Countdown in King's Lynn (Co:KL) - Saturday 28th May
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 3:34 pm
Hi all,
It's finally time for me to announce the second Countdown in King's Lynn (or Co:KL for short), which will be the fourth tournament in the FOCAL
calendar (or the fifth if you count COLIN as two).
For those of you who are still not aware, King's Lynn is a town on the Wash in the west of Norfolk and happens to be the birthplace of Roger Taylor from Queen (and Dr Robert from the Blow Monkeys grew up here if you want a more obscure musical reference).
This year's event is taking place on Saturday 28th of May (i.e. the bank holiday weekend) and like last year will be a Lincoln-style tournament, with everyone playing six 9-round games followed (not quite like Lincoln) by a 15-round grand final for the top two players at the end of the day. ODO will be the official arbiter for word disputes, unless there's no access to the Internet on the day, in which case we may have to resort to a copy of the Apterous dictionary or - shock, horror - a book!
This time around, proceedings will take place on the top floor of Thoresby College (aka The Great Hall) on the South Quay. We will have access to a kitchen on the ground floor so I'm likely to be providing free tea and coffee on the day (as well as soft drinks for the caffeine-haters, I expect!) and for those that enjoyed lunch at Marriott's Warehouse last year, it's only a few yards down the road. We will also only be a few minutes' walk from the town centre for anyone who wants to go and buy lunch or just wants to indulge in a spot of retail therapy.
Unfortunately, the car parking at the venue is not for use (it's reserved for residents), but there is reasonably priced car parking nearby. For lovers of nicotine, please note there is no smoking anywhere on the premises (including the courtyard and car park). More details of the building and its facilities can be found at http://www.klprestrust.org.uk. The postcode for the college is PE30 1HX, but be warned the postal address is not the same as the entrance to the hall, which can be found on the quay (west) side the building.
King's Lynn has a very good rail service to London (taking around 100 minutes) and a reasonable rail service to other parts of the country (if you don't mind changing at Ely and admiring the cathedral while you wait for the connectoon). If you're thinking of coming by rail, but not via Cambridge or London, it might be worth investigating travelling to Peterborough and then bussing it to King's Lynn (service X1) as the journey time may be shorter and may also cost you less if booking advance tickets - PM me if you need further details, or perhaps speak to James, who did just that last year on his pilgrimage from Huddersfield.
Perhaps surprisingly for what most consider a rural backwater, the road network does reach King's Lynn and is served by the A10, A17 and A47, although if you're expecting to see a motorway, you'll have a long (and possibly infinite) wait!
There are various hotels locally, including the Premier Inn (favoured by most last year, despite it being on the outskirts of town), as well as a number of B&B's and guest houses. Despite what I said last year, the Travelodge is yet to open in King's Lynn (the site has been earmarked, but that's as far as it's got at the moment - the nearest one is currently in Long Sutton, which is several miles to the west - in another county!).
There are lots of places to eat in the evening including two Wetherspoon's (one of which you can even stay in overnight, as evidenced by Heather last year). The recently refurbished Maid's Head on the market place) became the Friday pub at last year's event and does hearty portions for hungry travellers as well as live music on certain nights of the week.
I can also recommend the local area if you fancy staying for a day or two afterwards. The Norfolk coast is outstanding (and so say all the London second-homers who frequent Burnham Market), especially if you enjoy seeing wildlife or strolling along windswept beaches. It's also not far from Sandringham House, which has some lovely woods which are free to stroll around - you can even see the sea! (Well, the Wash anyway, if that counts).
The entrance fee for the day will be £12 (apologies for the slight increase) and you can pay me by PayPal in the usual way at mike@mjbrown.demon.co.uk. Those of you who would prefer to pay by cheque can do so by sending me a PM and I'll then let you know my snail-mail
address.
The timetable for the day is likely to be the same as last year, which is as follows:
10.30 Doors open
11.15 Welcome / Round 1 Draw announced.
11.30 Round 1
12.50 Lunch
13.50 Round 2
15.10 Break
15.25 Round 3
16.45 Break
17.05 Grand Final (15 rounds)
17.30 Prizegiving
18.00 End / down the pub!
I look forward to seeing some of you there!
Mike.
CONFIRMED ENTRANTS:
1 James Robinson
2 Heather Styles
3 Phyl Styles
4 Alan Styles
5 Jeff Clayton
6 Graeme Cole
7 Toby Pereira
8 Stephen Read
9 Jonathan Wynn
10 Stewart Gordon
11 Matty Artell
12 Callum Todd
13 Rob Foster
and Mike Brown
It's finally time for me to announce the second Countdown in King's Lynn (or Co:KL for short), which will be the fourth tournament in the FOCAL
calendar (or the fifth if you count COLIN as two).
