Getting to Bradford for EightSquaredCon, Eastercon 2013

Posted: March 26, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: transportation | Leave a comment

For those of you who have a satnav or GPS, here are the post codes of the main hotels we’re using:
Cedar Court: BD5 8HW
Campanile: BD4 6SA
Midland: BD1 4HU
Jurys Inn: BD1 2DH

Getting to the Cedar Court by road
The Cedar Court is just off the roundabout at the end of the M606. Follow the signs to ‘Eastern Ring Road’ round to the right and the road to the Cedar Court is the first exit on the left past the traffic lights (there are signs to ‘Cedar Court’). The hotel itself is the first entrance on your left. If you are coming by a different route, you should follow signs to Bradford and then to Staygate in order to get onto the appropriate section of the Bradford ring road.

If you are coming long-distance from either the North or South, the simplest route is to take the M1, head for the M62 at J42 and then take J26 off the M62 to get onto the M606. Note that there are extensive roadworks on the M62 (putting in new speed cameras) and you may need to allow additional time.

By Train
Bradford has 2 stations, Bradford Interchange (BDI) and Bradford Forster Square (BDQ). Bradford Interchange has regular fast services to and from Leeds (25 minutes), Manchester Victoria (60 minutes), York (60 minutes), Selby and Huddersfield. Forster Square has local trains to Leeds, Ilkley and Skipton.

In most cases, unless you live locally, we recommend getting a train to Bradford Interchange and then getting a bus or taxi to the Cedar Court. Bradford taxis are both abundant and relatively inexpensive, and you should be able to get to the Cedar Court for about £6.

By Coach
Coaches to Bradford generally end up at Bradford Interchange or Forster Square, and you can then follow the same solution as for trains, getting a bus or taxi to the Cedar Court.

By Bus
Assuming you are at Bradford Interchange train station, you want to catch a 845, 846 or 847 bus to Staygate in order to get to the Cedar Court. Other Metroline buses may also go past the hotel. Note that you will need to walk from the bus stop on the main road to the hotel.

By Air
Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) has a variety of national and European connecting flights. The airport is located to the north-east of Bradford (postcode LS19 7TU) and has a regular bus service (747) into Bradford.

Convention Bus Service
From Friday, 8:30 am, we will be running a minibus service between the overflow hotels and the Cedar Court. Note that the Midland Hotel is near to Bradford Forster Square station, so you may be able to get on the bus at the hotel.

Accommodation Update – Some questions you might want answered.

Posted: November 30, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: accommodation, administrative, transportation | Leave a comment

Oh no, a split site con, this is going to be a pain isn’t it?
Not if we can help it and we’re working on that. We would love to have one large hotel where we could all stay but unfortunately they are thin on the ground when you’re also trying to find somewhere which is not too expensive.

We’ve already made some arrangements which should make this situation a little easier:

• A free and regular bus service running from early until well into the night
• Taxi sharing boards if you want to travel outside the bus times/routes
• Cloakrooms to leave your jackets and bags

And we also hope to provide:
• Secure storage for dealers and those who wish to bring costumes
• Changing Rooms
• Locker Rooms
• A ‘quiet room’ where peace and quiet can be found.

I’ve got a medical problem and think I should be in the Cedar Court – what do I do?
Please write to us at accommodation@eightsquaredcon.org and we’ll take this into account when allocating you a room. Any medical information you provide us with is not shared outside those in the committee who specifically need to know. Since July 2012 the Cedar Court has been effectively full except for a few rooms we are holding for those with very strong mobility / medical grounds.

Which hotels have rooms left?
The Midland is also available but only for double or twin rooms, it has about 25 rooms remaining but unfortunately no single rooms remain. It is the most beautiful of the hotels. It’s an old Victorian station hotel, which is absolutely charming. It does have a few steps up or down to some rooms but you can request a room with no steps.

The newly built Jury’s Inn is available. It is completely flat inside. It currently has plenty of availability and offers secure on-line booking. Jury’s is a hotel with plenty of rooms and beds; 112 of their rooms have a double and single bed, 6 rooms have two double beds in and the remaining 70 are double rooms. The room windows are triple glazed and hotel were keen to say that they have had no complaints about noise since they did this. Feel free to request a room on the ‘quiet side’ if you are a very light sleeper.

The Campanile is almost full with only a few rooms left, which by the time you read this, may well be gone. We’ve been impressed by the helpfulness of the hotels and the keenness of the staff through out contact with them and our visits.

So why should I stay in Bradford City Centre?
Because there’s plenty to do! Just across the road from Jury’s Inn is City Park and Centenary Square which has plenty of restaurants and coffee bars. There is also the Impressions Gallery and the National Media Museum, just across the road. There’s the historic Salt’s Mill if you want to stray a little further.

And of course there is curry. The Karachi (Neal Street) was made semi-famous by fish chef Rick Stein. The Kashmir (Morley Street) is also worth a visit. These, along with many others such as Omar Khan’s, are situated around what is known locally as the West End, a student place that also has many bars. The area along Leeds Road has some more restaurant-style venues.

Sian Martin
Hotel Liaison

The Wheels on the Con Go Round and Round

Posted: November 19, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: transportation | 4 Comments

As you know, while the Cedar Court has excellent convention space, it has fewer bedrooms than would be ideal for an Eastercon. We are thus using three very good overflow hotels; the Campanile, the Midland and Jury’s. As was announced at our bid session and on our website, we have always intended to supply transport between the main site and the overflows. I’m delighted to announce that we have finalised our arrangements. Local Bradford company Tetley’s  Motor Services will be running regular buses on two routes, one between the Cedar Court and the Campanile, the other between the Cedar Court, Jurys and the Midland. These will be frequent and free to use for all convention members. A minibus will run roughly every fifteen minutes on the Campanile route, from 8.30 in the morning until 1 a.m. For Jurys and the Midland,  two 33-seater buses will run every 15-20 minutes between 8.30 a.m. and noon, and between 8.30 p.m. and 1 a.m, and single 33-seater bus will cover this route every 30 minutes between noon and 8.30 p.m. We will be running a taxi-sharing scheme to help with travel after 1 a.m.

 

Tetley’s provided the bus service for LX in 2009, and have worked closely with us in deciding the new schedule (which should be more frequent than in 2009).  To the best of our knowledge, in 2013 we will not be facing the road-works which disrupted bus travel at LX: we are, however, keeping an eye on this and will make adjustments if any problems do arise.