Overview

The Manchester Branch is the largest in the UK outside London and is in its 60th Year - indeed we held the Branch's Diamond Jubliee Weekend in the Lake District from 11th to 13th November 2011 at The Lindeth Howe Hotel.  Events are held on about 9 occasions during the calendar year starting with our AGM in January.  Sometimes events are lunches but mostly they are dinners.  There is a strong committee of eight who share the tasks involved in arranging functions.  Sometimes members of the committee anonymously visit, at their own expense, restaurants to have a test meal and see if the venue looks appropriate for an event.  Wherever possible we negotiate to take our own wines into venues rather than choosing less well from their own list.

One innovation by the committee has been, where possible, to arrange special terms for members wishing to attend functions but, because of wishing to avoid infringing the drink-driving laws, wishing not to have wine with the meal.  This is known as "aperitif-only".  So the member will partake only of the aperitif but not the wines at table.  This is signified to the venue by the place name card(s) being blue in colour rather than white.