this week in high powered business meetings
i had a work meeting the other week down in the central belt. it was, for reasons of proximity to the site we were visiting, & because the local community are invested in attracting tourists to this part of the antonine wall*, held in a miners social club.
nowadays, of course, there are no mines (and little work), so the miners social is a community-run trust that provides a social space for an increasingly aged clientele. the main public area is a large beige room with a bar (only open at night) at one end and a low stage at the other. during the day there are tables set out. a kitchen can provide soup and sandwiches. so, we held our meeting at one of these tables. with soup. and sandwiches, and tea, and cakes (many cakes - hurrah for the catering lady who "just thought we might like them"). only after beginning our our meeting did we discover that we had been booked into the room at the same time as another group.
the afternoon bingo session.
twenty odd elderly and very elderly ladies, and one bingo caller.
(actually, it was surprisingly restful, but a little distracting. we ought to have asked if we could join in.)
*most of which is more of an antonine ditch, to be honest - no hadrian's wall type impressive horizon-spanning stonework here - though a lot of that was, uh, "restored" by the victorians.
nowadays, of course, there are no mines (and little work), so the miners social is a community-run trust that provides a social space for an increasingly aged clientele. the main public area is a large beige room with a bar (only open at night) at one end and a low stage at the other. during the day there are tables set out. a kitchen can provide soup and sandwiches. so, we held our meeting at one of these tables. with soup. and sandwiches, and tea, and cakes (many cakes - hurrah for the catering lady who "just thought we might like them"). only after beginning our our meeting did we discover that we had been booked into the room at the same time as another group.
the afternoon bingo session.
twenty odd elderly and very elderly ladies, and one bingo caller.
(actually, it was surprisingly restful, but a little distracting. we ought to have asked if we could join in.)
*most of which is more of an antonine ditch, to be honest - no hadrian's wall type impressive horizon-spanning stonework here - though a lot of that was, uh, "restored" by the victorians.