campsparkle | Recent Entries

It's early days, I know... but I thought I'd put this out there: if anyone wants to visit the Fine City of Norwich before or after Camp, I'd love to show it off to you! Also, you would get to meet Sable and Princess Fluffykins, and if that isn't an incentive I don't know what is.

You can get to Norwich fairly easily via Stansted+train; you can fly in to Norwich airport from Schipol (which I probably cannot spell, but Amsterdam anyway); you might even catch a ferry to Harwich. Or of course arrive at one of the London airports in the usual way - there are coaches but they take an entire day so sanity might be better preserved by getting train tickets well in advance.

Anyway. Let me know if you'd like to come! If there is serious takeup we can look into renting a minibus or a larger car.

pensnest

We are going to Yorkshire!

Woodlands House, Giggleswick, is booked for the week commencing 19th June. This house appears comfortable, pleasant, and big enough for however many of us show. It's not too expensive, and as Camp has been slowly shrinking, we figured it would be best not to go for one of the more expensive options we looked at. It's a new location, so you can entertain yourselves (perhaps) by searching for entertainments in the vicinity so we can develop a plan nearer to June.

I know that not everybody could make this week (or the week after), and if the date means you can't come, we're very sorry and will miss you A Lot. For those who just need plenty of advance notice, I hope this is enough!

*

In our searches, we have found a place which looks quite fabulous - so if we can get 18 Campers another year, wouldn't it be nice to try out this place!

pensnest

It's time for us to start booking things for next year's Camp.

When I asked in Bath this year, the general consensus seemed to be that late June would probably work best. I'm taking that to mean the week starting on 19th June, or the week starting on 26th. Can I ask you, please, to comment if you intend to come to Camp in late June next year, and, if it would make a difference to you whether Camp is on 19th or 26th, please say so.

We usually have a look at possible houses, but unfortunately

nopseud is still suffering from back pain, and it would do her no good at all to set out on the kind of jaunt which would be necessary. So I might head up to Yorkshire and have a look on my own, or it may be that we'll pore over the websites of our primary candidates, pick one, and hope for the best.

Anyway, it would be *really helpful* to have an idea whether we'll be a Camp of 14 people or 18 people, so please, spread the word and comment on what you intend to do.

pensnest

Thank you for once again proving that our mad experiment all those years ago was a brilliant idea.

I realised when I got home that I had never once bothered to put on makeup, or worried about how I looked beyond 'what do I feel like wearing today'. It never matters at Camp. I didn't need to worry about whether everyone was finding something interesting to do, because we just fissioned off in different directions and Did Things. I could always find a conversation if I wanted one, and didn't feel pressured to talk if I wanted to be quiet. And I had some truly excellent laughs, as always!

Also, those puppets are worth their weight in gold.

Assuming we Britishers haven't eaten each other by next summer, let's do it again.

pensnest

Can I suggest that some of the earliest arrivals check out the house supplies - and then make for Morrisons and acquire tea and milk! We'll take the car for the Big Shop when we get there, but you'll be in need of Tea beforehand. (I will bring a library of Interesting Teas, so just get the basic.)

saba1789

The Abbey Hotel in Bath (https://www.abbeyhotelbath.co.uk/restaurant-bar/afternoon-tea-2/) can accommodate our group and our dietary restrictions. It's £23 pP and you can add champagne (£32) or a cocktail (£30). The Hotel is close to the Abbey (ha!), so conveniently in the city centre.

They do want a £10 deposit pP to confirm the booking though - so please let me know until 3pm MESZ today if you do not want to come along.

Thank you!! <3

rikes

Who would like to cook dinner for us at Camp Sparkle this year? There'll be 13 of us, including three vegetarians and one gluten-free person.

Schedule outline so far:

Friday
Pen (pies)

Saturday
CJ (spinach/ricotta cannelloni)

Sunday - architectural walk, No. 1 Royal Crescent
Sperrywink (chicken parm?)

Monday - glass baubles, afternoon tea
We'll be having afternoon tea around 4pm, so perhaps no need for dinner, unless somebody wants to make something light?

Tuesday - spa
Turlough (mango chutney chicken or halloumi tikka masala)

Wednesday - Stourhead
Saba (rice bowls)

Thursday
Leftovers and takeout?

