# next meet up!



## shiv (Nov 22, 2009)

i know the last one was only yesterday...

but i REALLY want to meet up with you guys! i couldn't come this time because of finances, but if we organised something for next year/early next year, i will be there!

is London always the easiest place for people to meet? i know we have a few up north, would a more central meeting place be better (e.g. Birmingham )?

someone get this ball rolling...please!


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## Steff (Nov 22, 2009)

It aint the money side with me tbh its my son, i dnt think he would wanna travel on a train with me knowing he aint getting nowt out of it ( he is 8 cmon) and dragging him away from his mates at a weekend id never be forgiven.
ohh the perils of havig no family near.


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## shiv (Nov 22, 2009)

we'll bribe him with chocolate steff...


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## am64 (Nov 22, 2009)

b'ham good for me ..my train takes me all the way...but i might be late!!


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## Steff (Nov 22, 2009)

shiv said:


> we'll bribe him with chocolate steff...



lol that stopped working wen he was 7


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## Tezzz (Nov 22, 2009)

Good idea Shiv!

I'm up for travelling across country and there'd be room in the car for others if needed.

We would have to consider rail engineering work and also plenty of advance notice to get advance purchase tickets. There are some real bargains to be had if you book 8 weeks in advance.

It would be a good idea if someone could scout out a possible venue for a meeting point!

Wetherspoons pubs are a good idea, they are large, have reasonable food and the beer is cheep! Perhaps we could ask the landlord to reserve an area for us. (Another group I'm a member of does this very successfully!)


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## shiv (Nov 22, 2009)

tez - i thought people might want to do it in feb/march, so plenty of time to book tickets!

in all honesty i myself am perfectly happy to travel to london, but i hate the thought our northern friends might not be able to come because of that...but i can't speak for people!


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## Steff (Nov 22, 2009)

yes if i had a date or few like the other meet cause Feb my dad comes here for 2 and half weeks of it,


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## Viki (Nov 22, 2009)

Count me in if its not whilst im on hols!


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## aymes (Nov 22, 2009)

shiv said:


> i know the last one was only yesterday...
> 
> but i REALLY want to meet up with you guys! i couldn't come this time because of finances, but if we organised something for next year/early next year, i will be there!
> 
> ...




By starting the thread you may have nominated yourself to organise it....

I'd definately be up for going to the next one. I think London is usually a fairly convenient place as most areas have half decent links into it. I am happy to travel though, (did 2 1/2+ hours each way yesterday!) if a different place is picked, although some places are just impossible to do in a day from Norfolk so it would have to depend! 

I've found when organising work things when it's not London Cambridge and Peterborough are sometimes quite convenient to get people from different places to....?


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## Steff (Nov 22, 2009)

id not be able to do london.


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## rachelha (Nov 22, 2009)

no way I could do London,  but there is the Scotland meet up being plan for us northerners


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## aymes (Nov 22, 2009)

Maybe a new poll is needed (where you can select more than one option) with the various location suggestions...?


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## Steff (Nov 22, 2009)

aymes said:


> Maybe a new poll is needed (where you can select more than one option) with the various location suggestions...?



yup aymes sounds a good idea, does it have to be Northener who does it


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## SacredHeart (Nov 22, 2009)

Yeah, there's no way I could do anywhere down south. I just can't afford the tickets!


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## shiv (Nov 22, 2009)

SacredHeart said:


> Yeah, there's no way I could do anywhere down south. I just can't afford the tickets!



does it make any difference if you book them months in advance? say if we decided where we were doing it before christmas, but it wasn't until feb/march?


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## rossi_mac (Nov 22, 2009)

SacredHeart said:


> Yeah, there's no way I could do anywhere down south. I just can't afford the tickets!



If pub's are cheaper up north then so long as we drink enough then we'll be quids in!


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## SacredHeart (Nov 22, 2009)

Maybe, but I've never noticed MUCH of a difference in price even trying to book months in advance. But I'd be open to suggestions!


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## SilentAssassin1642 (Nov 23, 2009)

SacredHeart said:


> Yeah, there's no way I could do anywhere down south. I just can't afford the tickets!



see for me, its the opposite. I cant afford to get up north, the ticket prices are horrific. I went to derby for one weekend, and without a railcard it was nearing ?100 on the train. With a railcard I managed to get the ticket for ?43 but still OUCH!


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## Shelb1uk (Nov 23, 2009)

Hi all....I'm deffff up for another meet up..some of us were saying we should have a picnic in the summer or something...but meet up again before then deffo  I can travel if need be...just depends where...bring it on I say :0)


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## Northerner (Nov 23, 2009)

Well, it cost me ?2.50 return to London! But I think the problem is that other cities don't have the volume of passengers to support such low fares. Megabus does a bus trip for ?1 single Southampton to Birmingham, but it takes 4.5 hours. I think if I was going to Edinburgh, I'd probably fly as it's about the same price as train, but only takes about an hour.


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## SacredHeart (Nov 25, 2009)

What about Manchester as a venue?


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## rossi_mac (Nov 25, 2009)

must be pretty good for the northern based peeps, being a big city and all.

Take the southerners a bit longer, but yeah not out of the question either, I'll charge up the space hopper!


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## aymes (Nov 25, 2009)

Not doable for me unfortunately , but I appreciate we can't please everyone.

Maybe we should plan a couple for next year dotted about the country then everyone can pick or choose which one(s) to go to.


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## falcon123 (Nov 25, 2009)

Oxford or Cambridge would be quite nice. I can also seem to get good deals on rail tickets for them. For some reason Birmingham seems expensive and Manchester very expensive. A few years ago it was easier and cheaper to fly to Manchester - hardly the thing to encourage you onto trains!


