Meet the readers: Prima forum get-together

Some months earlier six ladies had met for lunch in Edinburgh and that had gone so well that a bigger meet up was suggested. Manchester was mooted as being a fairly central location. After a bit of searching an ideal venue was found - the Beefeater Inn at Heald Green on the outskirts of Manchester. It was very close to the railway station for anyone coming by train and had parking on site for those travelling by car. It also had a Premier Inn next door for anyone who wanted to stay over and was five minutes by train from Manchester Airport for anyone flying in. Unfortunately volcanic ash put paid to that idea. One lady had to drive from Scotland instead of flying and another was stuck in Germany.

The sun came out for us and it was a beautiful warm day. The group arrived in ones and two's and all gathered in the sunshine outside the pub. The ladies are from all different backgrounds but all got on extremely well. Anyone seeing us would have found it difficult to believe that it was the first time most of us had met each other. There were no awkward silences, just a lot of chat and plenty of laughter.

We had exclusive use of the conservatory and the staff had put several tables together to make one long table for us. A 'secret santa' had been organised so that we would have something to take home as a reminder of the day. 

The website and magazine teams sent along a photographer who had to put up with a lot of light hearted banter. He was a good sport - though he is probably still having nightmares about the Prima ladies! A toast was made to absent friends. To everyone's surprise a few minutes later one of the staff members came through with a couple of messages from the 'Chatter Inn' - those who couldn't make it to Manchester were having their own 'party' on the forum.It was lovely to know that they were having as much fun as we were.

It was a fantastic meeting and absolutely brilliant to be able to put faces to names. Will we do it again? - almost certainly yes.

Click here to see a gallery of pictures from the day

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