District Conference 2017

Nine members of the Club signed up to go to Bristol for the 1260 District Conference. Two couldn’t make – and then there were seven.

A mini bus took five round the M25 and down the M4 with one joining after attending a course on aquatic invertebrate identification and the other after a couple of days' fishing. The conference weekend started with a trip to a local pub (old, ceiling and walls covered in beer mats, good beer) followed by a meal at Carluccio's. The stragglers had arrived by then and we all had a really good meal with a few bottles of wine. Then back to the hotel - for a nightcap!

Saturday was spent listening to some really very interesting speakers and it was gratifying to hear what wonderful work Rotarians do for disadvantaged people all over the world. However, the highlight was, perhaps, the talk given by Adam Henson of Countryfile - an enlightening talk and funny as well. The Gala Dinner had the team togged up in their glad rags where we were joined by the President of the Rotary Club of Rickmansworth (for her sins!). The meal varied from OK for mass catering to dreadful, with the service so slow that a snail would have been speedier! Of course, this gave us a longer opportunity to talk amongst ourselves and our new-found colleague. The evening ended with a hard core propping the bar up for another couple of hours before retiring.

All in all it was a very pleasant, friendly weekend and a chance to get to know fellow Rotarians better, not only from within the Club but also from other clubs. Our thanks go to the organisers for the work done in putting on the conference and our sympathies to the conference hotel staff who were clearly overwhelmed by the numbers at times.

Here's to Rotary the world over.