Northern Aces Social Events

Northern Aces organise a program of social events for members throughout the year, as well as providing members the opportunity to play tennis. These social events include a wide range of activities from trips to international tennis competitions, meals out, visits to the theatre, quiz nights and evenings of competitive bingo!

Forthcoming events

Afternoon walk in the Peak District  - Saturday 13th October 2007 ( No tennis this day either)

Saturday 13th october - Northern Aces Spcial. Strolling along?  I woke up at 8:30 on that day and i felt content.  I could see the sky from my bedroom window and it was grey, but there wasn't any sign of rain and i believed it would be a good day.  Waking up is always nice, isn't it?  Well, at least it means i'm not dead, which is always wonderful news! 

We were going to Castleton for the day; a nice walk in the countryside can only do us good, right? Maybe? First we had to get there. The plan was to meet at Manchester Piccadilly train station at 11.30, so far so good, we all get there on time, apart from Oliver, who catches the train in the nick of time, I actually think he had to jump in the carriage from the platform, his day of exercise had truly started. 

Have you ever been on a train going to the peak district? It is interesting to say the least… it was like stepping back in time… a diesel train (now remember I’m used to TGV and things…), how noisy is that? The engine was really loud, which was fine for many passengers because they were over 70, and either asleep or deaf. Thank god Ralph’s voice was loud enough to cover the noise of our train and he kept us widely awake for the duration of the trip with various stories, tales and questions, a mere fifty minutes or so. Overall, it was a pleasant trip throughout; Nathan made friends with two old ladies, as you do and Nick had time to do what he does best, eat his sandwich.

 Our stop was called Hope, and hoping we were… hoping that the bus to Castleton would turn up, but it wouldn’t have been exciting if it had done so!! After waiting for about twenty odd minutes, and a group photo (taken by another group of walkers, who were smoking illegal substances, their trip sure was gonna be different from ours!), we decided we were man enough to walk it as it was only two miles to the start of our walk… I’m no mathematician but in my head I was thinking that two miles roughly equates three kilometres and that the average human being walks at six km per hour, oh god Castleton was at least thirty minutes away… but there we were pacing away, with our little rug sacks, brand new walking shoes for most, come on give us a break. We obviously walked past the bus stop we were supposed to stand at (but I don’t think anyone really noticed so I will not prolong this bracket any more…), and yes, after a good half hour, the whole gang finally met up, ready for our leisurely walk in the Peak. Although it must be said, Dave was already looking for a pub and Colin was just wondering why he decided to come… he thought the walk was over when we finally made it to the starting point.

 Waiting for us there were Paul, Jeff and Mark… and Clifford the little white (for the time being) westie. They had driven to Castleton, mmm! I’m not sure about that, but hey at least they were on time and were spared the mini trek from hope to Castleton. So here we were, Stephen, Dave, Ralph, Rhys, Nathan, Mike, Colin, Oliver, Jeff, Paul, Mark, the dog, myself and our guide for the day, Mr Nicholas Markley! I feel it is fair to say that we thought that after Nick’s accident at ultimate Frisbee (he was indeed on crouches for a few weeks with a bad ankle sprain) it would be an afternoon of strolling along (?). Temperatures were mild, there was barely any wind (so far) and spirits were high… so we start. 

We left the main road and took our first turn right into this alley called a snicket, see I learn new words everyday, english is far from boring… and suddenly here it was, the middle of nowhere or so it seemed. The main colours in our surroundings were definitely green and grey, seas of it. There was mud too, and I, for one was not happy at the state of my shoes after 200 yards in the wild. The mood was light and I always find it amusing to eavesdrop on conversations as we all walked in pairs or in three’s. Some were enthralled in medical conversations while others compared their property empires and some of us were just hoping for a helicopter to pick us up, obviously it didn’t happen and the shoe mucking party went on and on. After climbing over twelve thousand fences, and climbed steep-ish hills we found ourselves walking, and walking, I have an incline to think that army camps operate in this fashion, but we were eventually allowed a break on top of the hill, on the ridge, just before attempting our descent. We kind of made new friends at the top! In the shape of Belinda the sheep (or some sort of countryside animal), she was very tame and also a seductress, we knew what she was after… our food! Rhys and Oliver indulged her and as soon as they did, Belinda’s mates turned up for a similar treatment, they too wanted it! But it was getting late and we had to abandon Belinda, Melinda and Lucinda on the high peak, sad goodbyes but good memories! Now forgive me if I sound a bit sarcastic but with Nick’s track record, I wondered if we’d have to climb down paragliding or bungee-jumping off a cliff, but luckily for us we only had to walk down, and the thought of sitting down in a pub with a nice drink and some hot food entered our minds, just like a wild fantasy that would become reality, or an itch you can’t scratch… anyway, Castleton was well in sight now! Once down there, we decided the pub meal would be enjoyed in Hope so we’d be close to the train station…

