I was going to be there in the squarest vehicle I could think of, the Land Rover 101 Intercept or Vampire, but as they are right now up in Northwich, and anyway not the perfect vehicles for Cambridge, it will just be EasyJet this time.

The format seems to be popular, and as I have to pay in advance to confirm our bookings I'd like to request that you get your payments across to me as soon as possible. The cost I'm still uncertain of is transport, but if we get a decent turn out I think we're good.

To pay:

Clay Pigeon shooting in the morning, £50 per head
Party including dinner, transport and some drinks, £40 per head
Lunch & Wine tasting - pay on the day

Two payment options:

1. Direct to my bank account

If you can pay by this method I prefer it, as PayPal charge me 3.4% commission on all payments. I realise this probably only suits people with a UK bank account (foreign transfer fees would far outweight the PayPal commission).

Account 44041662 Sort Code 09-01-26

Put your name as the reference and email or PM me with details of who you are, how much you're paying and what it's for.

2. PayPal

Send your payment to [email protected] and include details of who you are and what you're paying for in the message field.

Finally, if you have particular dietary requirements please email or PM me.

Cheers

Rob

Any chance of someone coming over from the states getting a couple of Atmel NGW100's and bringing them over to Cambridge for me? I don't seem to be able to find a UK distributor for them.

EBV elektronik are a UK distributer, we purchase all our atmel parts from them.

It's account only, so if you're just tinkering at home they won't be interested.

Digikey also supply this, but they don't appear to have any in stock.

Adrian

If you can't find a source by around 6/25 I may be able to get them for you. Mouser is out of stock but expecting them 6/25.

Would you have the SWIFT/IBAN/BIC info?

SWMBO has booked us into this place in central Cambridge.

Here is her exhaustive research list, from when she was hunting for suitable accomodations there:

---snip---

Mostly B+Bs, some hotels.
-------------------------

"#n" = rating in TripAdvisor for B&Bs.

#5 Warkworth House Warkworth Terrace CB1 1EE L75-L85
central only L85 family room available. wireless
011 44 1 22 33 63 68 2
#15 El Shaddai 41 Warkworth St CB1 1EG L55
central "wireless available" 011-44- 1 22 33 27 97 8
prices include breakfast & taxes, and wireless
Regency House 7 Regent Terrace CB2 1AA L72+3%
500m from centre, busy street, continental breakfast (no wireless?)
Regent Hotel 41 Regent Street, CB2 1AB L109
wireless in lounge, price probably doesn't incl breakfast
Lensfield Hotel 53 Lensfield Rd CB2 1EN L99
incl wireless, breakfast. some quite bad reviews

Just NE of centre ~ 1mi across Cam & park
either the maps mark the addresses wrong or the numbering is whimsical
They are in close -> far order according to multimap
#24 Lynwood House 217 Chesterton Rd CB4 1AN L65-?
1mi from centre on univ. side - walk or bus, noisy street, wireless
#2H Ashley Hotel 74 Chesterton Rd CB4 1ER L75
hot breakfast incl. (no wireless?)
#7 Home from Home Guest House 78-80 Milton Rd CB4 1LA L65-80
1mi from centre on univ. side - walk or bus, noisy street, wireless
Alpha Milton Guest House 61-3 Milton Rd CB4 1XA L90+5%
same locn as above (no wireless?)
#10 Harry's B&B 39 Milton Rd CB4 1XA L55-60
same locn as above, wireless
Carlton Lodge 245 Cheterton Rd CB4 1AS > L60
internet, continental breakfast
Kirkwood House 172 Chesterton CB4 1DA L50-90
getting a bit far along chesterton, wireless
Acorn Guest House 154 Chesterton Rd CB4 1DA L95
same as Kirkwood
#2 Worth House 152 Chesterton Rd CB4 1DA < L55
1mi from centre on univ. side - walk or bus, noisy street, wireless

North of centre
#1 Finches 144 Thornton Road, Cambridge CB3 0ND L60-80
similar distance out to our '06 Oxford one, similar bus service, wireless

Between first ring and RR
#19 Railway Lodge 150 Tenison Rd CB1 2DP L55-60 +2%
quiet st, 2 blocks from rr, thin walls, old furnishings, wireless
#21 Alexander B&B 55 St Barnabas Rd CB1 2DE L70 +5%
800m from station, 1km from centre, continental breakfast (No wireless?)
The Ark 30 St Matthew's St, CB1 2LT < L55
about 1.6km from either centre or rail stns wireless iff stay > 3 days

Between RR and second ring
#22 Rockview B&B 99 Cherry Hinton Rd CB1 7BS
1.5km to train, 2km to centre, easy bus (no website -> no wireless?)
Bridge Guest House 151 Hills Rd CB2 8RJ L65
1km from rr, easy bus, (no wireless?)
#23 Iceni House 171 Coleridge Rd CB1 3PN L60 +3.5%
opp side of rr from downtown. bus OK. taxi from rail stn, wireless
Parkview Guesthouse 116 Vinery Rd CB1 3DT L75
similar locn, but quiet st. wireless
#4 Carolina Guest House 138 Perne Rd CB1 3NX L75
opp side of rr from downtown. bus OK. bus + walk from rail stn, wireless
Ashtrees Guest 128 Perne Rd CB1 3RR L58-65
similar locn to above, wireless
No 56, 56 Natal Rd CB1 3NY L45
opp side of rr from downtown. bus OK. bus + walk from rail stn, quiet road
breakfast = DIY cereal, crackers, jam rated 2.1/5 internet
#26 Aylesbray Lodge 5 Mowbray Rd CB1 7SR L55-85
fair ways out wrong side of tracks, wireless
The Mowbray, 32 Mowbray Rd CB1 7SY L55
similar locn to above, wi-fi
#14 Acacia Guesthouse 157 Mowbray CB1 7SP L55-60
2km from train, easy bus to centre, wireless

