The Fourth Tunbridge Wells Photowalk takes place on Sunday 1st of April. The theme is LOVE & HATE ~ what you love and hate about Tunbridge Wells. We are asking you to take one photograph for LOVE and another for HATE.

Tickets, priced £7.50 each, are available exclusively from REDBOX CAMERAS on Monson Road. They go on sale from Saturday 24th March. Each ticket gains entry into the competition plus a large photographic print of your chosen images, which will be exhibited at Wobblybridge Gallery on Camden Road. As with the last Photowalk, entries will be judged by all who attend the opening night of the exhibition ~ one vote per person.

Here’s the clever bit… both of your chosen images must be arranged to make a diptych. What’s that I hear you cry? Well, quite simply, your two images ~ one for LOVE and one for HATE ~ should be arranged within a single frame. The two images can be the same size, or one can be smaller than the other. You can divide the image as you wish, by a straight line or a curved line. It’s totally up to you!

Some suggestions as to how you might arrange the two images are shown below. The staff at Redbox Cameras, who have great experience in all aspects of photography, will be able to help you and make suggestions. They will also create the ‘diptych’ image for you if you wish… just brief them and they’ll do the rest.

And of course, you don’t have to have a fancy dividing line between the two images at all… they can simply sit side by side, or one above the other. But the final overall ‘canvas’ size MUST be landscape and not portrait.

The event starts between Noon and 1pm at FLOWERS AT COLONNADE (the florist shop/café on Monson Rd in Tunbridge Wells ~ opposite Redbox Cameras), where in exchange for this ticket you will be registered to take part in the competition. The café will be serving their excellent teas and coffees… plus a range of grub if you’re feeling peckish.

The event will finish at SANKEYS in Tunbridge Wells, from 3.30pm onwards, where we’ll all be gathering to sample their famous fish fingers sarnies (kindly donated to the event by Matt Sankey) and no doubt sampling a glass or two of their finest ales.

If you have any queries, or to express interest in taking part in the Photowalk, please leave a comment below.

Hello my fellow twuddlers.

After an amazingly successful (approximately 20-30 people) inaugural #twuddle Tunbridge Wells Real Ale Pub Crawl in November 2010, and promising to run them once a quarter, @MrCRTW and myself @mannyvw have finally got around to organising the 2nd Tunbridge Wells Real Ale Pub Crawl nearly 18 months later

Starting after lunch around 2pm on Sunday 4th March 2012 at the Ragged Trousers on the Pantiles. We will then visit around 8 Tunbridge Wells pubs, consuming a half of a real ale in each pub, in half an hour and then moving onto the next pub, giving ourselves walking time between pubs. A kitty will organised for those who will be having the recommended ale in each pub, non-real ale drinkers and people who will only be joining us for part of the pub crawl please organise your own drinks.

Myself and @MrCRTW will again be choosing 8 Tunbridge Wells pubs, although the exact list and route is still being worked out, the great news is, in the time since the last pub crawl, 2 excellent new real ale pubs have opened and we will be adding them to the list, we will also be switching some of the pubs around, so we both look forward to seeing you on the pubcrawl, more details nearer the time.

Thanks

Update 25th January

The #twpubcrawl will start as mentioned at the The Ragged Trousers at 2pm on Sunday 4th where we will collect £12 from each person who wishes to join in on the recommended beer in each of the pubs. Please buy your own drink in the Ragged as am expecting people to arrive at different times and it will be difficult to keep track who has had theirs. Once we know numbers we will leave the Ragged Trousers around 2.30pm and then visit the following pubs, spending approximatly half an hour in each pub:-

The Compasses
The Royal Oak
The Wells Kitchen
Sankeys
Beau Nash

After the Beau Nash we will make our way to the The Bedford for a beer bat, which comprises of 3 1/3 pints of beer served on….well a bat (so 1 pint in total), Mark from The Bedford has also kindly agreed to lay on some pub snacks comprising of their excellent scotch eggs, Port Pies & Sausage rolls. If there is any cash left in the kitty at this point can use towards further beers

