[ANNOUNCE] [F] Manchester AFPMeet Saturday 15th December
Jonathan Ellis
the 15th of December, possibly continuinuing on till the Sunday
(previous Manchester meets have been known to do this on a regular
basis - sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneously.)
The meet will take place a short (c. 20 minutes) bus ride or car
drive away from the town centre, in the southwestern suburbs.
The initial meeting place will be a pub called "The Quadrant", in
an area which is also called "The Quadrant", at the place where Kings
Road crosses Great Stone Road.
It is proposed that the meet should begin between 2 and 3 pm: I,
and various other people, will be inside the pub, with chocolate,
crisps, fluffy toys and at least one Pterry book. Alligators are
optional, other nibbles are welcome, football shirts are not advised.
Cats will not be provided, if you want to call a cat a bastard you'll
have to bring your own.
To get to the place:
(1) by bus from Manchester City Centre:
- Catch bus number 14 or 15, from Piccadilly Gardens Bus Station
(the main bus station of Manchester), which is a short walk from
Manchester Piccadilly Train Station (the main train station) or from
Chorlton Street Coach Station (the main coach station), and a slightly
longer walk from Manchester Victoria Train Station.
- Ask to go to "The Quadrant" - the bus driver will know the
place. The journey should take about half an hour, and the bus stops in
the actual Quadrant area itself. The pub is visible from the bus stop.
(2) By car, if you do not know the area:
- The nearest major road is the A56, called "Chester Road" at this
particular point. It runs directly from Junction 7 on the M60
(Manchester Ring Road, south-western side) to Deansgate Train Station in
Manchester City Centre.
- Great Stone Road, one of the roads leading to The Quadrant, is
one of the turnings off Chester Road. It is at a crossroads, at one
corner of which is a massive PC World superstore.
- If you are approaching from the direction of the motorway, the
turning will be on your right and the superstore on your left (just
after the junction, in fact).
- If you are approaching from the direction of central Manchester,
the turning will be on your left, and the superstore on your right (just
before the junction.)
- Great Stone Road is a long and straight road. It goes up and
over a bridge over a railway (now converted to a tramway for
Manchester's Metrolink). The Quadrant is the large oblong-shaped area
with a road around the outside and a small park in the middle, just
beyond this bridge. There is car parking in the centre of this area, and
the pub itself is just on your left after you come over the bridge.
(3) By Metrolink tram, from Manchester City Centre (either from
Piccadilly Gardens Bus Station or Manchester Piccadilly Train Station,
or indeed from Manchester Victoria Train Station):
- The nearest tram station is Old Trafford. Leave the station from
the platform where the trains go *away* from central Manchester (the
opposite side from the cricket ground): then you have a choice, either
to go along the pedestrian-and-cycle walkway called Trent Bridge Walk to
Great Stone Road and turn left, and the pub will be on your left, or to
head straight out to the visible and rather better-lit road (called
Warwick Road), turn right, and right again into Kings Road, and then the
pub will be on your right.
Food:
- The Quadrant itself does very good food, or there is a fish and
chip shop on the corner nearby. I believe there are other restaurants
too, notably a curry and a chinese. There is also a late-stop
supermarket.
Crash space, for those wishing to make the meet last into a second
day (for yes, this is one of *those* meets), or for those who arrive by
car and are wisely unwilling to drive after drinking, or for those who
miss the last bus back into town:
- will be provided by Mr Darren Capel of 57 Kensington Road, and
Mr Jonathan Ellis of 38A Ryebank Road. (Both of these houses are within
5-10 minutes' walking distance of The Quadrant, and it is likely that
the meet will repair to one, other, or both of these houses at some
point during the evening.) Sleeping bags will probably not be provided,
bring your own if you think you're staying over, but floor and sofa
space can be supplied in probably sufficient quantities, including
several possible places on one or more sofas-that-convert-into-beds.
Various forms of entertainment will be available at both houses,
including chocolate, drink, crisps, Trivial Pursuit and various other
silly (???) games, and may even include networked computer games (this
latter is only available at the Kensington Road address, as this house
has two or three computers) and/or music (mostly classical at the
Ryebank Road address or "pop" - I can't think of another generic word
that covers nearly everything else - at Kensington Road).
Emergency phone contact numbers for people who can't find the meet:
Mr J. Ellis (0161 2868358), before 2 pm on the day of the meet.
Mr D. Capel (07957 606168), after 2.30 pm on the day of the meet.
Ms "AFPSaint" Mary Perkins (07751 696055), before 6.30pm on the day
of the meet.
Have fun.
Jonathan.
Suzi
Jonathan Ellis <jona...@franz-liszt.freeserve.co.uk> wibbled...
> It is proposed that an AFPmeet be held in Manchester on Saturday
> the 15th of December, possibly continuinuing on till the Sunday
> (previous Manchester meets have been known to do this on a regular
> basis - sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneously.)
[Snip]
Has it been noted that this is also the day of the Hogswatch meet in
London?
Suzi
Peter Ellis
Also, parenthetically, it's worth noting that it's not good practice to
give out home addresses and telephone numbers when organising meets.
This *is* readable worldwide, and your actual audience is not the same
as your target or intended audience.
Just a small point, but this is why it's usual to give a contact email
address to be used to obtain further details.
Is this in the meet organisation FAQ? If not, it should be.
Peter