A date for your diary… Big Dave’s 17th Birthday Bash

24th January 2026 

The Blog will be celebrating its seventeenth birthday next January 28th 2026.

I have started the ball rolling with The Bridge House and reserved the bar area we have used in the past for Saturday the 24th January, from noon onwards.

I hope that those who came last year enjoyed it and it should be just as good again, however, I don’t think Mama Bee will be able to cope with a weekend in London again. I expect she will spend a weekend with my sister “babysitting”.

Last year, Smylers provided a quiz, Prolixic a couple of puzzles, Elgar a double toughie and Rahmat Ali contributed too. I am also hoping that as well as Bloggers and Setters, anyone who comments will feel as welcome as I did the first time I came. There is not a lot to do in the way of organising, but an assistant to welcome attendees/manage name tags and Teams links would be great – a volunteer is worth ten pressed men.

Big Dave was very keen on explaining crosswords, and “Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English” remains in our banner as his mission statement. Rookie Corner is one of the finest things he initiated, and it has introduced many people who have gone on to set puzzles for The Telegraph and other national newspapers. I invite anyone to consider setting a puzzle for the Birthday Bash, even if they are mainly completed on the train home. My fellow bloggers, and maybe Rossophile and Deansleigh (who cut their blogging teeth on the Telegraph Centenary puzzles), could help with an explanatory blog.

If you would like to see what we have got up to in the past have a look at the gallery here

The nearest Saturday to the actual date is 24th January 2026. I have spoken to (well emailed) the venue we have used in the past, The Bridge House in Little Venice, and they are happy to reserve us the same area in the pub as before.

In the past, several attendees have used the Paddington Novotel, I have booked already through Hotels.com / Trivago. Whether to stay there is up to you, and other hotels and booking apps are available.

The main event of the get-together will be at The Bridge House in Little Venice during the day. There is a wide-ranging menu here. Although Sue is forgoing sugar now, I or one of our other keen bakers may wish to bring a cake or other sweetmeats to celebrate our 17th Birthday. Transporting the Macaron “cake” was probably the biggest challenge last year, but I will probably be doing something similar, if less ambitious, this time.

A few people got through on the Teams link (Kiwis and Steve C, amongst others), even if communicating over a noisy bar was difficult, I will endeavour to do the same again if you wish.

I am not looking for commitment yet but please use the comments to suggest anything you would like to see, or volunteer to help with the administration. I was a bit lax at taking photos and delivering nametags so I would appreciate a bit of help. All comments will be directed to me, but replies, if needed, may be a bit delayed during the week.