comes to light, you'll read it here first!

JULY 2nd - GLOSSOP CARNIVAL

2011-07-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Thankfully we didn't have a repeat of the torrential downours and near-hurricane winds that we suffered at Hadfield Carnival a few weeks ago!

No, the sun shone on Glossop Carnival all weekend as our staff, volunteers and members manned the stall, filled with all sorts of goodies.

Loads of cuddly toys had been donated as prizes for various games -

Name the Teddy, Wheel of Fortune -

and our intrepid team of skydivers managed to enlist sponsors and sell loads of raffle tickets, first prize being a tandem skydive - see Tony, Andy, Kev and Paul by the poster below.

Second prize is a flat-screen TV so, if you don't have a head for heights, there's still a great prize to enter for!

JUNE 25th - A TASTE OF INDIA

2011-06-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Those who turned up at Gateway this morning hoping to order Lamb Rogan Josh, Chicken Tikka Massala or a Vindaloo were a bit disappointed to see that there one only dish on chef Mark Vindapugh's menu.

Borrowed from the notebook of recipes his mum gave him when she waved him off to college all those years ago, today's dish was Lentil Dal with rice, similar to the food Mark and his travelling companions ate on their recent trip to India.

Once everyone had a plate or bowl loaded with food and a choice of chutneys, we sat down to watch a video of photos and short film clips from the trip, in a makeshift cinema that Andrew had created by hanging blankets across the windows - you can see part of the movie here (click link)

Many thanks to Debbie, Alan, Carl and Wayne for helping out in the kitchen - serving up, cleaning up and washing up. Not being one to blow his own trumpet (unless he has the opportunity to do so!), Mark was pleased to see people asking for seconds and also asking for the recipe so, by popular demand here it is:

Lentil dal:

1 x onion, finely chopped

2 x cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup red or yellow lentils

1/2 pint chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you're vegetarian)

Spices - turmeric, curry powder, chilli powder

Salt

Extra water

1. Heat onion and garlic in butter or vegetable oil until soft.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of each of the spices - if you don't like it spicy, leave out the chilli (in fact you can miss any out except for the turmeric) - and stir for a few minutes.

3. Add the lentils (check the packet to see if they need soaking before you use them - mine were ready-to-use) and stir until they're all coated with the spice/onion mix.

4. Add the stock and cook until the lentils are soft, around 20 minutes. Taste the mixture a couple of times and add a little salt if you need to. If it starts getting too dry before the lentils are cooked, add some more water. You can have it stodgy like mushy peas, or runny - just add more water or cook for longer until it's how you want it.

5. Serve with rice, chapati, naan bread, chutneys.

JUNE 12th - "HADDYWARTS" CARNIVAL

2011-06-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

"Hogwarts, Magic & Mayhem" was the theme of this year's Hadfield Carnival but a day of non-stop rain and wind didn't dampen the spirits, wizards or anyone else for the matter. On offer at Gateway's Gazebo this year were raffle tickets (this year's top prize is a tandem skydive), a tombola and a selection of crafts which club members helped to make a few weeks ago.

Paul, Danny and Cathy are getting ready here for the hordes of visitors, each eager to win the chance of jumping out of a plane at 10,000ft! (actually, I think most of them wanted to win the second prize of a Toshiba flat screen TV!)

Hermione Grainger (Mel), the Fortune Teller (Debbie), Danny and Cathy manned the stall, while Hagrid (Mark), a Witch (Sue) and Gandalf (Andrew) posed for this photo before heading off for the fancy dress competition, where the Witch and Gandalf won 2nd and 3rd prize, beaten by a brilliant Harry Potter (Lois from Hadfield).

By this time, the weather had driven most of the visitors away and you can see some of the gazebos trying to make a quick escape as the wind neartly blew them out of the carnival.

A great day but let's hope the weather brightens up a bit for Glossop Carnival next month!

MAY 21st - CARNIVAL CRAFTS

2011-05-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

It didn't take long for us to feel at home at the Geoffrey Allen Centre in Gamesley this morning. Sue, Alan and Lorraine got to grips with the kitchen and kept us supplied with brews and toast. Mind you, judging by that burnt offering you're holding, Alan, we might need to spend a bit longer working out the toaster settings next time! Cathy, Nick, Dawn and Emma are posing beneath a frieze in the main hall,

while Debbie and Mel helped everyone put together a whole range of arts and crafts, ready to sell on our stall at Hadfield Carnival next month.

The tables were groaning under the weight of tinsel, jars, netting, ribbons, jars and all sorts of toiletries, sweets and other goodies and here we see Leslie with a beautifully wrapped bath bomb and Cathy with her champagne bubble bath.

You'll get and idea of how our carnival stall will look by this photo, with all the finished goods arrayed - good,eh?

NEW PROGRAMME MAY - AUGUST 2011

2011-05-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Here's our programme for the next few months, starting with today's big breakfast at the Wrens Nest! Make a note in your diaries now, so you don't miss any of our weekly club activities.

You can click on the image to enlarge it, and then print it off if you didn't manage to get a copy off Andrew.

MAY 7TH - WRENS NEST

2011-05-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

They did say there was "no need to book" but I'm not sure the staff at the Wrens Nest knew what had hit them when 49, yes 49, Gateway members, staff and helpers descended on the buffet breakfast!

We started to worry when they said they didn't have enough side-plates for everyone to have one each for their toast but the problem was solved by piling up big plates with about thirty slices on each! Meanwhile we queued up for the bacon, sausage, egg (fried AND scrambled), tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, hash browns, tea, coffee and orange juice.

The sound of chatter was soon replaced by the clatter of cutlery on crockery. One notable sights which wasn't captured on camera was John Doyle's plate - a mountain of food rising out of a sea of tomato and baked bean juice. I didn't witness it but he must have eaten it all because very little food was left over!

Next week we'll be having a pool competition at Hadfield Centre so get your cueing arms ready!

APRIL 30th - PROGRAMME PLANNING/EMMA'S BIRTHDAY

2011-04-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Charles St was buzzing with ideas for our next programme today, although with the holiday, local carnivals, parachute jumping and the Manchester - Blackpool bike ride looming over the next couple of months, Andrew will have his work cut out fitting everything in.

As well as planning the programme, it was Emma's birthday today - here she is in the centre of the picture showing off her cake. Apparently, to comply with health and safety regulations, we weren't allowed to light the candles indoors - I was going to say "You're not THAT old, Emma!" but then I remembered Samantha's birthday last year when we nearly burned down the library!

Apart from Emma in the centre, the picture shows (clockwise from top left) a group sitting around the table enjoying the sunshine; Nick with Emma opening one of her presents; Wayne posing underneath one of the arches; John and Julie cuddling; Mel passing around the cake to Leslie, Karl, Cathy and Samantha; Peter sitting under the new willow bower; Andrew jotting down ideas (no, Leslie isn't nodding off!).

Next week, we'll be having breakfast at the Wrens Nest at 10am, so usual time for picking up and please bring £10! See you then!

MARCH 12th - KARAOKE ALL-STARS

2011-03-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

This morning was like an audition for the X-Factor but, thankfully, with the absence of Simon Cowell. Once Andrew had got over the technical difficulties with the equipment, and we'd made a note of everyone's song requests, it was "curtain up" and on with the show.

The photo shows (from top, left to right): Nick and Allan singing Cliff's "Congratulations"; John with "Mamma Mia"; Andy ruining Carl's rendition of "Knowing Me, Knowing You"; Mark singing the song that was number 1 on the day he was born. We all know Elvis has left the building, but today's audience nearly followed him, leaving Mark "Lonesome Tonight". Thankfully Emma and Dawn came to the rescue (middle row from left) with "Flying Without Wings"; Janet and "I Just Called To Say I Love You"; Danny punking it up with Sid Vicious's version of "My Way"; Cathy with The Spice Girls' "Stop Right Now"; Samantha raising the roof with "You Raise Me Up" and Christian (whose calendar must be 3 months slow) singing Shaky's "Merry Christmas Everyone". Bottom row (from left) we have Josie - "Man, I Feel Like A Woman"; Jonathan crooning "Edelweis"; Paul and Leslie with a rousing "We Are The Champions"; John and Julie singing "Dancing Queen" and, bringing down the final curtain, Darren and Trish with the theme from Robin Hood, "Everything I do, I Do It For You".