There is now a Facebook event for the pub crawl Please click on attending if you would like to join us, and use hashtag #twpubcrawl on twitter. Thanks

For anyone who hasn’t yet been down to the Christmas ice rink in Calverley Grounds, Tuesday 20th, from 7.30pm to 8.30pm could well be the ideal opportunity. Bring your friends and family and join the assorted Twuttlers & Twuddlers skating around the rink in a suitably festive fashion (reindeer antlers and Xmas hats are entirely optional). It doesn’t matter whether you’re a dab hand at the triple salchow, or have never strapped on a pair of skates in your life… the event is open to all and suitable for skaters of all abilities.

For more information on the rink, click here to visit their website.

We’re told that hot drinks and food are available down at the rink ~ although we suspect that skating whilst slurping a latte and nibbling a mince pie is probably frowned upon. Actually, there are t&cs on their website, so please take heed of the dos and don’ts.

There is a spectator area for non-skaters to watch proceedings and shout helpful advice from the sidelines.

Next Tuesday evening is also the date for the last Bedford quiz before Christmas. This starts at 8pm and a Twuddle team usually enters, so once the skating is over, it would seem rude not to nip over the road to this most-excellent pub to give them some support. But no help in answering the questions please ~ you wouldn’t want them disqualified would you?

We hope to see you on the 20th! ~ Any questions & queries, please leave a comment below.

PS. There is a discount scheme for parties of 10 or more, so if you are thinking of coming along, please let us know. Get enough people together and we could save some money on the ticket price.

OK OK, so this’ll be 24 hours too late… but what the hell. The idea is simple ~ you beg, borrow, steal (we of course could not condone this), buy or even grow* a suitable pumpkin… and you carve into it a design so fiendishly horrific, that the gathered Twuddlers cannot help be impressed. Or scared witless.

Best design wins. As voted for by those at Sankeys on the evening of November 1st (a regular Tuesday Twuddle night). No prizes (unless a kind sponsor would like to step forward!), just the honour of being the best darn pumpkin carver in Tunbridge Wells!

Candles etc allowed, to illuminate your creation. But please be aware that we will need to light them ~ do NOT do this yourself when you get to Sankeys. We’ll allocate an area for the pumpkins to be displayed, and when the time comes for judging, we’ll light them for you.

*If anyone claims to have grown their own pumpkin, we will be most impressed. But expect to be treated with much suspicion should you make this claim. Especially if your leave the Sainsbury’s price tag on.

Mad Hatters are throwing open their doors (and the grounds of their lovely house overlooking Bodiam Castle) on Sunday 31st July from noon until 5pm to all Twuddlers, Twuttlers, Cruddlers, Skuttlers, Oakuddlers and their friends and families. This event is open to all, so if you want bring people along with you, they’d be most welcome!

The gardens of the Mad Hatters HQ make an absolutely ideal place to have a Summer picnic… beautiful formal gardens, orchards, fields, a small woodland… even a secluded pond! We’re free to use them to picnic in ~ Mad Hatters are even giving the garden an Alice in Wonderland theme for day ~ just for us! We don’t want to say too much more about this… it’d spoil the surprise.

Then there’s the Mad Hatters shop and storeroom ~ these just have to be seen to be believed, crammed to the rafters with amazing fancy dress costumes of every conceivable description. Have a look at their website for a taster of what’s on offer. And the best bit is we’re free to try on as many outfits as we wish… and to wear them at the picnic!

To make the day even more special, a swing jazz band will be on hand to entertain us… and the local Tunbridge Wells photography group (the ‘Flickrites’) are going to be present to take photographs. Simply ask a photographer to take your photo, and they’ll kindly oblige! No charge… free… gratis!*

Of course, you don’t HAVE to wear costumes, and you certainly don’t have to have your photo taken ~ the photographers realise some people don’t like having their picture taken. We are also aware that some parents don’t wish for their children to be photographed ~ in which case, simply make a member of Mad Hatters staff aware of your objection when you arrive. However, if you do take this opportunity, you’ll have some amazing photographs of you and your family!

