2000
The 2000 Annual reunion was held on the 14th to 16th of April,
at The Crown & Mitre Hotel, Carlisle.
The 2000 reunion saw the administration of the weekends taken over by new management, as new Secretary Gavin Fuller had the daunting task of stepping into Phillida Grantham's very considerable shoes. Fortunately he had a lot of help from man on the spot Stewart Cross, who found the venues and made life considerable easiet for the new boy!
The Crown and Mitre was bang in the city centre, which brought its challenges in finding the way to the car park, but proved very handy for the weekend. Saturday saw a guided tour of the cathedral by one of its incumbents, and the main dinner was in the Tullie House Museum, with the lecture theatre making a useful venue for the Magnum.
Magnus Magnusson being unable to attend this year, President Tony Dart had his own daunting task of standing in, but did a good job with a set of questions that the officials had to hurriedly put together when regular setter Gerald Mackenzie found himself unable to provide them.
Despite trying for a new style, Peter Richardson emerged victorious for his fifth title. Kevin Ashman wrested the Mugnum crown back,
The Sunday afternoon saw a group outing to St Martin's, Brampton to see the Burne-Jones windows there, Lanercost Priory and Bewcastle church, where Phillida successfully infiltrated the local WI gathering! With most members never having been to the city before it was a genuine weekend of discovery which most there found highly enjoyable.
2001
The 2001 Annual reunion was held on the 6th to 8th of April
at Jury's Hotel, Bristol
2002
The 2002 Annual reunion was held on the 5th to 7th of April
at The Jury's Hotel, Glasgow.
2003
The 2003 Annual reunion was held on the 28th to 30th of March,
at Le Meridien Metropole Hotel, Leeds.
With this function the Club celebrated its silver anniversary but locating a suitable venue proved rather troublesome for Gavin and it took several attempts before Leeds emerged as a viable location.
Saturday saw a tour of the city, whilst the gala evening dinner in the imposing King Henry Room was provided for all Club members attending at the Club's expense as a way of celebrating 25 years of existence, and perhaps not unsurprisingly saw more attending than have done since!
Leo Stevenson's purchase of a sword from the Royal Armouries proved an effective tool for the Magnum officals to keep order, with Kevin Ashman wresting the title back in a thrilling final with Geoff Thomas. Wih the programme returning to television screens that year, the Club could look forward to many more anniversaries to come.
2004
The 2004 Annual reunion was held on the 23rd to 25th of April
at
The Queens Hotel, Portsmouth.
After several years of going to the reunions and due to his responsibilities not actually seeing anything of the locations, organiser Gavin Fuller came up with the cunning plan of going to his home city, as he'd seen it all over the years and wouldn't miss out on visiting local attractions as a result! What he couldn't have foreseen was just how everything came together to make this one of the more memorable reunions.
Spring had been pretty poor weatherwise, but for the three days the Club was there the sun shone from dawn to dusk. The Queens Hotel offered arguablyone of the best views of any Club weekend so far, which meant those with a sea view had an idyllic location to be in.
Friday night saw one of the most interesting venues for a buffet meal, as it was held on the Half Deck of the Victorian battleship HMS Warrior; Gavin being the ship's voluntary archivist at the time he gave a talk afterwards to put the ship in context.
Saturday saw Gavin continue in tour guide mode, with a tour of the historic parts of Old Portsmouth and Southsea aided by his local knowledge.
2005
The 2005 Annual reunion was held on the 1st to 3rd of April,
at
The Swallow Hotel, Gateshead.
2006
The 2006 Annual reunion was held on the
31st of March to 2nd of April,
at
Maid's Head Hotel, Norwich
71 Members and guests attended in the historic Maid's Head Hotel for what would prove to be the last time our patron Magnus Magnusson attended the reunion.
For a change he could sit back and enjoy proceedings on the Saturday night; Vice-President Tony Dart having been nominated to compere the Magnum quiz and finding the presence of the Master rather intimidating! To distinguish the post-Magnus Magnum Gavin had elected to play around with the format and introduced an audio-visual element which generally went down well, although Kathryn Johnson took a long time to forgive him for Emerson, Lake & Palmer's take on Janacek he inflicted on her! The new format didn't phase Kevin Ashman though, who sailed serenely on to yet another victory and the new trophy, a Quaich.
Prior to that a guided tour had been arranged around the city on the Saturday morning, and a cathedral tour in the afternoon which proved so popular there needed to be two groups. With the weather generally fine it proved to be another enjoyable weekend for those present.
2007
The 2007 Annual reunion was held on the 20th to 22nd of April
at the Liner Hotel, Liverpool
76 members and guests came to this nautically-themed hotel for a not-uneventful 2007 annual reunion, which even had ladies of the night leafletting the rooms whilst we were there!
Longstanding member Philip Wharmby took an architectural tour round the city on the Saturday morning, whilst tours of Tate Liverpool and the World Museum/Walker Art Gallery were also arranged.
Some members managed to wangle their way into the crypt of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, whilst Egghead Kevin managed to make a bus stop en route just so the driver could bow at his feet!
Kevin achieved the unique feat so far of retaining both the Magnum and Mugnum titles, which saved him some embarrassment as he'd neglected to return them!
2008
The 2008 Annual reunion was held on the
4th to 6th of April,
at
The Holiday Inn, Cardiff.
72 Members and guests were present for the Club's return to the capital of Wales, 16 years on. The city had changed somewhat in that time, thus rewarding a visit, and although the hotel that served as base of the weekend was the same, that had even undergone a name change!
Whilst much of England shivered under snow, the weekend was generally blessed with good weather, with those on the fascinating Saturday afternoon tour of the Millennium Stadium more in danger of sunburn than anything else!
To celebrate the Club's 30th birthday Friday night saw the Club descend upon Cardiff Castle for a rather eccentric Welsh banquet, with the Club Secretary being called upon to impersonate a bear during the retelling of a "folk tale", whilst Club pens were given away to those attending the Saturday dinner.
2009
The 2009 Annual reunion weekend was held on the
3rd to 5th of April,
at The Imperial Hotel, Blackpool.
