Milford Report 2002
Jacey Bedford fills in what she can remember

Standing: Neil Williamson, Colin Davies, Alex Lamb, Nancy Jane Moore, Chris Butler, Chris Paul. Lower row: Stuart Falconer, Liz Williams, Cherith Baldry, Sandra Unerman, Liz Counihan, Jacey Bedford

We don't seem to have the usual newbie's report for 2002, but delving back into my memory this was the first year in a new venue, the Hedley House Hotel near Bootham Bar, within walking distance of York city centre. It was a bit of a culture shock after the Devon experience which had been high on a clifftop, miles from anywhere, and in a hotel where we had exclusive occupancy. The Devon hotel having been converted to self-catering apartments, we had no choice but to find a new Milford home. In the absence of anywhere perfect we came to York where the attraction of the city made up for the shortcomings of the hotel. I'd held a couple of misc.writing weekends here in the past and we'd done the first Northern MiniMilford not long before in order to suss out whether we could make Milford work in this environment. While not perfect in many ways, there was the obvious attraction of York and the ease of travel from most parts of the country .

The hotel wasn't horrible - I don't mean to give that impression. In fact it was comfortable and the owners were friendly and helpful, if slightly bemused by us, but although we had our own exclusive conference room for our crit meetings and for socialising, we didn't have exclusive use of the hotel dining room or (tiny) bar, so breakfasts were in the company of normal people. We had to be careful not to discuss gruesome plagues and monsters dripping with ichor etc. over bacon and eggs. Also we had to go out into the city for dinner in the evenings and finding somewhere cheap and cheerful to accommodate all twelve of us was a nightly mission - though we did get some good meals.

Writing-wise... I really can't remember. I've been to many Milfords and they have all been excellent writing and critting experiences. Since I don't remember otherwise I'm sure this was equally useful and enjoyable. Our crits took place in the basement conference room next to the main hotel in a self-contained suite which we'd used in previous years for MiniMilfords. Not such a good view as from the cliff-top in Devon, but once the critting started it didn't really matter. Milford is Milford, whatever the setting.

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