A school here in Chile is sending a group of 30 or so 14yr old children to the UK for a few days. Educational trip! (Huh, I got Yenworthy!).
I am going to research the hotels being suggested by the UK group organising this, but I thought I'd ask in case anybody knew any of these 1st hand;
London – Quality Hotel Wembley (Empire way)- 5 nights Full board
Bolton – Mercure last Drop Village (Hospital Road Bromley Cross)– 1 night FB
Bradford – The Bradford Hotel (Halls Ings)– 2 night FB
Cambridge – Ramada Cambridge (Cambridge services) – 2 nights
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In particular if you know anything about the immediate surrounding area.
I know the Ramada Cambridge and AFAIR there is nothing there.
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Ramada Cambridge - Do you mean in walking distance of there or do you mean somewhere the organizers can drive them to, that isn't Cambridge?
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I spent over 100 nights at the Wembley Hilton (just down the hill, near the stadium) when I was being trained by a large IT company, but that was 20+ years ago. Main memory is the Chinese restaurant that seemed to be run as an immigration racket because the staff were different every week.
There's not much to do there but eat. I expect it has a Spoons now; they get everywhere.
I do remember it's a looooong way from any touristy part of London that visiting Chilenitos might want to see. It took less time to get to the South Bank from Basingstoke than it did from Wembley.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Wed 13 Apr 16 at 16:10
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WEMBER-LEY !!!! WEMBER-LEY !!!
I am so sorry, I don't know what came over me...
The Last Drop Village used be a bit of a den of iniquity. Well, I got into a bit of iniquity there once with a lass from Bolton, Julie Somebodyorother...
;-)
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>> Julie Somebodyorother...
>>
....Goodyear? (not far from Bury to Bolton......)
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I have, I'll admit, on a very few occasions in my youth, lowered my standards in the pursuit of instant gratification. But there are limits to what even the most beer influenced of goggles will allow to seem feasible.
;-)
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....yes, I suspect you're right - you would probably have had to have bought her an entirely uneconomic amount of alcohol.
;-)
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Cambridge Ramada - I know its outside. I think they are trying to balance cost, stopping the kids wandering, and still being easily coach-able in. Not where I'd stay, but I guess I can see the logic.
Wembley into London by road, I hope they are not thinking of being that dumb. i will check.
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>> Cambridge Ramada - I know its outside. I think they are trying to balance cost,
>> stopping the kids wandering, and still being easily coach-able in. Not where I'd stay, but
>> I guess I can see the logic.
>>
>> Wembley into London by road, I hope they are not thinking of being that dumb.
>> i will check.
Wembley to town by tube? Good luck with that, I'd hate to shepherd a load of kids by tube, coach is fine, there is a coach park nearby (which is why it was chosen)
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>> Wembley to town by tube? Good luck with that, I'd hate to shepherd a load
>> of kids by tube, coach is fine, there is a coach park nearby (which is
>> why it was chosen)
>>
I use those tube lines regularly (metropolitan & jubilee) in that part of the world and during the summer there is often a school party from foreign parts returning to Wembley. If students are reasonably behaved the Met is better but either way should be possible. Don't try travelling peak time without a lot of organisation & planning.
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All that Cambridge services has going for it is they can watch Teslas and Leafs and so on at the charging point, play in the tiny amusement arcade and eat burgers of some sort.
If they want to walk two miles, of course, there's a great pub that does good food, a pretty church, a nice walk around the villages, a nature reserve with lakes and waterbirds....and so on. None of which helps, I know.
I don't think there's even public transport from there into town, which might be a good thing.
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>> I don't think there's even public transport from there into town, which might be a
>> good thing.
Yes, you need to keep 14 year olds corralled up at night
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>> I spent over 100 nights at the Wembley Hilton (just down the hill, near the
>> stadium)
Had that been near 25 years ago, our paths might have crossed, I too spent a large number of nights there being trained by an even bigger IT company. The highlight of my stay there was being thrown out of the bar after a drunken punch up with Ron Atkinson.
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Who? The Blackadder bloke?
;-)
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>> Who? The Blackadder bloke?
>>
>> ;-)
I wish.I mean the ex football manager/pundit.
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Good old Ron, he always took it to them, told it like it was, he knew it was a game of two halves all right. He actually taught the Fat Lady to sing it's said.
;-))
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Bolton though ? (or as Python fans know it "Notlob")
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1989-93 in my case, before Sudbury Towers was sold off. The IRA let off a bomb at the Army recruitment office near there during one of my stays.
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>> 1989-93 in my case, before Sudbury Towers was sold off. The IRA let off a
>> bomb at the Army recruitment office near there during one of my stays.
