PIC Meet - Kings Cross - 26th April 2014

[Valerie]

Thank you Dave for getting this going. I am certainly interested in meeting up.
Best wishes
Val

[SUEUK]

Hi Dave,

It looks from the map that it should be somewhere in the London area! We could make it near a main line station and all use trains or tubes to get there as parking would be a nightmare, for those still driving.

Or somewhere in London but on the outskirts with easy train and car links?

I could suggest a couple of places near Kings Cross - there is "the Parcel Yard" in the main station complex, which is the old sorting office, it can be very busy in rush hour but might be OK for say a Sunday morning to meet up and stay for lunch, good food and real ale and I think they do private areas for groups. If the weather is warmer we could meet outside "the British Library", it is just a short walk and on the same side of the road as Kings Cross and St Pancreas and all the tube links, there is a huge open paved area in front of the building with a nice open air coffee shop and a large Pizza Express just across the road.

Outside London I know Blackheath is a lovely little village, has a small train station right in the middle with a large car park behind (used to be free on a Sunday) it is on the London Bridge line so easy to get to from central London and easy for A2 from Kent or the M25. Some nice restaurants and open green spaces, the heath, Prince of Wales pond, and Greenwich Park, Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark etc. are all walkable if people want to make a day of it?

Looking forward to other suggestions, but as you can tell I think a Sunday would be good for those still working and a bit less busy than a Saturday, nice to meet say 11.00ish to allow for travel time and have coffee and chat and then lunch before going separate ways - anyone agree?

I might like to bring my husband, but he would be happy to go off and do something else and pick me up later if others would be uncomfortable with partners and friends at the meeting. But it would mean we could do something else later in the day like a play or museum before going home.

I do hope we can manage to meet up this Spring and compare notes, would be nice to put some faces to the names!!!

[rbmcgovern]

Hi all,

I'd be keen to come along and I think Sue's suggestions make a lot of sense and would probably be the simpliest way to do it.

Rachel

[DavePIC]

Well, I've contacted all the names on the list.

Thank you very much Sue for those great suggestions , I'm liking any one of those that include alcohol!

Hopefully if we can get everyone's buy in v soon, we'll go to a straw poll of locations and dates and get it sorted.

Regards,
Dave.

[oxon2012]

Hi All,
London sounds good to me, so either suggestion from Sue of near Kings Cross/St Pancras or Euston would work for me. In fact before Christmas I had a reasonably cheap and good meal in the Skinners Arms on Judd street which is just round the corner from the British Library and the pizza express mentioned.
However it has the unfortunate nature of being located opposite the RNIB! so I'm not sure if everyone would appreciate that.

Regards
Jason

[Valerie]

Ha ha - maybe we could go and ask for some advice! I wonder if we should 'advertise' our event on facebook as well.
I have to say between this and fb I am feeling a bit less lonely in my pic world and feel reassured that I can talk to people who know where I am coming from. So meeting up would be even better. I do not mind where we meet but are we targeting a particular time - March/April maybe? We could always have a pre meeting meeting to sort it out!!
Hope everyone is well
Val

[DavePIC]

Will send a reminder mass email around to all those who expressed an interest. Only a few have responded so far.

But all positive. Hope we can make this happen.

Dave.

[DavePIC]

Well, sent two emails around and haven't really got a huge response.

So far there are 5 of us which is certainly do-able.

Should we wait a while longer or start pressing ahead with fixing up dates? Or am I being too impatient?

What do you all think?

Dave.

[Valerie]

Well 5 is good to start with and if we report back maybe that will inspire others. I think it is quite hard to stay positive in our situation and then a 'what is the point' situation develops as we all try to cope in our own worlds.
So I say just do it and see how it goes .....

Best wishes
Val

[SUEUK]

Maybe more will commit if there is a date fixed - I would say you fix a date and venue suitable for you Dave and hopefully all the others interested can make it, with a few extras!

If it turns out at only 4-5 it would still be a lot more Piccies than I have ever met!