No Warrington Splunch this October

[Lizzie_Claymore]

Hi all,

We would normally be holding our regular North-west area splunch (i.e. vanilla munch for sploshers) in Warrington on the 3rd Sat in October. (They’ve always been publicised as the 3rd Sat in April and Oct so that people can know when they are and plan around them.)

However, I’ve been polling some of the regulars over the last week or two and the general consensus seems to be that we’ll forego the up-coming splunch as it would only be two weeks after the newly resurrected North-east area splunch in Leeds. (This is why I didn’t advertise it as I suspected we might end up doing this.)

As Warrington is only an hour from Leeds, we don’t want to risk “splitting the market” – we want the Leeds splunch to be a success and it’s likely that people wouldn’t want to go to both within a fortnight of each other so we felt that this was the best thing to do (Sadly, I don’t think I can make Leeds myself as we have an open-day on at work that day so I will probably be on duty but we’ll see.)

We’ll be back with the north-west area splunch next April, though we might look at moving location to get a little further away from Leeds (probably Liverpool) so as not to create too much overlap. Not sure yet but we’ll see.

Regards,
Lesley.

[Candy Custard]

Exciting news that it might be Liverpool - that would be ace. Never been and I'd love to go! Thanks for the update

[Lizzie_Claymore]

You'd love it Candy - there's so much to see and do. It's become a real 'destination' in the last few years.

It's just a bit ironic that we originally chose Warrington because it's actually quicker and easier to get to, being roughly 20 mins from Liverpool, Manchester and Preston, at the intersection of East-West and North-South motorways and railways(which is why so many logistics companies are based there), with free parking and cheap food and accommodation.

It seems, however, that many people would prefer to go to somewhere 'bigger' like Liverpool anyway. LoL. (I suppose the maximum example of that is London - biggest & busiest with most expensive food/accommodation in the country etc but people travel from all over the country to it. Bizarre! LoL)

[BillShipton]

I'm sorry to hear this, but understand.

I suppose people like to feel they make a day of it so a big city has a greater appeal than a town. Also for the shy types s smaller town makes the 'what did you do at the weekend?' question harder.

"I went to Warrington."
"Warrington! Whatever for?"
"Errr..."

It's easier to think of a reason to have been in Liverpool!

Personally though I liked Warrington as you know from the blog. But I've been to Liverpool many times, quite like it, and it has the Sploshing History element of being where (almost) all the early WSM films and photo sets were shot (often in the St Georges Hotel). You might even drag Mike Ellison out for a pint! Those of my age expecting to see the Liver Birds wandering round the streets in brightly coloured PVC macs will be sadly disappointed, though.

Bill

[Lizzie_Claymore]

LoL! Indeed .... though in some respects, things like that don't really change - you should see the girls all dolled up on a Saturday night. (Liverpool is legendary for that.) Varies between wonderfully sexy / hilariously orange / car crash territory at times!

BTW, how on earth did you get away with using St George's Hotel (and surely rather pricey compared with a Travelodge)? Yes, Mike came to us at Warrington once but, as luck would have it, it was a very quiet one that time. Hopefully, he'll come along, as will others.

[BillShipton]

BTW, how on earth did you get away with using St George's Hotel (and surely rather pricey compared with a Travelodge)?

You'd have to ask Mike that. I only went on two hotel shoots with Mike in Liverpool. St George's Hotel where all the linking scenes and a couple of sketches in WSM TV (WSM 3) were shot and the Adelphi where Carol (dressed in PVC) got covered in custard and cream in WSM'll Fix It (WSM 4) before were we thrown out! My abiding memory of St Georges Hotel was the girls naked except for baked beans running down the corridor to their rooms for a shower cos access to the shower in the room was blocked by the set. I remember two men passed the end of our corridor as the girls ran out at one point and you could see them looking at each other thinking "Did I just see what I thought I saw?"

Bill

[Lizzie_Claymore]

I'm not surprised you got thrown out of the Adelphi - that used to be a high class hotel in the days when it was still owned by British Transport Hotels! Wish I'd been one of those blokes though!

[messyjojo]

Thanks for the update, mate - I know we have been discussing this for ages and maybe a city venue will be better in the long run! Liverpool or Manchester both make great venues - big choice of hotels, other "touristy" stuff to do to make a weekend of it....bars and restaurants for nom nom's and drinkies (hic). Huzzah!!!!

[Lizzie_Claymore]

Hi Jo.

Yes I was talking to Carmen about it the other day and it occurred to me that the fact that THI in Birkenhead has its sploshing nights means there will already be a reasonable crowd around Liverpool that's likely to be prospective splunchers.

I had wondered about Manchester, with its Canal St venues and the like for those who want to indulge in kink in the evening but it's even closer to Leeds than Warrington is (less than an hour along the M62). It seems a bit mad to have two venues so close to each other so I think it'll have to be Liverpool to give those from North Wales/Cheshire a bit more choice. Those in Manchester then have the choice of about an hour east to Leeds or 45 mins west to Liverpool.

It's a shame that people *perceived* Warrington as being more difficult to get to, when in fact it's easier and cheaper, being right on the intersection of 3 motorways and 2 main line railways but there you go!

[Carmen Fantastic]

I'm a little biased because I live in Liverpool, but I think it'll be closer for a fair few people on this side of the north west. Looking forward to the April splunch ; )

[Lizzie_Claymore]

As the hackneyed journalism cliché says "Time will tell"! Hopefully it'll bring in those who've been to the THI splosh nights in Birkenhead, which will help.