The original HomeAloners group first met in the Red Lion Blewbury in May 1996, and has grown from the original thirteen members to nearly fifty. The group meets monthly, alternating between the Red Lion in Blewbury, a charming 16th century Brakspeare pub in the centre of a delightful downland village in south Oxfordshire, the Blewbury Inn, the Load of Mischief and the Barley Mow.

We shall continue to rotate the days of the monthly meetings from Monday through to Friday; there are always people who cannot make particular days, and so at least they will now be able to come to some of the lunches. We now meet in three of the four of the pubs in Blewbury, on a rotation basis, the Red Lion, the Barley Mow and the Load of Mischief. The Blewbury Inn is the other one.

Date:	Monday 26 February 2001
Time:	12.30pm
Event:	Lunch
Price:	£15 to paid up members, £20 to everyone else
Venue:	Load of Mischief, Blewbury
Contact:	Tony
Tel:	01235 850281
Comments:	First event of 2001 at the Mischief

In winter you can roast chestnuts over the big open fire at this welcoming 18th-c Downland pub. Genuinely atmospheric and friendly, the engaging beamed bar has upholstered wall benches and armed seats on its scrubbed quarry tiles, cupboards and miniature cabinets filled with ornaments, foreign banknotes on the beams, and a steadily ticking station clock; a no-smoking bar is popular with families. Well kept Brakspears Bitter on handpump, decent wines, and a good range of non-alcoholic drinks. The extended garden has a terrace with quite a few seats and tables. The small saloon bar and the dining room have been recently redecorated to create more of a wine bar atmosphere.

The Blewbury Inn has a small, cosy and welcoming bar to the left of the front door, with beams and log fire, and to the right a separate six-table dining-room with understated décor and stencils on mustard-coloured walls. There are ensuite bedrooms available.

Morells Oxford Mild and beers from the Hook Norton brewery are supplemented by a guest bitter. Wines by the glass or bottle.