There I was minding my own business taking a short cut across the little foot bridge that crosses the brook running down to the Racehorses Hotel, when I noticed Scout talking to a strange guy and his wife and two kids… suddenly the strange guy looked strangely familiar… and low and behold it was Roy and his family:

Then next morning as we drove out of Kettlewell over Coverdale, in the distance a strange figure could be seen running uphill… I really I should have been more on the ball and taken his photo, because as the strange figure got closer to the car I realised it was Roy on his early morning run (my Dutch friends were very impressed and think all ex-Cat Crackers maintain this level of fitness!!! From Steve’s recent post it is clear that some of you do!)… If you look very closely Roy is actually in the centre of this photo:

PS. Also good to bump into Alan and Peter recently in the Sheesh Mahal in Twickenham, but sadly no photos of that reunion…

Here are some more details about Family Cat. Particularly note that we can only get in after 5pm on the Friday – but we do have the hostel until midday on the Monday. Please let me know what you want to do about catering.

The Venue: YHA Coalbrookdale, 1 Paradise, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, TF8 7NR
http://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodation/heart-of-england/hostels/coalbrookdale/index.aspx
http://www.ironbridgeguide.info/ironbridge_tour/tour_08.shtml

Directions: From Telford centre or M54 follow signs to Ironbridge. Pass through Ironbridge centre (passing THE bridge on your left) and turn right at the roundabout into Coalbrookdale. The YHA is approx. 0.5 mile up this road on the right (and is signposted).

Arrival: After 5pm, Friday 5th October.

Departure: By 12am, Monday 8th October. Because of the late admission time, it may be more sensible to take the kids out of school on the Monday rather than the Friday (although you could do both – subject to headteacher approval).

Parking: There’s space at the YHA for 8 cars. Additional parking is available at the Museum of Iron, a 5 minute walk away.

Catering: I suggest we cater for ourselves on the Saturday night and perhaps get a takeaway on the Sunday night or go out on the town. We could do a vat of spag bol or similar for the kids. Check out Banquet in a box for some low hassle options for adult dinners on Saturday night. I could set up an account for us and get the meals delivered; I’m sure we could manage to do the veg and salads ourselves. Comments, please.

Bedrooms: There are two singles, 5×2, 7×4, 3×6, 2×8, mostly en-suite. Unless you have any special requests, I suggest we leave room allocation until we’re there. There’s plenty of space for children to have their own rooms or to all cram themselves in together.

Other Facilities: Dining room seats 50, there’s the fully equipped kitchen, further dining room for 70(!) and small lounge in an annex building. The main lounge seats up to 25 on sofas. It has a pool table, table football and TV/DVD player. Garden is fully enclosed with sloping lawns around building and a terrace at the front with outdoor seating.

Things to do: For Ironbridge info, see http://www.ironbridgeguide.info/ and http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/.My suggestion for Saturday: a trip to Enginuity and the Museum of Iron, a walk along the gorge with a photo session on the bridge and a nice pint of mild in a riverside pub. You can get a ticket to cover all ten museums but it only becomes worthwhile if you visit 3 or more.
There’s also the Severn Valley Railway but it has been affected by the floods: http://www.svr.co.uk/
Our local pub is: http://www.coalbrookdaleinn.co.uk/index.html
I’m sure Alf’s noticed that Wolves are at home to Coventry on the Saturday: www.wolves.premiumtv.co.uk/

The Badger Bite: http://www.badgerbite.co.uk/
Confirmed runners so far: Steve, Maddo, Alan. The race starts at 11am on Sunday. We should be back with everyone by 1pm. Spectators/supporters/photographers welcome (but certainly not expected). Refreshments in The Seven Stars, Beckbury, although I’m not sure how close this is to the start/finish.