I learned at lot at Worthing restaurant's lunchtime talk – the first for 2025

The restaurant at the Ardington Hotel hosts various events throughout the year, including talks followed by a two-course meal.

I was grateful to be invited along on Thursday, January 23, by Ian Richardson, the Worthing history expert who was hosting the talk, Top Tier Worthing Pier.

I had already been treated to a private viewing of the talk, so that I could write a preview of the event in the Worthing Herald, and it was pleasing to see such big numbers, far more than Ian had welcomed to his previous talk at Indigo.

It was a pleasure to see the hour-long talk again. Ian prepares his talks as a video with commentary, so he was also able to sit back and watch, along with his old friend 'Diddy' David Hamilton - who actually featured in a photograph towards the end.

Ian has an absolutely vast collection of historic Worthing photographs and postcards and the talk featured many showcasing the history of Worthing Pier. I found it all fascinating.

One thing I noticed this second time round was that the promenade used to be level with the road. I hadn't spotted that before. It must have been raised up as a sea defence at some point.

The set-up for these talks at Indigo works so well. Guests can arrive early and enjoy a drink in the lounge. The talk was then held in the Venetian Room, where everyone was seated in comfortable chairs.

The event was priced at £28 per person, with guidance that seating for the meal would be social. A table plan was provided just outside Indigo and people were shown to their seats by the friendly staff.

I was lucky to be on the table with Ian and David, along with eight other guests. I met some lovely people and the round table gave us all an opportunity to chat.

David and Ian were entertaining and the food service was efficient. I chose steak mushroom and ale pie with creamed potato and buttered cabbage, which was delicious, and apple and blackberry crumble, which was really fruity.

The next lunch talk at Indigo will be on Thursday, March 13, from 12pm to 2.30pm, when London tour guide Sally Botwright returns to talk about the capital's strange and often unnoticed places, things you may well have walked past without realising.

Indigo also hosts morning talks, including Honey - Nectar to the Gods on Wednesday, February 26, from 10am to 12pm. Meet the team from Worthing Honey Collective, which cares for apiaries around the town. Tickets are £9.75, to include coffee, tea infusion and homemade cake.

Visit www.indigorestaurant.info/events to keep up to date with Indigo events, including talks, dinners and theatre.