For those of you who are still not aware, King's Lynn is a town on the Wash in the west of Norfolk and happens to be the birthplace of Roger Taylor from Queen (and Dr Robert from the Blow Monkeys grew up here if you want a more obscure musical reference).
This year's event is taking place on Saturday 28th of May (i.e. the bank holiday weekend) and like last year will be a Lincoln-style tournament, with everyone playing six 9-round games followed (not quite like Lincoln) by a 15-round grand final for the top two players at the end of the day. ODO will be the official arbiter for word disputes, unless there's no access to the Internet on the day, in which case we may have to resort to a copy of the Apterous dictionary or - shock, horror - a book!
This time around, proceedings will take place on the top floor of Thoresby College (aka The Great Hall) on the South Quay. We will have access to a kitchen on the ground floor so I'm likely to be providing free tea and coffee on the day (as well as soft drinks for the caffeine-haters, I expect!) and for those that enjoyed lunch at Marriott's Warehouse last year, it's only a few yards down the road. We will also only be a few minutes' walk from the town centre for anyone who wants to go and buy lunch or just wants to indulge in a spot of retail therapy.
Unfortunately, the car parking at the venue is not for use (it's reserved for residents), but there is reasonably priced car parking nearby. For lovers of nicotine, please note there is no smoking anywhere on the premises (including the courtyard and car park). More details of the building and its facilities can be found at http://www.klprestrust.org.uk. The postcode for the college is PE30 1HX, but be warned the postal address is not the same as the entrance to the hall, which can be found on the quay (west) side the building.
King's Lynn has a very good rail service to London (taking around 100 minutes) and a reasonable rail service to other parts of the country (if you don't mind changing at Ely and admiring the cathedral while you wait for the connectoon). If you're thinking of coming by rail, but not via Cambridge or London, it might be worth investigating travelling to Peterborough and then bussing it to King's Lynn (service X1) as the journey time may be shorter and may also cost you less if booking advance tickets - PM me if you need further details, or perhaps speak to James, who did just that last year on his pilgrimage from Huddersfield.
Perhaps surprisingly for what most consider a rural backwater, the road network does reach King's Lynn and is served by the A10, A17 and A47, although if you're expecting to see a motorway, you'll have a long (and possibly infinite) wait!
There are various hotels locally, including the Premier Inn (favoured by most last year, despite it being on the outskirts of town), as well as a number of B&B's and guest houses. Despite what I said last year, the Travelodge is yet to open in King's Lynn (the site has been earmarked, but that's as far as it's got at the moment - the nearest one is currently in Long Sutton, which is several miles to the west - in another county!).
There are lots of places to eat in the evening including two Wetherspoon's (one of which you can even stay in overnight, as evidenced by Heather last year). The recently refurbished Maid's Head on the market place) became the Friday pub at last year's event and does hearty portions for hungry travellers as well as live music on certain nights of the week.
I can also recommend the local area if you fancy staying for a day or two afterwards. The Norfolk coast is outstanding (and so say all the London second-homers who frequent Burnham Market), especially if you enjoy seeing wildlife or strolling along windswept beaches. It's also not far from Sandringham House, which has some lovely woods which are free to stroll around - you can even see the sea! (Well, the Wash anyway, if that counts).
The entrance fee for the day will be £12 (apologies for the slight increase) and you can pay me by PayPal in the usual way at mike@mjbrown.demon.co.uk. Those of you who would prefer to pay by cheque can do so by sending me a PM and I'll then let you know my snail-mail
address.
The timetable for the day is likely to be the same as last year, which is as follows:
10.30 Doors open
11.15 Welcome / Round 1 Draw announced.
11.30 Round 1
12.50 Lunch
13.50 Round 2
15.10 Break
15.25 Round 3
16.45 Break
17.05 Grand Final (15 rounds)
17.30 Prizegiving
18.00 End / down the pub!
I look forward to seeing some of you there!
Mike.
CONFIRMED ENTRANTS:
1 James Robinson
2 Heather Styles
3 Phyl Styles
4 Alan Styles
5 Jeff Clayton
6 Graeme Cole
7 Toby Pereira
8 Stephen Read
9 Jonathan Wynn
10 Stewart Gordon
11 Matty Artell
12 Callum Todd
13 Rob Foster
and Mike Brown