Please sign up in the comments, and let me know if you'd prefer a particular day. :)

saba1789

Hey everyone, some Afternoon Tea admin:

The current plan is to have Afternoon Tea on Monday at 4.15 pm (after the 2nd glass blowing appointment).

1) Does everyone want to come to AT? It's going to be between £18- £25, depending on what venue can accommodate us.

2) Are there any more dietary restrictions besides Turlough being gluten-free and Chalcopyrite and Ephemera being vegetarians?

Please let me know A S A P.

Thanks and see you on Friday (or Saturday ;)

pensnest

Hi All

I've just been in touch with Mike, the house owner, who says he will be there to check us in with the door code. I don't know what time people are likely to be there - I think Beast and I will probably arrive at around 4pm, depending on how long it takes us to ~~escape~~ leave the house that morning.

Can you comment with probable arrival time, so I can let Mike know who's going to be there first?

Thanks!

fleurrochard

I'd like to visit the Thermae Spa again, and thought about going on Tuesday morning. Does anyone want to join me?
You need to have a group of at least 8 people to book spa sessions in advance, but you can book spa sessions combined with treatments or one of their packages without that restriction.
They do require full payment at time of booking though, (I guess they're taking credit card?) so maybe people need to book on their own anyway; but we could still try to coordinate!

pensnest

I'm pretty sure I would like to visit this place, so I propose a trip on Wednesday.

If there are no more than five, then we can squeeze into our car. If more of you would like to go, we will see about hiring an extra car for the day and Beast or <user name="iconis" (thank you for the offer!!) can drive, and we'll share out the cost between everyone going on the outing. So, if you wanna go to a stately home, please comment. So far I *think* there were only two.

pensnest

Right! I have booked 7 spaces on Monday 22nd, four in the morning and three in the afternoon.

As far as I can tell, the following people want to blow baubles:

Me
Beast
Saba
Chalcopyrite
Ephemera
Fleur
Sperrywink

... all of whome owe me £20, as I have had to pre-pay to secure the booking. (You can pay me at Camp!)

If any more of you want to participate, you can call the lovely Anna on 01225 428146 and ask to be added to the Camp Sparkle booking on the 22nd. There is a spare place on Monday afternoon, and if necessary - as it is Just Us - they would be okay with adding a fifth person.

I think Beast and I will be up for heading there in the morning (and visiting the Fabulous Yarn Shop before or afterwards) - who wants to fit in to which session? If you'd like to have this figured out before we go, first commenters get first pick!

pensnest

Right - I think this works. But if anybody who is allocated a room without an ensuite would prefer to share so as to have an instantly-accessible bathroom, I can't see any objection. Negotiate for yourselves!

Ground floor, bedroom 1 Turlough and Sperrywink. They were in here last year and happy to repeat.

Halfth floor, bedroom 2 Ephemera Quite a small room, so I'm giving it to Ephemera on the grounds that she won't be there for very long (woe!).

First floor:

Room 3 Bettina

Room 4 Adelate and CJ - they're sharing, and I hope I'm remembering correctly that it's a nice big room with sofa, so it seems reasonable to give it to sharers

Room 5 Fleur - I have put Fleur into the 3-bed room because she has expressed a willingness to share, so if anyone in a non-ensuite room (ie Bettina, Chalcopyrite or Ephemera) would prefer to be in a room with an ensuite shower, your best bet is to share this one!

There is a shower room on the halfth floor between first and second, I believe.

Room 6 Iconis

Second floor:

Room 7 Chalcopyrite (who likes attics!)

Room 8 Pen and Beast

Room 9 Rikes and Saba - shouldn't need earplugs, I hope!

pensnest

Unfortunately we cannot get a group session - these are only on Saturdays, and I rang up to book but found that the 20th is already full.

They can accommodate up to four people per session during the week, with slots at 11.15am and 2.15pm, so I suggest anyone who wants to do a bauble session lets me know how many of you there are and if you have a day/time preference, and I'll phone and do my best to book for you. At the moment there is plenty of availability.

***

I'm going to suggest that we do

chalcopyrite's tour on Sunday, finishing at No 1 Royal Crescent.

chalcopyrite, can you check what sort of timings that will involve? The museum closes at 5pm so if we want to break the tour with tea somewhere, we will have to be sure to get to No 1 before 4pm. (We could always pause for lunch instead - probably depends how long the walk will be.)

There is a slightly reduced group rate, so if 10+ of us go it will be a little cheaper.

