Thanks Claudette for organising a great bash it was really enjoyable. Also to Tracy for sorting out the walks.Oh and I see Miss Babs had a hand in it with the wine. Owe you a pint Gayna😉As usual, it was good to meet up with friends that I know and also getting to know those I met for the first time.

Oh Dear how very rude of me! Tracy thank you, thank you, thank you for being such a fab walk organiser (the boys never thought of walkie talkies! 😋😀). You put so much effort into the recce's I did really appreciate it 😀

Double Oh Dear!! :~
My thanks as always to you Deka dear for being such a gentleman and great chauffeur. So glad we could help you enjoy your first time in a YHA!!! 😈😈

Oh and did I say a special thank you too to Mr & Mrs Claus? You did a sterling job guys!! 😀

A big thank you to Claudette for organising an amazing weekend I had a brilliant time and met some fantastic people XX Big thanks to Tracy for the lovely walk on Saturday.
Everybody is so lovely and so funny. Can't ever remember smiling so much. Big thanks again to everybody xx😀😈😀

Thanks to all who took such care with the organisation this weekend, not forgetting Tim on Friday, and thanks to all the new friends I now have for making it such a good get together. Happy Christmas

Thank you Claudette for your great organisation! Thanks Tracey for the walk and you even arranged for the sun to shine! I had such a fantastic time - even today trying (and failing!) to keep up with the boys on the mountain bike trails. I only fell off a handful of times and the final descent was brilliant! Thanks Graham for your guiding and patience!!!

Yes indeed, big thanks to Claudette and Tracy for all their hard work in organising such a fantastic weekend. It is a very difficult job pleasing everybody but they have made it look very easy 🙂🙂 The whole weekend was brilliant - so impressed with everyone's costumes and efforts. Cant wait to do it all again! 🙂🙂🙂

I had a wonderful time Claudette. Thanks for making this event a memorable one!! See you soon xxx

Claudette you are such a star, 1st class weekend and many thanks to Tracey for two great walks🙂

Huge thanks from me too Claudette and Tracy for all your hard work, it was a brilliant weekend from start to finish. Thanks also to Mr Rourky Sir for the class outing this morning 🙂🙂
Really good to meet some new faces and catch up with familiar ones 🙂🙂🙂

Thank you Claudette for arranging such an amazing weekend. Thanks also to everyone else involved in making the weekend so brilliant, Tracey for the great walks, Santa and Mrs Claus, and not forgetting Tim for leading Friday's Malvern Hills Walk. It was lovely meeting up with everyone - friends old and new - I'm afraid I'm never going to remember names!!! :~😀😀😀

Thank you Claudette and Tracey for such a great time. Wonderful fun and laughs and for some crazy reason I have written a poem to come up shortly 😉😋

Good to hear everyone had such a good time, loving the photos, great costumes 🙂 🙂

Can't wait to hear Jonathan's poem! I'm sure it will echo all of our thanks to everyone concerned but in a very eloquent way, as only he does!!! In the meantime, to all the organisers, walk leaders, costume makers, wine buyers and all their merrie men (and women) -a big thankyou!!!😀😀😀

Jonathan - did you get rid of the splinter?? Thanks so much for the plaster it really helped !!!!😀

Fab fab fab the whole weekend. Many thanks to everyone involved especially a great friend Mrs C.
The 4th and best Christmas party and great seeing many old friends and knowing I have met many new friends for the future. 😀

Poem is almost here - apologies for the self-indulgence and long words ☹ (don't expect too much Lizzie!) Thanks for your kind splinter concern Lou - still hunting for it ..could be a amputation 😋 glad the plaster worked! 🙂🙂🙂

A great big thank you to Claudette for a wonderful weekend; to Tracy for the lovely walks and also to Tim for the walk on Friday.

The gloves of time drew us from afar,
St. Briavel's awaiting the regal rumbustiousness of OD splendour....
Clad with panache
we shimmered in a garrulous cacophony of codpiece delight
jollity abounding, comrades-in-arms in marvellous merriment
releasing raucous rampage
into the soul of that castle
as wenches, knights and Robin mixed, the evil friar glowered and wailing filled the charred air
while whirling dervishes spiralled on the floor and the wine worked its touch...
then we slept, snoozed and snored (some not so)
while the wind breathed misty air
and the moon smiled knowingly over the battlements

ray9: they say strangers are only the friends we have yet to meet and now we have all met! 🙂
It was great to meet our most recent recruits and welcome back the lovely Ali-Bach and Bonnielass.
We love it when a plan comes together! 😈😈
I hope this means everyone will try and support the Summer Ball when Deka reposts in the New Year! 🙂

Thank you Claudette,(i still owe you a quid)for organising an other brilliant Party & Tracey for organising exceptional walks.It was so good to meet up with old friends again and new ones and hope that i don`t leave it so long before meeting again.

Another wonderful weekend of fun and frolics. Thanks to Claudette for organising such a great party, and to Tracey, Dave and Minty for arranging all the walks, to Rourky and Ali for being such hilarious santa's, and to everybody else who made the wekend so memorable.

Wonderful weekend, wonderful walks, wonderful welcoming folk. Thank you to the movers and shakers(you know who you are!)for facilitating the fun and frolics for the rest of us to enjoy😈😈

I'll certainly second that RuthieA, great fun. Thanks all. 🙂

Thanks Claudette and everyone else involved in organising such a fabulous weekend - thoroughly enjoyed everything about it! 😀 😀 😀

What a weekend!!! Huge thanks to Claudette and everyone who made this such a special OD Christmas bash 😀😀😀

Thanks for your kind words peppasmum - my mind started racing on the way home - kept stopping to write down more adjectives. Pretentious and self-indulgent I know but, frankly, who cares? 😋😋😋😋 ( Bet I'll be Bard from the next event.... ho ho 😀 )

I second and third everything everyone has said and to The Mind is Willing, thank you so much for a brilliant weekend, great to meet up again and thanks to all the new friends I met, it was brilliant and such a good laugh as ever, there is something about this site, I can't quite put my finger on it but it is probably the people, fab and I hope to be coming along for more in the near future. Thanks to my dance partner and the last men standing, the fab foursome!! looking forward to the photo's! Nos da pawb xxx

Thanks Ali & everyone 🙂 It's clear to see that the location caught the hearts of everyone who attended and the costumes everyone's sense of fun. I always find the weekends with the OD gang top me up for the weeks ahead and this one will live in my memory and heart for some time to come!

You above are both dead right TMIW and my Dancing Queen.... weekends like that make our souls smile and warmth pervade our hearts. I'm still glowing (and not quite sober...) 🙂😉😋

ray9: Super!!! 😀

Carpe Diem!: Frankie cares about everything! 😋😀

Don't understand that last message Claudette - what are you talking about? :~:~:~

AAAAAH ...the frankly who cares comment!! That was last night - are you a secret time traveller TMIW? 🙂..if so, that explains a LOT.....

I know all, I see all CD!!!! 😈😈😈

aaaagh ...ye olde wise woman o''andeforth 😉😉

I would like to add my thanks to everyone especially Claudette and Tracy. The whole weekend was fabulous!!