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Welcome to the January Newsletter ...

Happy New Year and welcome the first newsletter of 2010. You may notice this years newsletter rather beefier than its predecessors, the reason being is that myself and chief editor "Stu the Brew" thought that this would a good time to reflect on the year that was.

A big thank you to Bob Parkinson for his stint as celebrity chef, an amazing spread of Lancashire delights were provided, just what the doc ordered for a snowy night in January. On a personal note I feel that Bob stepped into the shoes of executive chef with great professional ease, with Guy Nolder carry the mantle of sous chef.

The weather proved too much for the guys from Wadworths, so the evening was postponed till early march.

The Old Gits party had a great turn out, with much ale and wine consumed, this then led smoothly into what is now affectionately known as Dirty Sunday. Needless to say heads were throbbing the next day. Photos of the Old Gits' Lunch, Dirty Sunday and the Hairy Bikers visit are all now online; there are some excellent shots, so please take a look. If you would like printed copies of any of the photographs, please note the reference number and see Tony, Steve or Stu.

Booking are now being taken for our Valentines Night meal. Unfortunately we will be limited to only a dozen or so tables, so get in quick!

February: The Spot welcomes back Brigid - everyone's favourite Springbok. And we all wish her the very best for her forthcoming wedding next month.

November saw us welcome two new guys behind the bar: Steve Heaven and Jamie Hayward. Good luck guys and welcome to the fold.

90 and Not Out!
January: Pub Regular Laurie reaches 90 and celebrates in the Spot.

Blessed! Wife's Surprise
The Old Spot had its first (unofficial) blessing on Saturday 23rd May. It was held by our very own Reverend Skye with special permission being given by the Dean of Gloucester. Apparently, this was a first for Gloucestershire and was arranged by Mike Hayward as a surprise for his wife, Dell for her 40th birthday ...... ahhhh!

CAMRA Glos PotY
In May, we were pleased to announce that we'd won Gloucestershire Pub of the Year again. It's a real honour and I would like to thank all those CAMRA members who voted for us. We have now won it four years on the trot, and I would like to thank the team for doing an amazing job, and my local brewers for producing some terrifically tongue-tastic tasting tipples.

In September, we were awarded CAMRA South West Pub of the Year. We were now through to the final 16, but that was where we stayed - but hey, there's always this year!

Pub Dog hits the Pumps
In August, we announced a brand new beer available from Severn Vale Brewery. Called Pub Dog it is a tribute to our pub's very own pooch; Jack. We all decided that he is probably the most well known pub dog in the country!

Happy Daze
August also saw Andrew Brown & Becky Mills getting married, and Rob Fletcher & Kat Bussey getting engaged. Later in the month, Tim Ingram became 40 and hosted what was probably the best partyI had ever been to! Crazy, it was in another world!

April: Renishaw announces major redundancies. Many of our regulars lost their jobs, some were safe, others found work elsewhere, and a few were later reemployed.

The Budget saw the Chancellor attack pubs again by raising beer duty after an already very poor harvest necessitating manufacturer price increases. In selfless retaliation to the 2% increase in Alcohol tax, Steve announces an Old Spot beer price-freeze regardless until the new year.

Nigel Wright
Sadly, in April we lost 'Nottingham Nigel' after his short battle with cancer. He was a man of tremendous generosity, always there for you when your chips were down.

Don Weekes & Don Harmer
A week later, we were all sorry to hear of the passing of two gentlemen; Don Weekes & Don Harmer on the same day.

Paul MacNeaney
In August, we said goodbye to 'Irish Paul'; a gentleman whose sense of humour, cheeky grin, courage and attitude to life are an inspiration to us all.

All these wonderful people are still missed daily.

This was kicked off in April with Guy Nolder dishing up an excellent Indian Curry for nearly 40 people. The kitchen looked as though a bomb had hit it but Steve felt it was all worth it, remarking "This is the best curry I've eaten outside India!"

This was followed later on in the month by a real Romanian guest chef; Scrin Pop and Amelia who created some traditional Romanian delights for 37 of us.

In May, Steve Rubin treated us to a Polish Evening. A three course classic feast for 44 people, all of whom richly enjoyed themselves.

June broke to a Greek Gastronomy Night. Hosted by Kim Adams, some 40+ locals were treated to some really authentic Greek cuisine. This was fully booked before it even got to be advertised! "Yiamas, Kimi!"

In August, Tom Rolls took the wheel for his Italian Job. A brilliant job was done with over 45 of you tucking into an amazing Italian feast.

September saw Steve Herbert take the tiller steering a course through a Fish Mezze (a special selection of cold & hot starters & main fish dishes), with fresh lobsters, crabs and oysters being brought in from France that morning by Chas.

