Social Friends - Blog

Monthly Curry Night with Friends

5/29/2018

Every month we host a very popular curry evening at a central location in Hemel Hempstead.

This converted cinema, which still has many of the old features remaining, was apparently opened as an Odeon in 1959 by Lauren Bacall. This is very popular event with Social Friends members and even those who are not curry fans can choose from an array of tasty dishes available on the menu at very competitive prices.

This event is very popular with Social Friends members with lots of lively company, loads of laughter and a chance to relax and enjoy a pleasant evening. Hope to see you there next time …..

For more info on how you can join Social Friends please telephone 07542 113683 or click here to email our Membership secretary

Sumptuous Sunday Lunch

5/29/2018

Spring has finally arrived and Social Friends are out enjoying the great weather with a sumptuous Sunday lunch at a local venue in Hemel Hempstead.

The sun was shining so we met up for a drink in the pub garden prior to enjoying a traditional Sunday lunch and a few drinks.

We even had the opportunity of wishing one of our members a very Happy Birthday and indulged in some birthday cake to follow a very enjoyable roast – no cooking, no washing up what a great way to enjoy your weekend!!

For more info on how you can join Social Friends please telephone 07542 113683 or click here to email our Membership secretary.

Christmas Club Night

12/6/2017

Social Friends December Club Night is always an extra special evening. Held at the Union Services Club in Kings Langley, it's become a bit of a tradition to wear Christmas jumpers for the 'Best Christmas Jumper Competition'. As you can see below, many members dug out their jumpers for the first time this festive season and 3 winners were selected and prizes distributed.

If you are interested in improving your Social life in 2018, then do come along to our New Year Club Night on Wednesday 3 January 2018 from 8.30pm. For more information on Social Friends and if you would like to be met outside by one of our friendly committee members, get in touch with our committee on 07542 113683 or click here to email our Membership secretary. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Old Town Ghost Walk

11/9/2017

On Monday the 30th of October, the night before All Hallows Eve, an intrepid group of Social Friends ventured into the historic Old Town of Hemel Hempstead.

Here we learned of the Lady seen at the window of the Bury Tower and experienced her ghostly presence.

We met the spectre of the distraught young man murdered by the Kings men when he refused to abandon his family to join the army.

Mr Cranstone proudly showed us the wonderfully ornate gates to the Old Town Hall and the pump at the end of the High Street that he had forged in his Foundry.

We heard tales of apparitions and things that still go bump in the night and saw good King Henry supping in several of the local hostelries, his Kingly laughter booming through the open windows.

Madams and landladies, highwaymen and lunatics. Nuns, underground tunnels and cellars. A rich fascinating history of Old Hemel Town which we rounded off in style, imbibing in the oldest pub in the High Street before wending our way back to the safety of our homes.

For more info on how you can join Social Friends please telephone 07542 113683 or click here to email our Membership secretary.

Brilliant Brekkie!!

10/16/2017

A group of early birds started their day the right way with a leisurely tasty breakfast away from all the hustle and bustle.

This much laid back event was very much enjoyed by all who attended with lots of catching up and chatting going on over a cuppa with the morning rushing by and before we knew it the afternoon had arrived.

With lots of different events on the calendar this month watch this space for more news on what is happening in the world of Social Friends!

Social Friends in malta 2017

10/1/2017

Social Friends had a fabulous holiday in Malta last week. The group consisted of nine ladies and one lucky chap (or maybe 'not so lucky' depending which way you look at it!). We stayed at the lovely Seashells Resort in Qawra.

Some members went on a full day trip to visit Malta's sister Island of Gozo. They left the hotel at 8am to catch a ferry to the island and visited the beautiful Cathedral and also managed to fit in a boat trip to the Blue Lagoon on another neighbouring island of Comino where they had lunch on the beach.

The rest of the group spent the morning lazing by the pool before going out to discover the local area, this included a stop at a cafe in the next resort of Bugibba.

A shortcut across the peninsula back to the hotel seemed like a good idea at the time as we were all hot and tiring but after a long trek around the residential areas we ended up back at the start. The local bus came in handy only to find we were literally 10 minutes walk from our hotel!

Another trip out took us into the capital Valletta. Our tour guide took us through the main street pointing out the new Parliament building that some locals have likened to a cheese grater. We then visited the wonderful St John's Co-cathedral where all the inside is decorated with 24 carat gold.

We were also taken to the Upper Barrakka Gardens to see the daily 4pm canon firing which was amazing.

The group also had some super evenings at the hotel with a 17 year old Elvis impersonator entertaining us. We managed to devour a very large amount of cocktails during the week whilst also being entertained by the hotel animation team that included dancing and quizzes. Click here to see more pictures of our wonderful holiday in the gallery.

