Old Stuff

Way past it's sell by date, but worth a look.


 

  • The Senior Citizens Party was once again well attended.
    A BIG thank you to all those who made it happen.
    Andy & Annette, Pete, Emma and Abi were slaving away in the kitchen.
    John & Andy were pouring the drinks.
    Neil, Jamie, Dave, John and Ian were serving the drinks.
    Don, Bill, Ann, Andy, Dave, John, Pete, Mike, Mike, Jane, Annette and Ian moved all the furniture and dressed the tables.
    The band were the High Society Jazz Band.


  • The Grand Music Quiz raised £625 for the charity Pepper.  Well done everybody, and well done Pete Eden for organising the quiz and setting the questions.
    Thanks go to Court Gardens, the WPGA (is that right Pete?), Odeon Cinemas, Noodle Nation and everyone else who donated raffle prizes.


  • New Opening Times - We are now open at 5:30 (pm of course) from Mondays to Thursdays.



  • Was it really a year ago since the last AGM ? Doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself.
    A number of regulars were in attendance, and listened to the Secretary, Chairman and Treasurer give a summary of the past year's trading, income and expenditure etc, before we all retired to the bar.
    Thirsty work, these AGM's.



  • Apologies for the lack of updates to the site recently.  Due to circumstances beyond his control, the webmaster has been preoccupied with family matters.


  • The 1940's 'Dad's Army Night'  was a great success !  Well done those who dressed for the occasion, and thanks to everyone for supporting the evening.
    There was dancing to music from the era, a sing along, bangers & mash and at one point there was an air raid !

               

                      



  • Bad language in the Club will not be tolerated.  Women and children and sensitive folk like me use the Club, and most likely they do not want to hear it.  Anyone heard using foul language will be dealt with accordingly, and possibly banned from the Club.
    If you don't like our attitude to bad language, then you can   censored  well go somewhere else !
       (Calm down ! - Ed)


  • Mike Williams (our local correspondent for the Bucks Free Press)
    has written an article referring to the Club. The following was published in the 12th December edition of the BFP:

    Christmas festivities started in earnest last weekend at The Barn Club.  Anyone who   might have had the impression that the Club exists only for private drinking and a quieter place to play pool than you can find in a pub, should think again.
    This Club serves meals, runs a variety of competitive sports teams, from football to darts.  The teams participate in local leagues, and generally do very well.  Obviously it also has copious space and facilities for just relaxing and lounging.
    What many people may not know, particularly those newly resident in the valley, is that the Barn Club is a significant supporter of social causes. They have a special lunch each Friday for pensioner members and the afternoon provides them with a bingo session.  Their annual charity quiz this October was for the well-known local Chilterns charity, the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, at which they raised almost £700.
    Last Saturday they organised a Christmas dinner for 110 of the Club's senior citizens.  They enjoyed a three course meal, wine and drinks and a jazz band in the afternoon.  The Club has been organising this event for over 30 years.  It is completely free to the eligible guests and everyone had a very enjoyable afternoon.
    On Sunday it was the turn of the members' young children to be entertained.  Over 60 children accompanied by their parents watched a professional troupe performing the pantomime Dick Wittington.  Fruit drinks and crisps were enjoyed by the children during the interval followed by a traditional tea party afterwards of jam sandwiches, cakes and red jelly with cream.  At the very end they all received a box of sweets from Father Christmas.
    On Wednesday, December 17, the Barn Club is holding its Christmas Raffle.  There will be a host of raffle prizes with a free light buffet.
    The Clear message is that this rather special club is an essential part of the community (it's a trust, not a commercial operation, by the way) - (sic)
    Every resident and a very limited number of non-valley dwellers have the right to become members, on application.  For more details about membership either call into the Club, telephone the Steward, Andy, on 01628 484576 or visit the website: www.barnclub.co.uk.  This is a handsome and comprehensive website covering events, facilities and even details of the menus.


    ... a nice write up.  Thank you Mr. Williams !



  • Website updates have been very limited recently, due to the web master having a busy social life and enjoying himself far too much.  The Committee decided that this decadent lifestyle must stop (they're only jealous), and he should spend more time doing the things he's not paid for. Which is funny, because my boss said something quite similar to me only the other day.



