Summer reunion 2009

[Dominic]

North Wales would be wonderful,- incredible terrain,- but only if the weather is good.

From looking at the satellite map West Sussex looks really bland but it's more likely to have fine weather. I suppose.

It was Lorna who first enticed me over to Eel Pie,

I think the name Lorna might be a mystery to most groadies.

[Joviale]

From what i gather from the people who answered, one way or another, the place near chichester (East Dean) seems to be favourite. There are 2 possibilities:

- Renting the field
+: plenty of room, we're on our own, we can play music, we can build structures (domes, marquees...)
-: it's expensive (600£), we can only have it for a week.end

- The camping place
+ it's cheap (3,5£ a night per adult, 2£ for kids) and payable by the day, we can stay as long as we like (or have booked for), we don't have to make up our mind now
- well it's a camping place, so there will be other campers, no music, no constructions...

It would be nice if someone could go and have a look and meet the farmer. (Weed has the phone number). Check out how long in advance we would have to book the field, if people could stay longer than a week-end ...
And of course if a few people could say, hey, i'm prepared to lend the money now and get it back from you lot. Of course, this means enough people have said they were into it!
Feed-back!!!!!!!!!

[Chris S-S]

John your post has been moved to Communal Anarchy in General Chat.
Thanks

[Joviale]

message from Ken Elmes:

Hi Joelle, If- while reunion takes place any visitors like to pay a trip to Grosvenor Road I would be happy to entertain them at the Twickenham Club, short walk from the road, for refreshment.
Cheers, Ken Elmes ......www.twickenhamclub.co.uk

and from Tess

Hi Joelle, sounds good to me! I have voted, 'I'm prepared to pay' although it would be quite a drive in my juicy little truck, but I guess it's the same for a lot of us! Perhaps we could do lift sharing to minimise the cost & emmissions. I'd be happy with either the campsite or the field, I'm presuming that the campsite has room for our vehicles, and I'd be prepared to pay up to £20 to park up for the weekend, but couldn't really afford more than that, it will depend on how many people agree to pay before we know if the field is within our collective budget.

What about YOU?

[Joviale]

Hi,
Pete S. sent me a message saying he's going to visit a friend in wales who could let us have his field.
So far, the few people who've answered said they'd rather the place in south east, because it's simple and easy to get there from london, where most former groadies live.
Now if we don't want to loose that opportunity, we need someone to go and check it out and book the place, or at least take an option.
I managed to find the place from here but i can't go and visit it, surely some of you are a bit closer!
Weed has the phone numbver of the farmer, you can send him a personnal message or a mail to ask for it.

As for wales, if a few people are interrested, it could be a second spot. As far as i'm concerned, coming from a very long distance, i'd rather not do it just fo a couple of days, so
i'd be happy to go to wales next and spend a few days there as well. And weed suggested in another post to inform each others about festival we're going to, any body has any infos to post?
j.

[Joviale]

I asked Brig about Dominic's suggestion (meeting at the BGG, having a spot for us there, getting a group price, here is his reply:

Re. a bulk discount, this could be possible - probably about 10%, but I'll have to get it approved by the board. Or anyone who can't afford that could become staff - we always have vacancies for stewards, who get to camp in the crew area and have 2 meals per day in return for 4 x 6 hour shifts on a steward point.
As for a reserved camping area, that's a bit tricky. For a start, tents and campervans have to be separated for fire safety reasons and licence conditions, though this year we will have a tented camping area next to the campervans area, so could be fairly adjacent. With a word in their ears I could arrange for our Campervans field coordinators to keep a suitable area clear, if we know roughly how many to expect. Segregation of vans and tents
does not apply in the same way in the crew area, if we went down that route.
We also do crew helper tickets at a concessionary rate for crew members'partners, babysitters etc. who are not themselves working.
Unfortunately a mass freebie is out of the question, as we have still over 100 grand of debt to work our way out of and must get into the black this year.
Hope all the above is helpful.
Lots of love,
Brig

So who would be interested? Let me know and i'll relay or tell Brig directly, if you want a "job" there.

[Carol B]

Hallo everyone.

Re the reunion....I've just discovered a rather beautiful camping place near where I live, how did I never discover it before..??

http://www.rockseast.org.uk

I've just spoken to the owner. She said we could have the Lower Camp site there for a weekend, but it will cost a whopping £650, she can provide a trailer of logs for firewood for an extra £50 (nah, we bring our own). It's a completely private part of the site, completely secluded, set 100 acres of woodland.
OR, she said, we can have a not so secluded spot, but she'd cordon it all off for us anyway, at normal camping rates, which are, bum, I forgot to ask....but it would work out cheaper. Tents, camper vans and caravans are all welcome, we'd have to do a head count and book in advance. The gates are open 24/7, free to come and go, and there are B and B's and pubs within a couple of miles.

If we would like the expensive lower ground site, it's available the weekend 14th-16th of August, also on the August bank holiday weekend, 28th-31st.

http://www.rockseast.org.uk

what do you reckon?

Carol XX

[Joviale]

Well, unfortunatly, i wont be in england anymore at those dates. I'm leaving home in the south of France around the 15th of july and will go back after the BGG.
And as far as the price is concerned it's slightly more expensive than that place i found in the south east of london, near chichester, which is also closer for londeners, so i don't know...
If someone could ring again the farmer and find out how long in advance we have to book, for the field (600£) or the campsite, if we chose the campsite, much cheaper, if it's possible to book a "corner" for us, what about music and that sort of things...
I can give the phone number to however is interrested to check, or you can ask weed, he haas it as well and did the first contact, couple of months ago.
hugs

[Joviale]

Maeve said she could do the checking on the phone, so now, all we have to do is wait for her message!

[Joviale]

17th to 20th of july (or longer) in West Sussex

We have a venue!
Just when I was about to send a new bulletin with details about that place I'd been talking about (Tess rang the farmer and got more infos), I got a mail from Weed saying Brian had got a place to suggest:
It seems the place is an an unused field, the only person there being Brian in his vehicle -- the owner wants 5 pounds per day per tent (i presume the same charge applies for live-in vehicles?) -- there's running water, but no toilet facilities -- there's a spot for a bonfire and no restrictions re music at night -- dogs are ok but must be kept tied to stop them free-roaming.

********So who can bring:
- a marquee (in case of bad weather)
- big pots and pans
- spare tents/sleeping bags for whoever doesn't have any (I have 2)
- portaloos (I have one)

********What now?
Well it would be easier if people posted on this forum if and when and what with they can come. And if they say where from, we might even organise lifts!
Hugs and see you soon