The Red Fox at Beeston

Today's the day ........................... to gather a motley crew

Motley crew - 'an assorted and ill-disciplined group of ne'er do wells'

Since at least the 14th century, 'motley' (with a variety of spellings) has been the name of a type of cloth made from two or more colours. The best-known wearers of motley were jesters or harlequins whose patchwork costume became their standard style of stage dress. With the passing of time the word came to mean 'miscellaneous' or from a 'variety of sources'.

The phrase 'motley crew' was probably first used in reference to the crews of sailing ships, with the motley being used to distinguish between an assortment of types, as distinct from a crew of disciplined and uniformed sailors.

Be that as it may - this is my motley crew (from left to right - Howard, Sue L, Peter and Sue H). This was our last meal as landlubbers before we took command of the narrowboat Shadowfax and set off round the Four Counties Ring ..........................