The Bath & Bristol Everything Meetup Group

Hello there person reading this!

We've all been there on meetup - there's a new event that looks a bit out of our comfort zone, so we read the description, go 'that's a bit scary' or 'I'm not sure that's for me' - and leave it there.

Or maybe we sign up, but then let 'any excuse' mean we don't actually go? It's raining, I'm tired, that series on Netflix won't watch itself?

But why not actually TRY it?

This is a class for all levels - some of us are beginners, while others have more experience, but everyone is welcome. It consists of games and scenes all improvised by the people that come along.

Sometimes it ends up a bit mad but other times you can be surprised by the theatre that comes out of nowhere. We start off every class with warm ups and progress depending upon how we all feel, and mostly just have a laugh with a few drinks.

There is no pressure to perform first time, so if you want to just watch, see what we are about and how the classes run that's fine too. We operate with rotating hosts, so you get the benefit of different teaching styles and a mixture of exercises and games.

There are a number of regulars who don't sign up on Meetup, so even if the numbers on here look low then the class will still definitely be on. We normally have around 7-12 people attending. There's also a good mixture of ages, genders and identities - all are welcome.

Please note there is a voluntary £3 donation for room costs, though your first time is FREE!

The location is UPSTAIRS at The St. James Wine Vaults, which is just behind Royal Crescent.

There is also plentiful free street parking on nearby Julian Road and Weston Road, or in the park.

The classes run every MONDAY from 7pm to 9pm, except for bank holidays and a few weeks around Xmas and New Year.

And afterwards most of us usually stay for a drink in the pub.

We have 5 table tennis tables booked in the hall at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre from 11:00-12:55.

• The cost is £3.00 per person, payable in cash to myself on the day (exact money, if possible, please). This covers 2 hours of table tennis. Parking is free.

• Please bring your own bat (I have one spare bat). Balls will be provided.

• Wear trainers and remember to bring water.

The numbers are limited to a maximum of eight more than tables booked so please be prepared to play doubles, swap in and out and possibly have some non-playing time.

This will be a mixed ability group and the aim is to have fun. Coffee / lunch in the café afterwards for those who want to stay on. Note: the café doesn't take cash payments.

I book and pay in advance so please change your RSVP status at least 24 hours before the event if you’re unable to come along. This will give people on the waitlist sufficient notice or to allow me to increase the cost of the session to meet the overheads. If you fail to give sufficient notice of non attendance you will be expected to pay the next time you attend. If you fail to turn up 3 times without changing your RSVP in a timely manner you will be barred from this event.

This event is run by a volunteer and amateur. It is run on a best-effort, not for profit basis. You join this event on the basis that you are responsible for your own health and safety. Pease be aware that during school holidays the centre runs children's holiday camps in the other half of the sports hall and this inevitably leads to a lot of noise which can be distracting.

Venue address: Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, Fiddlers Wood Ln, Bradley Stoke, Bristol BS32 9BS

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a female spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, launching them both on a mission that weaves together a dual timeline to find the truth...no matter where it leads.

2026 reading list:
Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin
Circe — Madeline Miller
Dragon Teeth — Michael Crichton
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? — Philip K. Dick
Where’s My Cow? — Terry Pratchett
Greenlights — Matthew McConaughey
The Mote in God’s Eye — Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
Still Life: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache by Louise Penny
The Never Game: Colter Shaw, Book 1 by Jeffery Deaver
The Bridge Kingdom — Danielle L. Jensen
Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi) — Ryoko Kui (Netflix anime from the manga)
The Huntress — Kate Quinn
Throne of Glass (series) — Sarah J. Maas
Magician — Raymond E. Feist (Riftwar Saga)
The Runaway Jury — John Grisham
To Die For — David Baldacci
The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci
Covid by Numbers — David Spiegelhalter
Raising Hare — Chloe Dalton
The Names – Florence Knapp
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
The Knight and the Moth — Rachel Gillig
Midnight Feast – Lucy Foley

Our previous books (Score out of 10):
Here One Moment — Liane Moriarty 7.5
I Know You Were There by J D Pullen 7.5
Eragon: Book One by Christopher PaoliniHeart 7
Bones by Colleen Hoover 6.5
The Hearts Invisible Furies: John Boyne 8
Kill for me, Kill for you by Steven Cavanagh 8
Piranesi by Susanna Clark 7.5
Krugg Syndrome by Angus McAllister 7.5
The Rose Code: Kate Quinn 9.5
The Making of Another Major Motion.. Tom Hanks 7
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell 8.5
XMAS Book, Murder Your Darlings by Mark McCrum 7.5
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 8.5
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell 6
Isaac Asimov's Caliban by Roger Macbride Allen 8
Wicked Game by Matt Johnson 7
I'm Going to Find You by J D Pullan 7.5
I am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll 7.5
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple 6
All that Lives by James Oswald 4.5
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus 8.5
Ghosted by Mark McCrum 7.5
Foundation and Earth by Asimov 7
Red Light and Bell: Your Sins Will Find You Out by Richard Cobourne 7.5
Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes 8
Bandwagon by Richard Cobourne 6.5
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout 3.5
The Seven Sisters: Book 1 - Lucinda Riley 7.5
Night Train To Lisbon by Pascal Mercier --
The Murder Bag by Tony Parsons --
When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris 7.5
The Dinner Guest by B P Walter 8
The Radleys Paperback by Matt Haig 7.75
The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page 7/10
Equinox by Micheal White 7.5/10
Restless by William Boyd 7/10
The The Crimson Petal And The White by Michel Faber 4
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee 9
Tell No One by Harlan Coben 8
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare 7
The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe - Eric Stanley Gardner 8/10
Dune by Frank Herbert 7.5/10
The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurty 8/10
The L Shaped Room by Lynn Reid Banks 7/10
The Guest List by Lucy Foley 7/10
Dark Crimes by M Hambling 8/10
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 9/10
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake 8.5
The Space Machine by Christopher Priest 7.5
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 8
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton 9.5
Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood by Frank McCourt 6.5
The Einstein Enigma - Jose Rodrigues Dos Santos 6.5
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon 8
Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier 8
1st To Die (Women’s Murder Club 1) - James Patterson 6.5
When all is said – Anne Griffin 9
Sacred hearts, Sarah Durant 8.5
The Island - Victoria Hislop 9
Jonathan Livington Seagull – Richard Bach 9
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood - Score 7
Here to Stay, Mark Edwards - Score 5
A Death in Tuscany, Michele Giuttari - Score 8.33
Derek Landy, Skulduggery Pleasant book 1 - Score 7
Just For The Record: The Autobiography of Status Quo - Score 5
Force of Nature by Jane Harper
Saint's of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
Heresy by S J Parris
Foundation by Isaac Azimov
Sight Unseen by Robert Goddard
The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
The Secret Place by Tana French
Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James
London Calling by James Craig
I Am Missing by Tim Weaver
About Grace by Anthony Doerr
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Natural Causes by James Oswald
This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
This Must be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell
Sky Burial by Xinran
Disclaimer by Renee Knight
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandell