Rotary Club of Epworth and

the Isle of Axholme

District 1270

2007/8

President Iain Hogg

Wine Tasting @ the Gatecliff's

A plethora of wines and a balmy early summer’s evening were all that were required to complete yet another laughter filled evening of education and fellowship in the Isle of Axholme.

Simon Cliff engaged the services of James Grant from Pagendam Pratt of York, who spoke on a range of 9 wines from a delicate German white to a lusty Spanish red. We enjoyed the warm evening air, gently swirling, sniffing and checking to see if the wines had “legs” whilst learning about grape varieties, alcohol content, storage, aging and finding foods to complement the flavours we were experiencing. Some people found the experience so exciting that they had to take a walk down the garden to cool off a little; others found that a bounce on the trampoline did the trick!!!

Tesco of Scunthorpe kindly donated cheese to the value of £20 to add to a light buffet and a raffle was held for 3 prizes of wine (what else??!!) to lift the evening’s total raised for Foundation to £200+

Many thanks are owed to Andrew and Leanne Gatecliff for welcoming bawdy bacchanalians into their home and garden and to Simon Cliff for organising the speaker.

Brugge Charter March 2008

On the weekend of 12^th/13^thApril 2008 members of the club, partners; Reda and Sheila Youssef from Immingham and Stuart Leyland from Barton, set sail for our 3^rd Anniversary Charter Lunch in Bruges.

President Iain Hogg had worked hard to get everybody booked onto the P&O ferry, coping with last minute bookings, booking changes and cancellations. BUT Leanne and Andrew Gatecliff had worked tirelessly to ensure that everybody on the trip had made menu choices for both our Friday evening meal and the charter lunch on Saturday, liaising closely with two different restaurants. As a result both meals went without the usual “What did I order?” menu hitch. Very impressive!



Iain spent the first hour at the port meeting and greeting, in his capacity as group leader. Now he knows how all the teachers feel on school trips, constantly counting heads and passports (and laughing at the photos). We were made extremely welcome on board with the manager of ‘Langhams’ and the chef seeking us out in the bar to personally greet us.

The dinner in the evening was interrupted only by the “is there a doctor on board?” call. Reda and Sheila rushed to the rescue of a young lady with stomach pains and were rewarded, by the captain, with complimentary wine on their table. A very pleasant evening followed with some members trying out the disco, alongside about 150 French school kids, and others sticking to the piano bar and the massage chairs. I believe that the last revelers went to bed at 4.30am which must have been a blow when, only two hours later, we were summoned to breakfast!



The morning saw Iain clucking around again trying to get everybody on the bus into Bruges. He succeeded and on arrival the party broke into small groups to enjoy the beautiful city in glorious sunshine (it was very cold though).

We all met up again at 12.30 for drinks before lunch, with three members of the Rotary Club of Bruges joining us and making us extremely welcome. The restaurant was excellent, accommodating our needs beautifully and serving lovely food cooked to the highest standard. We have to thank the RC Bruges for their excellent recommendation. In true Epworth style the formalities were short and the naughty table was loud (Iain is determined to be on that table next year!) and, of course, we had a game of ‘Heads and Tails’, with Simon Cliff winning an I-Pod Shuffle.



The weary travellers returned to the ship at around 6pm and after a few early evening naps………………it all started again!