With this much talent, maybe we should extend this summer's holiday in Blackpool to a whole summer season - move over, Joey Blower, we could fill the theatre at the north pier every night!

MARCH 5th - MANCHESTER AIRPORT TRIP

2011-03-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

An early start today - 7.30am - because we had an appointment with Concorde booked for 9.30am. That meant an especially early start for our drivers (considering it was their belated Christmas do the night before!) - I think Philip must have slept in the bus as he was up and about at 7am, ready to pick everyone up. We reached Manchester International Airport on time and watched some planes taking off and landing along with some other enthusiasts, who were already there.

From there we were ushered into a viewing room and shown a video showing the story of how Concorde came about, her retirement, who flew on her, the cost of running her and where she flew.

It was really exciting climbing on board Concorde – I think some people were so excited they hadn’t slept. It was Lorraine's first time on a plane - pity we weren’t taking off anywhere! Andrew was more relieved than excited as he wasn't 100% certain he'd finalised the booking. Once on board Concorde, we were seated in the posh leather seats, which cost £3000 each - Andrew Lomas tried to pinch one as a gaming chair! Cathy sat where the Queen used to sit and we were all shown the cockpit - the instrument panel was amazing but Sue and Lorraine couldn't keep their hands off the pilot's joystick, while Andrew tried to find the brake!

They told us about the meals that were served on the plane – they sounded delicious but not available today. We were heading straight to McDonalds afterwards!

When they showed us around the outside of Concorde, they explained about the fuel the plane used (47 lbs per mile!), the very expensive tyres, the luggage capacity (245,000 lbs) and specially-designed delta wings and droop nose.

It was a fantastic day out – just a shame we couldn't stay all day and pick Mark up, who was due to land at 6.30 this evening on his way back from his holiday!

FEBRUARY 19th - QUIZ

2011-02-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

We crammed into Charles Street again this morning with our thinking caps on for the Gateway Quiz. Andy had set some pretty hard questions but everyone had a chance to answer some.

I don't know why but it looked like Danny didn't trust me when I took a perfectly innocent photo of him during the quiz. Surely he didn't think I was trying to see his answers!?

Anyway, Hawaii 5-0 (78) narrowly beat The A-Team (70) into second, with the Heroes (65) and the Superstars (57) bringing up the rear.

Hawaii 5-0 (above) were named after the fact that Mark will be 50 tomorrow - check out the mug on the table and the mugshot on the cake (below) which we all tucked into after the results were read out.

Many thanks everyone!

FEBRUARY 12th - BIRTHDAY BOYS

2011-02-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

A double birthday celebration got the George Hotel rocking tonight - Mark and Roger (below) were celebrating their 50th and 60th birthdays - I'm not saying which was which but Roger's badge might give it away!

There was a great atmosphere with lots of singing, shouting and dancing - check out Roger with his guitar getting the conga going!

Both the birthday boys were lucky and got loads of presents - Mark particularly wanted to thank the staff and volunteers at Gateway who presented him with a voucher for a hot air balloon ride! Thanks, everyone!

FEBRUARY 5th - WII-FIT

2011-02-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

After real-life tenpin bowling at Ashton Moss a couple of weeks ago, we moved onto the virtual version today in the comfort of Hadfield Centre using Wii-Fit and a giant screen.

Once we'd got the thing set up, we took turns and the picture shows (top left to right) Cathy and Andy watching Wayne preparing to bowl, Sam watching Paul take a shot, Carl in full swing, Julie, Lynn giving Kim a helping hand, Christian, Paul, Andy and Samantha watching Leslie line up his shot, Sam about to score her first strike, John, Josie and the final blur is our own Allen "Tenpin" Davidson, moving too fast for my camera and scoring strikes or spares on every go.

JANUARY 29th - CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

2011-01-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

When we've had our special breakfast "events" in the past, we're usually expecting the best Full English in town and it's fair to say that there's been a bit of competition between the men and women to see whose breakfast is best. When we turned up this morning to be confronted by a selection of boxes of cereal, I think there was a ripple of disappointment as we chose between Sugar Puffs, Cornflakes and Cheerios - check out Emma, Paul, Josie, Alison and Cathy putting on a brave face, below.

But that was before the rest of the food was laid out. What we didn't know was that this time, the women had decided to lay on the most fantastic continental breakfast any of us had ever seen. On the table below you can see a selection of fruit salads, melon slices, bagels, pain au chocolat, yoghurt and muesli. What you can't see is the French toast, warm croissants, cheeses, ham, nutella and marmalade that we also enjoyed.

The great thing about this breakfast was that it wasn't just a plate of food - it went on and on and on ... and all of it was good for us! I think there's a theme here - don't forget the healthy-eating prize bingo from a couple of weeks ago!

Cathy said it was "like being on holiday in Norway" - now there aren't many places in Glossop where the breakfast can do that! Many thanks to Sue, Lorraine, Mel and Lindsay for a feast fit for a king, or queen. After next week's Wii-Fit morning, we should be in tip-top condition, so watch out!

NEW PROGRAMME JANUARY - APRIL 2011

2011-01-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

Here's our programme for the next few months, starting with a trip to Ten-pin Bowling and McDonald's next week - that's £15 for transport, bowling AND lunch! Great value!

Don't forget for our weekly club activities, subs are £5 if you come on the Community Bus, or £4 if you make your own way there.

You can click on the image to enlarge it, and then print it off if you didn't manage to get a copy off Andrew today.

JANUARY 15th - "HEALTHY-EATING" PRIZE BINGO

2011-01-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

A slight variation on our usual prize bingo today - the shop where Andrew buys the prizes from wasn't open. In fact the only place that was open at 8am today was Corbally's greengrocers on the market, so the prizes mainly consisted of bags of satsumas and bananas!

Christian gave Andrew a hand laying out the mouthwatering display of goodies and then it was "eyes down for a full house" - and we did have a full house today - about 35 members joined in and played.

Our volunteers were on hand to help out - at one point Tony was looking after four members' cards! But we had loads of winners and great fun.

Here's John proudly displaying the bunch of bananas he won for the last full house of the morning. Don't eat them too quickly, John. Mine weren't quite ripe and you might get a tummy ache!

JANUARY 8th 2011 -PROGRAMME PLANNING

2011-01-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Welcome back to our Gateway Blog for the first time this year, back after the Christmas break to talk about what lay ahead in the next few months.

I'm not sure if it was down to the choice of loaf (Warburton's Granary) or the way Sue toasted it but the toast today was fantastic. Alison watches on below as Christian and Carl dive in for the last two slices.

As usual, Andrew was kept busy with his pencil and paper as we all shouted out our ideas for activities, including where to go for this year's Gateway holiday.

We always aim to be totally impartial in this Blog but I'm sure many were disappointed when the idea of a return trip to Bendrigg was outvoted in favour of either Butlins or a week in Blackpool!! Ah well, wherever we go it'll be great fun ;-)

DECEMBER 18th - CAFE RAID

2010-12-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

A flurry of snow overnight wasn't enough to put off our bus driver this morning as we battled along ungritted roads to pick up our passengers for today's cafe raid.

Have you ever seen one of those wildlife programmes where a swarm of locusts land in an area and devour everything in sight?

Well, that's a bit like what it was like when we arrived at the Glossop Cafeteria for our Christmas slap-up breakfast. Thirty-one of us tucked into Glossop's finest full English.

Above we see Hayley, Carl, Paul and Emma before they cleared their plates and below are the "Jingle Belles" - (clockwise from) Abby, Lindsay, Sue & Lorraine.

As well as celebrating Christmas, we had a birthday girl, Hayden, who'd brought along a fantastic chocolate birthday cake and she managed to blow out all twenty candles, no problem.

We'll be back on January 8th, 2011, to talk about our next programme so, in the meantime, have a very happy Christmas and don't eat too many mince pies!!