October brought us Jane Roberts with a Mexican Night - a resounding success although it did take 3 days to finally finish the burritos!

Guy Nolder was in the driving seat in November with another fantastic Indian banquet - and this time the kitchen didn't look like a film set from World War II !

By the time you read this, Bob Parkinson will have chaired a Lancashire night in January (see the Welcome section of this newsletter).

We will be hopefully having a celebrity chef Japanese night with Keiko and Sony Lai with his slant on northern Indian cuisine in the new year so watch this space.

We do need more amateur chefs to don there pinnies for the good of the community - we're running short so please come and put your name forward. If you are interested in treating us to your own culinary skills, please have a word with Steve.

Easter Eaters - The Festival of Fish was once again sold out. An excellent spread by Steve and the Team. Well done, the next is just around the corner!

The Mothers' Day and Easter Sunday meals, and the Bangers and Mash on St. Georges Day followed by music with Leon Daye were all sellouts.

Pig Diary
2009's pet project was the sponsoring of an Old Spot pig in May. From an 8 week piglet to a whopping 216 pounder. We decided not to give it a name as naming one's food is apparently not the done thing! A mere six months later our little piglet had grown into a 98 kilo beast.

We were going to have a spit roast to celebrate winning South West Pub of the Year, but unfortunately there isn't a spit roaster that is capable of cooking a monster of this size in the county! So once again, everybody's favourite butcher, Tony Gabb, came to the rescue and butchered it in no time ... all ready for the oven!

April saw the now regular pint pulling by our local vicar, and once again Reverend Janet proved to be a dab hand behind the bar as well as at the alter and could be seen ably pulling us pints behind the bar for charity. What a pro!

The Old Spot Frocester T-shirts were sponsored by Bath Ales and their special brew was aptly named 'Heavenly Hare' following in the footsteps of Uley Brewery with 'Reverend Janet', and Severn Vale with 'Severn Bells'. All profit made from the sale of the T-shirts went to the Church Roof Fund.

The final figure for money raised for the church from the sale of Frocester T-shirts and when our beloved Rev. Janet Bromley worked behind the bar in July 2009, ended up at £1,020. Very many thanks once again for your support, guys!

And another £120 was raised at our SW PotY celebrations in October bringing the grand total raised by the Old Spot for the Church Roof Fund in five years to over £5000. Well done everybody!

We were also blessed with the Bishop of Gloucester popping in with a gathering of local dignitaries and celebrities for a gentlemen's breakfast and to deliberate and cogitate over the effects of modern living on the church. Hopefully this will be a regular event, so if you're interested, get in touch with the Reverend Janet Bromley at the St James Rectory.

Charity Quiz
Nancy, Liz and Nick host a Charity Quiz with 29 teams of 6 taking part. With a lucky dip and impromptu auction, £600 was raised for Epilepsy Research. Well done all involved.

Project End to End - John O'Groats to Lands End
1000 miles, 3 weeks, 3 bikes, 3 people, 3 very sore bums, 3 very good causes!

Mark Richards, Greame Robb and Viv Jones cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End (about a 1000 miles) from the 13th to 30th July in honour of our good friend and G's brother, Dave, who died suddenly and before his time in 2005 as a result of an epileptic fit. Mark explains, "We loved Dave very much and want to take up this challenge as a tribute to our mate. Also, it looks like it should be a good laugh, which is what Dave would have wanted."

Money was raised by Mark & G for Epilepsy Research UK and Viv is raised money for FOCUS (Fund for Oncology Centre Users and Supporters), a charity which supports Gloucestershire Oncology Unit, who were amazingly supportive when her mum was ill.

Viv recalls: "It's hard to sum up what tales a trip of 1000 miles holds or indeed what it does to you as a person. In place of fully formed sentences here follows a list of outstanding words from 16 days of cycling ...

Hills, wine, beers, lochs, headwind, lorries, Cockhedge, smell of death, new saddle, handcuffs, hills, rain, sun, hills, 80's eyeliner, burning thighs, unitard, drugs, deep heat, roadkill, hills, A30, more hills.

A major, major thanks to all those who supported and cooked for us so well through the trip. To those who donated and cheered us on, we thank you. To the organisers of the surprise party, thank you. And to the guys, I thank you for getting me through what appears to have been a rather remarkable achievement!"

Money raised for Epilepsy Research UK: £1270 and for FOCUS: £1860 - a incredible total of £3130, Well done!

For a full report, see August 09's newsletter online.


Shave off for Sainty
On 13th July, three local CAMRA members raised around £700 in memory of Old Ric.

