Beer and Hankies…

Once more we took to the road with the Aldbury Morris (men behaving badly with hankies, sticks, bells and baldrics) on their annual trip, this time to Royal Tunbridge Wells accompanied by my parents as well.

We stayed at the very nice Royal Wells Hotel that sits on a hill overlooking the historic town. It is an old hotel with plenty of history itself and it has been tastefully updated and is well run.

On the first evening as people were gathering there was no formal arrangements other than to meet in the pub next door with instruments and voices at the ready for the usual drinking sing along and catch up with old faces (getting older every year).

The next morning after breakfast and a few dances outside the hotel the motley group processed to Calverley Park (the long way around) and to the coffee shop in the middle where a few more dances were had, coffee and tea drunk, before moving on to the Grove Tavern situated in the old part of town where winding cobbled streets were lined with grand old houses. More dancing, this time accompanied with beer from the tavern to slake their thirst and then onto the Duke of York in the Pantiles a fine pub in the lovely old shopping parade of the town with fabulous shops of interesting goods, market stalls and alleys and avenues with tantalising views of closed courtyards beyond.

After a superb lunch at the pub we continued down through the town until we reached the old Spa Valley Railway, there with the assistance of our local contact we boarded a fine old steam train for a short journey a few stops down the line where they danced on the Groombridge platform before returning and dancing some more at the Tunbridge Wells end of the line.

We then walked up to the The Barn where we took a breather and had another drink (or two) before continuing across the common to the secluded Mount Edgcumbe Bistro and Bar, another classy and quirky establishment – with its rock hewn snug and cardboard stags head decoration. This was the last dance spot of the day and many were happy to stagger back to the hotel for a rest.

The dinner was in the first floor conservatory dining area of the hotel that previously that day had been used for a wedding (the guest being now downstairs by the bar in the finery before they went through to the reception dance). We had a great meal and after a few words the tables were cleared and more music and song took us on into the night.

The next morning we drove off towards the other end of the Spa Valley line where the side danced for bemused train enthusiasts before we took another train journey down to High Rocks, a grand hotel where there we sheltered from a shower in the bar before returning.

As people made their way home it had been arranged that we meet at the Halfway House, and fine old drinking establishment with an impressive array of ales on tap and an equally impressive buffet to help soak them up. The final few dances were done as the sun came out again and we said our farewells as we all headed home looking forward to the next year’s outing.