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## SacredHeart (Nov 25, 2009)

I think the problem is that anywhere south of Manchester is REALLY expensive, even far far in advance for anyone that's NORTH of Manchester. I know for sure that it would take me a good chunk of time to get anywhere south of Manchester to the point that, for a day trip, it's almost hardly worth going unless I'm up at the crack of dawn. It is sad


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## AlisonM (Nov 25, 2009)

What about York? It's a popular destination so there should be some deals available.


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## katie (Nov 25, 2009)

you could start a poll to see who could make it to a meet-up in manchester/leeds/york etc.

Like Aymes, I could never afford it - it costs over ?100 on the train.


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## SacredHeart (Nov 25, 2009)

AlisonM said:


> What about York? It's a popular destination so there should be some deals available.



Then I vote YORK! *points to location under her username*

Seriously, I'd organise a York/Manchester/Leeds meet.


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## Northerner (Nov 25, 2009)

SacredHeart said:


> Then I vote YORK! *points to location under her username*
> 
> Seriously, I'd organise a York/Manchester/Leeds meet.



I'll be up in Skipton at the end of Feb/beginning of March. I LOVE York!


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## rossi_mac (Nov 25, 2009)

Apart from the fact that's it's up north, York is a grand place! Shed loads of boozers toooooooo


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## SacredHeart (Nov 25, 2009)

Northerner said:


> I'll be up in Skipton at the end of Feb/beginning of March. I LOVE York!



Seriously?! Come see me!



rossi_mac said:


> Apart from the fact that's it's up north, York is a grand place! Shed loads of boozers toooooooo



Ain't that the truth?!  I know the good ones too. Despite not being much of a drinker myself, I do get roped in to going to the good ones with people from work


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## Northerner (Nov 26, 2009)

SacredHeart said:


> Seriously?! Come see me!



I'd love to! Not sure of dates yet, but my dad is coming over from Holland for his 82nd birthday and they rent a holiday flat in Skipton. His birthday is March 1st so it will be around that time. Will let you know when I'm coming and maybe we can get a few other 'locals' along


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## SacredHeart (Nov 26, 2009)

Sounds like a good plan to me


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## rossi_mac (Nov 26, 2009)

Sounds like Becky is organising a meet in York april/march time, sounds good I'll try and jump on a space hooper in time, to enjoy some samuel smiths!!


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## shiv (Nov 26, 2009)

i can do york! with plenty of advance warning so i can get cheap tickets.


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## RachelT (Nov 26, 2009)

York would be cool. I could con my brother into giving me a lift and a bed for the night....heheheh. Birmingham and Peterborough are good for me too (although i think Peterborough might be a bus....) We've got a couple of wetherspoonses in Northampton, but i'd not recommend it, car-parking's dire.


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## aymes (Nov 26, 2009)

Awww, don't think I could do York, 3-4 hours on a train each way  (that's during week so a weekend will be dire)!

Gutted!

We will have to plan another London for some time after that I reckon, the picnic in the park thing when the weather's better!


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## am64 (Nov 26, 2009)

i reckon a summer one up in North Norfolk would be pretty cool!


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## aymes (Nov 26, 2009)

am64 said:


> i reckon a summer one up in North Norfolk would be pretty cool!



It would be amazing, picnic on the beach etc! Not sure how many people could cope with the journey though, I'd have to have the whole forum crashing on my sofa !


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## am64 (Nov 26, 2009)

got a garden ??? camping!!! no not neccessarily a good idea


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## Shelb1uk (Nov 27, 2009)

I lovvveee Norfolk, I'm up for a picnic on the beach  maybe right Aymes about accessibility tho etc....

And deffo another London meet  I can try and attend the York one  x


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## falcon123 (Nov 28, 2009)

Hi! Reckon I could do York - early May would be best. Have to check the rail tickets some more as was kust quoted ?84 return. The wesite said two singles could be cheaper - er, ?83 each. A friend of mine lives up there and said his friend never pays more than ?8 one way. He does though get obscure tickets - a mixure of returns and singles with waits in isolated stations. I want to go direct at low cost not explore the rail network!


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## squidge63 (Dec 2, 2009)

Just checked on east coast rail site which goes to york, i just put in a random date for the 20th feb and it is ?26 (?13 singles) return if you book now, i am sure the fare will increase the longer you leave it... I am off up to Falkirk in dec/jan and because i booked a couple of weeks ago (and with my railcard), I am getting up and back for ?39... you just have to keep an eye on fares and get them early.


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## aymes (Dec 29, 2009)

Sooo, this thread has gone very quiet, any developments on the meet up for the north???

Not sure I'll be able to make it to York, although I'll do my best. I'm would however be happy to (co)organise the return leg down south afterwards, I know a picnic in the park (weather permitting with a pub on standby) in the summer was mentioned. Obviously however I wouldn't want to do anything until the other was arranged as it's only fair to space them out so thought I'd check if anyone has any thoughts.?????


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## SacredHeart (Dec 29, 2009)

Yeah, I was thinking about this last night. Northe, any news on what dates you're going to be in the area?


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## Northerner (Dec 29, 2009)

SacredHeart said:


> Yeah, I was thinking about this last night. Northe, any news on what dates you're going to be in the area?



Not yet, I'm afraid. I think my Dad is waiting to find out what dates his wife can have off work.


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## SacredHeart (Dec 30, 2009)

Right-o! As soon as you've got an idea, I can get cracking ^_^.


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## amax (Jan 9, 2010)

Shelb1uk said:


> I lovvveee Norfolk, I'm up for a picnic on the beach  maybe right Aymes about accessibility tho etc....
> 
> And deffo another London meet  I can try and attend the York one  x



maybe shelley we could go together


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## rhall92380 (Jan 9, 2010)

Love to go to York!

Richard


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