December 2019 FoBL Loyalty Card Scheme

FoBL is pleased to welcome The Wine Loft in Middle Street Brixham as the latest retailer to sign up with our loyalty card scheme.

The Wine Loft in Middle Street is a wine shop with a difference. They have nearly 300 wines available to buy, starting from £6.99, including 60 which are under £10. Over 15 different, constantly changing wines can also be enjoyed on the premises by the glass or even more choices by the bottle, sat on our bar stools overlooking fantastic views of the town. Tapas style dishes are available all day, for example freshly sliced Spanish charcuterie, home smoked salmon, Portuguese tins of fish accompanied by Dan’s homemade sourdough, pâtés and cheeses. The Wine Loft is open Tuesday to Saturday for normal retail hours plus two evenings, Thursdays and Fridays till 8pm.

We are pleased to announce that the owners Clare and James Brown will offering all current FoBL members a 10% discount on Lunches taken in the Wine Loft.

We look forward to enjoying future collaborative events with them. However, in the meantime with Christmas and new Year on the doorstep you might wish to go and have a look for yourselves.

Christmas Music & Song

Our first big event in the library since the recent refurbishment and it was just a perfect setting for this carol concert. With a sell our performance the audience were entertained by the Torbay Galliard Recorder Group and the Quay Harmony Ladies Choir. Under the direction of their new Musical Director Ronnie Layne, the girls sang a delightful selection of Christmas songs to huge applause. The concert made a terrific amount of £640.00 for FoBL funds. Our thanks go to Quay Harmony and to all those who made the night such a success.

First Friday of the Month Coffee Morning

First of all, an apology to all those who came to our December coffee morning and were disappointed that there were no carols from the children from Furzeham Primary School. Unfortunately, the school found that they had double booked themselves and as a result mock tests meant a cancellation at very short notice. However, the morning made £133.00 towards FoBL funds and we were very pleased to see so many people come along and join us all for coffee and cake.

Our first coffee morning in the New Year is on Friday 3 January at the usual time and we look forward to seeing you then.

Walking for Health on a Monday Morning

Our regular Monday morning walk around Berry Head continues to be as popular as ever. For those who like numbers, this last year over 1000 individual walks have been achieved with an average of 30 people every Monday morning enjoying our regular walk. This is quite something and our thanks to all those involved in making these walks happen including Maureen Chivers and Mike O’Donnell as well as to Joy Mills who leads on the Tuesday afternoon walk for us.

And finally…..

With Christmas still to come, it may seem a little early to start thinking about New Year resolutions. Here are some suggestions to get you thinking:

1 – lend or recommend a book that you’ve enjoyed to a friend.

2 – try a different genre of book taking you out of your comfort zone.

3 – make time to read every day.

4- suggest to your children, grandchildren or friends’ children that you sit and enjoy reading a book together.

5 – bring a friend with you to our monthly coffee mornings.

6- join one of our health walks on a Monday morning or a Tuesday afternoon.

On behalf of the FoBL Committee may I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and the very best for the coming year.

Alasdair Anderson – Chairman, FoBL