Chris Arrowsmith, Martyn Genner and John Hobson were relieved of 90 years of beard growth between them (ie their chins hadn't seen daylight for a combined 90 years, they weren't 90 years long!). This valiant sacrifice was to raise money for a to be sited on the outside of the pub.

Many thanks to everyone, including other pubs, for their generous support to all these fund raising events.

In March we were treated to an excellent presentation from St Austell. And how many free bottles of beer did they give out?

June brought us a visit from Bath Ales. A great night of sampling Bath's full range of Beers.

In July, Box Steam Brewery showed us all a great night when they came down in force. We tried all six of their lovely brews, even the Vanilla Porter got rave reviews!

In August, we were visited by Wye Valley and once again we all had a great night.

Batemans joined us in November. Another superb night - and a very interesting and novel approach!

A big thanks to all the breweries and teams who participated.

This opened in February with a visit to Severn Vale Brewery in Cam. Hosted by Steve MacDonald, things go, well, slightly messy! No surprise there then! Thanks Steve, Cheers!

In late May, the Old Spot on Tour landed at Butcombe Brewery. There was beer, more beer, and a little more beer! It was then on to the Lamb at Axbridge for a spot of mighty fine sausage and mash and a touch more ...? (guess)!

In March, we were entertained by a group new to us here; Tish Café. Great music from Jaff and Dave.

In September, we were treated to live music with Shane Edmunds - all the way from Down Under!

And of course, we have been entertained this year by Leon Daye, the Macaroni Penguins, The Drunken Brewers (Ken and Jody), Nance & G.

Skirmish!
The annual Paintball Trip took place in May, the theme being Youngsters versus the Oldies. More aches and pains and gi-normous bruises for 40-odd people! Again it proved that youth is no match for experience and knowledge, with the Old Gits trouncing the Young Pups 900 points to 300!

In-house CRICket
June brought the first Old Spot cricket match in Ric's memory. Once again the teams were Old Gits versus Young Pups - a chance for the young pups to redeem themselves perhaps? Well, the Old Gits batted first, scoring 99 runs, but it was the Young Pups who took the game with 103 runs. Bob Parkinson was awarded Man of the Match for bowling out his son Robbie. It was weekes before they spoke to each other again! The festivities were followed by a BBQ and music from Tish Café back at the pub afterwards.

The Annual Kayak Trip
Early July saw 25 of us heading down the River Wye for this year's annual canoe trip. It proved just as memorable as previous years.

Although the weather was less than perfect, the last minute hiring of wet suits was enough to keep everyone's spirits up. In fact, the water proved so warm that every one seemed to spend more time in the river than actually in the canoe! One can only wonder what was going through our beloved brewer's head as 'Big Mac' was last seen heading down the river on a mammoth stretch! We are just glad he stopped at Hereford - what would we do without our favourite tipples?

The 'Old Spot v Old Crown' Twenty/20 Challenge
In July, we challenged the Old Crown in Uley to a Twenty/20 cricket match. We also awarded the "Ric Sainty - Sandra Morgan shield" in memory of the two legendary publicans we unfortunately lost last year from our two pubs. The Crown took the lead in the first leg, but we'll be back ... !

The Battle at Saul Junction
The annual Boat Trip in mid July sported a different theme this year. Billed as the 'Warroirs', three self-drive boats left Slimbridge on their way to Hardwicke, each boat being dressed as either Viking, Romans or Cowboys!

It all went miraculously well. I say miraculous because I can't believe we all made it back in one piece - at the time it seemed like harmless fun but the photos over the following days saw a very different picture!

There is a good reason why people say alcohol and water don't mix (unless it's a good single malt obviously)! Never-the-less an excellent day, with 30 of you dressing up as cowboys, Vikings and the' superior' Romans. Gleevum boat hire didn't know what to make of it all, let alone the pubs we ended up in! The day was finished off with much dancing and merriment with Leon Daye finishing off the entertainment back at the pub.

So, you want to get involved?
Who said we're all Middle-Aged with Beer-Bellies?

Anyone for Tennis?
Some of you may not know but there are a lot of budding tennis players in the pub and we are always looking to swell our ranks. We play at Cam and Dursley Tennis Club and it offers excellent value. Winter membership costs less than £50 and there are flood lights and an excellent atmosphere ... and what's more, the beer tastes so much nicer after a couple of hours running around! Anyone interested please see Steve behind the bar or call Terry on 01453 547572.

Old Spot Harriers
Its been pointed out to me a that several of our locals are budding marathon runners. If you'd like to, you can post your times on our website and join up with fellow runners. Have a word with 'Stu the Brew', and he'll get this organised for you. Personally, I think your barmy, but hey ho!

