There Will Be Cake!

Yay! We'll have a birthday girl amongst our midst at Malvern, so Helen has volunteered to mark the occasion properly with a cake. Things got a bit out of hand on Twitter the other day, so @gardenergirl1's expectations may be a little high as we eventually had three possibilities of rather nice men (James, Chris Beardshaw and Matthew Wilson) leaping out of various cakes to deliver her birthday greetings.

We've had an amazing response from you to say you're interested in coming to the show so I've offered Helen my own cakely contribution - probably different to that shown above, but I felt a post about cake was in desperate need of a picture of one ;)

I'll be updating the blog soon with the details of who's coming and when, plus availability for meals out. This is so:

a) You can see what's what

b) You can let me know anything that's incorrect or changed

c) Others will be tempted into coming along

Once published, I'll be updating that post regularly, so do keep your eye on it!

Warning: Accommodation's Filling Fast

Helen's had some early feedback from people coming to Meet @ Malvern about booking accommodation. Quite a lot of the hotels are booked already, probably with exhibitors etc. She's kindly provided some useful links to help you get started with searching for a place to stay. Anna's giving me some campsite information soon (her campervan's already booked in - yay!) if that's your preferred option.

Those of us wanting to stay a little longer or to stay with friends may have to sacrifice convenience for availability. There's lots of lovely market towns and villages very close to Malvern, so these are worth considering if you're having trouble in finding something close to the showground. Car parking there is plentiful and free if you don't go for the Gold parking option. I haven't found them too much of a walk into the show in previous years and you can drink in the gorgeous views of the hills whilst doing so.

Without further ado, here's the information from Helen:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186423-d192024-Reviews-Malvern_Hills_Hotel-Malvern_Worcestershire_England.html - don't know what it is like to stay at just eaten there but reviews seem ok. Top of Malvern Hills - some rooms may have good views

http://www.trehernehouse.co.uk/tariffs.php - seems a bit pricey to me but great location for access to the show and going out in evening and me!

http://www.malvern-hills.co.uk/gg/ - this is also ideal for the showground, town and me

http://www.copperbeechhouse.co.uk/bandbmalvern.html - good location and ideal for Great Malvern station

http://www.prioryholme.co.uk/ - good location and also ideal for Great Malvern station

Unfortunately, I cant recommend any of these since I haven't stayed in them and don't know anyone who has. Happy to go and have a look see and see what they look like inside on the pretext of booking a large party!!!!

And here's links to the local tourist information and B&B consortium courtesy of the show website:

Malvern Tourist Information Centre:

Tel: 01684 892289
Fax: 01684 892872
Website: Malvern TIC
E-mail: malvern.tic@malvernhills.gov.uk

The Malvern Bed and Breakfast Consortium:

Website: http://www.malvernbandbconsortium.co.uk/

Update 3rd Feb: For those of you considering the camping option, Anna's guest posting today with details of the best sites she's stayed at, plus good website links for you to find out much more.

Coming Soon

I just thought you'd like to know what's coming up on here in the run up to Malvern. If there's something else about the show you'd like to see, then let us know and we'll add it to the 'To Do' list. Offers of guest posts and any contributions (e.g. photos) for any of the proposed posts are welcome too :)

• Who's coming
• Arrangements for our Meet
• Show highlights
• Show guide - hints & tips to get the best out of your visit
• My Malvern - Helen introduces you to her home town
• Guest Post from Claire Potter - re the 25th Anniversary Show Garden
• Guest Post from Deb Bird - re her Show Garden
• VPs VIPs - interview with Nina, the show organiser
• Where to stay
• How to get there
• Malvern Memories - a round up of blog posts and photos from previous years, especially for those of you needing more temptation to persuade you to come
• Something for the weekend - for those of you staying over who may also want to take the opportunity to see something of the area

Some of these posts will get updated as things get firmed up or more news comes along. Remember, it's your Meet, so Helen and I welcome your questions, comments, ideas for articles and fun things we could all do at the show.

Michelle
xxx

Can We Tempt You?

