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Common Ground Scotland
3rd Weekend Gathering
13th - 15th October 2006
Wiston Lodge, Biggar, South Lanarkshire
The previous Common Ground Gatherings at Wiston Lodge were marked by their attraction to many people who would never dream of playing music in public but felt comfortable in the company of those of broadly similar ability. An early description of 'paddling in the shallow end of Traditional music' emerged as a particularly apt slogan. We can however happily promise to offer something for anyone who has the Common Ground "X" Factor, loosely translated as an understanding that what we give is returned in abundance. We do attract remarkable people.
Our costings are such that we have very little leaway in offering concessions with the exception of accompanied children. The more people we attract the more breakout rooms we have to hire.
There are a maximum of 30 places available and October is not the most attractive of camping months so we do recommend early booking.
The programme will start with dinner on Friday evening and conclude with lunch on Sunday and allow ample time for a self-selecting, self-help, variety of activities, with the emphasis on preparing a musical 'party-piece' for performing on the Saturday night. The timetable will be as loose as necessary or as structured as required. There will be time for instrumental or singing sessions, slow jams, and discussion and debate about what makes Common Ground distinctive.
Absolute guarantees:
You will meet great people
You will have fun
You will learn something
You will be warm and comfortable
You will eat well
You will probably:
Want more
Wish you could stay longer
Wish you had gone to bed earlier
Wonder why you hadn't done this before
ACCOMMODATION
Wiston Lodge, a YMCA property, is an old hunting lodge, set in 55 acres of its own grounds offering gardens and woodlands for walking and relaxation. It is easily accessible from the M74 (J13) via A702.
The accommodation is dormitory style, so be prepared to sleep on a top bunk. There is also a camping area with toilet facilities and easy access to showers in the main building, but please remember camping in October is only for experienced campers who are well prepared.
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A flavour of the previous gatherings:
Most people arrive between 5 and 6pm on the Friday and we have a cold buffet dinner about 7pm. Our first music & song session gets underway around 8pm and continues to about 2am or when ever the last two people go to bed. After breakfast the next morning we discuss the format of the day and then split into small groups to work on our musical party pieces for the evening ceilidh/party. One of the delightful features of this activity is that it allows people who have just met at a session for the first time, to work and play together. In the afternoon while some groups continue to play together, others may want to explore the local area which includes the impressive New Lanark village and the quite manageable walk up Tinto Hill.
Lunch and dinner are provided at appropriate times and the ceilidh begins around 8pm. On the first weekend at Wiston Lodge we were joined by Native American storyteller Chuck Warren and a group of asylum seekers from the Bridging-the-Gap project in Glasgow. Bridging-the-Gap are once again planning to be at Wiston Lodge during our weekend, giving us a real Common Ground experience and more people for dancing.
The ceilidh finished about 11pm and the session got underway and went on till 3am. The next morning after breakfast we had an hour long 'chilling out', "Desert Island disk" session with people choosing one piece of music that they wanted to share. After a final musical blast, we had lunch with our new friends from Glasgow (and points east and west) and bid fond farewells about 2pm.
FOOD
All meals are included from Teatime on Friday to Sunday Lunch. Please let us know when booking if you have any special dietary requirements. Tea and coffee-making facilities are freely available, and remember to BYOB.
COST
Adult £90.00 for food and accommodation
Child/Student £75.00 for food and accommodation
Adult £55.00 for food and campsite
Child/Student £42.50 for food and campsite
Once we make a booking we need to pay a £15 non-refundable deposit per person. To keep things simple we will pay the deposits, but we will still need your £15 if you withdraw from the weekend after this stage.
Payment in cash, or cheques made payable to “John Slavin”
BOOKINGS and more info from
Willie Slavin - email willieslavin @ aol.com
OR
John Slavin – john @ designfolk.com
Tel - John Slavin (daytime) 01563 571220 or (evening/weekends) 01294 604301
Address for cheques
John Slavin
20 Kerr Ave,
Saltcoats,
Ayrshire.
KA21 5PT
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