This year's Old Spot Beer Festivals kicked off as usual with the Valentine's weekend.

The Easter Beerfest at the Spot coincided with CAMRA's National Cask Ale week and boasted an array of wonderful ales - each one a favourite chosen by a member of our happy team of bar staff!

The Old Spot Summer Beer Festival was 'One for the Girls!' with a delightful selection of ales.

Slimbridge and Stinchcombe Rugby Club should be congratulated for organising two tremendous beer festivals which a great many of us attended. Amazing, roll on this year's!

After many attempts, the Ric-Fest finally took place at the end of October as our autumn beerfest. The old bugger had proved as awkward to pin down in death as he was alive! Hey, but it was worth the wait!

Full details of all these (and many previous) beer festivals are available on our website.

The next Old Spot Beer Festival with be over Valentines weekend in February and it will be along the theme of "National Winners". We will be getting in the previous National Award winning beers for your enjoyment ... ahhh!

Once again, the Old Spot turned out in force for Frocester - what an event that is! Although the weather was not the best in the world you still came out on your masses for the Frocester Chill Out again. Thank you all for attending and helping us all to have such an enjoyable day - a fitting end to an amazing beer festival. It was really well organised - well done Neil Baldwin and team - you are loved by so many! Music was from Nance & G, Tish Café and Leon Daye.

Incidentally, since it was formed in 1981, Dursley Lions have given away £1.5 million raised through the beer festival and sales of donated furniture at their Dursley store on Saturday mornings.

The Hairy Bikers visited the pub to do a bit of filming on the 27th October 2009. They were in to sup Steve MacDonald's Severn Swans are Swimming.

Those of you that were fortunate to catch them filming in the pub would have got your money's worth. They were brilliant ... more than happy to down a couple of beers at the bar and have a chat with the locals.

The Old Spot Male Voice Choir eventually managed to sing and stand at the same time - I think they finally succeeded on the fourteenth take, but hey, it was worth waiting for!

The show - The Hairy Bikers Twelve Days of Christmas - was aired at 9pm on BBC2 on Wednesday, 16th December.

68 photographs from the evening, courtesy of Tony Cousins and the TV footage of their visit are available on our website.

This year's traditional Old Gits Christmas Party went with a real swing. Many people have said is was one of the best ever! With over 48 regular locals sitting down for lunch together with many more turning up to participate in the festivities. What an occasion!

There are 256 photos of the day taken by our own Tony Cousins and are all available on the website. If you would like a print of any, please note down the reference number and hand it to Tony, Steve or Stu.

Spot Swap
Something we are looking to explore is a bartering system for fruit and veg. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please see Steve.

Winter Warmers
A reminder that ponchos and blankets are available over the bar for those chilly winter nights in the garden, just ask the bar staff. Ahhhh! Who said we don't care about you ! But please bring them back when you've finished with them.

Take Home a Tipple
We are now able to sell your favourite tipple in takeaway jugs, a small charge of £1.50 for the jug and hey presto real ale at home.

Evening Cheeseboards
We are now pleased to be able to offer cheeseboards in the evening, for consumption inside, outside, to share or for just you. The only stipulation is that you must order them by 2pm that day, so plan ahead guys! At only £3.75 pp. "It's got to be better than a bag of nuts!"

- Forthcoming Events . . .
Next Celebrity Chef Night will be either Keiko with a Japanese night or Sony Lai with his slant on northern Indian cuisine.

January
:: Tue 12th	7.30pm	Dr. Bob's Lancashire Night	£7.50
February
:: 8th Feb - 6th Mar	- - -	Wye Valley Butty Bach promotion	- - -
	(Collect 36 stamps for an excellent rugby shirt)
:: 12th - 14th	All w/e	Valentine's Beerfest - Details to follow.	- - -
:: Sun 14th	19.30pm	Valentine's Dinner	£22.50
	(Menu is available from behind the bar or on the website)
March
:: Sun 14th	13.30pm	Mothers Day Lunch	£22.50
April
:: Fri 2nd April	12.30pm	Good Friday - Festival of Fish	- - -
:: Sun 4th April	13.30pm	Easter Sunday Lunch	£22.50
:: Sun 4th April	20.00pm	Charity Quiz Night	- - -

There's plenty more coming up, so keep your eyes peeled!

Well, that's it! That was 2009 at the Old Spot. Hope you enjoyed our little review. Its incredible looking at it like this how much we've crammed into the year.

We all had a great time, and I hope you did too. All that remains is for myself, Belinda and the team to wish you all a happy, prosperous and safe New Year.

Cheers!
Steve Herbert
January 2010THE OLD SPOT INN

T: 01453 542870
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