DECEMBER 11th - CHRISTMAS FANCY DRESS PARTY

2010-12-11T23:00:00.000-08:00

Question: What do Blakey, 2 x Indian ladies, Dracula, Mary, Acker Bilk, Captain Hook, Elvis, Elvis, an American Indian, a Cowboy, Alien, another American Indian, another Cowboy, an Indian Squaw, another Cowboy, a Goth Angel, Bunny Girl, Miss Glossop, Scooby Doo, a Christmas Elf, Mrs Overall and the Mayor and Mayoress of High Peak all have in common?

Answer: They were all at Glossop Gateway's Christmas Party!

It was a good job Glossop Library was closed and the "Silence Please" signs were turned off, as we raised the roof in the Millenium Cellar. Here we are posing with the Mayor and Mayoress, after they had officially opened proceedings and given a vote of thanks to everyone who helps to make this probably the best club in the world!

Another celebrity guest arrived later in his usual unorthodox fashion - we'd left the door wide open but he still insisted in coming down the chimney. Father Christmas sat himself down and, one by one, everyone had a chance to meet him and pick up their Christmas selection box. I'm not sure who was most excited in this photo above - Father Christmas or Elvis - as two icons met. Blakey had an argument later with Father Christmas when he insisted that he move his sleigh out of the depot - "I don't care whether you've finished or not. That sleigh was due in Hadfield at 22.13!!"

NOVEMBER 20th - SNOW AND SWIMMING

2010-11-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

When Phil and Mark were scraping snow off the buses this morning, swimming didn't seem such an attractive prospect but the thought of the new "Red Ripster" slide at Hyde Leisure Pool kept them going. Even a broken door on Phil's bus couldn't put us off and once we arrived, in glorious sunshine, we couldn't wait to get in.

I'm not sure who went on the new slide most times - it must have been either Christian or Paul, about ten times each, I think. Sue helped Roger, Leslie and Annie with their swimming and they were soon so confident that they were able to splash the rest of us with their kicking legs - thanks, Sue!

Due to our own budget cutbacks, we were limited to a Happy Meal each for our visit to McDonalds in Hattersley. For some that wasn't enough though and here is photographic evidence of Sue, Debbie and Mel eating their extras which they'd bought for themselves. We had to sit and look on in envy as they tucked into McFlurries and Apple Pies. Only Mark encouraged a spirit of sharing by getting everyone to share their hot drinks tokens with him so he can get a free coffee next time he visits McDonalds!

NOVEMBER 20th - BOARD GAMES? BORED GAMES!

2010-11-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

The programme for today said "Fun & Games" - usually that means a few board games, a game or two of pool, maybe a video game?

Today was a little different though! On arriving at the centre we were told we couldn't use the pool tables, we weren't allowed to use the telly, the wheelchair lift was locked and some of the games which we'd bought had gone missing from our storage area.

It's a good job we have the most imaginative and resourceful volunteers in town and, with the inspiration of a brew and toast courtesy of Lindsay, Sue and Lorraine, Alan set up a group playing pairs, Debbie improvised a game of bar skittles using a Jenga brick and some plastic cups, Melanie led a game of Unihock and Andrew worked out where the TV remote was hidden! The pictures show the scene before the boredom was chased away.

I'm sure we'll be allowed to feel more at home in the future and can enjoy the fantastic facilities at Whitfield Community Centre.

NOVEMBER 13th - Fräulein Julias deutschen Restaurant

2010-11-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

We had a taste of Germany right in the heart of Glossop this morning, as Julia took charge of the kitchen to create a fantastic meal based on her grandmother's traditional German recipes - we had Kartoffeleintopf (potato stew to you and me) with Frankfurter sausages, Sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) and freshly-made German bread with garlic & herb butter, followed by the most delicious Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Gateau).

Here we see Mark & Julia displaying the B.F.G. before serving up, Mark trying to claim some credit for it even though his contribution to it amounted to little more than grating the chocolate and nipping to Tesco to get two more tins of cherries.

You can see the layers of the B.F.G. here as Julia expertly slices it into portions, under Jonathan's watchful eye. Many thanks are due today as a lot of work went into preparing this meal, which everybody enjoyed - thanks to Adam Corbally from Glossop market who generously donated all the vegetables for the stew (and there were a lot - I had to peel them!), Mel, Trish, Debbie, Sue, Lorraine, Lindsay, Phil, Wayne, Carl and Josh who helped serve up and clear away but most of all to Julia who will, sadly, be leaving us to return to Germany this week but who rose to the challenge of organising this meal at very short notice. We say "auf wiedersehen" with our love and best wishes, and be sure that every time we eat a Black Forest Gateau we'll always compare it with yours - you've set a very high standard!

NOVEMBER 6th - QUIZ

2010-11-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

The brain cells were working overtime this morning at Whitfield Centre as we got together for a general knowledge quiz. We've had soap quizzes before but Andrew has stopped those after repeated instances of cheating when one player was caught "resting his answer sheet" on Nick's copy of Inside Soap. Anyway, the highlights of today's quiz were when everyone burst into spontaneous song - firstly "Who wrote the song "Yesterday"?", which was followed by thirty of us singing a verse and a chorus, then, in the TV Theme Tune round, we all sang the whole of the Dad's Army theme, long after the sample clip had finished playing. By the way, apologies to Julia, who had come along to advise us on our German menu for next week and was the only person there who had never heard of Dad's Army - I don't think they show it very often in Germany!

Here are all four teams, captured mid-quiz (Mark later faced accusations that he was taking photo's of the other teams' answers!). Thanks in great part to John Harrison's encyclopaedic knowledge of TV Comedy Theme Tunes, the overall winners were Blakey's Bunch (name inspired by John and Mark's unnatural obsession with 'On The Buses'), who can be seen below celebrating with the bar of chocolate that Julia had kindly donated as a prize.

Many thanks to Mel, Sue, Lorraine and Lindsay for supplying the pre-quiz crumpet (and tea) and to Andrew for being a fair and impartial quizmaster, and for not disqualifying me for taking pictures of the other teams' papers!

NEW PROGRAMME AUGUST - DECEMBER 2010

2010-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 23rd - SPONSORED WALK, LONGDENDALE TRAIL

2010-10-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain hammering against the window and streams of running water rushing down the street and thought to myself "What a lovely day for a seven mile walk along a muddy path, exposed to fierce winds and driving rain!". Luckily, twenty five other people thought exactly the same thing so we met up at the start of the Longdendale Trail for our annual sponsored walk.

The plan was to stop halfway at Torside Visitor Centre for lunch and a warming brew - which Paul Sharpe thought would go nicely with a cider ice lolly. The ice-cream man was pleased - he'd not sold a thing since August. Roger is seen here arriving at Torside, closely followed by Annie's gang.

Those who were too cold and wet were able to warm up in Andy Lomas's bus, while the others walked on for another three miles to the Woodhead Tunnel and Mark's bus. Thankfully the rain on this second section wasn't too bad so we could still raise a smile and a cheer when we reached the end.

Well done to all those who took part and to our volunteers, who made the trip despite all manner of chest infections, colds and other ailments. Also, a warm (?!) welcome to new volunteer Sam - hope this hasn't put you off, mate!

OCTOBER 16th - PUB LUNCH

2010-10-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

"There was a big group from Glossop

Who travelled by bus for a nosh up

But Andrew felt ill

When he saw the bill

He'd forgotten to collect all the dosh up"

When you live in Glossop, there's no other way to drive to Chapel en le Frith for a pub lunch than by the scenic route so, with 41 of us crammed into three community buses, off we went, in the safe hands of drivers Kevin McKernan, Andy Lomas and Mark Pugh (Mark had previously been sent home to change into something smarter after showing up woefully underdressed in his cycling gear!).

It was our first visit to the Fallow Deer so expectations were high and we weren't disappointed. Andrew Leeson had organised the menu well, so we all got what we ordered off the menu last week. The service was quick, the food was great but, Hayden, profiteroles are supposed to be eaten, not worn!!

