c4countdown

Make it 17 James... Glad to confirm I can definitely make it...

Mark Murray wrote:Make it 17 James... Glad to confirm I can definitely make it...

Nice to have you aboard, possible champion-elect.

Both Worsleys will be coming too.

Jack Worsley wrote:Both Worsleys will be coming too.

Indeed, you're up there to make it 19 now.

At some point later on this week, probably at the weekend, I'll be looking to book a stay in the Travelodge on the Friday night (the 11th July). If anyone is planning to do the same and is looking for a roomie to cut costs, let me know.

I'm officially in now.

Gavin Chipper wrote:I'm officially in now.

Indeed, you make it 24 up now.

James, I still have every intention of walking to St. Albans for this event. You can add another category below 'Interested Entries' for 'Overeager Spectators' and plonk me there .

Adam Gillard wrote:James, I still have every intention of walking to St. Albans for this event. You can add another category below 'Interested Entries' for 'Overeager Spectators' and plonk me there .

Fair enough, AG. Will do.

Two more confirmed here.

As we need to decide on whether to stay over or not, is the afterparty likely to also be in The County Club or are other plans afoot? Is there likely to be a contingent hanging around until late evening?

Phil Collinge wrote:Two more confirmed here.

As we need to decide on whether to stay over or not, is the afterparty likely to also be in The County Club or are other plans afoot? Is there likely to be a contingent hanging around until late evening?

I think there are plans to be in the club, as the 3rd place play-off will be on the telly, if people wish to watch it. If not, the main town centre is 5 mins walk away, and there are plenty of other pubs/restaurants in the area, but I'd imagine a lot are staying around.

James Robinson wrote:

Phil Collinge wrote:Two more confirmed here.

As we need to decide on whether to stay over or not, is the afterparty likely to also be in The County Club or are other plans afoot? Is there likely to be a contingent hanging around until late evening?

I think there are plans to be in the club, as the 3rd place play-off will be on the telly, if people wish to watch it. If not, the main town centre is 5 mins walk away, and there are plenty of other pubs/restaurants in the area, but I'd imagine a lot are staying around.

So you've managed to arrange a TV deal for the 3rd place play-off but not for the final? Crazy times.

Yeah, I can't make this.

The unusually early start makes travelling down on the Saturday unreasonable - perhaps highlighted by how few people in the list of attendees live North of Birmingham.
Adding that to extortionate costs for travel and accommodation and the whole thing becomes completely unfeasible.

Andy Platt wrote:Yeah, I can't make this.

The unusually early start makes travelling down on the Saturday unreasonable - perhaps highlighted by how few people in the list of attendees live North of Birmingham.
Adding that to extortionate costs for travel and accommodation and the whole thing becomes completely unfeasible.

No worries, mate. Maybe next time.

Just a week and a half to go now, and we've just hit the magic THIRTY mark, thanks to Innis.

Still plenty of time for you last few entrants to sign up for the CoStAl extravaganza

I'm actually in Hatfield (next door to Snallbans) that night, so I might stop in for a pint if not the game. What's the approximate end time?

Mark Deeks wrote:I'm actually in Hatfield (next door to Snallbans) that night, so I might stop in for a pint if not the game. What's the approximate end time?

Roughly 6 o'clock.

Maybe not then.

James Robinson wrote:

James Laverty wrote:I might now be able to make this so switch me to interested. Won't know till end of May/early June however

That doesn't matter, James. Me and Jeff can wait.

kerryalcock wrote:Interested - it's a few hours travel but fairly cheap to get to.
Only thing is accommodation as I'd rather stay two nights - where is everyone else planning on staying, and does anyone need a roomie? (I don't snore and I make a mean cup of tea)

I wouldn't mind a roomie, but I've already booked my accommodation at the Quality Hotel, so if the offer for a cuppa is still there....

I'm considering staying on the Friday given that I might be in London that day anyway, and I can't be bothered to go home in the evening and then get up early the next morning to travel to St Albans. The Quality Hotel looks like it's in a reasonable location. The Travelodge is miles away so I would consider that a pointless move. Anyone else considering staying at the Quality? I can hang out with James Robinson anyway.

We're in The Quality (just for the Saturday night).

What you'd save in the Travelodge you'd lose in cab fares anyway. Quality is walking (staggering) distance from the venue .

Now that Countdown has switched to the ODO, will this event use that as its word source or are we sticking with the ODE3?

Jack Worsley wrote:Now that Countdown has switched to the ODO, will this event use that as its word source or are we sticking with the ODE3?

We will be using the ODO, although I will say now that there will be no ODO-only conundrums.

Right well I've finally decided to try and organise myself - I'll just be coming for the day - because I booked 12 weeks prior to the event I got the train for a mere £16 return - it does mean however that I'll be leaving Kidderminster (West Mids) at the scary time of 06:02 and won't be back until 22:36 with a mere 3 trains and a walk through Birmingham city centre in the early morning to deal with - the things I go through to get to these events!

Will anyone else be getting into St. Alban's Abbey station at 09:17 or similar? I've had a look at the walk from there to the event and it seems to be a choice between a 1 mile walk using no fewer than 6 roads and a riparian stroll, or around 1.5 mile going up one road and along another - decisions decisions. Anyone in the area got any suggestions for a West Midlander lost in the deepest home counties?

Adam Dexter wrote:Will anyone else be getting into St. Alban's Abbey station at 09:17 or similar? I've had a look at the walk from there to the event and it seems to be a choice between a 1 mile walk using no fewer than 6 roads and a riparian stroll, or around 1.5 mile going up one road and along another - decisions decisions. Anyone in the area got any suggestions for a West Midlander lost in the deepest home counties?