Mark, Paul and Jeff were kind to us and drove us to Hope and the pub, I couldn’t have walked another two miles to save my life. And finally, the nice feel of not moving, the smell of an old man’s pub, and everyone enjoying their pint of ale or juice in the warmth made it all worthwhile… we did suffer a last hurdle in the shape of a long wait for the food, but once it got there, it felt so good, and to be fair, it was actually quite nice, I really liked it and the ale in my steak and ale pie did not get me drunk, although a bit sleepy… 

Have you ever seen a group of subdued gay guys, no? Well, take them for a long walk in the Peak and you’ll see, it is quite surreal! The train journey back to civilisation was painless and the idea of going to bed had been on my mind for a while by then… I love falling asleep, isn’t it just a nice feeling?   Kenny xx 

Many thanks to Nick for organising such a nice event, we should do that more often, and next time, come along, you’ll love it as much as I did!


Past events

Its time for the next NA social!  This time you need to get your walking legs in gear as we're heading to the lovely Castleton in Derbyshire for an afternoon of beautiful countryside and a large cavern called 'The Devil's Arse' ;-)  We're also going to have some good pub grub at dinner time.

Sounds good?  Well, here's the information:

Date:  Saturday 13th October 2007

Time:  Meet at Manchester Piccadilly at 11.30am.  The train to Edale is at 11.46am (it takes just under 45 minutes). Its £7.80 for a cheap day return ticket.  Once we get to Edale we?ll take a shuttle bus to Castleton and go for a walk from there.

For those of you who wish to drive, or live nearer Castleton than Manchester, then its fine to meet us there instead at around 1pm at the Castleton Tourist Information Car Park.  Take my mobile number down - just in case in anything goes wrong - 07793009918.  If anyone is driving and can offer lifts to people to share petrol money then please let me know and I will put you in touch with each other.

You'll need to bring some walking gear - walking boots/sturdy trainers/waterproofs/gloves/hat and some food and drink for your lunch along the way.  It won't be a really difficult walk but will have some ups and downs so be prepared.  It will take in some of the best views around Castleton for a few hours at a reasonably leisurely pace.  It?s a good idea to bring some money if we have to pay to enter any of the cavern/caves (if we have time).
  
Here is a link to the walk that we will be doing ? it should take about 3-4 hours at a leisurely speed:  
  
http://www.peakdistrict-nationalpark.com/tourist/Castleton-5-mile-walk.html
  
The last shuttle bus back to Edale station is at 5.15pm and so the plan is to catch that and have a pub meal in Edale.  Then we can get the train back to Manchester at either 7.47pm or 9.08pm from Edale.  We can all leave earlier if we need to though as there are a few trains back to Manchester throughout the afternoon/evening.

If people are really keen then we can carry on the night in Canal Street once back to Manchester Piccadilly (but thats only for the really hardcore people out there!).

Hope to see you there for a fun filled day in the sun!! (wishful thinking?)......................and if for some reason it is absolutely pouring it down before we leave (or the forecast is really bad) then we can just go for a nice meal in Manchester and relax in a few bars - maybe even go to the cinema.  But I'm sure it won't be raining!!

Hope thats covered everything!!  Please can you email me ASAP at yelkram2001@yahoo.co.uk  if you intend on going.  Its just so I can know numbers (in case I have to book a place to eat for us all).

Thursday 21 June 2007 - Quiz Night

Quiz Night