The hot weather is not a factor we can use to our advantage. It has certainly added to the usual seasonal dip in our trade. To adjust to demand we have curtailed our main bar opening hours and added some mid-week bargains to our menu. From 10th July until 2nd September our bars will be open:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 1pm-9pm
Thursday and Friday 1pm-11pm
Saturday 12-12midnight
Sunday 12-10.30pm
During the same period, Monday to Wednesday, we are selling the following beers at £1.99 per pint: Carling, Fosters, Strongbow, John Smiths and Real Ale Tyneside Blonde or alternatives.
Our Welfare Committee have arranged a trip for senior members. It departs from the club at 10am on Tuesday 24th July and visits Alnwick for coffee and The Blue Bell Hotel Belford for a three course lunch. There is a modest charge of £8 for this. Please phone Pauline in the office if you want to be on our contact list for future events 0191 2610384 (option 1).
Sunday 5th August sees us welcome back my old mate Seamus O’Sullivan, one of the finest piano accordionists ever to play Irish music. He and his son, Brian, have played for Feisanna including the World Championships at venues from Ireland to the USA and Australia. I’m hoping lots of the dancers and ex-dancers who know their excellent music will turn up and we have a great old ceili. After that we take a short holiday from our Sunday night entertainment until the 2nd of September when we kick off with Nicky James.
In September we will be back to some kind of normality, with rain, cold winds and football. Before that we have the GAA hurling and football finals 19th August and 2nd September.
On Saturday 8th September we have a really prestigious event when Northumbria University host the Irish Historians in Britain Conference. The highlight is a free public lecture: The future of the Irish border? By Dr Katy Hayward of Queens University Belfast. It runs from 6.30–8pm and you don’t need a passport to get in!