OCTOBER 9th - BAKING MASTERCLASS

2010-10-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

We welcomed back a couple of old friends today at Whitfield (less of the old, thank you!). Sam Dixon joined us again after her holiday in America, where she'd been taken ill and has spent some time in hospital since.

It was great to have her back and enjoying her brew and toast.

Also, Kim joined us again after a few weeks when he's not been able to make it.

We also got busy baking today - Debbie and Mel looked after the choc-chip cookies with Hayley and Emma, Lorraine ran the truffle table with Carl and Cathy, and Sue helped out with chocolate cornflake cakes - here's Julie with her tasty results.

You can almost smell and taste these treats - everyone took a few home to share.

OCTOBER 2nd - BENDRIGG 2010 HOLIDAY DVD

2010-10-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

We gathered at Charles Street this morning to relive the laughter, fears, joy and tears of this year's holiday in Bendrigg. Andrew has done a great job of compiling all the photos on the DVD and setting them to music - and you can share it too for just £4.

Place your order now - they should be ready to pick up next week.

When it comes to choosing next year's holiday destination it should be no contest - why would anyone want to go anywhere else when you can this much fun? If you can't wait for the DVD, remind yourself of how we got on here

SEPTEMBER 25th: LAST OF THE SUMMER BAR-B-Q's

2010-09-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

"How do you want your sausage? Well done or burned to a crisp?" asked chef Paul Lomas as he took to the tongs and served up BBQ favourites to the hungry masses. It was as though some of them hadn't eaten since last week's big breakfast.

Somewhere in the middle of this fireball is a sausage doing its best to avoid being cremated - actually everything tasted great and we formed an orderly queue to get to the grub - sausages, burgers, chicken drumstick, baked potatoes, salad.

Here are a few snaps from the evening - Danny with Hayley and Josie, with the Charles Street "murial" in the background; Wayne, Joy, Andy, Peter and Leslie tucking in; Nick and Cathy; Carl and Nick sharing a joke; and some of the gang posing by the new archways in the garden.

Mark's iPod saved the day - the floor-filling mix of 60's, 70's, James Brown, Johnny Cash and George Formby proving to Adam that there was some great music in the 20th century! Here are Nick, Emma, Leslie, Kev, Abbi, Sue, Lorraine Cathy and Paul getting down with some moves as the sun went down.

SEPTEMBER 18th: BEAUTY AND THE FEAST

2010-09-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Back in Whitfield today for a combined assault on the senses - beauty and the feast!

Debbie and Mel set up their beauty parlour, offering makeovers and head massages while everyone waited hungrily for the mens' big breakfast. Here we see Mel offering the manicure treatment to Annie, while Debbie creates a retro 80's look for Cathy, and below are the results - Annie and her nails; Julie with superb make-up job; Leslie's gel-look hairstyle; Emma's 60's beehive; Danny, well, yes, very nice Danny; and Cathy.

Meanwhile back in the kitchen, things were coming along nicely in a surprisingly relaxed fashion, Andrew seen here taking time out to have a brew while Mark and Josh slave over a hot stove, with Carl trying to look like he's in charge (which he probably was!). Josh's waiting-on skills were put to good use in serving up the 32 full English breakfasts, and Carl can be seen tucking into his second (yes, that's right!) plateful (he won't need any lunch, or tea, Sandra!). Michael Winner might have described the ladies' breakfast back in March (click link) as "poetry on a plate", but today I leave the comments to the happy diners and this is a smattering of what they had to say:

"fandabidozi", "scrumptious", "lovely", "gorgeous", "great sausages", "can I have some more?", "have you got a bigger sausage?" (Sue), "delicious".

SEPTEMBER 11th: A DAY BY THE SEASIDE - BLACKPOOL

2010-09-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

Off to Blackpool for a long day out - here we are near Central Pier for the group shot. We were really fortunate with the weather, lovely sunshine as we had a packed lunch on the pier, with the iconic Blackpool Tower in the background. Here's Paul, Nick and Mel soaking up the sun, alongside Andy and Roger.

After lunch, we had a stroll along the prom, prom prom before heading off for tea at a good old Blackpool Fish n Chip Shop.

As the sun started to go down, we saw the lights coming on and here are Josie, Leslie, Lorraine and Paul getting themselves into position for the firework display, which was stunning.

Nobody got lost and we all got home safely at about midnight, tired but what a great day out! Thanks for these great photos, Paul!

SEPTEMBER 1st: "UP, UP AND AWAY..." BALLOON RIDE WINNERS REACH FOR THE SKY!

2010-09-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ever bought a raffle ticket, stuck it in a drawer, forgotten about it and wondered later who might have won the big prize? Well, if you bought a ticket for this year's summer raffle, wonder no more. Our lucky, and brave winner, Nina Beard from Old Glossop, along with her friend Margaret Clarke, got up at the crack of dawn this morning to meet in a lonely field in Upper Denby to collect her prize. Here we see them having their pre-ride pep talk from pilot Ann Rich as the rest of us struggled to stop the balloon taking off.

Once our intrepid balloonists were safely in the basket, we let go and watched them soar away across the countryside. I know the tickets said "balloon ride across Derbyshire" but the wind direction said differently, so off they went towards Barnsley! If they looked south they could have seen Derbyshire, so I don't expect any complaints!

Any hint of fear before the ride had been well and truly replaced with elation after they landed, some miles away in a field owned by a friendly, and somewhat surprised, farmer. I guess there's no better way to spend an early morning than hundreds of feet above the earth, then returning to join in the Balloonists' Prayer Ceremony and share a bottle of bubbly!

Even though we spectators never left the ground, it was great fun tracking them along the country lanes and reaching them before the champers had all gone!

We thank everyone who bought a ticket, and hope you'll do the same next year! And especially, we thank Ann (and husband Glen, daughter Caitlin and friend Peter - the back-up team) for her generosity in donating this fantastic prize and her skill in flying this bag of hot air!

AUGUST 30th - BANGER RACING

2010-08-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Bank Holiday Monday and here we are outside Buxton Raceway, ready to see all sorts of stock cars, hot rods, ministox and old bangers racing and smashing into each other.

We all wanted to see the banger racing but first up were a bunch of kids driving ministox cars - here they come now (above)! When I was 10, I was rolling down the road on a go-cart fitted with pram wheels, these guys and gals are aged from 10-15 years old and doing 60mph round the track!

Then the Hot Rods and Hot Fords took over and the speed and volume level increased before the stars of the show - the Bombers (old bangers to you and me) - hit the track...and each other. That poor little toy tied to number 84 below reminds me of the toy we raffled off at Hadfield Carnival - I hope it's not, it looks terrified!

Finally, after the amazing car jumping, Andy Lomas and Mark Pugh showed off some of the new driving and parking techniques they've been learning as part of the new Community Transport training

programme!

Needless to say, the journey home didn't take long and we promise to knock the dents out of the buses as soon as we get chance - JOKE!!

AUGUST 21st - PROGRAMME PLANNING

2010-08-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Barely having had time to sleep after returning from Bendrigg, we met early this morning to share ideas for our next season's activities.

We might have been physically tired but the suggestions were flying around thick and fast - everything from the Stockport Hat Museum (seriously, I think it would be very interesting!) to Blackpool Illuminations to theme parks and a discussion about the Gateway Christmas party - surely not yet - it's still summer! Anyway, hopefully Andrew will make sense of it all and come up with a programme for two weeks' time - September 4th.

Remember, no club next Saturday but going to Banger Racing on Bank Holiday Monday - picking up around 11.00am.

AUGUST 16th - 20th BENDRIGG LODGE HOLIDAY

2010-08-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary

You know when you enjoy something so much that it seems to be over before it's begun, and when you look back you can't believe how much you packed into that time? Well, that's what this year's holiday to Bendrigg Lodge was like.

Monday, August 16th

Got up, met in Glossop at 9am to get the minibus to Bendrigg.

Got to Bendrigg, quick lunch of soup and sandwiches, then off to Roan Edge, where we were dropped off and told to walk back to the Lodge - an easy start, only a few miles, they said!

