Eight members convened to wish each other all the best for 2016 in the Gosforth Hotel at 8 pm on Wednesday 6th January: in alphabetical order Brian, David A, Tom, James, David R, Mary-Clare, Phil & Chris. Apologies were received from Adrian.
 

        Initial conversation concerned rebuilding at the RVI, recent floods and deep brain stimulation as a remedy for Parkinson’s. The arrival of several bacon rolls led to discussion of a fire at Woolsington Hall and the relocation of schools in Darras Hall.

         James reported on a trip to Sri Lanka to examine MD candidates in pathology where he travelled by tuk tuk. Brian mentioned his father’s book and members requested a sight of it at our next meeting. This led on to books in general and book launches.

    Phil gave as the reason David A still has no fillings in his six lower front teeth, when every other one is either filled, crowned or missing, the proximity of the submandibular salivary glands – thereby satisfying a long-lasting curiosity.

       Brian spoke of a cousin, J Walter McGinty, a retired Scottish minister, who has written a PhD thesis and several books on Burns, particularly with regard to his sense of humour and his attitude to religion.

       There was discussion of deer: Chris had once camped much to close to rutting stags; Tom had a student job involving them; David A marvelled, not for the first time, about the way antlers reproduce themselves, feeling that studying cell proliferation in the antlers of stags might have led to better dinners even than Doug Halley got by working on the salt gland of the duck.

      Other topics were no doubt covered but the pub became quite busy and it was difficult to keep track of the topics as the group fragmented into subgroups which could still hear one another.

David urges us all to Google “beliefnet hallelujah chorus” apparently sung by Trappist Monks

       It was decided, in view of parking difficulties that the next meeting (on Thursday 4th February) would be held in Twin Farms at Kenton Bank Foot. The meeting closed around ten o’clock as usual, as the much appreciated drivers arrived to take members home.

          sjf.co.uk/our-pubs/twin-farms/