For a change this year, we decided to forego meeting in a warm and cosy pub and to congregate in a large, cold shed in the dark outermost regions of Reedham instead. Inside, a small heater struggled to provide warmth and there were only picnic tables to sit at, huddled in our warmest clothes and our coats. But we had beer! And lots of it - three different Humpty brews in fact and all of them as excellent as one would expect, given that we were at the brewery.

Split into two groups, we all enjoyed an informative and entertaining brewery tour, given by the head brewer, Tom, who was clearly enthusiastic about his job. Fish and chips had been pre-ordered from the Reedham chippie, who were delighted to have our business in mid-January and, of course, there was plenty of opportunity to sample the beers.

Soft drinks were also available, including Julia's popular mulled apple juice. Everyone was given a raffle ticket on arrival, with beer and a Humpty pint glass as the sole prize. This was, of course, drawn by Terry, who confused himself while trying to create some numerical suspense and optimistically thought he had drawn his own ticket. The true winner, Chris Dowsett, hastily corrected him!

Some took the opportunity to look around the brewey shop afterwards, as we all enjoyed this chance to meet for the first time this year and so start the new season in a most enjoyable fashion