I suggest the 1.5 mile walk along the roads. I went up that way on Sunday to scout out the River Ver / Colne Valley Walk that Google Maps had suggested (starting from Burydell Lane) and what I found was two rows of thickets with a thimble-sized space in between. I will be wearing smart clothing so certainly won't be going that way. I was also worried I'd get lost! I'm going to go the extra half mile along St Stephen's Hill, London Road and Alma Road (B6424). It means 11.5 miles rather than 11 miles, so isn't much difference to me in the grand scheme of things.

Adam Gillard wrote:

Adam Dexter wrote:Will anyone else be getting into St. Alban's Abbey station at 09:17 or similar? I've had a look at the walk from there to the event and it seems to be a choice between a 1 mile walk using no fewer than 6 roads and a riparian stroll, or around 1.5 mile going up one road and along another - decisions decisions. Anyone in the area got any suggestions for a West Midlander lost in the deepest home counties?

I suggest the 1.5 mile walk along the roads. I went up that way on Sunday to scout out the River Ver / Colne Valley Walk that Google Maps had suggested (starting from Burydell Lane) and what I found was two rows of thickets with a thimble-sized space in between. I will be wearing smart clothing so certainly won't be going that way. I was also worried I'd get lost! I'm going to go the extra half mile along St Stephen's Hill, London Road and Alma Road (B6424). It means 11.5 miles rather than 11 miles, so isn't much difference to me in the grand scheme of things.

Well I hope it's not hot. Walking 11.5 miles in smart clothing at the height of summer could mean it's not that smart by the end of it!

Hi,

not really on this forum anymore, although I've followed this thread in case I missed an important announcement.

Just thought I'd offer a lift to anyone carless staying over in Hatfield, as I'll be driving to St Albans from Hatfield and could save you bus/taxi fares.

Aiming to set off around 9am ish to leave reasonable time to drive, park and settle in before 10am start.

I'm fairly flexible on return journey timing, although realistically, if a few people want lifts, the likelihood is that you might need to make your own way back if we can't all agree when to leave.

I have 6 spare seats available, but please use aptomail (user Julie McCarthy) to reply, as I don't intend posting on here again unless an unforeseen reason crops up.

Julie McCarthy

39 and counting, what's the record attendance for a Co-event? This must be close.

We should have a statland page for Co-events somewhere.

Phil Collinge wrote:39 and counting, what's the record attendance for a Co-event? This must be close.

We should have a statland page for Co-events somewhere.

47/48 at COLIN back in January. And we're actually now at 40, thanks to Ned.

Phil Collinge wrote:39 and counting, what's the record attendance for a Co-event? This must be close.

We should have a statland page for Co-events somewhere.

47/48 at COLIN back in January. And we're actually now at 40, thanks to Ned.

I'm now booked in at the Quality Hotel but only for Friday night because I can't be bothered to get up really early and travel on Saturday.

Anyone planning on driving back to London (or that direction) any time after 10.30pm on Saturday night? I live in Stanmore, which is on the way back to London from St Albans.

Any news on the winners & otherwise from the event? Gutted not to have been able to make it so eager to hear all the gossip.

1st Jack Worsley 2nd Callum Todd, 3rd Innis Carson 4th Mark Tournoff

Superb event, massive thanks to James and Jeff who were excellent hosts as always.

I had great fun! Unencumbered by silly things like playing Countdown, I was able to get round most of the tables and speak to most of the people attending. Apologies if you're reading this and I didn't speak to you! I think I placed 41st out of 40.

That was a wonderful event, I'm really glad to have made the trip. Thanks very much to Jeff and James (and Rob Gibney) for all their work in preparing it, and running the day in such an enthusiastic and professional manner, it really made the day what it was. Was a pleasure to meet so many people for the first time, as well as see some familiar faces again after what feels like a very long time. The games themselves were great too and full of memorable moments - congrats to Jack for playing so well through the day keeping his winning streak alive, and to Callum for running him so agonisingly close - definitely one to keep an eye on in future events!

Hope to be able to attend more Jeff/James events in future, and hope to see lots of you again in London next month!

was a great day really smoothly run..great to meet a lot of people for the first time and definitely encourages me to take part in the future. well done to Jack and Callum for an exciting finale!

Many thanks to Jeff, James and Rob. A very enjoyable and well-run event as always.

I have started a recaps thread at http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10531

Absolutely fantastic day and a great event that was run excellently. Many thanks to James, Jeff and Rob.

Yep, I had a great day so thanks to everyone involved - James and Jeff for organising, but also everyone else in attendance that made the day what it was. It was also good to see Adam Gillard and Marks Deeks who came along even though they weren't playing.

By the way, if anyone is considering staying at the Quality Hotel in St Albans in the future, the buffet breakfast is reasonably good, but the tables are far too small and crammed together to enjoy your meal properly. It was also very noisy at night - from the street, other people in the hotel and from some constant low noise that the hotel itself seemed to make.

Gevin, I would absolutely be willing to pay £1 per year to read a hotel review blog should you wish to start one.

Matt Morrison wrote:Gevin, I would absolutely be willing to pay £1 per year to read a hotel review blog should you wish to start one.

It's not exactly a job is it?

While in St. Albans, me and James Robinson discovered that we both got the same 9 letter word while watching this game way back in 1999. Just to think, I wasn't even 80 then. How time flies.

Gavin Chipper wrote:While in St. Albans, me and James Robinson discovered that we both got the same 9 letter word while watching this game way back in 1999. Just to think, I wasn't even 80 then. How time flies.

Yeah, that was something..................