BC London Meetup - Saturday 18th August, Rose Garden, Hyde Park Corner, 1:30pm

[Silvia Bluejay]

Right, in a similar way to the meetup last May, I would suggest the following options:

- [b]Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden[/b] if the weather is nice but not to be trusted (as we can quickly go downstairs and into a covered area if it rains) - also perfectly viable if the weather is really nice. Yes, we were there last time too, but it seems a good place, easy to reach by public transport, easy to find and reasonably comfortable.

- [b]Hyde Park[/b], somewhere along the Serpentine Road, near Hyde Park Corner station, if the weather is good enough to have a picnic. My idea would be to find a spot in the vicinity of the cafe/tourist area/toilets on the East side of the Serpentine lake, the nearest to Hyde Park Corner station if you look at the map.

I know that the second option is less easy to implement, both in terms of us actually finding one another to meet up in a precise place, and of the weather allowing us to sit outside for a few hours without fear of being rained on or swept away by the wind

We would need to keep checking the weather forecast and updating this thread until the last moment.

What do you guys think?

[Billy Apple]

As great as the craic was at the QEHRG, I found it a bit enclosed. One vote here for Hyde Parkinton

[dave_bass5]

I'd love to attend this one but I'll be traveling back from Blackpool on the 18th so won't be in London until late evening.

[Zenitram]

If it started raining or turned cold we could decamp from Hyde Park to Shepherd Market, which is very pleasant -- Ye Grapes, King's Arms, etc. And it has its own colourful, if somewhat terminal, place in rock'n'roll history.

[Silvia Bluejay]

OK, I'll go have a look at the area in Hyde Park corner and make sure I find a spot we can all recognise easily, if the weather allows our meetup to be fully outdoors.

If the weather is dodgy - and there's no reliable forecast for Saturday as yet - I would prefer us to meet elsewhere, as opposed to having to decamp from the bottom right-hand corner of Hyde Park to an area of London like Shepherd Market that's almost at the opposite side of the park; that move looks to me like a logistical and organisational nightmare, especially in the rain.

So, if the forecast points to horrid weather, we'll do the South Bank instead - there are tables and chairs in the foyer at the Royal Festival Hall, and once we are all there it's easier to move along the river if we get bored.

Please keep checking this thread. I'll check Hyde Park out tomorrow, and then take the final decision about the place when we have a little more info about the weather.


Edit: this is apparently my 1,000th post. Blimey.

Edited August 13, 2012 by bluejay

[Zenitram]

Unless I'm getting me sides mixed up, it's only half a mile from Hyde Park Corner to Shepherd Market. They're in the same bit of town; that's why I suggested it.

SW1X 7TA
to
W1J 7QQ
if you want to look on a map

Anyway I have no strong feelings about it or anywhere else. Good good.

[Silvia Bluejay]

OK, I'm still against it if you don't mind - we either do Hyde Park and stay there, or we do somewhere else. I don't want us to move around because keeping in touch with latecomers or those who say they'll be there then don't turn up is going to be a total nightmare. It's only possible if we are a few hundred yards down the road, as in the case of the South Bank.

Unless anyone would like to take on the organisational baton?

Edited August 13, 2012 by bluejay

[Zenitram]

OK yes agreed (about moving around).

[Zenitram]

Your organisational baton is mighty fine.

[Silvia Bluejay]

I still hope we'll be able to meet up in the park! It'd be more than a bit sad if we had to sit in the Festival Hall or a nearby pub or eaterie, watching the rain falling, in mid-August...

[Chrismanbass]

awh damit only just seen this i'm outta town for that weekend would've come otherwise

[Silvia Bluejay]

Leaving for some reccie in Hyde Park now, will report back later.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Right, I'm back, and what a glorious sunny afternoon it was. I soo hope Saturday will be similar, although the forecast does not bode well at all at the moment.
I know that all my efforts today may have been in vain if it rains but, *if* the weather allows, I suggest we meet at 1:30pm at the western end of the Rose Garden in Hyde Park Corner. Here is the map:



I have drawn a little circle in the place where I think it may be easiest for us to meet up (a little below the word "The" of The Rose Garden in the map). In that spot there is an easily recognisable tree (below), and it's a little less crowded. It's near the western gate to the garden.



Obviously, if it rains we'll scrap all this, and meet up at the Royal Festival Hall, and try to think where else we can go when we are sure everybody who was coming has arrived.

Please keep checking this thread. I will edit both the title and the contents of the first post in a couple of days.

[Silvia Bluejay]

The weather forecast seems to have slightly improved, so I suppose we can go ahead with this meetup as described in my post above. Please do check back on this thread (and Twitter) until the last moment, in case the Met Office dramatically changes its mind.

I have edited the thread's title and the contents of my first post.

Feel free to PM me for my phone number if it can be useful.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Another bump - Saturday's weather looks all right.

I think I'm going to have an early lunch before I go out, just because it's easier for me to travel slightly lighter as opposed to carrying bowls of stuff on the tube. However, if anyone would like to bring food as well as drink, feel free - we'll make sure we won't beg you for bites unless we have food of our own to offer in exchange

[Billy Apple]

Very sorry, work have just sprung a shift in Oxford tomorrow, so not going to be able to make this. I hope you all have a great time.

[ras52]

Just catching up on this, not sure if I'll be able to attend, but for those of you still wondering what sex is:

[Grand Wazoo]

I'd love to... but something came up....

[paul torch]

Would have loved to come along and meet everyone face-to-face but it is the good Lady Torch's birthday tomorrow so I'd better spoil her.

[Silvia Bluejay]

OK, OK, if I find myself alone there, I'll wait for an hour or so and then set out on my own business...

[Fat Rich]

My plans have changed for today, hoping to drop by for a couple of hours if that's OK?

[Hobbayne]

Well, you have the weather for it!! Have a great day all of you!!

[Zenitram]

I'm going to be struggling for 1.30. Will try to get a groove on with my work and see if I can make it, but, er, it's not looking likely I'm afraid. Sorry.

[Silvia Bluejay]

So, in the end I wasn't left alone, as Richard (Fat Rich) turned up, and we had a lovely afternoon chatting, exchanging text messages with Shelley in Edinburgh, and generally relaxing and feeling pretty hot (very much like everyone around us). So it's all good

[seashell]

Yes I was there in spirit if not in body! Glad you had a good time :-)