You are cordially invited to a beach meet.

Meeting at Wool station at 12:44pm
and travelling to Durdle Door (near Lulworth, Dorset)
on Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th July 2003

It's time for a non-London noder meet. The London Booze Monkeys - along with associated hangers-on - are kindly invited to migrate south for a weekend, clear their lungs and enjoy the sights and sounds of a South Coast beach. Pictures of the beach in question can be seen here: http://roo.xobx.no-ip.com/beach.html

What's the plan?

  1. We will be meeting at the train station in Wool (Dorset) on Saturday 26th July at 12:44 in the afternoon. That happens to be the exact time a train from Waterloo (via Southampton Central) arrives. See train information below for more details.
  2. (Anyone who want to meet up in Southampton first should contact me. We could potentially meet in The Rat and Parrot (very close to Southampton Central station) in time to catch the train which leaves at 11:43).
    (Map: http://makeashorterlink.com/?I52215805)
  3. At least some of us will want to pop to a supermarket to gather provisions.
  4. By the time we're hungry, we'll have arrived at Durdle Door, a wonderful Dorset beach.
  5. Talk, singing, stories, tales of bravery and tragic loss ... the world is your oyster. Life's a beach and you're sleeping on it.
  6. On Sunday morning we will, no doubt, be awake to see the dawn. When was the last time you held the hand of your friend and watched the sun rise?

Help me

We can hire a minibus or two for £10 per head we can get self-drive minibuses for the whole weekend. I'll need a driver or two though. To have category D1 (required to drive a minibus) you must be over 21. For insurance purposes, most firms are a bit stricter than that. I have so far found one firm which requires the driver to be 25 years old with at least 4 years driving experience (and one driver who fits those requirements). Most companies want 25 year olds who have been driving for at 7 years. We need to sort something out very quickly. Arse to it. Let's just meet up at the train station in Wool (only 5 or 6 miles from the beach). I will be able to organise at least 2 or 3 cars, complete with people who know where to go. If anyone is driving to Wool and wants to help out in a mini convoy, that would be great, especially if they could be there before the train arrives at 12:44. I'll plan to be there from midday to greet any early driving types with a pint of lemonade.

It would really help me if everyone who is coming could tell me if they're going to be driving or taking the train, when they plan to arrive (mainly if it's not going to be 12:44) and - if they're driving - who else they are bringing with them. I promise to give my mobile phone number to everyone who is confirmed in case you get lost :-)

Handy train advice

There is a train from Waterloo to Wool that leaves Saturday 26th July @ 10:30, arrives at 12:44. (The one before that leaves at 9:30 and arrives at 11:44). It costs £40.30 for a Sunday return (before railcard discounts etc). It's actually good for 5 days if you want to make a long weekend of it. Returning trains on Sunday seem to run every hour and take about 2½ hours to get back to London.

For non-driving Hampshire noders, that train also seem to go through Southampton central station for a mere £17.10 return. To arrive at Wool at 12:44 on Saturday you'd catch the 11:43 from Southampton. The one before that is 10:44 arriving 11:44. Same return schedule for Sunday as Waterloo (beacause it's the same train of course) except it takes only an hour to get back.

www.thetrainline.com is your friend
There will be very limited car transport from Southampton to Wool. Some other local noders and I will be driving down so ask nicely and ask soon. Meeting the Waterloo train is pretty easy though, and from Southampton Central takes about an hour and costs £17.10 for the weekend. The ideal train for you leaves at 11:43 and arrives at 12:44.

Some notes

Sleeping on a beach is a grey area. Camping is normally banned but since we won't be taking tents - and I doubt anyone check the beach anyway - I am confident that we will get away with it. Fishermen do it all the time. ¶ A large, dry cave will fit around 20 of us with room to spare. Who cares if it rains? ¶ Lighting a big fire is, sadly, probably not on. Disposable BBQs would keep the cave (I love these caves!) warm and also allow us to cook sausages as well as the vegetarian equivalent. Their disposable nature means the beach stays clean and tidy and we don't get shot. ¶ There is a campsite 5 minutes up a hill. This puts toilet (and perhaps even shower) facilities within a short uphill trek

I can't be away from my SO for a night! Can I bring him/her/it with me?

Of course. And if you have not managed to persuade your other half to use E2 yet, perhaps this is exactly the kind of thing that will get them interested. As my gran was fond of saying, a friend is just an enemy you haven't kicked in the teeth yet. Or something like that anyway.

What should I bring?

  • A story (original or not) and the ability to tell it well.
  • Some warm clothes
  • A sleeping bag
  • Some food and drink (we'll be there for a good few hours) or some money. We can visit a supermarket en route.
  • You might find a torch useful (the 5 minute walk to toilet is not in a straight line)
  • A plastic sack (a black bin bag if it's big enough or you're small enough) to wear outside the sleeping bag. This will keep any moisture on the beach out of your lovely dry sleeping bag. It really helps.
  • Candles in jam jars would be a nice way to light the cave. Bring some if you have some spare.

Who is coming?

Confirmed. Meeting in Wool:

  1. tallroo (driving)
  2. narcissus (Mrs tallroo) (driving if necessary)
  3. delFick (driving if necessary)
  4. nol (driving if necessary)
  5. Hexter (train) (perhaps meeting in Southampton first?)
  6. BaronWR (train)
  7. spiregrain (train)
  8. StrawberryFrog (train)
  9. reitoei (perhaps meeting in Southampton first?)
  10. call
  11. pandora
  12. pandora's SO
  13. heyoka
  14. gnarl
  15. purple_curtain
  16. a scar faery

Interested. Not yet confirmed:

Sadly can't make it:

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