Then steak pie for tea, made up packed lunches for tomorrow, followed by orienteering around the grounds of the Lodge, time for chillling out, during which Alan taught everyone how to play “Pairs” and “Fish” at cards (own up, Emily, did you cheat or have you just got a great memory?), then bed.

Tuesday, August 17th

Good breakfast, ready to set us up for a day’s canoeing on the Lancaster Canal.

We rafted up six Canadian canoes with wooden poles to make up three craft, and set off in three teams down the canal, stopping for lunch in the woods. On the way back, we had a few challenges - Alan, Christian, Danny and Dawn walked the plank, Mark pushed his own son Josh into the canal, then Carl pushed Mark in off the bank, Emily bomb-dived in, and Carl and Andrew jumped in, as if we weren’t all wet enough after the water fight while we were rowing. After drying off and a quick stop off at the pub, we headed back for tea - chicken stew and dumplings. Tonight’s activity was archery. Two teams - The Archers and The Red Arrows - battled it out with everyone giving it their best shot, but some shots were better than others and the Archers won, thanks to a couple of late bullseyes and balloon hits.

Wednesday, August 18th

After breakfast, off to Kingsdale in North Yorkshire to go caving in Yordas Cave, near Ingleton.

Looking like extras from “Teletubbies - the Movie”, we went underground, through

the waterfall, squeezing along tiny passages and back outside, ready to get our boots on for the Waterfalls Walk in the afternoon. Back for tea - sausage, beans and chips - and then into the grounds to go on the Tube Slide for the evening session, followed by a go on the “Music in the Woods” area.

Thursday, August 19th

This morning was our chance to try out the new indoor climbing wall - absolutely brilliant. We all challenged ourselves to climb further than we’d done before, which for some of us included a pretty tough overhanging climb which was first done by Sir Chris Bonnington! We also learned how to lower ourselves using ropes, before having a go at free abseiling from a height of about 50 feet - don’t look down!

After lunch we had a go on the Zip Wire, which runs from the outdoor abseiling tower down to the tube slide - fast! Everyone had a go and some brave fools, I mean, souls, tried it blindfolded! As if we hadn’t burned off enough energy by then, we went on the ropes assault course and Danny tried to beat the record for scuttling up the two outdoor tube slides - 11 seconds, was it Danny? Tonight we planned to have a campfire but, for the one and only time this week, we had rain which put the dampers on that so, after a roast pork dinner, we were caving again - indoors this time - in the new building underneath the climbing wall. It’s like a rabbit warren of passages and tubes and mirrors and dead-ends and, after exploring for a while, the lights were switched off and we had a treasure hunt, using only the lights on our helmets.

Once we’d done that it was party time - we got the disco lights out and Josh and Emily manned the decks while the rest of us strutted our funky stuff till late, before Josh and Mark got their ukuleles out for the campfire singing that we missed earlier.

Friday, August 20th

Home today! Packed up after breakfast and, once the bus was loaded, we met up in the lounge for the certificate-giving. Everyone was rightly proud to receive their certificate and personal commendation for what they’d achieved this week. Sadness at leaving Bendrigg was soon replaced by excitement at the thought of a chippy lunch in Morecambe and a sing-song by the statue of Eric.

Even though it was wet when we arrived, we had an appreciative audience of two old ladies for our rendition of “Bring me Sunshine”, before heading off to Atkinson’s Fish Restaurant for lunch - very nice - then back to the bus and the last part of our action-packed week, the journey back to sunny Glossop.

Many thanks to the leaders, instructors, staff and volunteers at Bendrigg, and to Gateway’s staff and volunteers for making this the best holiday we can remember for a long time! For more information about the Bendrigg Trust - check out www.bendrigg.org.uk

AUGUST 7th - CHATSWORTH DAY TRIP

2010-08-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

We had an a-maze-ing time on our trip to Chatsworth today. It's a good job somebody had a good sense of direction and was able to rescue a bunch of us who were totally lost in the maze - I don't think it would be fair to mention any names, enough to say that one of our drivers didn't cover himself in glory by leading a group down countless dead-ends before shouting for help!

Even though it looked like it might rain, it was a lovely day and we managed a long walk around the grounds, stopping for a picnic and for photos by the rockery (above). Then Hayley posed by one of the modern sculpture exhibits - I think this one was called "squashed trumpet" - before heading for the shop and cafe.

Leslie ordered the world's biggest ice-cream (I think some passers-by thought it was one of the sculptures!) at the cafe and, when everyone had got back from their walk, we headed off home, stopping off in Buxton for a chippy tea at Thompson's Cafe in the Market Place - very nice!

JULY 30th - THE GATEWAY SUMMER BALL

2010-07-30T23:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the High Peak's most glamorous night of the year, as Glossop's beautiful people gathered for the annual Gateway Summer Ball at Glossop Golf Club. Dressed up to the nines, everyone had a great time as the wine, beer and cheeky Vimto's flowed.

We almost managed to stage the group photo outside before the heavens opened and Debbie and Christian led the dash back inside for more photo's.

Phil is still smiling here after Sue's attempts to discover what a Scotsman really wears under his kilt. After more time for drinks and chat, the forty-eight of us sat down to a sumptuous 3-course feast, below.

As well as celebrating our Summer Ball, we also celebrated two birthdays tonight. Sue can be seen here choking back her emotions as Andrew launches into an eye-watering rendition of "Lady in Red"

before Nick took over the mike to duet with our other birthday girl, Dawn, bringing down the house with their version of "Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Box".

Well done, everyone involved in organising the evening, which went without a hitch (if you don't count Andrew losing his phone and sleeping in a hedge with no trousers on). Already people are talking about next year's ball and after tonight's success, that's no surprise.

JULY 28th - GIVIN' IT ALL AWAY

2010-07-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here we have our lucky 2nd prizewinner in our Balloon Ride raffle, Phil Hincliffe of Hollingworth, receiving his prize of a 22" LCD TV from Gateway leader Andrew Leeson.

I've seen that look on Andrew's face before, usually when somebody asks him for money. He's clinging on to the telly in the hope that Phil will give in and say - "all right, you keep it then"!

Well done, Phil - enjoy it!

JULY 24th - BACK "HOME" AGAIN

2010-07-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

Our first day back at Whitfield Centre could have been a disaster- there was no bus when I arrived to pick it up, the doors were locked when we finally got to Whitfield (above), and our special guests, the Mayor and Mayoress of High Peak had to kill time riding round the block until we got in but when we did, what a great job has been done refurbishing the centre - automatic doors, wheelchair lift, bar, games room and loads more.

We were due to spend this morning watching DVDs and eating hotdogs but with the Mayor and Mayoress visiting us to draw the winning tickets in our Balloon Ride Raffle, we scrapped the DVDs - the hotdogs were lovely - thanks Sue, Lorraine and Debbie. Over the last few months, which have included stalls at Glossop and Hadfield Carnivals, a day in Norfolk Square, and pub crawls in Glossop and Hadfield, over 1300 raffle tickets have been sold, raising almost £1400 for the club - we really want to thank everyone who bought a ticket and, of course, all those who gave up time to help sell them.

The lucky winners were drawn and are:

First Prize - Balloon Ride for two across Derbyshire - Nina Beard of Old Glossop

Second Prize - 22" LCD TV - Phil Hinchliffe of Hollingworth

We'll have pictures of our prizewinners later, and will follow the Balloon Ride's journey, when that can be arranged. Keep a lookout right here!

JULY 17th - DAY TRIP TO SOUTHPORT

2010-07-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went on a trip to Southport. It was raining when we met and boarded the Andrew’s coach in Glossop in the morning but by the time we reached Southport it had brightened up. We had to change plans when we saw that Pleasureland was closed, instead deciding to take a trip and have our lunch on the Southport Belle, a Mississippi-style paddle-steamer. Nobody could wait, though, so we ended up eating our lunch in the gardens facing the lake.

Being the coldest day in July only the brave stayed up top on the open deck, drinking hot tea and listening to stories of the history of the lake. After the steamer everyone went their own way - either shopping on Lord St or to Pleasureland and the arcades. Some of us showed off our dancing skills in Lord St where a group of African musicians, and a Simon & Garfunkel tribute act, were playing.