83-85 on and off, Sudbury Towers
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 13 Apr 16 at 16:24
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And a quick streetview shows me that what was the Hilton is now the Holiday Inn, complete with green adornments. Wonder if the brown carpets are still there.
I didn't punch anyone there, although someone probably should have punched Tom Graveney, who was doing TV commentary at the time, when he was monopolizing a busy reception desk with some trifling but loud complaint about housekeeping.
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>> And a quick streetview shows me that what was the Hilton is now the Holiday
>> Inn
Yes the hilton moved a brand new hotel right next to the stadium and arena
>> I didn't punch anyone there, although someone probably should have punched Tom Graveney, who was
>> doing TV commentary at the time, when he was monopolizing a busy reception desk with
>> some trifling but loud complaint about housekeeping.
Well when its 1:00am in the morning, you are well piffed, and Ron Atkinson tries to push his way to the bar saying "out of the way - Don't you know who I am", well he just needs a pop surely.
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...you didn't accuse him of being Ronnie Pickering, then.........
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>> ...you didn't accuse him of being Ronnie Pickering, then.........
Pickering is a mere shadow of a Atkinson in full flow.
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>> >> 1989-93 in my case, before Sudbury Towers was sold off. The IRA let off
>> a
>> >> bomb at the Army recruitment office near there during one of my stays.
>>
>> 83-85 on and off, Sudbury Towers
>>
77-78, Sudbury Towers, I also worked at Sudbury towers in customer education 84-85 before moving to Rayners Lane.
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...it's an interesting itinerary, though.
I assume time constraints precluded fitting in Basingstoke?
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The school our grandchildren go to has just completed pupil jollies to Costa Rica and Thailand!
There appears to have been some educational stuff included!
No idea of costs, but will have been HUGE.
No way our two will be able to go on similar trips.
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Don't worry, Rog, most of what they're missing out on is bragging rights. Travelling in a big party doesn't teach you much about travel, self-reliance, independence or any of the benefits that come from 'real' travel. All they'd do is see the same stuff as the rest of the group, with everything done for them and no need even to speak to anyone outside the party.
I suspect these trips are mostly conceived with one eye on the school - sorry, Academy - prospectus. 'Year 11 have just got back from their rafting tour of Lower Nyasaland...' and the peer pressure they can create on pupils and parents. Beestling Major is not the least bit put out that we're not fronting up £3,500 for him to join the 'Expedition' to Uganda.
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I think our most expensive school trip was a 5 nights in tents in North Wales.
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>> Beestling Major is not the least bit put out that we're not fronting up £3,500 for him to join the 'Expedition' to Uganda.
Uganda's an interesting place but a school 'expedition' to it has to be dire, anxious teachers making everyone's life a misery. Expensive too.
Yr sprog is showing good sense WDB.
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Bradford ? Bradford ? You've got to be joking. I was born in Manningham and didn't manage to escape until I was 14. I'm currently spending the night with friends near Bingley and taking them to LBA for an early morning flight.
An ok place if you want cheap curries. See people driving quad bikes doing wheelies up Leeds Rd, watch uninsured & unlicensed drivers racing around certain parts. And I'm not being melodramatic ... I have friends in both the police and fire service who work in that city ( for want of a better word).
Avoid like the plague
If they must stay in that part of the world, Haworth is only a 30 minute drive. Bronte connections, steam railway etc
Feel free to contact me for info. The Rendezvous Hotel at Skipton is ok. Adjacent to the Leeds Liverpool canal, Skipton Castle, the 'Gateway to the Dales'.
But Bradford. Nooooooo
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>> Uganda's an interesting place but a school 'expedition' to it has to be dire, anxious
>> teachers making everyone's life a misery. Expensive too.
>>
School cruise ship of that name was OK in the 70s
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>> >> Uganda's an interesting place but a school 'expedition' to it has to be dire,
>> >>
>> School cruise ship of that name was OK in the 70s
Went on that twice! IIRC (and it was long time ago) the advertising for the few hundred non-school places on board didn't mention the 1000-odd kids they'd be sharing their trip-of-a-lifetime with.
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>> Went on that twice! IIRC (and it was long time ago) the advertising for the
>> few hundred non-school places on board didn't mention the 1000-odd kids they'd be sharing
>> their trip-of-a-lifetime with.
>>
first place I drank beer legally, as a 16 year old we were allowed to go to the "seniors club" for an hour after bedtime for the rest of the students where we were allowed to buy "alcohol" which, if I remember right was fairly weak lager in cans, a few silly folk still managed to get drunk on it.
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I've stayed overnight at Quality Hotel Wembley as it's very close to Wembley Stadium and it's just about OK.