You are also welcome to take pics yourself, so please bring your cameras.

Entry to the entire event is 100% free, there’s ample parking on site and Mad Hatters have arranged toilet facilities for us. Please note that some of the fields have horses, chickens and (some very exotic looking) sheep. When we were down there, wild rabbits were running all over the place… it really is lovely place, but because of the farm animals, visitors are asked not to bring their dogs with them.

If you’d like to come to this event, please send an RSVP email to info@madhattersfancydress.com. Although numbers are not limited as such, Mad Hatter’s understandably want to keeps tabs on how many people will be attending. If you have any queries, please leave a comment to this post.

*There is one exception ~ Steve Collins will be setting up his photography equipment to help raise money for charity by taking people’s ‘avatar’ pics. This is your chance to have a stunning avatar on your Twitter or Facebook pages. Whether or not you choose to be photographed in fancy dress is completely up to you!

We look forward to seeing you in Bodiam next Sunday ~ don’t forget your picnic!

For directions please click here.

PS. One further thing to mention. Should the weather on the 31st prove inclement, we may have to cancel at short notice. So if it is raining on the morning of the 31st, please check with the Twuttle website to see if the event is still on or not.

Many of you will know that, after two years, Rob O’Callaghan has had to step away from Twuttle so he can work on a new venture. This has been on the cards for some time so we’re lucky to have kept him for so long! But life goes on, as does Twuttle.

I would like to add my personal thanks to Rob because without his vision and tenacity, Twuttle – and maybe even it’s spin-off Twuddle – probably wouldn’t exist. They certainly wouldn’t be so successful. My own Tunbridge Wells Events probably wouldn’t exist either! It is largely down to Rob that Twuttle and Twuddle are taken seriously in the town; the Borough Council, the police, even our MP are all keen to talk to us.

It may look as if Twuttle and Twuddle run themsleves – but over the last two years Rob and Mike Goode have worked tirelessly (with the help of a few others)  arranging our many successful events, smoothing the way with our venues, running the various web activities such as this site, encouraging people to come to our bigger meetings and a whole lot more.

But, as I said, life goes on and there is a new King in town. And that King is YOU! Twuttle has created it’s own identity as a result of the people who have attended over the years, some have come and gone, some are still involved – but everyone has left their mark. Twuddle, while involving many of the same people also has a different identity. And I am sure the Crowborough (Cruddle) and Sevenoaks (both Skuttle and Oakuddle) meet-ups will be different again. All of these events and meet-ups are shaped by those who attend them.

So what is Twuttle? It’s perhaps not quite what was originally envisaged – which was ‘a space where like minded individuals could gather, share ideas and work together on their social media projects’ (Rob may correct me on this.) Although thinking about it, we are not far off this original aim. It’s much easier to say what we’re not – ie we are not a traditional business networking group. Because we are so successful we do attract some ‘old school’ networkers who are looking for quick business. But from what I have seen, these people receive fairly short shift and usually don’t come back. There are far better business networking groups for such people. On the other hand, those who appreciate an eclectic mix of social, community, technical (and occasionally business!) related chat will find Twuttle just their cup of tea – or coffee! Both of which are expertly served by our hosts, Paul and Viv, who run the Divinity Café at the Trinity Theatre. Thanks must go to them, and indeed the Trinity Theatre, for their continued support.

So Twuttle goes on. Without doubt it’s character will continue to change, influenced by the people who attend. Rob will certainly be missed, not only for what he has done, but also for his cheery and enthusiastic demeanour. But I am equally sure that come next Wednesday there will be 30 or more people at the Trinity café indulging in what Twuttle does best. – whatever that is!

Several people have volunteered to assist in running the group and I will be talking to them over the next week or so to see what help each person can offer. If you have any views on what works well, or what could be done differently, please use this post to let us know. Or alternatively, just grab me next Wednesday morning.

So it’s same time, same place… Twuttle lives on!