We were at the seaside, so we had to go and see the sea, which in Southport means a trip along the 4380 ft pier - we caught the train back where we all met up and headed for the chippy where we ate our way through a mammoth amount of fish chips and peas. Then it was time to come home, with last-minute souvenirs and rock and glorious sunshine.

JULY 4th - MANCHESTER - BLACKPOOL BIKE RIDE 2010

2010-07-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

A depleted team of four - Andrew Leeson, Darren and Liam Dey and Mark Pugh - made the sixty mile trip to Blackpool today, starting from outside Old Trafford. Darren and Liam didn't seem too impressed at this, especially when we took this photo next to the "United Trinity" statue, before they realised what it was. Anyway, with Denis Law pointing the way to Blackpool, off we went.

It was a tough ride today, with some rain and really strong winds as we rode through Lytham St Annes.

We all made it to the Prom eventually and finally met up by the North Pier. Apologies for the blurry photo below but the eagle-eyed amongst you may notice that this year the blood is pouring from Andrew's left knee, balancing up his injury from last year's ride - see posting from July 12th 2009!

Special thanks to Andy Lomas for driving the bus for us again, and to Alan from EcoOils and Tricia for driving a company pickup with the bikes (home, that is! Not TO Blackpool!) If you're wondering why Mark no longer has his cycling gear on, that's because he finished so far ahead of the others that he had time to wash and freshen up and have four pints in the pub!

We've had so many promises from people who say they'll ride with us next year - we will remember who you are so dig out your bike clips and get practising!

JULY 3rd - IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

2010-07-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

.... No, but we had the next best thing. 24-year-old Gateway member Josie Cox has been a regular volunteer for St John Ambulance for over two years and here she is at the St John base at Glossop Carnival.

Her team leader, Clare, explained how Josie has undergone many training courses in the time she has been a team member, and is fully trained in the use of a defibrillator and other pieces of first aid equipment. I was disappointed to find out that the big bag Josie's carrying was for the defib equipment - I had hoped it was a coolbox full of ice-cream!

Thanks, Josie, for playing your part in making an event like this, with hundreds of people and plenty of potential for people to get hurt, a safer place to be.

JULY 3rd - GLOSSOP CARNIVAL

2010-07-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Glossop Gateway's stall at this year's Glossop Carnival was a hive of activity all day, with loads of people buying up raffle tickets for the top prizes of a balloon ride across Derbyshire and a 22" LCD television. Debbie made sure nobody got past the stall without either buying a ticket or making a dash for cover!

Carl's mum, Sandra, looked lovely in her "branch" hat, below, explaining to another hat-wearer how to make sure it doesn't blow off if she's lucky enough to win the balloon ride - I forgot to say it at the time but it really does suit you!

JUNE 26th - CRICH TRAMWAY VILLAGE - 50's WEEKEND

2010-06-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Just look at the beautiful, sleek lines, the classic look, the way this vehicle turns heads has to be seen to be believed. Yes, I got the old bus again and I could have taken a closer picture of it for you if this old gas-guzzler hadn't got in the way!

This was the 50's-theme day at Crich Tramway Village near Matlock and in among the old trams and buses were loads of classic American cars and teddy boys and girls.

We got a ride on this beautiful old wood-panelled tram (why can't public transport be like this nowadays?) - apologies to the other passengers who are doing their best to ignore me asking everyone to say "cheese". We had a walk back to the village along the Woodland Walk and a picnic, before listening and having a dance to rockabilly band "TR and the Rockets"

JUNE 19th - LEGOLAND/KRISPY KREME TRIP

2010-06-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

Thirty seven of us filled three buses bound for the new Legoland Discovery Centre at the Trafford Centre today, where we got the chance to see how Lego is made, got great ideas for models in the Lego Miniworld, featuring Lego versions of Alton Towers' "Oblivion", Coronation Street, Old Trafford (below) and more, and fire laser guns on the Lego ride.

Then had a packed lunch picnic in the new Roman-style piazza, before heading off to the neighbouring Krispy Kreme Doughnut factory - mmmmmmm, doughnuts!

Here we are eagerly anticipating our doughnut feast - and when they arrived we got a massive selection and had a great time. Below are Martin, Jonathan, Paul, Roger and Roy tucking in.

Also, it was long-standing (and long-suffering) volunteer helper

Lorraine's birthday today so we embarrassed her by singing "Happy Birthday" before presenting her with a Krispy Kreme mug.

JUNE 14th - "IF YA AIN'T GOT IT IN YA, YA CAN'T BLOW IT OUT!"

2010-06-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

... so said the late, great Louis Armstrong. Someone who has definitely "got it in him" is Nick Kemp, seen below playing trombone with the Tame Valley Stompers.

Some years ago, after Nick had been watching the band, The Stompers' Terry Brunt (far left wearing the scarf and beret) let Nick have a go on his trombone and was amazed that he got a note out it straight away (if you've never tried playing a brass instrument, especially one the size of a trombone, have a go and you'll see how hard it is).

Anyway, next thing was that Nick got his own trombone and can now regularly be seen guesting with various trad jazz bands in the area.

These pictures were taken this evening at the Turnpike on Lees Rd, Ashton, where the Stompers, a.k.a. Terry's Dead Good Boys, take to the stage every other Monday.

Nick can be seen here taking a solo on "When the Saints go Marching In". Nice one, Nick, you should go in for "Gateway's Got Talent".

JUNE 12th - AN ITALIAN DINING EXPERIENCE

2010-06-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Lindsay "Bella" Lasagne and Chef Signore Marco hosted the Italian dining experience of a lifetime today. We managed to feed 42, yes that's what I said...forty two, people this morning. I'm sure some were passers-by who were drawn in by the smell of beef lasagne, garlic bread and a traditional tomato pomodoro with spaghetti.

Using a pathetic halogen hob, we managed to cook 3kg of spaghetti in barely-lukewarm water and it only took 45 minutes!! But the end result was much-appreciated.

The picture below shows (clockwise from the flag); Martin and Josie; Danny tucking into seconds; Roger and Andy; Roy, Christian and Cathy; Paul showing the correct fork technique for eating spaghetti and, finally, Nick re-enacting the famous scene from Oliver Twist by Carlo Dickens -"Please Signore, I want some more!"

Many thanks to Mel for keeping us supplied with brews, Trish for leading the washing-up, Lorraine and Sue for helping serve up, and everyone else for eating everything up - there's no finer sight for any chef than an empty plate and a face covered in tomato sauce!

JUNE 6th - "HADDYWOOD" CARNIVAL

2010-06-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hadfield Carnival pulled some new tricks out of the bag to attract the crowds today. Without the much-loved parade, participants were invited to join in the theme of Hollywood, hence our stall was manned by James Bond, Marilyn Monroe, Rizzo from Grease, Captain Hook, a Twenties Flapper and Jesse James.

Picture above kindly supplied by the Glossop Chronicle.

The stall was really busy, selling out of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts by about 2.30pm and selling loads of raffle tickets (still available at £1 each, first prize is a balloon ride across Derbyshire with record-breaking balloonist Ann Rich). Marilyn and Rizzo did well with their crafts and cakes, we recruited at least one rider to join us on the Manchester-Blackpool bike ride next month and, finally, we bade a sad but fond farewell to Brad the Giant Teddy Bear

, whose name was correctly guessed by Ruby (below). Ruby, please give him a big hug from all of us if you're reading this!

JUNE 5th - SAMANTHA'S BIRTHDAY

2010-06-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

Happy 40th Birthday to Samantha Dixon! Here is the birthday girl pictured with boyfriend Graham during her party at the Millenium Cellar in Glossop.

We had some great music - The Move's "Get the Fire Brigade", Arthur Brown's "Fire", The Door's "Light my Fire", Tom Jones' "Burning Down the House", Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire" and many more.

Everyone was having a great time, until it came time for Sam to blow out her candles, and what a lot of candles there were! Maybe the indoor fireworks had something to do with it, but the next thing we know the smoke detectors have set off the fire alarm!