James has not only kindly mentioned Meet @ Malvern in his latest post, he's also divulged some news of what's happening this year:

The exact plan is still under review but hopefully quite a few of you will get there: I am there, as usual on every day but the exciting news (if you are easily influenced) is that Joe Swift and Cleve West are also there on Friday and Saturday so we will be doing the first ever Three Men Went To Mow - Live. [this news alone will be sufficient to get many of us quivering with anticipation - Ed]

Again we are unsure what we will do but it should be jolly. On Sunday, Joe and I will be Cleveless. For those of keener on gazing upon the perfectly formed torso of Chris Beardshaw* he will be in attendance on the Thursday. Also available will be the effervescent Katie Johnson** to keep us in order and the ever knowledgeable Reg Moule** to answer those horticultural questions that leave us stumped.

There will be Acrobats as well [the show has a circus theme this year].

* = This will be for the judging of the Chris Beardshaw design mentorship bursary - more on this in a later post

** = these will be familiar faces to previous attendees who've gone to events in the Design Theatre. They're the people who hand the microphones round for audience questions and join in with all the banter

I'll keep you updated on what's happening as soon as I have any more news :)

Tempted? Then do come and join us!

Meet the Organisers

I've added links to mine and Helen's blogs in the sidebar, so that anyone who doesn't know us already (what??? !!!) has a chance to find out a little more before we get together in May. Helen also Tweets regularly as @patientgarden and I'm @malvernmeet for the duration. I'm trying to keep the latter one reserved for Malvern arrangements, but already I can't help straying into the social side of things from time to time! A slippery slope for VP (who also is in danger of developing a split personality at this rate!) to be treading on I fear...

As things progress I'll be adding details of bloggers, tweeters and websites of people planning to attend the event both on here and in Twitter as appropriate. I also need to work out how to get @malvermeet's twitterfeed into Blogger, so that non-tweeters can see what's going on :)

Twitter is Live!

@Malvernmeet is up and ready for your tweets. Click on the Twitter Follow button in the sidebar to keep up with all the latest news and gossip on our blogtastic day out :)

Let's Meet!

Malvern Spring Show is rather special: it's one of the first outdoor gardening events of the year, its setting is superb and the Three Counties Show Ground is very roomy. So when I met up with Helen (Patient Gardener) last year, it struck both of us that here's the perfect excuse and venue to organise a garden bloggers get together for the UK.

When we got home, our good idea was confirmed: many other bloggers had gone to Malvern that weekend and not only blogged about how much they'd enjoyed it, their reaction to the possibility of meeting up this year was most positive. We'd already met up with Anna (Green Tapestry) whilst we were there, who knows how many others we'd passed on by without knowing it? So here we are: organising a get together for this year's Malvern Spring Show. The dates are 6-9th May.

This blog will be used over the coming weeks to find out who's interested, make arrangements, post links to any useful information and news. We'll also be using Twitter to publicise the event.

We'd love you to come and join us! James will be strutting his stuff on stage as usual plus Claire and Deb (that's Lola, her wonderful creation at last year's show in the photo above) will have show gardens for us to admire. Maybe Nigel will be judging there again this year?

Our initial thoughts are to keep it simple: we'll probably be quite a large group, so going around the show together won't be that practical. Besides we'll all want to spend our time focusing on the stands and talks which meet our differing garden tastes. So we're thinking of having a place and times to meet during the day (for coffee and lunch) and do our own thing in-between. There's also the possibility of having a meal together afterwards if you'd like to stay on into the evening.

As Helen lives in Malvern we'll be getting all kinds of insider information about the event. Her advice on the best day to go is as follows:

I think Friday is the best day since Thursday is more expensive and Saturday is when all the locals go so v. crowded and lots of children!!! Friday, to me, is for the more serious gardener.

Then there's Sunday of course, for the plant sell off if you're into getting some bargains from the show stands or gardens.

Now to your bit: would you like to come and if so what date(s) can you join us? Are you up for a meal afterwards? Any other ideas or thoughts? Let us know in the Comments in the usual way. And do feel free to use the above photo to advertise Meet @ Malvern on your own blogs. I can send you a copy of the photo if you'd prefer to use the original.

This post will be kept as a 'sticky post' at the top of the blog to welcome any newcomers. Keep an eye out for more news as it comes in the posts below. Or you can subscribe to the Feed or Follow the blog in the usual way to keep in touch. Twitter will be up as soon as I've got to grips with the technology ;)

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Michelle (aka VP of Veg Plotting)

xxx

Welcome :)

Welcome to the blog telling you all about our garden bloggers' get together at Malvern Spring Show!

If you're new around these parts, then it's best if you look at the Let's Meet! introductory post here.

Otherwise, do scroll down for the latest on what's happening as we count down towards the show...