Geoffmariocki wrote:Haven't got time to reply to all the points raised but I can say that it was an enjoyable weekend and so nice to see the regular faces, some we haven't seen for a while and some new ones.
I can't deny that it is extremely stressful organising this and I've been enjoying going to bed before midnight each night this week, something I haven't managed to do for the last 3 months. It's getting harder and harder to arrange visits each year as people, quite rightly, become more security conscious and so places that we've been able to visit previously, like North Mymms Park, are no longer viable options for us. I always want wherever possible to go to places that are normally off-limits to the public which creates a big workload but I think it's worth it and I hope others feel the same.
I wanted to visit some of the 'big hitters' this time around like Haberdashers', Manor Lodge and Tykes Lake and so that was my starting point. I was also keen to return to Camfield Place as I'd kept in contact with Ian, the owner, after our last visit and he was such a great host that I didn't think people would mind returning so soon.
I'd visited Iver Grove myself a few years ago and had always had it in mind to visit during the Hunt weekend and after discovering that it was up for sale, I thought that we'd best try to include it this time while I still had a line of communication with the owners. It meant that there would be a long trip to get there but I felt that we might never get another opportunity if we didn't 'strike while the iron was hot', as it were. Rachel, the owner there, was a joy to deal with and it was such a shame that she was taken ill on the day and couldn't come down to meet us. It's people like her and Ian at Camfield Place that make the event possible and I'm extremely grateful to them.
Roger at Haberdashers' was another who really went the extra mile to facilitate our visit. Thanks to him we were able to approach the lake from the school, something we'd never done before. It shouldn't go unnoticed that he was giving up his day off to allow us to visit. That brings me to the one thing that spoilt the day for me - despite it being made clear that we would be leaving at 9am we were unable to do so and that had repercussions throughout the day as we were late to every venue after that and I had a very difficult conversation with someone I'd been liaising with for weeks about us visiting one venue, regarding our late arrival. Bearing in mind that people are giving up days off for us it's not something I'll allow to happen again. It also meant that I and the other co-ordinators were having to hurry people up at the locations because we were so far behind schedule, something that we didn't enjoy but I hope people understood the reasons why.
Anyway, that aside, it was a good weekend from my point of view and I'll certainly be organising at least some of the locations next year. In fact, I've already started.....
I understand there is a lot of background work goes into arranging the location visits and I noticed that a couple of locations I visited with Jason and the guys, had upgraded their security so where you could once go and take photographs of an Avengers location, this is no longer possible. A sign of the times, re: my earlier observations in the thread regarding Elstree Aerodrome. I'm just pleased that you do go to all the trouble of setting these visits up.
The delay in starting the visits, also seemed to manifest itself on the Saturday Treasure Hunt as well. I believe someone did not turn up and were eventually tracked down by telephone by one of the organisers. They then announced that they would not be attending the Hunt and this caused a delay in us getting out to Shenley Hall and I completely agree that in future the event stick rigidly to the agreed start times.
