Weekender 2019 REBOOT

OK Folks, there has been so much going on recently regarding the weekender ,it has been suggested we start all over to eliminate confusion and hopefully tempt some more members to join the fun and what promises to be a great weekend. There will be duplication for which I apologise in advance, also please don't think I will neglect the folk who cant make it as a result of the late change of date........ I wont.

So without further ado, the weekender is at the Rossett Hall Hotel, 3rd to 5th May, the hotel have reserved 20 rooms at a very special rate

• Double Occupancy Rooms £99.00 per night
• Single Occupancy Rooms £89.00 per night

This rate includes the following:

Friday is a 2 course dinner.

Saturday a 3 course dinner with coffee (pre-order would be required);

Sunday a 2 course buffet dinner;

Complimentary private dinning room with bar on all nights for the evening meals;

Full Breakfast on all morning served in the Oscars Restaurant between 7am and 10am.

To make your reservations please contact the Hotel, Helen is our contact, and quote "Ducati weekend" and you will be on the guest list for the special rates.

The Hotel will take card details to reserve the room with no payment taken until you leave.

Contact details are :-


T - 01244 571000
F - 0871 522 6602
E - reservations@rossetthallhotel.co.uk

More posts to follow to focus the mind

So on the Friday we all make our way to the Hotel, no pressure on anyone, rooms are booked and your meal will be arranged.

Please let the Hotel know what time you will arrive and they will reserve a table, Myself Chris and Geoff have a table at 19.30, anyone else wanting to join us and eat at that time shout up and it will be so.

Saturday will be a ride out leaving the hotel with the first port of call being the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Llangollen Canal World Heritage site , the Aqueduct is a 70-foot (21 m) high and 710-foot (220 m) long navigable aqueduct that carries what is now the Llangollen Canal across the Ceiriog Valley . so we start off with a World Heritage site.......c'mon !

We will then ride through some cracking roads and scenery to arrive at the Sygun copper mine, this is a good stretch , we may well have a tea stop en-route.
The Mine is a Victorian copper mine which closed in 1903 but was renovated and reopened as a tourist attraction in 1986, managed by none other than our very own "Bitza "......( see I am bigging you up here Mike ). There is a cafe at the Mine for those who need a bite, for the adventure seekers the trip into the mine is about 40 minutes, well worth it, especially when you hear the deal. So Mike has kindly agreed we donate to the wales Air Ambulance and entry will be free. To do this we will have a raffle on the Friday night with all funds going to the Air Ambulance....... prizes for the raffle have been donated by Geoffs Ducati contacts....watch this space.

We then hit the roads again with the planned destination the Ponderossa cafe on the horseshoe pass, we need to get there by 16:00 to grab a cuppa and enjoy the view, it closes at 17:00.

That gives us time to get back to the Hotel and chill a while before we have dinner at 20:00. The menu will follow on the next post, Helen wants all meals to be pre-booked. to do this please contact myself, on a thread or PM will be fine. I have agreed to do a spreadsheet for her. She has had too many errors in the past with different hotel staff taking meal requests so is quite insistent about this.

Meal over its time to relax and listen to our guest speaker who is Ducati from Head to toe and a great bloke to go with it. He has some great tales to tell and loves engaging with the audience, I am sure we can raise a question or two.

Thats Friday and Saturday, please see the next post for Saturday menu......

ok make your choices and let me know...BY 29TH APRIL PLEASE........

THE DUCATI WEEKEND MENU
4th MAY 2019

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with a bread roll

Teriyaki Beef Strips, Asian Salad, Sweet Chilli Sauce

Smoked Mackerel Pate, Baby Gem Letuce, Horseradish Dressing

ooOoo

Pork Loin, Savoy Cabbage, Smoked Bacon, Root Vegetable Puree,
Whole Grain Mustard, Cream Sauce

Pan Fried Cod Loin, Smoked Haddock & Chowder

Feta & Spinach Strudel, Seasonal Greens, Mushroom Sauce

ooOoo

Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Sauce, Raspberry Sorbet

Lemon Meringue Pie, Macerated Strawberries

Chef's Selection of Cheese with Biscuits and Traditional Accompaniments



Freshly Brewed Tea or Coffee with Homemade Fudge

Sunday will be national ride out with a leisurely ride to Portmeirion village . It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, ..............see what we did there !

It was also the location for "The prisoner " , filmed in 1966–1967 staring Patrick McGoohan as "No 6 ".

We have table/tables booked in the castle for Sunday lunch at 13:30. Lunch menu will follow this post, again they would appreciate advance warning so as if I have not given you enough to decide on, I need your choices for this meal too !!

