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I do talk a good fight
 
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This place is excellent:
http://www.clwyd-scouts.org.uk/gladstone/index.html
We just had Hyborian Tales there.
Good quality indoor sleeping for up to around 30 people; top-notch kitchen (two 6-ring commercial cookers, 3 sinks, large high-end fridge-freezer, plenty of crockery & pans & stuff, huge hot-plate for cooked breakfasts); large hall area with plenty of tables, chairs, etc.; small foyer & storage area; decent loos.
Large camping field for extra people. This includes a plain, vaguely totem-pole-like pole-thing surrounded by a small circular paved area, and a rustic fenced border at the edge of the field with an archway through it.
Woodland area including a load of extra interesting features:
* A campfire circle with benches and a small stage (the latter currently in a state of mild disrepair after Sam Harber broke it and himself while sparring with me, but knowing the warden it'll be fixed very soon).
* An abseiling tower -- we didn't use this in the end, but I could think of at least a couple of LRP-related uses for it.
* Two X-shaped wooden frames intended for use making a rope bridge. These face each other across a shallow gully. We used them for a rope bridge on two adventures, but we also used them as crucifixes to crucify people with. 
* A "Wheel of Pain." No idea what this used to be; it's a big wood and metal wheel on a metal axle between a couple of trees. It's pretty knackered, but makes an OK torture device for strapping people to if you're careful.
* A low circular stone wall that can be good as a mini-fort or similar.
* A pond with a wooden decking area to one side.
* Best of all...
... Four WWII vintage air-raid shelters. Two of these are useable for LRP (the others are used by the scouts as storage areas). They're quite small, arched-ceilinged places, maybe 15' - 20' long, 8' wide, and 7' high. They have big metal doors that are pretty knackered -- better really to curtain them off. They also have the remnants of ceiling hatches -- just shafts, really, about 12' off the ground, but because of the earth & scrub covering the shelters, very atmospheric ways to enter what, for all the party know, could be a vast underworld. We built a large, circular, green "capstone" to cover one of them with, and had the party figure out how to get in, and then lower themselves down on a rope ladder they'd found earlier.
The wooded area on-site is quite little (maybe about 12-15 acres?), but it's hilly and has a number of paths running through it, so it seems bigger than it is. In addition, there's a public footpath running through the site, so you can potentially wander a bit further afield if you're careful to stick to the path.
Eric, the warden, is a really sound bloke -- very friendly, helpful, and funny, and quite happy with LRPers using the site. He didn't appear at all fazed when he showed up on the Saturday to loan us some extra ropes (that I'd asked for for the rope bridge) and found us all dressed in loincloths and body paint ready to be a Pictish horde!
The site is in North Wales, but it's highly accessible from Chester or Merseyside (about 10 minutes' drive from either) as well as major motorways. Strongly recommended.
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
Riftworld: Rossar Kuug ("Clearly mad, because he thinks he's a Com-Trow Skirmisher" - Aela)
Hyborian Tales: Crew, cook, dogsbody, general labourer, toilet cleaner ("Dangerously overoptimistic ref" -- Tom Nowell)
Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
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Initiate
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Last Login: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 6:47 PM
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| Hmmmm..... contemplates moving Sanctuary from Kent to Wales!!!! Why are most scout wardens so weird about non-scout groups using their sites?!
Kirsty L Obee
Event Co-ordinator
Sanctuary L.A.R.P
sanctuarylarp@hotmail.co.uk
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Wag
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How much did the site cost for HT, then? I know it can vary a lot, but a ballpark number helps.
This place sounds perfect if I ever do manage to get C² off the ground.
PD - Brother Farael of the Ordo Dictum Dominus
EOS - Some Raggard Scum, previously Some Arimin Scum
6P - System creator (now retired), Andrei Treune of Clan Suner (for the moment)
RL - Will Robinson
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I do talk a good fight
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Today @ 11:06 AM
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PM sent.
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
Riftworld: Rossar Kuug ("Clearly mad, because he thinks he's a Com-Trow Skirmisher" - Aela)
Hyborian Tales: Crew, cook, dogsbody, general labourer, toilet cleaner ("Dangerously overoptimistic ref" -- Tom Nowell)
Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
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Heroic Knight
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It is a good site, but I would add a couple of provisos to the positive review above.
The bunkers on the site can flood, and may require considerable preparation to remove a lot of mud and water before they are usable on any given event. There was a hatch into one of the bunkers but the metal hooks for attaching a ladder had rusted through so badly that with the lightest of us, unarmoured, climbing down arope ladder, one of the hooks snapped off completely, and the other bent rather alarmingly.
The site is also heavily sown with nettles, so timing your event to avoid these, or wearing thick clothing is recommended.
There are a few nice features on the site, like the "wheel of pain" but they so suffer rather from spiky bits of metal so caution is advised.
Finally, the buildings on the site, while decent are concrete block pre-fabs. They actually blend into the background pretty easily. The car park is right next to the only big field, so atmosphere purists might be disappointed. Most annoying of all, the motion sensor security device in the bunk rooms bleeps all night while animals move around outside the building like a mad electronic water torture, and according to the warden can't be switched off...
That said, a decent enough site with lots of privacy and good basic facilities including a nice scout kitchen and serving hatch into a good sized hall with plenty of tables and wooden rather than plastic chairs. Toilets were decent, and showers acceptable. On the whole pretty good.
_____________________________
Maelstrom - Carl Whitesnake
Scavenger LRP - Organiser
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I do talk a good fight
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Today @ 11:06 AM
Posts: 1,861,
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Good points Al -- I should have mentioned the nettles, flooding, and beeps... all fairly minor issues to me (I generally ignore nettles, wear waterproof socks, and can sleep through anything) but probably significant to some.
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
Riftworld: Rossar Kuug ("Clearly mad, because he thinks he's a Com-Trow Skirmisher" - Aela)
Hyborian Tales: Crew, cook, dogsbody, general labourer, toilet cleaner ("Dangerously overoptimistic ref" -- Tom Nowell)
Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
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I do talk a good fight
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Today @ 11:06 AM
Posts: 1,861,
Visits: 5,740
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Update:
Just got back from Riftworld there, and Eric, the site warden, spotted me on arrival and rummaged in his store cupboard to find... three arrows and one staff that had been left there at last year's HT event. He figured I was bound to be back one day!
According to what I read on LJ, he's also a dab hand at car repair (using impact engineering) when your players can't get off site due to car troubles.
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
Riftworld: Rossar Kuug ("Clearly mad, because he thinks he's a Com-Trow Skirmisher" - Aela)
Hyborian Tales: Crew, cook, dogsbody, general labourer, toilet cleaner ("Dangerously overoptimistic ref" -- Tom Nowell)
Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
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Prodigal
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I have to say I like this site. I found it considerably better than many sites I'd use, and it also has the advantage of not being too remote to be logistically practical. I found the warden to be very friendly and practical.
_____________________________________________________It is not a competition. It is a web forum.
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