***

I don't think we need to plan many events, as we can team up as we see fit once we are at Camp.
I would quite like to visit Stourhead on the Wednesday, and there will be room for three or four in the car (depending on Beast), but if there is lots of demand we'll sort out an extra car.

pensnest

Another Camp Sparkle post!

I've already been looking at possible houses for next year, and I think we should go back to Yorkshire, where there is much to see that we have not yet explored.

There is a rather good house in Scarborough which is just 10 minutes from the beach (and has a hot tub). A and I have not had a chance to inspect it yet, and parking may be rather problematic for us, but in general it looks good.

So I'm thinking, when would people like Camp to be, next year?

Beast and I already have certain commitments due to our singing, but we should be able to find some availability in any of the following months:

April
May
June
July
August
September

So when would you prefer to come? I mean, assuming the entire country hasn't been reduced to a starved and savage-infested wasteland by then.

No poll yet, I'd just like to get an idea of your thoughts. We can probably talk about it again at Camp.

PS I'm having a Big Birthday next year, and will be having a party on 7th June. Any and all Campers would be very welcome if you can come—and it occurred to me that having Camp from 12-19 June might work well in that respect. But maybe not!

pensnest

Hi All

With our vehicles reduced to a mere ONE, we will need to give some thought to whether we want to do any touring outside the city of Bath. So this is a post to give us all a chance to think about how we are going to entertain ourselves while we are at Camp.

( Read more... )

pensnest

Woe! that we will be without Nopseud and R this year, but anyway - time to work out bedroom assignments.

According to my notes, we have:

Ground Floor
Room 1 3 singles plus ensuite

Half-level
Room 2 2 singles (I think)

First floor:
Room 3 2 singles, handbasin
Room 4 2 singles plus sofabed, ensuite
Room 5 3 singles, ensuite
Room 6 2 singles, ensuite

Second Floor
Room 7 double bed
Room 8 double bed, ensuite - Pen and Julian
Room 9 two double beds, ensuite

I am sure we can manage two or three singles, if so requested, they'll probably be the rooms that don't have ensuites.

Please let me know who you want to share with and if you have any stipulations eg wanting ground floor. You know the drill!

nopseud

I'm just about to start sending out the final costings for Camp. If you don't get yours in the next couple of hours, please let me know.

I also wanted to let everyone know that unfortunately R and are aren't going to be able to make it this year, due to a combination of my bad back and the cat being quite poorly. I'm super sad to miss seeing everyone, and I'm already looking forwards to next year, when hopefully the kitty and I will both be much better. Have a super time everyone!

nopseud

If you want to come to Camp this year but haven't signed up yet, please let me know ASAP. The email is campsparkle@nsa.slashcity.org.

nopseud

Sorry this is a bit late!

Date: Friday 19th July to Friday 26th July 2019.
Place: Newbridge House, Bath, Somerset, UK.

The house can sleep up to 24, which should be enough for everyone based on recent Camps. Exact prices for accommodation will depend on the number of people attending, but it will be somewhere around 190-250 UKP per person for the whole week. Shorter stays will be priced up proportionately. Food will be extra (~45 UKP for the whole week).

Since it worked out okay last year, we won't be hiring a minibus for the week. We may hire one for a day or two for trips if necessary.

As usual, we won't be taking deposits, and you'll need to pay the full amount about a month before Camp Sparkle (or bring cash to Camp).

Send an e-mail to campsparkle@nsa.slashcity.org and I'll send you a registration form. I'll also send you a link to a Google Docs spreadsheet for keeping track of the registrations, so you'll be able to check that we have the details in order.

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Camp Sparkle - a yearly UK popslash get-together

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Camp Sparkle

all sparkle all the time...now with added tea!

Recent Entries

Getting to Camp

Admin Post: Camp Sparkle 2020

Admin Post: Next Year's Camp

Dear Sparkly Campers

First to arrive at Camp!

Afternoon Tea - Update!

Dinner schedule

Afternoon Tea

Admin Post: Arrival Details

Thermae Spa

Visiting Stourhead stately home

Bauble Blowing

Admin Post: Bedroom Assignments!

Glass Bauble Blowing and other notes

Looking to the future

Admin Post: What To Do At Camp

Camp Bedroom Assignments

Camp Sparkle final cost

Camp Sparkle 2019 signups

Camp Sparkle 2019 Registration

Profile

April 2024

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