After the meal we propose to do the votes for the trophies ( very different this year i promise you ).

The cost of the meal gets us entry to the village and when the visitor numbers drop a once in a lifetime chance to get the bikes into the village for what we hope will be an opportunity to take good photographs for a 2020 calendar.

Hope you are all keeping up with this....c'mon .... this is the menu choice for Sunday at Portmeirrion.....Please remember the meal price gets you a £12.50 voucher to get into the village

Soup of the day
Confit duck leg terrine with plum puree, rocket and star anise dressing

Smoked mackerel and samphire flan with warm poached egg and watercress

Trio of fish with fennel and dill salad

Salad of roasted pear, Môn Las with walnuts and balsamic

Welsh mussels in white wine, shallots and garlic, finished with parsley & cream, served with toasted sourdough
~~~~~~~~~
Roast sirloin of Welsh beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and a red wine sauce

Braised lamb Henry, roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables and a rosemary sauce

Breast of chicken with Anna potatoes, cabbage, crispy smoked bacon and caramelized baby onion

Broccoli and asparagus tart with spinach and carrots, and a tarragon and lentil sauce

Fish
Grilled fillet of seabass on herb risotto, with mussels, cockles and a laverbread broth

Fillet of plaice with saffron potato, roasted scallop, fennel and broccoli with a dill cream sauce

Welsh mussels in white wine, shallots and garlic, finished with parsley & cream, served with toasted sourdough


Sides - £3.25
Chunky chips
Crispy baby potatoes
Buttered carrots
Garden peas
Fine beans with soy sauce and chili
Creamed cabbage and bacon
Mixed salad

~~~~~~~~~~
Chocolate brownie with hazelnut brittle, popcorn ice cream and a caramel sauce

Vanilla crème brûlée with blueberry compote and honey and lemon madeleines

Lemon meringue tart Eton Mess

Warm treacle tart with glazed pecans and vanilla mascarpone

Selection of Portmeirion gelato and sorbet
Selection of Welsh farmhouse cheeseboard with biscuits and chutney

£23.95 for 2 courses
£29.95 for 3 courses

Rob, apologies for the formatting, maybe you can work your magic on it!

As if all that was not enough, we get back to the hotel and have a buffet , consisting of:

Lasagne

Veggie Lasagne

Salad Selection

Garlic Bread

Chips

Cold Meats Selection

Chefs Choice of 2 desserts.

Now we are looking to get these 20 rooms booked , here is the list so far, I have asked if the remaining rooms can be kept for us until Friday. This is a great weekend with plenty to do..............I have not even mentioned the Roman City of Chester yet....oooops I just did.....

Come and join us for what promises to be a belter :

Big Oz
Grumpy
Big Red Duke
Moco61 +1
Chris2925 +1
Buzzbomb +1
Pezz
Mark Houldin
slob
Stinger101 & Tracey
Aidie851
Mr Gazza
Rollo22
Liz & Stafford
Uksurfer & Char

[chris yeatman]

looks great, sorry I can't join you all now. theres always next year.

Hi Chris, I Hope so mate, we can resurrect the "best blue s4r " competition too

[utopia]

Confirmed that I'm not double booked that weekend now.
So I'm in again .. room share with BRD


Big Oz
Grumpy
Big Red Duke
Moco61 +1
Chris2925 +1
Buzzbomb +1
Pezz
Mark Houldin
slob
Stinger101 & Tracey
Aidie851
Mr Gazza
Rollo22
Liz & Stafford
Uksurfer & Char
Utopia

[alan c]

Hi Mike, as you know I am just waiting to confirm my moving date. Hope to know this week and will book room as soon as know.

Do not want to miss this amazing weekend and tide up to north wales.

Fingers crossed

Nice one jeff...............welcome back..if you were ever away !!

Keeping everything crossed for you Alan, lets hope the tide is in when we are at Portmeirrion..........

[buzzbomb]

Being that the local first Sunday of the month meeting falls on the day that we are having roast dinner in the castle restaurant at Portmeirrion it would be great to have a good turnout from all members plus the £23.95 cost of the two coarse meal also gains you free entrance into to the Italian village.

Come and support the team that has had to do an unforeseen turn round due to the original hotel going into administration...

[Mr Gazza]

I just can't come to terms with the sheer volume of birds, mammals and marine life that will be slain to fill the menu on Sunday!!.. I'd be happy with a bag of chips.

I'll pay the £12.50 to get in and take my chances on the café down by the quay... If it's still open? Or take a packed lunch.

Quite a few vegetables have been uprooted too !

[Mr Gazza]

You should see my daughter gouging the eyes out of potatoes to make chips!!