Littlecote House Hungerford

[paul and sue]

Hello to everyone once again, it seems like a long time since I touched base and it was nice to be back in the fold again and what a weekend to start off on – the weather was brimming with sunshine as we set off from ‘Monro Towers’ and it made for a lovely drive to Littlecote House Hotel and Leisure Club in Hungerford which is part of the Bourne Leisure Group. I always get a buzz about seeing Matt Jnr perform and today was no exception.

The Hotel itself was set in acres of woodland, a little piece of paradise and not from from London. They have a multitude of things for their guests on offer including archery, swimming, tennis, outdoor bowls, bike rides, and a new activity ‘Hernia inducing Chess’- they even have a wonderful Birds of Prey collection and a Roman mosaic. It was fairly impressive and well worth a visit to anyone who wants a weekend break with lots to do.

Matt and I checked in and then proceeded to find the main stage area. We entered the show room to have a quick look around and to see where the stage was placed and the layout of the venue. The first people we saw was that lovely couple, Len and Freda Gibson, it was really nice to see them again. I have lost count as to how many shows they have been to now, but as Matt says, it’s like bumping into old friends.

Matt and I then split up and went our separate ways. Matt to sort out the show details and me to sort out the merchandise set up area. While I was walking back through, Matt asked me to come up on stage to meet a couple of people and he proudly introduced me to Ken and Beth Cunningham-Brown. Ken was Matt Monro’s best friend from his army days and was even best man at his wedding, they go back a long way and I have to say he had plenty of stories to share. Matt Jnr seemed slightly overwhelmed, later explaining that it was the first time in 22 years that he had seen Ken and the last place he expected to see him was at one of his gigs. He was knocked out that Ken and Beth had booked for the whole weekend just to see his show.

The ‘boys’ had a lot of memories to linger over and before Matt knew it, I was nudging him towards the dressing-room to get ready for the show. The ‘warm up’ act was the same as at Lowestoft - Bingo - but this time there was the added bonus of a Quiz. The room itself was packed solid, the figures Matt had been given last week was a 400 seated capacity and that the show was sold out. There must have been nearer to 500 in the venue, people were also standing around the back of the room once all the seats had been taken and it made for a fantastic atmosphere. The show itself was its usual highly polished performance with Matt introducing a lot of new dialogue. I don’t want to say much more than that as it will spoil the surprise for others that have not seen the ‘new’ show yet. What I can say is that the finale was one of the most emotional experiences I have ever had and looking around the room I was not alone. You all know the show closes with Matt singing ‘We`re Gonna Change the World’ as duet with his dad. In the new show they have a projector and screen and Matt Monro Snr - the legend himself - was there on the big screen singing with his son on the stage, it was awesome. It was worth going just to see the big finish.

All too soon it was over and before long Matt was surrounded by masses of people, all wanting to say hello. I think that is what I enjoy so much, it is all very intimate and personal and people genuinely feel that getting to say hello to Matt before going home adds and extra ingredient to the evening.

We met up with Ken and Beth and Colin afterwards and I have to say the beer was very welcome. The anecdotes carried on into the wee small hours (great title for an album) and I have to say I went to bed a very happy man.

A big thank you to Penny Taylor and her team for looking after us and making us all feel so welcome.

Until the next time
Paul xxx

[mariana44]

Great story Paul---sounds like a fabulous time was had by all !!

[Marian]

Thanks for sharing another great MM experience with us Paul. Can hardly wait until October!
Marian

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Thanks for another lovely story Paul that sounded like a great weekend at Littlecote, packed to the capacity and made extra specially nice by Matt Snr's friends Ken and Beth being there, and of course Len and Freda who we shall be looking forward to meeting in October and everyone else of course.

[Gray]

Thanks Paul for this posting, great to read.

Gray