It's a high rise Travelodge but older and shabbier but clean!
There never seems to be much around there at all apart from houses so they should be easy to keep an eye on:)
Edit to add that we have eaten there and it was better than we expected from the general appearance of the place.
Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Thu 14 Apr 16 at 04:04
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A very good friend is a large insurance broker, in both senses. He won't touch ANYTHING with certain Bradford post codes.
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I was in the finance business not far from Wembley, in the late 1960s, and there were streets and areas in Wembley whose inhabitants were pretty much an automatic NO for car H.P.
(Well before credit scores were introduced.)
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MD, not got a delivery address for the Teko socks yet
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Hello LL. I did post as below in 'Boot Socks' on the 1st of April!
Sorry LL. I missed this one. That would be very kind thank you. I approve the 'Lads' to provide the relevant contact info. Thank you.
Best, MD.
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>> There never seems to be much around there at all apart from houses so they
>> should be easy to keep an eye on:)
you can get some damn fine curries and other ethnic food in the area. Good curries are impossible to get in the fens.
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>>It's a high rise Travelodge but older and shabbier but clean!
Mmm, that doesn't sound good. How old and shabby?
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>> >>It's a high rise Travelodge but older and shabbier but clean!
>>
>> Mmm, that doesn't sound good. How old and shabby?
Not old enough or shabby enough to worry about.
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When in my 1st year at Senior school our perverted teachers took us to Amsterdam on a school trip!! Yes, Amsterdam. We were TWELVE years of age. TWELVE! Educational it was to be sure to be sure. We bough GAT air pistols, flick knives. And then there was the Pussy. Ah! the Pussy.
Mark. I would not be letting fourteen year old abroad with teachers. End of. Sorry mate, but just my view. Best. MD
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Mark, if this school trip passes through my locale, I would be happy to show the group places of interest... Ilkley Moor, Bolton Abbey ( I was best man at the Priory there a few years ago). I live just within the Y Dales NP and a 45 min drive from Lakes and know the area and history like the back of my hand.
Dry stone walls & limestone scenery always prove a novelty, as on Julia Bradburys recent ITV Friday night show when she visited upper Malhamdale.
Regards
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She did my old ground tonight, Edale, Jacobs Ladder and Noe Stool. Fond memories of the train to Edale under steam on Sundays.....change at Chinley and wait for the down express to come through from Millers Dale.
Wish I could do it now !
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...I was up on the tops there on Sunday.
As we returned to the car, Edal MRT raced through with three 4x4s on Blues and Twos.
Subsequently learnt that a mountain biker had come off (hard) in the Edale Valley and was subsequently helicoptered out - obviously wasn't Humph!
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That's damned decent of you LL.
I have enquired as to their interest. Its not my children, you see, more's the pity. Its another part of the school.
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A number of posts have vanished from this thread. Could someone's squeamishness be the reason?
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The Ramada is a short stroll from the Golden Ball in Boxworth, which is a very pleasant pub. No risk for the children.
Why you'd come from Chile to Bolton or Bradford is stretching my imagination. A Youth Hostel in The Lakes or Snowdonia perhaps, instead?
And if I were taking a crowd to London, I'd stay here: www.restup.co.uk/ which is central, and always full of school parties. And cheap. Wembley!!
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>> Why you'd come from Chile to Bolton or Bradford is stretching my imagination. A Youth
>> Hostel in The Lakes or Snowdonia perhaps, instead?
Have a wee think about that. Chile is mostly mountains and coast, and lakes too I expect. Chilean kids coming to the English Lakes/Snowdonia are hardly going to learn anything new.
Bolton and Bradford, however, are excellent destinations for children learning about the Industrial Revolution and the birth of the modern world. One man's dingy craphole is an other man's exotic, history filled gem.
I grew up in Windsor, a trip to Versailles taught me next to nothing, but going to Moscow and Leningrad certainly did.
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One man's dingy craphole...
Eww! Did you have to? It's almost lunchtime.
}:---€
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Tue 19 Apr 16 at 12:34
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I don't know Bolton very well, although it has a very fine town hall. It does seem an odd choice though. Are they doing a school twinning thing?
Bradford certainly has its unattractive bits but 'greater Bradford' has many good features (and I suspect is the closest place to the Dales for finding a cost effective hotel for a school party).
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I like Bradford and would like to go and look around other than delivering to numerous Indian restaurants and Cash & Carry's.
It seems so multi-cultural and it pleases me somehow to hear a coloured (am I allowed to say that?) person speaking broad Yorkshire and having a crack with me as a lorry driver.
It probably reminds me of home which is Leicester:)
Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Tue 19 Apr 16 at 15:27
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School trip - No FM2R
