Leighton moss meeting 15/16 of september

[eeyore]

Following on from some discussion at minsmere I propose a meeting at RSPB leighton moss (lancashire) on the (sat)15th and (sun)16th of september.

I am organising this meet jointly with sarah (almost normal) - she will be providing the local knowledge while I look after coordinating whose coming , campsite bookings etc - and of course lending my suave good looks and raffish debonair charm to the proceedings

Please note that as with minsmere this is not a dedicated birdwatching only meet - As with every meet with which I am involved this will be a chilled day out with a freinds , having a laugh , quite possibly a sherbert or two , seeing some birds and taking some pics.

Every one is welcome so If you want to come please sign up below - and also let us know if you want to camp or not.for those that do camp once we know numbers i will try to find a site to take us all - while for those wishing more civilised accom sarah can hopefully recomend some hotels , b+bs etc.

i look forward to seeing you there

pete

PS for those that are unfamiliar with the site this is its RSPB webpage The RSPB: Leighton Moss

[jerryh]

Put me down, Pete. I've managed to miss all the WAB meets so far this year, and I'm determined to finally get to one.

Jerry

[Ann2]

Yep I'm up for this if the camper van is willing.

Ann

[richardkm]

Sounds good to me, I'll have to check the diary to see if I'm working that weekend.

A bit bothered about sherbert, though, would rather go to a pub and have a beer

We'd be in the old motorhome too.

[mrcheeky]

Originally Posted by richardkm

Sounds good to me, I'll have to check the diary to see if I'm working that weekend.

A bit bothered about sherbert, though, would rather go to a pub and have a beer

We'd be in the old motorhome too.

Put me down for that. I will be camping or maybe staying in the Youth Hostel nearby.

Peter

[almostnormal]

hello chappies!

since i'm supposed to be providing local knowledge (god help you all....) i thought i'd add that i am coming along, complete with beacon hair colouring for ease of identification (undecided what colour yet, suggestions are welcome) and will provide some better directions closer to the time.

there's lots of camping (apparently pete's going to organise this so we're all in the same place, which is good, cos it'll mean i won't have to haul beer to more than one location!) but there are also some nice hotels for those of you who prefer not to be quite so close to the floor! feel free to pm me and i'll point you in the right direction. alternatively stick carnforth/silverdale hotels into google and ip dip sky blue the results!

adios amigos, see you in a few weeks!

sarah

[GME]

This is just a quick note to declare my intentions for attending. The only problems will be we are well into the swing of the football season by then and I am involved with teams on Saturdays and Sundays so i'm not sure when i'll make it.
Either way, I will travel up and not be staying over so no need to worry about a place to kip for me.

[WhiskyBottle]

Originally Posted by almostnormal

hello chappies!

......... we're all in the same place, which is good, cos it'll mean i won't have to haul beer to more than one location......

sarah

The beer's provided then

Pencil me in

[almostnormal]

Originally Posted by WhiskyBottle

The beer's provided then

Pencil me in

yup....two 6 packs of generic supermarket lager

there's some local pubs though for those of us who have taste buds!

[eeyore]

and i'll be bringing a (large) quantity of magners - cant promise to share any of it tho

[Za]

I`m a "possible" for this one.
Za

[Cazzie]

*smacks head* I've only just realised how close Leighton Moss is to me! Will check diary (and hubby ) and come back to ya!

[almostnormal]

hello chappies.

ok....as promised please find directions to leighton moss below. its relatively simple to find from the motorway. if you are coming from far away and are camping either saturday or friday and saturday, if you let me know where abouts you're staying (with a postcode if poss) i'll post up some extra directions for you next week. for those of you who want to stay in a hotel there is a holiday inn and a premier travel lodge one motorway junction south of the leighton moss junction, and there are loads of b and b's about in lancaster and morecambe and carnforth area. links for these also below.

i suggest we meet at 10am in the car park, thus giving me time to drag myself upright into awakeness . we'll decide on the day which bits you want to go see, as its a pretty big reserve and a couple of bits are further afield than others. if you need to pm me and i'll send you a mobile number for you to ring if you get stuck somehwere unfamiliar! (i do that all the time when going somewhere new!) if people can let me know in the next week or so if they are coming that'd be handy

sarah

so directions:
come off the m6 at junction 35 and follow signs for carnforth. when you get to the traffic lights (its a big crossroads) turn right down the hill past the big second hand book store and the train station. follow that road until you get to warton and then turn left following signs for silverdale. follow that road until you get to a nasty t-junction where you need to turn right again. leighton moss will be sign posted from here. turn right again at the sign for leighton moss and turn left into the carpark.

by train:
take the train to silverdale (relatively regular from lancaster, check out www.thetrainline.com for train times). when you get off the train turn left out of the station, follow the road round to the left and then turn through the kissing gate into the car park where other wabbers will be (well, hopefully )

places to stay (camping):
Carnforth Campsites and and Caravan Parks
this link will take you to a hugely comprehensive list of campsites - be careful though some of them don't house tents, some don't house caravans and some of them lack showers!

places to stay (non camping):
(both the holiday inn and premier travel lodge are literally just off junction 34)
holiday inn lancaster
Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts | United Kingdom

premier travel inn
Lancaster | Hotel information - Premier Travel Inn

random b and b's and hotels within a 30minute radius...
Lancaster Hotels - Lancaster, UK
its worth noting with this link that fleetwood etc are not actually that close...best off staying either in lancaster, morecambe, bare, carnforth, silverdale, warton, or at a push, milnthorpe or arnside.

[eeyore]

further to sarahs post I'd just note that i'm not going to have time to arrange a campsite for everyone (apparently theres this thing called "work" i'm supposed to do during the day) so its probably best if everyone sorts out their own accomodation.

[Boddie]

I cant do this one Pete. Am using up all my weekends moving into my beaus house and will be out of here by the beginning of October so dont have too long

[eeyore]

I've just disccused this with sarah (almostnormal) and as many of the meet regulars cant make it and there has been a fairly low level of interest generally we have decided that it would be better to postpone this meet til next spring.

Of course if those who have already "booked" on want to go ahead and meet anyway then we wish you luck but we will be elsewhere so you will have to do without sarah's local knowledge , and my raffish debonair charm (though many people might say that the latter was a blessing )

[GME]

What a shame

Not sure what the weather is going to be like at the weekend but it's glorious up this way at the moment - could have been a really good couple of days. Oh well, let's hope we can get sorted for spring then.

Hopefully see people soon

Gareth

[RobSutton]

If anybody does go then make a beeline for the Eric Morecambe Hide - I was there today and saw:

Great White Egret, 20 Little Egret, 2 Little Stint, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank as well as all the other usual waders and duck (lots of Gadwall around).

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by eeyore

I've just disccused this with sarah (almostnormal) and as many of the meet regulars cant make it and there has been a fairly low level of interest generally we have decided that it would be better to postpone this meet til next spring.

Of course if those who have already "booked" on want to go ahead and meet anyway then we wish you luck but we will be elsewhere so you will have to do without sarah's local knowledge , and my raffish debonair charm (though many people might say that the latter was a blessing )

Think we'd be up for this in the spring.Give us fair warning when and we'll start walking (Last kid in uni,....us potless).Seriously we would though, perhaps we can drop in and see aforementioned kid on way too!


Jules