No, I don’t mean this weekend, but Saturday 15th September, which has now been confirmed – not only by the popular vote but also the agreement of Mrs Abahachi – as the date of the West Country Social, to take place at the Abahachi estate in Castle Cary in the depths of South Somerset. We’re aiming for lunchtime, making it easier for people to come across just for the day (the train connections aren’t too dreadful, either from London or Bristol); for those coming from further afield, there are various moderately-priced B&B places in the vicinity (and lots of less moderately-priced ones), and a handy orchard in which tents could be pitched. The house is the size of a shoebox, I’m afraid, so capacity to offer accommodation is severely (but not categorically, in cases of real desperation) limited.
Full arrangements can be sorted out nearer the time – I just wanted to get the date into the diaries of everyone who might be interested. I think the easiest way of organising this will be for everyone who’s coming to commit to contributing, say, a tenner, and I’ll sort out food and drink; let me know if you have strong views on this idea. Hope to see you then!
That looks like a pleasant drive – it’s in my diary, and I’ll bring my tent, thanks (because of the ‘drink’ part).
Would like to come, could combine with a visit to my old home town … no idea whether it’s feasible but will happily contribute a tenner, anyway!
Ali,
I think I have a pass, and will make a weekend of it, so you have a driver if we can get the timings right.
excellent, it’s in my diary too, I very much intend to be there and thank you for organizing it
Splendid – must remember not to put the tent in the loft after Green Man
Ditto (only “after Cropredy”, Skippy!
Great, I shall get it in my diary.
No problem with a donation either.
Would someone please identify all those bodies above?
Yup.
Seated in comfort or perched precariously on the arm of a chair (left to right); snadfrod, Mnemonic, TatankaYotanka, Proudfoot, cauliflower, Tim (Kalyr), ejaydee, GarethI
Seated agonisingly on the floor (left to right); ToffeeBoy, Abahachi, glasshalfempty, tarxien
I’m very impressed by the RR knowledge, but isn’t it DarceysDad rather than ToffeeBoy ? Or do my ageing eyes deceive my ageing brain ??
I thought that and had to do a double take – but then noticed he wasn’t in a Sparta Prague away shirt and Adidas Gazelles (I might have made up DsD’s dress sense in my own head) but it’s ToffeeBoy – fer sure.
Click on the pic to enlarge it.
I had enlarged it, but still got them mixed up ! A quick visit to Facebook has put me straight, apologies to both and to TFD, sorry all.
Ah. All I did was copy the list from ToffeeBoy’s original post – and then I forgot to acknowledge it. Sorry, ToffeeBoy. Sorry, DaddyPig.
Daddypig
(Click on the pic to enlarge it) – I line you up with a perfect ‘get out of jail free card’ and then you go and ruin it by being honest and everything. heehee.
Y’know, Shane, I don’t think he can help it.
Nah, not me, DP. That was a Social I missed.
And Shane would be spot on with my dress sense, apart from the fact I’ve now been banned from wearing Gazelles on medical grounds (sadly, I’m serious)!
Yes, admitting daft mistakes has become pretty routine for me…
Thanks for the offer of a lift, DsD. Still a maybe, but I appreciate it.
That sounds a lovely way to do a social and a tenner v good value. I shall have to be a maybe I’m afraid but it looks to be well-supported already.
DP, same offer of a seat in the DsD Taxi applies to you as to Ali.
And now that the new car does fifty-odd to the gallon, instead of the poxy twenty-six I used to get out of the Honda, it’ll be a cheap ride too.
In my diary, too. Camping is theoretically possible (although I could get there and back in a day), and the ten pound donation sounds like an absolute bargain.
Ten pound donation fine with me. I really would like accommodation within walking distance of where we’re socializing though, so if you email me seperately, Prof, with some details, I’ll get right on it.
Best to start with the information on the Castle Cary website, which has lists of accommodation, albeit quite a lot of it in surrounding villages; could be worth trying Fox Cottage, as Ruth is a friend of ours and might perhaps offer a discount if you mention our name… Also worth checking the Horsepond Inn, which isn’t in the list – I run the website, but am not responsible for collecting information – but which at any rate used to have some pretty cheap rooms.
Something tells me that if walking distace is unlikely, coordinated booking of B&Bs could permit coordinated taxis and hence a cheaper ride…
(I know that I said camping was theoretically possible, but these days I don’t seem to be able to deal with sleeping bags terribly well).
Ah. Has no-one told you, Amanda?
(
I don’t do taxis … EVER.
Since my big accident in 2003, I just can’t be a passenger. There are only three people in the world I’ll let drive me: Julie, Gordon and one of my brothers.
Very occasionally I’ve found myself with literally no alternative, and have had to accept a lift. Through absolutely no fault of the driver concerned (that includes our good doctor tarxien), I’ve utterly F@<¥in' HATED every second of those journeys.
I'm afraid it's walking distance or sobriety for me.
So which ones ARE within walking distance, please?
Oops. Sorry. Between me and Apple, we kinda cocked up the formatting there.
You know what I meant, right?
Absolutely (as in knowing what you meant).
And, no, I missed the taxi thing. But now I do know.
Walking distance: Fox Cottage (but only one room); Horsepond Inn (cheap, reasonably cheerful); George Inn (less cheap, marginally up market, breakfast supposed to be okay).
Thanks Aba.
I’m going to be doing a brew in a couple of weeks’ time, so if anyone has strong opinions on what sort of beer they’d like, now is the time to put in your bid…
Predictable regrets from me. Sure you’ll all have a great time (as long as Aba doesn’t play you that fish song).
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
Nonetheless, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be
bookmarking and checking back often!