#27 -> #62 either reviews older than 2004 or not rated

#11, 13, 20 not in Cambridge!
#3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 17, 18, 25 too far out

No wireless
#8 Benson House 24 Huntingdon Rd CB3 0HH -- NO internet, 1mi to centre

#27 -- no rooms --Dresden Villa Guest House 34 Cherry Hinton Rd CB1 7AA

Oh man, all this looks like fun. Unfortunately, I can't make it because I haven't got any spare funds for travel. Have a blast, drink a hogs head, and shoot a cannon!

Dammit man, sell a kidney!

IBAN GB62ABBY09012644041662
SWIFT ABBYGB2L
BANK Abbey PLC

Cheers

Rob

Oh no! Logan stayed there for a few weeks - the guy who runs it is an absolute nutter (I have heard it said). He predicts the future and is Christ's right hand man (so I hear). Harmless enough though I daresay.

Rob

Yeah! It doesn't have to be one of your kidneys...

I was asked if we'll be doing anything with cars this year, i.e. whether it's worth bringing particularly nice (or nasty!) examples thereof.

The venue is in its own grounds with lots of parking so there is an opportunity to look at installations etc, but I wonder how many people would choose to drive? The venue isn't within walking distance of any accommodation, so I imagine most partiers will be taking the coach.

There's also the possibility to drive to the shooting in the morning. If enough people wanted to do that we may even have enough lifts to not bother with a mini bus.

Share your thoughts..

Rob

Yeah, at least he is up-front about the nuttiness on their web site. But we don't plan to hang around there much, other than for sleeping and breakfast, so no big deal. Other than that, it's a great location with quite decent rates.

Cheers

Great! Thanks! Carrier pidgeon sent from Dutch bank, let's see how long it takes for it to cross the channel...

My spare empeg needs a new handle. I've got the parts (thanks Rob S), but it could use someone with smaller fingers than I've got. Anyone fancy fitting it for me?

Sure, bring it along to the repair desk session, when/where ever that happens.

Cheers

Couldn't get in to the Hilton, but the Crowne Plaza seems nice so we're staying there. We managed to get our two eldest froglets looked after (they're off to Portugal) but couldn't get childcare for Lexie, so Claire won't make it to the evening do this time. She's up for the pub lunch, but plans to explore Cambridge a bit with Lexie.

Hopefully the repair desk will happen - I'll get that last wire soldered on...

We will definitely be driving down - have to take the Foz for a proper hoon, but think I fancy the wine tasting, so it will have to stay at the hotel!

i can't make it either, no money for travel and have to work...

is there some rule that the yearly meet have to be in the UK ?

They at one point used to be in Amersfoort because RobS lived there. Otherwise, its all been in Cambridge where empeg used to be based. People have organised various mini meets on their own however.

No, the first 5 or so annual meets were in the Netherlands. The last 3 have been in the UK.*

It all comes down to who has the energy to organise them. When RodS took on the burden to organise them they were based where he lived in the Netherlands, when UK based people have taken on the burden the events have been in the UK.

I'm sure if someone based in mainland Europe took on organising an event then plenty of us UK based folks would do our best to cross the channel again.

*I've probably got the exact numbers wrong

i got the idea of orgaising an event... maybe not excatly next year but then the next after

but it all comes down to what everyone else things, also i have to get ideas for what to do during an event (like going to a paintball range etc.), there is also such as booking hotels and arrange transport for those comming without car...

The hotel booking for the UK events has always been down to individuals to sort out, as we've never managed to get enough people booking up front to sort out a group booking (though it is better when everyone is in the same hotel).

i had that in mind, but if there would be the need for a mini-bus (or a bus) it would be more easy if all where in the same place... anyway it would not be a big deal for me to arrange a group booking

but what are people most up to? hotels? there is also the option to use a camp/caraven site (with small houses/cabin)

This isn't an empeg meet as such, this is our 10th anniversary celebration which seemed nice to throw open to all our dedicated customers. We had a 5th birthday party at the same venue.

Rob

There are campsites around Cambridge, for example:

http://www.siteseeker.co.uk/aspx/details.aspx?id=6060

Bed & breakfast guest houses are also relatively cheap. Try activehotels.com as they have lots of the independents.

Regards

Rob

I'll update this list of payments received from time to time, so if you have made a payment which should have cleared and your name is missing please contact me.

Name, Party, Shooting

Rory, 1, 0
Julf, 1, 1
David (littlebluething), 2, 2
Roger, 2, 1
Mike C, 2, 0
David M, 1, 0
Bas, 1, 1
Brian, 1, 1
Mark L, 2, 1
Hugo, 2, 0
Sein, 1, 1
Chris, 2, 0
John G, 1,1
Rob R, 1, 1
Dave E, 1, 1
Mike S, 1, 1
Mel, 1, 1
Richard, 1, 0
Andy N, 2, 2
Toby, 2, 0
Peter, 1, 0
Patrick, 1, 1

Party: 30
Shooting: 16

If you haven't sent me your payment yet please do so as soon as possible, or at least definite confirmation that you're coming. I have to pay the venue *today* in theory.

Thanks!

Rob

UPDATED 2008-06-16

ohh, i thought there was a yearly meet for empeg owners...

There is normally, this year is a little different.