Many thanks to everyone for evacuating the building so quickly and keeping calm, and to the Fire Service for assuring us that all was well and it was perfectly safe to go back into the building. And Sam ..... I promise you'll laugh about this one day!

And "happy birthday" to Josie too!

MAY 29th - CONNECT 4 CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-05-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Anyone who thought Connect 4 wasn't a spectator sport had better think again. Tensions ran high during today's tournament, with knock-out games going on all over Hadfield Centre.

As things progressed, Cathy beat Emma to claim third place before Jonathon and John met for the grand final, playing on the Mega 4-in-Line frame before a crowd which had reached fever pitch by then.

After taking an early 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven match, John Harrison lost momentum and was eventually beaten 4-2 by Jonathon Price.

Having finally been given the keys to one of the

new Glossop Community Transport buses, Mark proudly wore his new hi-vis jacket and personalised cap, expecting his new status to bring more respect from his passengers. Unfortunately, as he walked off the bus to a chorus of "Bob the Builder", he realised that it wasn't to be.

MAY 15th - LEGS ELEVEN 'WIT WHOO - BINGO

2010-05-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

Using state of the ark equipment (yes, I do mean ark!) Andrew and Carl called the numbers for the bingo today. Darren's full house took the first prize - a Man Utd waste paper bin (no expense spared today!)

Sue celebrated a double later on when she got a line AND a full house on one card, amid accusations that she'd tampered with Andrew's balls.

And before we left, Nick brought out some of his birthday cake, which he'd saved to share with us this morning - thanks Nick, and I hope you had a really great day.

NEW GATEWAY PROGRAMME -MAY to AUGUST 2010

2010-05-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

Click on the programme to enlarge if you didn't manage to pick up a copy today.

MAY 8th - CINEMA TRIP AND CHINESE BUFFET

2010-05-08T17:00:00.000-07:00

So, here we are, sitting comfortably in Screen 3 at Ashton Moss, waiting for "Nannie McPhee and the Big Bang" to start. We had the whole place to ourselves so could be as loud as we liked. Great film, and I don't mind admitting that I cried! Just don't tell anyone else, will you?

Then off to the "Eat Inn" Chinese Buffet, for the "all you can eat" special. I think we all rose to the challenge.

We descended on the servers like food was going out of fashion, and here we can see Emma Nick, Dawn, Cathy and Mel, Roy wondering whether this second plateful might be too much, and Julie and John canoodling over the noodles.

MAY 1st - PROGRAMME PLANNING

2010-05-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

We had a great turnout today at Hadfield Centre when we got together to share ideas for the new programme, sustained by a never-ending supply of toast and brews from Mel and Debbie. We also welcomed first-time visitors Debbie, Dawn and Denise - the 3D's!

It should be a busy couple of months ahead as we cram in as much as we can. Andrew will hopefully have the programme printed out for next week, and we'll post it here too.

First up is a trip to the cinema next Saturday to see "Nannie McPhee" (if it's still on) followed by a Chinese buffet at Ashton Moss. Cost for this will be £20, which includes transport, cinema ticket and meal. Normal pick-up time and leave from Whitfield Centre at 10am.

Also, today was Emma's birthday, so we had a birthday sing-song after Andrew had jotted down programme ideas.

APRIL 24th - DO YOU LIKE OWLS? I KNOW A CRACKING OWL SANCTUARY. . .

2010-04-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

We had perfect weather for today's trip to the Chestnut Centre Owl & Otter Sanctuary - in fact it would have been uncomfortable if it had been any 'otter! (... pause for laughter)

Christian led the way as we set off down the path, before showing us how to use special hand signs to communicate with a fallow deer.

We saw all kinds of owls and otters on our way around the centre, as well as pine martens, polecats, plastic badgers (not sure why they were there!?) although the elusive giant otter never showed up. These fellas were more obliging -

After a picnic lunch, we made our way back to the buses, where Kev, Andrew and Mark were standing, posing by their buses, Mark and Andrew sulking and asking why Kev always gets the best bus!

APRIL 17th - THE FABULOUS BAKIN' BOYS?

2010-04-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Carl shows us all how to do it here as he mixes up a treat in the form of Chocolate Brownies. The plan was.. Chocolate Brownies and Flapjack, and the results looked fantastic but.... OK Andrew, maybe we should have gone to Gregg's after all. Maybe we did underestimate how long it would take for them to cool down before we could cut them up, maybe that's why the flapjack fell apart in a gooey, yet delicious, heap.

And maybe that's why the Brownies were still piping hot and runny in the middle as we got back on the bus to go home.

I hereby promise that I'll finish them off and bring them, ready cut up, to the picnic at the Chestnut Centre next week! (that is, if I don't eat them all myself!)

APRIL 10th - BARNSLEY METRODOME

2010-04-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

"Over the hills and far away...." and boy did it seem a long way to Barnsley this morning, with the Woodhead Pass closed and the diversion taking us through mile after mile of previously uncharted countryside. It was worth the journey though, as we had a great time in the leisure pool at the Metrodome.

Yorkshire didn't know what had hit it when Glossop Gateway made for the flumes and created a splash. A late lunch at a well-known fast-food establishment (actually I will name-check them - McDonalds - as they gave us 26 x free ice-creams!) was followed by an even longer journey home, when we tested the SatNav on Mark's broken iPhone, and the suspension on the Community Buses (haven't they heard of tarmac in Yorkshire?!), and eventually made it back to Glossop just as the sun was beginning to set over Mottram church!

MARCH 13th - MICHAEL WINNER'S DINING STARS vs LADIES MAKE BREAKFAST

2010-03-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

If Michael Winner had been at Hadfield Centre today this is what he might have said:

"I won't put up with sloppy food or poor service. That's why I have decided to award you ladies - Lorraine, Anne, Sue, Lindsay and Debbie - ...(you'll have to wait)

"The bacon was crispy but not overdone, the sausages juicy and full of flavour, the baked beans retained their freshness with a lovely texture, the mushrooms had a beautiful flavour, the tomatoes were heated through to perfection, as were the hash browns and the eggs, well, to cook forty fried eggs without breaking any yolks or serving up any hard ones takes a lot of skill.

"To describe this breakfast as poetry on a plate would not be going too far. It was simply marvelous, and today, ladies, you leave with not one, not two, but three Winner Stars! well done!"

Yes, calm down Michael...it's NOT a commercial! That's what Michael might have said but he wasn't there - you can judge for yourself how much we enjoyed it by these pictures.

FEBRUARY 20th - PANCAKE DAY - FLIPPING GREAT

2010-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

It was all hands to the hob on Saturday as this bunch of tossers flipped about 100 pancakes.

Seasoned tossers Andrew and Mark got the pans smoking and then new volunteer Debbie, along with Josh, took over when they were all flipped out.

A candle on a pancake served as a birthday cake for Mark, who was celebrating his 26th birthday (no comments please!) and only just managed to blow it out.

It was also Brian's birthday, which he continued celebrating into the evening at the George in Glossop.

FEBRUARY 3rd - JONATHON FEARNS 29.07.91 - 24.01.10

2010-02-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

St Andrews Church in Hadfield was full to bursting point today as we gathered to say goodbye to Jonathon Fearns, who passed away on January 24th. Although Jonathon hadn't been able to come along to Gateway for some time, he will be sadly missed but long remembered for his courage, humour and cheek all served up with his trademark smile and twinkle in his eye. God bless you, J x

JANUARY 30th - POOL COMPETITION

2010-01-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

These pictures show Roy playing Peter, and Emma playing Dawn, in today's pool competition. Everyone had a chance to have a game but the eventual, and worthy, joint winners were Danny and Roger, pictured below with their prizes.

NEW GATEWAY PROGRAMME - JANUARY to MAY 2010

2010-01-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to see the new programme and print a copy if you didn't pick one up at club.

