First Sent in October 2018 From Alison Castle -Northern Region Rep<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear Secretary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the success of the All Wales day last year, and the\u00a0recent Guilds Together event in the West Midlands, I would like to try and organise something similar for the\u00a0Northern\u00a0Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do appreciate that this is a very large geographical area and also that, wherever an event is held, at least half of the participants will have to cross the Pennines. I suspect that suitably large halls on the tops of Pennine peaks are fairly rare (although you may know of one which would be a perfect venue!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I stuck a pin in the middle of the Region map and came up with Barnard Castle, which is very near the centre, and easy of access, being so close to the A66. (Here I must apologise to the Manx Guild – I do appreciate that Barney, like everywhere else on the mainland, is not in the middle of the Region so far as they are concerned.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This venue is certainly not set in stone, and there may not even be a suitable building available. I would very much welcome alternative suggestions from the Guilds, and will carefully consider all such ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The basic idea would be for members (number unlimited) of all the Guilds in the Region to attend, and I would like to think that samples of each Guild’s work would be on display. I would envisage Guilds having their own “selling table” if they wished (not just for handmade items, but equipment, de-stash yarns and fibres, etc. Depending on the size of the hall chosen, it may also be possible to invite a few of the professional sellers who are associated with the Northern Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If this goes ahead, would you like there to be a Speaker or Demonstrator – to talk for an hour or so, before or after lunch. On the subject of lunch – although shared lunches are wonderful, for a large-ish gathering it may be that there would be too much food if everybody brought something. My suggestion would be to bring a packed lunch, but cakes for general consumption would be much appreciated by all. Again, what do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Possible dates were the next thing to consider. In common apparently with most of the country, it seems that Spinners, Weavers and Dyers in the North like to meet on the 3rd Saturday of the month. However, most fortuitously, none of the Northern Guilds meet on the 4th Saturday. A possible date would be Saturday 31st August 2019 (this is not the Bank Holiday weekend). August is a good month as it is relatively free of big Shows and, being quite close to the beginning of the Autumn Term, people tend to be back home from holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the above is very tentative at the moment, but I would like to think that between us we could come up with a good day out. I would like to reiterate that I would be grateful for any suggestions – the last thing I want is for you to think I am trying to impose anything upon you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n