GOC Annual Outdoor Gathering, 1st-4th August 2008

The AOG is being held this year at Worcester from Friday 1st to Monday 4th August. A booking form was included in the March and April issues of "Outdoors" and members are now able to make reservations in the usual way. In this preview I thought I'd just let you know about how plans are progressing and what you can expect.


The venue

Worcester University (formerly a technical college and teacher training establishment) is situated on the west bank of the River Severn, 5 minutes walk from the town centre via the footbridge to the Race Course. A no. 31 bus connects Worcester Shrub Hill railway station with the University and runs every 15 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday, and hourly on a Sunday. Whilst there is no direct link with Worcester Foregate, there is a frequent service to the town centre where it is possible to make a connection. Car parking will be possible on campus. There will be a limited availability of en-suite rooms. Most of the accommodation will be in blocks of 6 private self-contained single rooms with shared facilities. More information about the venue can be found at www.worcester.ac.uk/


The walks

We already have plans well in hand for the walks for the weekend. Our "Jewel in the Crown" is the Malvern Hills which lie less than 10 miles away. We will be offering a variety of walks in this region ranging from the relatively straight forward to a challenging 11 mile linear walk along the entire length of the hills. There will be interesting walks in other areas too. The Abberley Hills, the lesser known cousins to the Malverns, provide an opportunity for spectacular views across to Wales. The lovely Cotswold town of Broadway features in another walk as does the little-known but fascinating Croome Park.
There will also be some walks with artistic, literary or general interest themes. "Archers" fans will be interested in the Hanbury Church ("St Stephen's") walk which will also take in some other sites associated with the show, The Bredon Hill and Avon walk will take in sites associated with A.E. Housman's famous poem from "A Shropshire Lad", and there will be 2 walks associated with Worcester's most famous musical son, Sir Edward Elgar taking in his birth place museum at Broadheath and his final resting place near Malvern. In all we are planning to offer 9 options for walks on both Saturday and Sunday. In addition, following a growing tradition, we are planning a town walk on Monday 4th August for those who are staying over. More walk details.


Other activities

Ken from Warwicksire has agreed to sort out some routes for the cyclists on Saturday and Sunday.

Unfortunately, Moseley Shoals were unable to arrange a swimming session on the Friday evening at Droitwich Spa. However the do extend an invitation to their regular swim
session on Sunday morning in Birmingham. If interested, see www.moseleyshoals.org.uk

On the Saturday, the mini-bus tour is planned to visit Witley Court. A hundred years ago, Witley Court was one of England’s great country houses, hosting many extravagant parties. Today it is a spectacular ruin, the result of a disastrous fire in 1937.

The vast and rambling remains of the palatial 19th-century mansion are surrounded by magnificent landscaped gardens – the ‘Monster Work’ of William Nesfield – which still contain huge stone fountains. The largest, representing Perseus and Andromeda, which has been restored, was described as making the ‘noise of an express train’ when fired.

Although not one of the organised activities, non-walking members may like to take a boat trip on the river. The motor launch Earl, which was built 82 years ago, and is recognised as one of Britain’s historic vessels, departs the South Quay on the hour, every hour from 11am until 5pm. Cruises take 45 mins and offer views of the River Severn and the historic City of Worcester. Price £5, seniors £4. More details ...


Social Activities

As usual, the centre piece for the social side of the weekend will be the Annual Dinner on the Saturday. Following the success of the Lancaster event, we will be providing a themed Disco afterwards (with the discs expertly spun by "A&T Disco") so you can boogie to your favourite Abba hits and other delights from the 70's and 80's. The theme is the simple one of "Black and White". So you can either just make a passing gesture to it with ease and little cost or be totally outrageous in monochrome! In addition to this we will be offering the option of a meal and entertainment on the Sunday evening in the form of a concert given by our highly successful local gay and lesbian choir called "Rainbow Voices". A mixture of popular and more serious items should appeal to everyone! On the Friday evening too we plan to offer a buffet meal to anyone who wishes to partake followed by some "icebreaker activities". These will include quizzes and puzzles plus the extraordinary magic of professional card-trick illusionist, Andy Field to amaze and entertain you.

All these events will take place in the Worcester Room, where the bar is also situated. The bar will close while performances are actually in progress. Entrance to the social events was included in booking the respective evening meals for those events. The bar will obviously be open to all particpants over the weekend.

Booking Form

The booking form was included in the March and April issues of "Outdoors", along with further details of the event. Something for everyone to look forward to and mark in their diaries now. Alternatively you can download the booking form here. You will need Adobe Acrobat. If you need to download this, please see the link on our "How to Join" page.


Clarifications

The parking permit of £5 allows parking for the whole weekend, so it is not £5 per day! If people are only staying for part of the weekend they may prefer to use the long stay car park at Severn Gate off Henwick road at £1.70 per day. There is a short walk to the Halls of Residence from there. Any queries about the booking process to Rob at aog.worcester@hotmail.co.uk


Latest News

The Friday meal will be an informal canteen style meal scheduled from 7.00 - 8.15. If you
have ordered a meal but know you are going to arrive later than 8.15, please contact
either Robert or Rory and we may be able to make some alternative arrangements up to
about 9.30pm.

The A449 at Powick Bridge, South of Worcester will be CLOSED over the duration of the
weekend. Anyone planning to use that road would be advised to follow the ring road west
and come into Worcester on the A44.

Those who have NOT purchased a car park permit can still park in the campus car parks
(but not elsewhere on campus), paying the going rate for a ticket at the meter. (Day
tickets are available).

The University Campus is a non-smoking environment. There is a shelter outside the Students Union where people are permitted to smoke.

Maps

Location Map for Worcester University www.worc.ac.uk/about/contact/159.html
Worcester University Campus www.worcester.ac.uk/documents/U_of_Worcs_3D_Site_Map_(8-06).pdf
Directions to the Universiy www.worcester.ac.uk/documents/Directional_Map.pdf