Alcester Day 1 - Redditch

November 21.  Four times a year, all DGs in RIBI have to attend General Council meetings at RIBI headquarters in Alcester, which I have been reliably informed, is pronounced ‘Allster’. It is a two-day affair, and normally they go on their own, but this weekend the Consorts were invited and several of us came along. As is our wont, the DG and I came a day early to make everything comfortable, and also to explore the area a little. At least that was what I believed we would be doing. Having dropped Daisy off at Linda’s early in the morning we headed North on the M40. The DG asked me if I would mind us visiting the town of Redditch on our way, which is just a few miles from Alcester. I readily agreed, as I had never been to Redditch before, and I assumed the DG wanted us to see some beautiful architecture, or maybe there was a fine church to look round, a National Trust property or museum to spend some time in. In fact I was looking forward to it.

The reality was somewhat different to my expectations. I realised this as we drove into a multi-storey car park at the Kingfisher Shopping centre, which turned out to be the only part of Redditch we would be visiting. It seems that the DG discovered this shopping centre on a previous solo visit to Alcester, and found that it contains two of her favourite shops (I can’t remember their names) and visiting them was the only purpose of our visit. It was a large shopping centre which seemed to contain every High Street brand you could imagine.

                                                          The Kingfisher Shopping Centre Redditch

Whilst the DG was shopping I went for a wander around, and came across a shop which buys and sells CDs and DVDs. Consequently there were a lot of CDs on sale at ridiculously cheap prices, such as 80p or £1. These had already been owned by someone else, and I couldn’t help wondering if the original owners ditched them because they were faulty. The other thing I noticed was that I hadn’t heard of any of the artistes. If I could have found a Status Quo CD at a knockdown price I might have been tempted. I did buy something though.  There was a Poundland store in the Centre, where I bought some after shave balm for £1. In fact I bought 2 of them.  Judging by the bags being loaded into our car, I think I spent a lot less than the DG.

                                                   View from the Car Park (the only view of Redditch I got)

I love Christmas, particularly the Rotary activities during the lead up, but I never like to think about it until the beginning of December.  It always seems a little incongruous to me when I see decorations and lights in public places in November, with Christmas music playing in stores. The Kingfisher Shopping centre had all its decorations and lights up and appeared very festive indeed.  I appreciate it is a commercial decision,  but I bet people working in the shops become thoroughly tired of the same carols and songs playing all day for over a month before Christmas day,  never mind the 12 subsequent days.  After we had treated ourselves to a hot chocolate and cream cake in an excellent patisserie / café, it was time to move on to our hotel in Alcester, the Kings Court.

                                                         Christmas decorations in the Kingfisher

It didn’t take us long to reach the Kings Court, thanks to Sat Nav. The female voice on our Sat Nav has a quaint way of saying some words, but I particularly enjoyed her pronunciation of the Hotel ‘s Post Code, which is B49 5QQ. As we reached the Hotel, she (the Sat Nav) announced that we had arrived at B49 5 Questions! The staff in Reception were very friendly, and I found this to be true of all the staff I met that weekend.  We also met up with some of the other early arrivals, namely John Crawford, and Les and Pat Wilson, and arranged to dine together later.  Alcester is in John’s District, and he told us that one of his clubs had a Charter night in the Hotel this evening, and he had been invited to it. The corridors leading to our room appeared to have been freshly decorated, which put me in mind of something the Queen once said, that everywhere she goes smells of wet paint. As Consort to the District Governor, I suppose I will also have to get used to that.

                                                         The Kings Court Hotel

Later on we made our way down to the bar, where we met up with Les and Pat, before moving into the Restaurant. Here we found Doug and Rosemary Price enjoying a quiet evening, and put a stop to it by joining them.  Shortly to arrive on the next table to us were Nick Cork, Mike Jackson, Jean Thompson and Ken Billington, and later still came John and Joyce Waddell, who had had a pretty horrendous journey down from Glasgow. At the same time, in an adjoining room, the local Rotary club’s Charter evening was getting under way. Rotary Clubs celebrate the anniversary of being given their Charter, which is effectively the inauguration of the club. Only significant anniversaries tend to be celebrated e.g. 5 years, 10 years, 25 years etc. Interestingly John Crawford, their DG,  wasn’t eating with them, but would just be visiting their room to make a speech later on. Just before his allotted time, he changed into his DG jacket and tie, put on his chain of office and joined the club meeting. To our surprise, he was back in less than 5 minutes, explaining that he never makes long speeches, and is always brief and to the point. How his clubs must love him!

                                       Jean, Ken, John, Mike and Nick (John has already removed his chain)

It was a very convivial evening, during which a Consorts’ outing to Stratford on Avon the following day was discussed.  The General Council meeting was to start in the afternoon, so we all had the morning free. The DG needed our car in the afternoon to get to RIBI headquarters, so I didn’t have transport of my own. It was then that John Waddell suggested that I drive his car tomorrow. It holds 6 others plus the driver, so would be ideal. He assured me that it was insured for any driver. Joyce seemed entirely happy that I should drive, so it was agreed. The only potetial problem I saw was the fact that their car was automatic, so I would have to remember to keep my left foot planted on the floor. With arrangements for tomorrow made, we went off to bed.

                                                                         Doug, Pat, Les, the DG and Rosemary