For more info on how you can join Social Friends please telephone 07542 113683 or click here to email our Membership secretary.

Night of Amazing Back to School Fun at our Birthday Bash

9/18/2017

Social Friends celebrated its quarter century birthday with a Back to School party at a local community centre in Hemel Hempstead.

Lots of our members joined in the spirit of the evening and delighted the organisers by embracing their old school days and dusting off their school uniforms.

There was a great variety of outfits including our very own Head Mistress and even DJ Dan joined in with the fun becoming our Sports Teacher, whistle and all!! Take the opportunity to look at our gallery page for more fantastic pictures!

Social Friends members are always game for a laugh and no school disco would be complete without school dinners. Everyone queue very nicely under the watchful eye of our Head Mistress and enjoyed a tasty fish & chip supper. Not forgetting the great job done by one of our ladies providing each table with some awesome retro sweets.

No party is complete without games. Balloons featured very heavily in our first game with couples getting together to see who could be the first to burst all their balloons, easy I hear you say but not when you cannot use your hands or feet!! Hysterical fun followed. Fitting in with the theme the winning couple received some great retro Beano annuals.

Party games still on the agenda we followed this with a traditional game of musical chairs, they say the old ones are the best and everyone had a great time cheering on the contestants. The rest of evening was spent dancing the night away to some great tunes and generally having a terrific time.

We are pleased to report no detentions were given, all school reports at the end of the evening were amazing and everyone is now looking forward to our next Social Friends event.

Old Blue Eyes Rocks the Blue Check

9/18/2017

The Blue Check in Bushey is a large, vibrant restaurant offering a varied menu and which recently played host to a great Social Friends event.

A group of our members enjoyed an evening of marvellous musical entertainment provided by a very talented Frank Sinatra tribute act plus a very tasty meal.

William Byrne provides the ever popular live music including “Sinatra”. He performs with passion some of the very best of Sinatra’s songs including ‘My Way’, ‘For Once in my Life’ and ‘Paris Summer’.

The whole group very impressed with the whole evening and there maybe even a return visit in the future.

For more info on how you can join Social Friends please telephone 07542 113683 or click here to email our Membership secretary.

Well We Do Like to be Beside the Seaside!!

9/2/2017

A large coach bursting at the seams with Social Friends members recently went on a day trip to Clacton on Sea. The journey to Clacton went very smoothly helped by a very entertaining driver and many members indulging in our raffle. Some lucky members even winning a few pennies to spend on the attractions in Clacton!

You are never too old to enjoy a day by the seaside and many of our members were pleasantly surprised at what Clacton on Sea had to offer! We were very lucky to have a very sunny warm day [especially as this was a bank holiday weekend] which gave a few of us the ideal opportunity to go for a quick dip in the sea whilst others took a stroll along Clacton Pier – who could resist reliving childhood memories with a go on the amusements and rides.

Clacton On Sea boasts a very clean beach and after hours of playing on the Pier, Fish & Chips by the sea was next on the agenda.

After a very enjoyable lunch many of us took the land train to Holland On Sea and then back to Clacton's Pier for a well-deserved cuppa or something a bit stronger, cheers!

At the end of a very enjoyable day by the sea the troops boarded our coach for the journey home singing along to a few songs and signing up for our next very special coach trip to Rochester Christmas Market which is due to take place in early December. Watch this space for the next instalment of our fun events …….

See our gallery for more pictures

Social Friends is Celebrating 25 years of friendship

8/18/2017

Our group has reached its ‘Quarter Century’ birthday this year. To celebrate we are having a Back to School disco with Fish & Chip Supper on Saturday 9th September 2017 at Bennetts End Community Centre.

We would like to welcome all our members, past members and anyone else interested in joining our group for a great night out! Dressing up in school uniform or as a teacher would be good or come in your usual disco attire if you prefer.

Social Friends was set up by 4 friends in 1992 and held their first meeting at the Chequers Pub in Redbourn. We have moved on since then with around 130 members but we are still a unique and diverse group who welcome both single people and couples. On average our members range from age 40 plus although our youngest member is 22 and our eldest is 81

The one thing we all have in common is friendship, the group love nothing more than going out and having a good time. Whether that’s eating out, dancing, seeing live bands, playing games, coach trips, and weekends away or simply having a drink and a chat; there are always friendly faces to welcome you at Social Friends so if you have been a member in the past or would like to be one in the future give us a call on 07542 113683 or get in touch via our contact page on this website, or you can email socialfriendshemel@gmail.com and come and join us

We look forward to seeing you there!

(Please note: Bookings only for this event due to pre-ordering of food)