*European WP Meet-Up in London this Summer; When Exactly?*

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Me too!

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good morning.
this is a really good campsite website; all the entries have reviews; its camper origionated.- http://ukcampsites.co.uk/

the other option- (to hiring a school)- would be to hire a youth hostel. some have single rooms, and lots are available for whole rent.

im not sure where to look as i dont know what everyone thinks of as being in 'london'. i think most people will be slightly expecting to step out the door into picadilly circus?!

finding somewhere in london- youth hostel, school, house etc to hire would be dificult as its really expensive, would have no space for camping, and less in the way of room to hang about in.
staying out of london means being a way out- 8 miles or so- at the end of a train or tube line- amersham, at the top of one of the tube lines, costs about £7 for a single or return (its a travel card, which you can use all day long for one or100 trips), or barnet would be abuot £6 for a travel card. then there might be busses or a long walk to the house from there.
the tube system doesnt go far south of the river, so there one would def have to reply on trains (less frequent- say every 10-45 mins, depending on route, time).

see london tube map-
http://subway.umka.org/maps/london.gif

so basically- staying 'in london' will be really dificult- moster expensive- and uot of london- cheaper, but not 'in london' - a big psychological difference. and extra cost for travel cards if you actually want to go into town each day.

Since what we are planning is a WP meeting, I think most attendees would prefer holding it *near* London, rather than *in* London. I, for one, definitely prefer Amersham, Barnet, etc. over central London.

I have just been trawling it. It is fun to use too.

I think I ended up looking too far out though, ( got carried away ), Sandwich near Thanet on the Kent coast, with a railway station 5 minutes walk away, for instance. It sounds wonderful; a mixture of tent pitches and "homes" to let, but maybe/probably too big/commercial, expensive and too far away from London.

I will probably do quite a bit more searching on it. Thanks very much for posting the link.


That is a very good idea.

I think we will need to get feedback, at some point, about what kind of venue/site most people would enjoy, and whether want it fairly urban or more countryside/coastal, etc.

What sort of place would people like to stay in/at for two days/three nights, ( or more ), with a lot of WP'ers?

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I just started looking at the Youth Hostelling Association website, at:

http://www.yha.org.uk/

A youth hostel could be a really good place for a meet. Thanks for that suggestion. Another site to explore for possibilities.

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hi- ouinon. ive also been looking at the campsite site, and have not come up with spectacular. kent or berkshire would be nicest; a nice town, about 30-40 mins from central london; theya re both gently rolling, green counties, and cheaper than middlesex.

i have stayed (obv- out of season so i'd be alone in the dorm!!) in youth hostels several times, and they are fine. some are group hire only. the ones in wales are very cool, but obv- nowhere near london, also a bit cabin fever-ish, too, out in the wilds!!

they also do discounts for income support, disabled, students etc, for both domestic and international people.

this one out in bucks looks nice, and is cheap. nearish to london.
https://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodati ... index.aspx

and this one would be nice for visitors- this is youth hostel!!


https://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodati ... index.aspx

they all seem to be pretty reasonable- about £10- £12 a night, i think its £2-3 off for students etc.

i will call the YHA tomorrow and ask them about 3 night exclusive hire (ie, of entire hostel).

also- though i realise northern scotland is some way from central london, i dont think one could really better this- its a scottish youth hostel castle! aparently there are ghosts, too. well worth the extra travel time, really.








http://www.rentahostel.com/web/site/Hos ... Castle.asp
http://www.carbisdale.org/thecastle.htm

i called the YHA today; the woman i spoke to reccomended jordans, which is in buckinghamshire (near london).
it sleeps 22, and allows camping in the grounds. 3 nights for 22 people will cost £829, £37.68 each, at £12.56 per night (obv less is more than 22 go and some camp). it is self catering. the yha no longer offers concessions (reductions for su, disabilaties etc).
a 25% down payment is required for a booking.

https://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodati ... index.aspx

beconsfield is an attractive town with historic buildings. there are other housess to rent locally too. its near london and oxford.
http://www.beaconsfield.co.uk/townguide/

there is also another nearby campsite, which sounds ok- read reviews-
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/revie ... revid=1348

and there is a separate list of campsites which allow open fires. all have links and reviews by users.

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=4

Wow! What a brilliant selection of places. And Jordans does sound good. How many could camp?

I love the photos of all of them. It would be fantastic to stay in something like that. Huge thanks and appreciation for all the research.

Great!

When would we have to book by, approximately? At the moment there are only 17 votes for the event, and not all for the same time, ( though that number will probably go up as the time approaches ), but the question is when to book if not sure of numbers. ...

I hope it will be in August, the weekend of the 22-23 would suit me best. But will not sulk if it isn't!
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Last edited by ouinon on 17 Feb 2009, 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The Jordans site says family rooms are available but there are only four other rooms mentioned; 2 x 5 beds, and 2 x 6 beds. Which might be ok if there were other rooms for people who really need privacy, but your figure of 22 sounds like just the 4 dorm rooms.

PS. I'm not criticising; I'm just thinking! I hugely appreciate the time you're putting into looking for all this. I didn't do any today so it's brillliant that you did.

It's true that camping if there is a pleasant indoors area to hang out might not be too bad ... ...

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hi- sorry- i didnt think to ask about capacity for camping.

yes, hostels are all shared accomodation in most places- thats why i dont use them much. depends on what people want; i like to be alone, but im fine in a tent. other people may nwant total seclusion. there are other houses and bed and breakfasts to rent neary by- its a normal old town. but bed and breakfat, even in sept or early oct, will abe about £30 a night- so £90 for 3 nights.

a boarding school would be a good bet, but that restricts it to summer hols only, and i imagine willbe more expensive. ill give a coulpe tomorrow, sound them out; it may not be too easy; perhaps they only rent to recognized organizations.

this is godstowe, in bucks,

http://www.godstowe.org/The_School/Prep/

and there are some london boarding schools like this one- http://www.belmont-school.org/

There is also the "places to be" site ( which the Autscape secretary anxiously referred us to when it looked as if they might be "invaded" by all of 4 or 5 WP members, on Greentea's original thread about a European meet ), which presents a selection of small venues to hire, at:

http://www.places-to-be.com/

I haven't looked at it since last week when looking for something big, but there might be something ideal for a smaller group, 20 - 30, say.

There's a lot of seriously yummy looking possibilities on there. But I didn't get round to really concentrating on the prices. Will go and trawl now! ... ...

I just sent a mail to the Commonwork Centre in Kent, ( which does camping ), to ask about rooms, number of tents permitted , prices, and available dates.

And Charney Manor sounds lovely, but is perhaps too far out, ( between Oxford and Didcot ), so haven't sent an enquiry for now. Their website is at:

http://www.charneymanor.demon.co.uk/index.htm
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Last edited by ouinon on 18 Feb 2009, 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

Braziers Park seems excellent to me. Oxfordshire is fine with me.
It is worth calling/emailing them and asking. Their brochure is here: http://www.braziers.org.uk/Braziers%20B ... 202009.pdf
They let their venue for Yoga and Reiki retreats, so they may also let it for a Wrong Planet retreat.

I'm sorry, I deleted my post after a bit because I found a web page about a yoga weekend there where the price even when camping was £170, but maybe I was too hasty. Perhaps pure accommodation would be a lot cheaper.

The site again, if anyone wants to look at it, is at:

http://www.braziers.org.uk/

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Last edited by ouinon on 18 Feb 2009, 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

I will e-mail them then. The brochure does look very appealing.

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