Sarah
Visitor
|
Re: September Jakefest! Yippee! - 2004/02/14 22:19
I'm back - again. Sorry - I started you all off on this, then certain noxious substances hit various fans and I was otherwise engaged for a while. However, I'm back now.
To answer various people's questions:
There are quite a few places doing B&B in Torrington itself, and they're not expensive. Torrington is a small town, and everything in it is within walking distance of everything else. The Plough is in the town square, as are most of the pubs that do B&B, and there's lots and lots of parking.
The nearest stations are Barnstaple and Umberleigh, both about twenty-five minutes away. Getting to either of these involves a rather complicated and slow route, however, so people usually get off at Tiverton Parkway, which is about an hour away, right where anyone coming here from up country gets off the M5. I should think that anyone who comes by train could probably arrange a lift from the station to Torrington with someone who's coming by car, if they synchronised watches.
The Plough is a big arts centre for such a small town. It has an auditorium/cinema, cafe, bar, dance studio, gallery, craft workshop, and various other odd spaces. We have the auditorium for the evening, and can have space to run a workshop or show videos, etc., in the day. We can also meet informally in the cafe at any time we like, of course.
It's possible that there will be a Brassens-based performance on the Friday night. I'm working on that, and will be meeting with possible performers in March. We could arrange a meal in the cafe as well, perhaps. I don't know - it'll depend what everyone wants to do. There are good pubs in the town, too, but I quite like the idea of doing everything in one place. There's enough room at the Plough for a couple of different activities to take place at the same time, if that seems like a good idea.
An all-woman team! That's an interesting suggestion. One good thing about using the Plough is that it does this sort of thing all the time, so the staff there will handle most of what needs doing. They've got a technical guy, box office staff and so on. They've also got a video projector that can be used to show videos on the cinema screen, sound equipment - you name it. We shouldn't need to provide anything. It should make life quite easy all round.
Draught beer at the Plough - yes, I believe so.
Indian restaurant - no, sorry. We've got a Chinese take-away, but that's about as exotic as Torrington gets. We do have very good, inexpensive meals at The Black Horse, the 17th century pub in the town square, though, and at several other such places around the town. Oh, and a very, very good fish and chip shop.
Amusing veg. competition - well, I suppose anything's possible. I'd enter, but I don't think I'm all that amusing.
There are other things to do around Torrington, too, for people who want to make a weekend of it. There is our very own tourist attractions, Torrington 1646, which is all about the Civil War (and much more interesting than it sounds), there's Rosemoor Gardens, the RHS place just outside the town, we're not all that far from the sea, and of course there is 'Barometer World' (no, really). Oh, and Torrington Commons - 300 acres of beautiful, riverside common land, stuffed full of wildlife and riddled with lovely walks. It's good here!
Before I start making elaborate plans, I'd really like to know what people would like to see happen in September. Perhaps someone could alert the Topica crowd to this conversation, so that they can all put in their twoppence worth.
Next question!
|