  • The patio area has been upgraded from 1 star accommodation (for smokers) to 3 star accommodation with the erection of a covered pergola. It has been windproofed (as best we can), and the heaters have been relocated, so it should be nice and cosy for the winter evenings.
    Bring your slippers.       No, please dont !



  • The Barn Club is a HotSpot!     We have a wireless access point, which enables you to check your e-mail and surf the net for free on your [wireless] laptop (or phone) whilst visiting the Club.   Access via a regularly changing password, which is available from Andy behind the bar, or one or two of the more geeky members of the committee.   


     

  • Barn Club Football Team fixtures and results can be found by clicking on the
    'Yellow Jersey' image below.   You will need to register (free) to access this site.

                                                                                                                       



    • The Pig Roast, Barbeque and Raffle on the open day raised a whopping £900 for MacMillan Cancer Support. Many thanks to Ann & Bill for organising the event, and thanks to John, who arrived at the Club at 6am to start cooking the pig,  eventually closing the grill at 9pm.
      Also thanks to Bernie Longhurst for donating the pig, and to Peter Emmett for donating the salad and potatoes.
      And finally, thanks to everyone who came along to support the event.


    • The 2008 Barn Club Open (to anyone) Golf Championship will be held on Friday 22 August at Royal Bird Hills Golf Club.  See side menu, or click here, for details.



    • The AGM has been and gone.  What ?  You missed it ?
      A quick transcript then... 

      The Chairman said a few words, commenting on the price rises (due to increased supplier costs, utility charges and the Budget), and thanked the Committee for all their hard work (if I had a trumpet, I'd blow it -Ed).  The Secretary said a few words about the smoking ban, the effects the credit crunch may have on the Club, the increased membership, etc, then he thanked the Committee for all their hard work (where's that trumpet? -Ed).  Then the Treasurer said a few words, about how much money we've spent last year, and how much money we're not going to spend this year (that's what he thinks), and divulged under pressure just how much we've got in the bank. He then he thanked... well, you can see where we're going with this..  Then the Committee all congratulated themselves, elected the Officers for the year, congratulated the Officers, who congratulated the rest of the Committee.  The meeting was closed shortly afterwards, when there were congratulations all round for holding such a short meeting.
      The Committee then retired to the Club, and proceeded to vigorously check the quality of the beer (and in one case, the Port).
                         (I'm not entirely convinced this is an accurate transcript - Ed)


    • Andy and Annette are now settled in, and the menus are now finalised and are displayed in the Club and on here.
      To add variety, some of the dishes will change weekly, and there could be a roast available during the week as well.



    • Infra-Red Heaters have been installed on the patio. These will keep you warm during the chilly winter evenings whilst simultaneously frying moths, providing endless entertainment for you and your family.
      NB. If you're a keen lepidopterist, don't stand under the heaters when opening your wallet.

      The heaters don't really fry moths, as there is no fat or oil present.  They incinerate them.


      -- After numerous complaints about cruelty to moths, a visit from the nice man from the RSPCA ,a phone call from the Scottish Lepidoptery Society, and a letter from the heater manufacturers  I have investigated the situation and it transpires that moths are not attracted to infra-red light at all.


      PS. The evening entertainment on the patio has been cancelled.




    • Parasols have now been installed on the patio area to keep all you smokers protected from the sun (are you serious ? - Ed), and also to assist NASA in locating the Barn Club from the International Space Station.
      Heaters will soon be installed for the winter.
      On the colder days & nights, please remember to close the doors behind you when using the patio.


     
  • The Pantomime this year was Frosty the Snowman.  There were around 60 children in the audience, and many more adults.

    Frosty
    Can you guess which one is Frosty?

  • And then, after visiting the the hair salon,  Father Christmas arrived (by flying saucer due to an outbreak of foot and mouth at the North Pole).  When we had sobered him up, he handed out presents to all the boys and girls and to anybody who would give him a bottle of sherry.  The photo below was taken before he was mobbed by all the children. The photos taken after he was mobbed have been withdrawn from the site.


    Can you see the flying saucers and the mother ship, waiting to beam Santa back to the North Pole ?


  • I hope all who attended the Xmas Party on Saturday are now fully recovered.
    A big thank you to everyone involved.  There are some photos, and video (which takes ages to load -sorry, but I'm working on it) on the Party page. See the menu on the left.