Dave Barnett

STOP PRESS!
The venue for The Bug Slurp will be Lynne Misiewicz’s house at 88 Prospect Rd, Tunbridge Wells. Which is next-door-but-one to The Royal Oak (handy for a pre-Slurp Dark Star?). Lynne has very kindly thrown open her door to Twuddle ~ and has extended a very warm welcome to one and all. If you’re thinking of coming along, please leave a comment below.

We’re asking everyone who attends to either bring some homemade soup or artisan bread (fancier the better!) ~ or both!!! And don’t forget, this is BYO event in terms of drink, so you’ll also need to bring your favourite tipple ~ be that wine, beer or orange juice.

Last but not least, we’re asking everyone to bring a mug along so they can more easily sample the various soups on offer. The Big Slurp starts at 7.30pm… see you there!

~~~

Here’s a date for your diaries, the evening of Tuesday 21 September, when we’ll be holding a Twuddle ‘Big Slurp’ to help celebrate the end of Summer and a few weeks of what we hope will be glorious Autumnal sunshine and fine weather.

‘The Big Slurp’ is going to be an evening of soup-tasting and artisan bread nibbling ~ plus fine wine and ale quaffing! We’ve already got a venue in Tunbridge Wells (courtesy of a fellow Twuddler) and a few willing helpers to make a variety of soups and breads ~ but more volunteers are needed. So if you’re a dab hand at making soup or bread please leave a comment below and get involved!

The event with be ‘bring your own’ in terms of wine and beer, but we think we should try to push the boat out and use the ‘Big Slurp’ to sample different things, so unusual varieties are more than welcome. Some of the marvellous autumn and winter ales immediately spring to mind!

Please leave your comments below ~ we really do appreciate your help and feedback on all Twuddle and Twuttle matters. We’d also like to get an idea of how many people will be attending, so a yes or no in that respect would be very useful.

UPDATE: Due to popular demand, the bookclub will now start from 7pm rather than 7.30. All other details remain the same. Looking forward to seeing you all on the 13th!

For all those who love reading, here’s a date for your diaries… the first ‘Monday Night Bookclub’ at Divinty Café (in association with Twuddle) will be held on the 13th September (a Monday of course!) from 7.30pm. All welcome.

For the first meet, we’ve chosen a book to get us all going – The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (ISBN978-1-84408-606-1). For this first book, you’ll need to either borrow it from the library or buy a copy. In the future we will be able to arrange a group order via TW library and/or get a group discount at Waterstones for chosen titles.

The intention for future meetings is for one person to choose the next book. We will take it in turns to choose – hopefully ensuring a wide variety of books for us to read as the months go by.

And here’s the special bit… each meeting, not only are we going to chat about the book, drink the lovely tea, coffee wine or beer (available from Divinity Café), we plan to have something naughty to eat! A special dessert. Please register your interest by leaving a comment below so we can work out numbers for the dessert. To cover dessert costs, we’ll collect a nominal sum from you on the night – it won’t be much we promise! Otherwise the event is completely free and open to all.

The ‘Monday Night Bookclub’ will be held monthly. For more information contact Laura Goode on 07788 794831 or on email: laura@hophousedesign.co.uk.

From Tuesday August the 3rd, Twuddle will be held at Sankey’s on Mount Ephraim (www.sankeys.co.uk). Usual start time of 7.30pm… until late! Matt Sankey will kindly be laying on some nibbles specially for Twuddlers, so please make sure you arrive early. See you there!

REPORT
The first Twuddle at Sankey’s was a huge success. Thanks to all who came – and a warm welcome to the newbies, it was great to see you there. Hopefully we’ll catch you again at an upcoming Twuddle or Twuttle. Special thanks also to Matt Sankey who laid on two fine platters of sarnies which were gratefully hoovered up by the Twuddlers. Matt also gave us samples of his fine range of beers – cue much discussion on which was preferred. My vote goes for the superb London Stout.

As the first Twuddle birthday is but a month away, tentative plans were laid for the celebrations. Watch this space! There are also a few Twuddle ‘specials’ coming up… more news on these to follow. All exciting stuff!

Or click here to be taken to the full gallery of photos from the night.