You're from Weston-Super-Mare then
I also second the idea of Paintball / Airsoft and then a Pub Lunch afterwards.
I don't drink alcohol either for medical reasons and Reading Festival is definitely not my scene for similar reasons.
I am more than happy to travel a distance for the meet. Having travelled 1,007 miles on the Railway in just under 24 hours it's fair to say I don't mind travelling
That being said I have a Disabled Railcard so if someone wants to tag along for the journey to also benefit from my discount of 34% then I'd be up for discussions
(I do travel First Class though so that might wipe out the discount
:- )
Manchester is almost certainly in my opinion, one of the best locations. Many trains from stations and rail operators such as:
Direct Trains (No Change):
- Arriva Trains Wales: Cardiff Central, Chester, Shrewsbury
- CrossCountry Trains: Banbury, Basingstoke, Birmingham (and Birmingham International), Bournemouth, Bristol (Temple Meads and Parkway), Brockenhurst, Cheltenham, Coventry, Exeter (St Davids ONLY), Oxford, Plymouth, Penzance, Reading, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent,Taunton, Wolverhampton.
- First Transpennine Express: Doncaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Scarborough, Stockport, Sheffield, Warrington Central (NOT Bank Quay), York
- Virgin Trains: Crewe, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Wilmslow
- East Midlands Trains: Liverpool, Norwich**, Warrington Central (NOT Bank Quay)
1 Change of Trains:
- Bath Spa (Change Bristol Temple Meads)
- Carmarthen (Change at Newport - Slower route via Hereford, Cheaper than via Bristol Parkway, No First Class, Trolley Services of Drinks / Snacks)
- Carmarthen (Change Bristol Parkway)
- High Wycombe (Change Banbury)
- Swansea (See Carmarthen Options)
- Swansea (See Carmarthen Options)
- Woking (Change at Basingstoke)
- Weymouth (Change at Bristol Temple Meads - Cheaper route but painfully slow)
- Weymouth (Change at Bournemouth - Much Quicker, Probably More Expensive)
I've made some of the bigger examples there from South West / North East just to show how easy Manchester is to get to. I leave South of Bristol before anyone questions my motives and I absolutely despise Class 220/Class 221 Trains (The direct trains for almost all of the CrossCountry services above)
Key:
Swansea - Denotes a Train will have First Class Seating AND a Restaurant Car for some / all part of the Journey
Weymouth - Denotes a Train will have First Class Seating for all or a significant part of the journey.
Ba
th
Sp
a - Denotes that it's around a 50/50 throw of which trains have First Class Seating.
Woking - Denotes all Trains will have First Class Seating with the exception of the ones painted RED!
E&OE - Correct to best of knowledge 23/01/2015 - 20:20
If a location is decided, I am more than happy to sort out a list of routes as per the table above. Also suggest the best tickets to purchase. I can think of many routes where it's cheaper to buy a longer distance journey and end short than to buy from Point A - Point B. Also you can save a bomb if you have a season ticket to work and buy your tickets in a certain way as certain Split Ticket Rules do not apply to season tickets etc.
Only thing I should perhaps comment on is that with regards to asking people to leave if they don't behave... That's an
extremely grey area for a number of reasons. I'll give an example:
Recently I was asked to leave a Restaurant by a "party" who had booked the restaurant for a Wedding Do. The person asking me to leave was a member of said party and not a member of staff. As they had no more rights (in a capacity of authority) than I did; Not to mention being mid way through my starter (my response would have been the same had I been eating or not) I told them to politely go away. Unfortunately for the restaurant, they had double booked the wedding, Myself and a Table of 6. Table of 6 dined elsewhere. I was already in the restaurant before the Wedding Do arrived.
Anyway, those who know the full story are well aware of what happened later in that same meal... If you are desperate to know what happened then I'll make another thread to save derailing this one