     

    • Goodbye Ingo !  One of our most regular customers left the Club and Marlow behind to return home to Germany. Being a member for around 25 years (or more), Ingo is one of our long standing members.  He hasn't relinquished his membership though, so we all look forward to seeing him again when he returns, albeit briefly, in March.
      The Club Chairman presented Ingo and his wife (apoligies, but I'm not even going to attempt at spelling his wife's name) with a crystal decanter at his leaving party.

      Ingo's leaving party




    • The Charity Music Quiz (compiled and hosted by Pete Eden, our much valued Treasurer) was very well attended.  Terry and Sheila served 102 basket meals in the interval.  Well done !
      By the end of the evening we had raised a total of £736 for Leukaemia Research.

     

    • The Race Night raised an amazing £655 for the charity Hopes and Dreams.  Which just goes to show how generous the Club members are, considering I counted 26 people in attendance on the night. Despite the poor turn out, a good evening was had by all and yours truly was only £2 down at the end of the racing.



    • Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh !!
      We now sell cockles over the bar.  They're not alive, and we don't sell mussels.  So now that I've gone to all the trouble of looking up how to spell mussels, you'd better eat 'em.
      Next month:  Jellied eels !
      (No way - Ed)


    • Becks (not the scruffy one that's married to the stick) now do a low alcohol beer.  It's in bottles, available now from the cold shelf, and it tastes ok.  Being a red wine drinker it's a bit too gassy for me, so I'll just have another bottle please.  Anyone got a corkscrew ?




    • St. George's Day celebrations with Graeme Hewitt and the High Society Jazz Band, who returned to the Club by popular demand.
       
    • Jack and the Beanstalk was the pantomime last year.  Everbody had a good time, and afterwards there was a surprise visit by Father Christmas, who we managed to coax away
      early from the North Pole with the promise of a bottle of Sherry.




































    •  
    • The Charity Quiz Night was a total success.   There were over 115 entrants, and between
      us all we managed to raise over £800 for Leukemia Research.   A big thank you to Peter
      (Mr. Club Treasurer) for organising the event. Many thanks to Glynn and Sony for the
      donation of the raffle prizes. And thank you to Sheila and Terry for organising the food and getting it out on the tables so efficiently.



    • The Open Day / Fun Day was another total success.   Everybody enjoyed themselves, and
      the weather was perfect for the BBQ and other outdoor activities, including 'kick the ball
      into the cement mixer', and 'get the golf ball into the bucket'.   Then there was much
      grovelling on the floor to shove a £1 coin nearest to the Vodka bottle, a raffle to win a bottle
      of champagne, the usual Golden Key draw (£750 next Sunday), and of course the casino,
      which attracted a lot of attention.   The outright winner can be seen accumulating his orange   chips at the roulette table below.




















    • The final figures are now in, and the event raised £680 for the Barn Club Football Team.
      I know £380 of this was raised by Lindsey, (who very kindly waived her usual fee for the event)   and the girls at the gaming tables. Visit the website at http://www.dazzlefuncasinos.co.uk/

    • New .co.uk address.   You can now find our site by typing in http://www.barnclub.co.uk/
      as well as the regular .net address that you've grown accustomed too.   Hopefully,
      you have already saved this site to your favourites, and don't have to type anything.

    • Well Done to the Barn Club Pool Team, who won the Marlow & Disctirct Team
      Knock Out, on July 2nd, at the Britannia.   And here they are...

      Back Row (Left to Right)

      Andy Houiellebecq, Alex Wing, Martyn Harrison, Tony Golding (Capt), John Little

       

      Front Row (Left to Right)

      Paul Raine, Stuart Voller, Chris Judge, Andy Fisher






    • Googling for Barn Club works once again.   Although we're not high up in the list,
      we are there.   We are doing   very well   on other search engines though,
      such as Lycos, MSN Search, Yahoo and Excite. And, we can be also
      found on Google Earth.   If you haven't seen this, then you don't know what
      you're missing.   You need a broadband connection, and download
      Google Earth from: http://www.earth.google.com/   You really should check it out.

    • The Disabled Parking space   was created for those of us who   carry a blue badge,
      which looks like this:            

      Blue badge disc











    ...and not like this:                                

    So now you know what a blue badge looks like,   if you do not have one,
    then please DO NOT park in the disabled bay.

    Thank You.