JANUARY 23rd - BENDRIGG DVD

2010-01-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today was our first day in Hadfield Centre and we all gathered round to watch a DVD reliving the 2007 trip to Bendrigg Trust in the Lake District, which is where we plan to go on our annual Gateway holiday in August. The DVD included an unhappy memory for Nick, when Mark tricked him into giving him some of his 99 ice cream to save buying his own (click below to watch)! Andrew handed out copies of the new programme, which I'll post on the site as soon as I get a copy. Looks like we've got an exciting few months ahead.

JANUARY 16th 2010 - NEW PROGRAMME

2010-01-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

Our first meeting of the new year was delayed because of the snow over the holiday but the Millenium Cellar soon warmed up when we packed in to discuss ideas for the new programme. New member Jake the Teddy Bear made himself popular with Hayden, Carl and Nick but soon got on everyone's nerves when he kept shouting "PICNIC!" as we listened to peoples' suggestions for future activities. Not only that but he tried to make a quick getaway in the Community Bus while Mark's back was turned (below).

We hope to be in our new temporary home at Hadfield Centre for next week's meeting, by which time Andrew should have printed out the new programme.

DECEMBER 19th - IT'S PANTO TIME...OH NO IT ISN'T!!

2009-12-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

A big round of applause today for our intrepid drivers - Andrew Lomas and Mark Pugh - who negotiated near-blizzard conditions to get over thirty people safely to Buxton Opera House and back (if I don't say it nobody else might!) to see this year's panto - Dick Whittington.

Also, a word of thanks to the Railway Hotel in Buxton, who managed to feed us all so quickly - good job we booked ahead, eh, Andrew?!

So, as Christmas draws near and Glossop Gateway Club has a break for a couple of weeks, we want to thank all the staff, volunteers and members who've helped to make this the fun, vibrant, and interesting group that it is - MERRY CHRISTMAS and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR - don't forget to keep checking for details of club events in 2010!!

DECEMBER 12th - CHRISTMAS PARTY

2009-12-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

Ah-Haar! Shiver me timbers and splice the mainbrace, me hearties, it be time for the Gateway Christmas Party. The decks be awash with grog as the crew of scurvy knaves partied the night away at the Millenium Cellar in Glossop.

This motley crew be wanted across the seven seas for smuggling, piracy, swashbuckling and wearing terrible costumes - if you be seeing them at large, only one sentence awaits them - walking the plank!

DECEMBER 5th - CALENDAR MAKING

2009-12-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

Pride of place on walls around Glossop next year will be the Mencap Calendar 2010 - "Anything is Possible". We had great fun with felt pens, glue, and loads of imagination as everyone personalised their own calendar - you can see some of the hard work and results here.

NOVEMBER 28th - HAVE YOU GOT A DOG .... A GREAT BIG DOG?

2009-11-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

We welcomed Laszlo Palko, leader of Glossop's very own Samba band, Ruido Grande, back to Gateway Club on Saturday. Within an hour, he had managed to turn a cacophony of noise into a great sound as around twenty members joined in playing "Samba Reggae", all the different parts - surdos (big drums), tamborims, snare drum, repinique and timbas - gelling together as one.

I could use this as an example of how each member of Gateway plays their part in the club and is equally important but I won't - it might sound a bit corny! But it did feel and sound brilliant when we all got into the groove. If you're wondering what the "Have you got a dog..." bit is all about, that's the rhythm that Sue, Danny and Josie were playing on the three cutadors in the middle of the photo.

NOVEMBER 21st - MEN MAKE BREAKFAST

2009-11-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

The dream team got to work early on Saturday preparing a breakfast feast fit for a king. Eat your hearts out Ramsay, Oliver, Stein and Fearnley-Whittingstall - Alan, Carl, Mark and Andrew are the new celebrity chefs on the block. Using only the finest ingredients, including a very generously-discounted box of award-winning pork sausages from Mettricks of Glossop, the kitchen was a hive of well-ordered activity, and the food served up with great skill by Andrew, Tony and Josh. Even the girls, whose brave breakfast attempt of last year was quite nice, had to go along with the unanimous verdict that this was, indeed, the finest breakfast that anyone present had EVER eaten. The bar has been raised!

NOVEMBER 7TH - MANOR PARK BONFIRE

2009-11-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

There were fireworks all right when we went to Manor Park on Saturday night - obviously, because it was the annual Round Table Bonfire and Fireworks Display . As usual, it was a great display and we send our thanks to Round Table for allowing our group free entry into the display and allowing us a safe area to watch from.

Also many thanks to St Johns Ambulance, who helped out when one of our party was unwell just before the fireworks started.

Thanks for the photo, Anne - it's much better than any of mine!

OCTOBER 31st - HALLOWE'EN PARTY

2009-10-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

A gang of us joined the festivities at the Grouse for their Hallowe'en party, featuring music from The Banned.

OCTOBER 23rd - PUB LUNCH

2009-10-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Despite the rain, we all enjoyed a pub lunch at the Castle Inn in Castleton.

OCTOBER 17th - BLACKPOOL LIGHTS TRIP

2009-10-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside - especially when the weather is fantastic, the fish and chips are hot, Andrews Coaches do all the driving, and the lights are well worth waiting for.

OCTOBER 10th - SAFETY TALK

2009-10-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Local PCSOs Tracey and Sarah visited the club today to give us a really useful talk on all aspects of personal safety - at home, in the street, strangers - followed by an opportunity for club members to ask questions that were on their minds.

One or two members had faced situations where they had been assaulted, or were afraid, and their fears and experiences were discussed.

Many thanks to Tracey and Sarah for your help and advice!

OCTOBER 3rd - I GOT RHYTHM

2009-10-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

When Glossop's Samba Band - Ruido Grande - ran a drumming workshop at the Gateway Club back in March, everyone got into the rhythm. Danny Howell has since become a regular member of the band, seen here playing during the OxJam Day in Norfolk Square.

OCTOBER 3rd - LET'S GET QUIZZICAL

2009-10-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Andrew tried to find the weakest link in Saturday's quiz, but I think we all knew who that was ..... Ann Robinson, Chris Tarrant, Noel Edmonds and Jasper Carrott can all sleep safe in the knowledge that their jobs are safe.

SEPTEMBER 26th: "FAME - WE'RE GONNA LIVE FOREVER....

2009-09-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

..... we're gonna learn how to fly!"

Thirty two of us filled two Community Buses to go to Cineworld at Ashton Moss and see the newly-released "Fame"

The chances of us flying are slim now since we went

and filled up on Big Macs afterwards, especially as

they were kind enough to give us free ice creams too!

NEW GATEWAY PROGRAMME - SEPTEMBER to DECEMBER

2009-09-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Andrew Leeson has been busy and here it is - the new Gateway Club Programme for September all the way through until Christmas. There's plenty of time to sort out something to wear for the Christmas Party on December 12th - Pirate Theme!!

You can click on the image to see a larger version of the programme and print if off, if you haven't already got a copy.

SEPTEMBER 19th: EYES DOWN - BINGO

2009-09-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

After sacking Tony for accidentally pressing the reset button during a game, Andrew and Carl took over calling duties for Saturday's bingo session. Eyes down - with over thirty members joining in, it definitely was a full house.

Everyone agreed that the toast was excellent today, although some of it had too much butter on it!

SEPTEMBER 12th: WELCOME BACK GLOSSOP GATEWAY

2009-09-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone had something to say on Saturday for our first club back after the summer. Andrew just about managed to keep up with jotting down ideas for the new programme, which should be ready for next week.

Eyes down for Saturday 19th for prize bingo!

JULY 12th: MANCHESTER TO BLACKPOOL BIKE RIDE

2009-07-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ten of us cycled the 62 miles from Old Trafford in Manchester, ending up on the Prom in Blackpool. Many thanks to Glossop Car & Van Hire, who lent us a van to carry the bikes home, Andy for driving us home, and to all those who sponsored us.

A special mention and award for bravery to Andrew Leeson - check out the blood pouring down his leg in the picture. Somebody please buy him a helmet and knee pads for next year!!

JULY 11th: HYDE FIRE STATION TRIP

2009-07-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the Firefighters at Hyde Fire Station who showed us round the station, let us use the hoses, set off the sirens, try on all the gear and generally have a great time.