Due to the absence of one of the usual NERDs the present ramble was not so noisy as usual. In fact it was very strange how peaceful it seemed at times.
Lafayette and the Admiral met up at NHN station and wondered where everyone else had disappeared to. Where was the Bish and Matt, had they died of old age or just forgotten the date?
Anyway we were met at Lewes by Sandyballs who too was expecting a bigger quorum but we realised that Matt was off counting his money again and that Paco would be meeting us at the pub. Accordingly S.B. led the two of us on to the Depot where we indulged in an expensive coffee and admired the surroundings of Lewes's poshest cinema.
The weather outside was a bit gloomy but that didn't matter as we didn't intend to ramble far. However we made it to The Gardeners where we had a pint of Old and discussed the Queen's visit to Harvey's Brewery which she had made one day when she happened to be thirsty.
Now we had to climb up that bloody hill to get to The Rights of Man for lunch. Laf was feeling a bit crook after a recent bout of monkey pox so elected to take the bus. Unfortunately he had left his Old Gits' Bus pass behind so he had to smile sweetly at the driver who let him on as he was only going for one stop.
We got to The Rights and there met Paco who had come from Gatwick (long story), the Bish who had been shopping in town and Dave Hack, who had recently joined the NERDS because he had heard how amazing and charismatic we all were. What was really good though was that The Rights was selling Harvey's Bonfire Boy (since it was Halloween soon) a rare treat which is rarely produced, and only around this time of year.
The food was good (this is Laf's favourite Lewes pub) and the Bonfire Boy kept coming until Paco went on to the Malbec and had to get Laf to finish it as he had to dash off to rescue his car from the traffic wardens. Hackers told us lots of stories about people we could all barely remember from TN3, and the Bish and the Admiral partied like mad.
Pity the bog was on the top floor - all those stairs! Has no-one any pity for people with bad knees? Then we returned to the station where S.B.came running after Laf to give him the latest instalment of Mrs. Sandyballs' excellent plum jam.
Laf made it back to NHN again but sadly found he was in need of his bus pass again. Back to the "I'm a poor Old Git with a bad memory" routine and he blagged a second free journey back home.
So, a pleasant "day out" and surprisingly The NERDS seem to visit as many pubs as when they actually go rambling. ---- It had been strangely much quieter than usual though.......
Laf.
No photos, I'm afraid - we all forgot.
