UK Gathering 8 - 10 September 2006 : Ilkley, West Yorkshire
The Hemingway Gathering 2006 will be based in Ilkley in the former West Riding of Yorkshire. Ilkley is about seventeen miles north-west of Leeds.
Page updated 6 Sept to add final joining instructions for the Heathcote Tour on Friday and to change the time of the church service on Sunday.
The biennial UK Gathering is being held 8 - 10 September 2006 at Ilkley and will use the Parish Hall at St Margaret's Parish Church as its base. This will enable us to host a single centre weekend offering very good value for money. In 2006, we will be able to devote more time to workshop sessions which will help all to chat to help establish links etc and we will have access to the various Hemingway databases of information such as Births, Marriages and Deaths indexes for England, Wales & Scotland, Parish Register extracts (16,000 entries mainly Yorkshire), MIs (1,000 entries mainly Yorkshire), Wills indexes and abstracts England and Wales, Census indexes and extracts etc. These are the different complementary databases constructed by Maurice Hemingway and Ron Hemingway.
There will be visits to local Hemingway sites of significance and two themed presentations, plus an update about the DNA Project. We have a most interesting guest speaker for the after dinner presentation on Saturday.
Registration
Registration is not essential but it is helpful to know who is coming along. The exception is that for those staying for the Saturday dinner and guest speaker, it is essential that we have names to ensure that there will be a place for you. See below about dinner. Do please let either Ron or Maurice know if you are coming as it does nothing to help us when we turn up at restaurants or on visits with more people than we indicated.
Accommodation
Accommodation is not included (or essential - as day attendance is an option). However, for those wanting to make this into a relaxing weekend, Ilkley offers ample accommodation to suit all tastes. I am not making any personal recommendations, but I have put together a few links to help people find local accommodation.
Programme
The programme is intended to adopt a slightly more relaxed feel than previous years, but still try to present new insights to different Hemingway families and venues. The weekend will be structured around :
| Friday | During Saturday morning, there will be a short presentation John Thomas Hemingway, a wealthy businessman who lived in Ilkley. He is the only Hemingway to hold armorial arms granted by the College of Arms and had a house, Heathcote, designed & built by Sir Edward Lutyens in 1906 who was a leading architect of the day. For those that can make it, there will be a one hour guided tour of the grounds and interior at 4pm on Friday 8th September. It is now owned by a major company and tours are not permissible during working hours or at weekends. Will anyone wanting to attend this tour, let Ron (ron.rondor@virgin.net) know as soon as possible. Ron must know numbers and in any case, places are limited. Finding Heathcote - There is a very good map produced for the current owners of Heathcote and I you can get a copy from here. Please note that the map is not to scale and you will quickly learn that only some of the side roads are shown. However it is a good map and remember you are looking for Kings Road, Ilkley. Those that have booked with Ron, please make sure that you are at Heathcote on Kings Road by 16.00hrs. We have been asked to wait on Kings Road and for all the cars to be brought into the premises together - please try to arrive at 15.55hrs and not before 15.50hrs. It seems as if the company has not enjoyed the best of relations with its neighbours and is trying its best to make amends. Whether you make it to see Heathcote or not, meet up in Ilkley. We have booked tables at La Sila. This is an Italian restaurant at the South Side (up the slope towards the moors) of the main car park in Ilkley (map). If you want to come along and haven't already told either Ron or myself, do tell us quickly as the restaurant is almost fully booked. Of course, you could make your own booking contacting the restaurant direct (01943 601908). Those that are booked - we meet in the restaurant 19.15 for 19.30hrs |
| Saturday | We will open the doors at the Parish Rooms at St Margaret's on Queens Road, Ilkley (map) at 9.15hrs and will be serving tea, coffee etc from 9.30hrs. Please do not arrive any earlier. 13.15hrs - 14.45hrs Lunch (The Moors Centre off the main car park in Ilkley) |
| Sunday | 10.00hrs Church service at St Margaret's followed by a "pub lunch" in Ilkley at Cow & Calf (up on the moorside). 15.00hrs (approx) Ron will be leading a visit to Calverley Parish Church - approx ten miles from Ilkley. Various Hemingway memorials inside and outside the church. This will finish with a visit to the George & Dragon at Apperley Bridge which was once owned by Samuel Hemingway, the Bradford Lawyer. Photo of stone inside the pub. |
St Margaret's has its own website with information about the church and the Parish Hall.
