YORK SLOGGERS & BETTERS 2026

Friday 23^rd-Sunday 25^th October 2026

I’m pleased to announce that the York Sloggers & Betters event is once again scheduled for “Clock Weekend”, allowing everyone an extra hour to recover from Friday and Saturday exertions on Sunday morning.

I’m less pleased to announce that Stableside, our usual hosts, will not be available this year.

I’ve therefore been liaising with the Holiday Inn nearby to negotiate rates for a block booking of single, double and twin rooms. You will see the prices in the email copied below. I fear that the higher rates for the Saturday night are unfortunately typical of hotels in York, so feel free to shop around – but (particularly in the case of doubles and twins) do please note that Holiday’s Inn’s charges are by the room, not per head as at Stableside. I’ve also talked to them about rates for the Sunday night as many of you stayed over until Monday last year because of the railway engineering works – you’ll see that the rates for Sunday night are rather more agreeable!

All the details for booking, together with the all-important group code, are below.

I would ask you, when you book, to let me know on the thread below: that way I can keep an eye on figures and, if necessary, negotiate more rooms.

As regards the timetable of events …

Friday 23^rd

Afternoon: Early arrivers foregather at the Fox & Roman (https://www.vintageinn.co.uk/restaurants/yorkshire/thefoxandromanyork#/)

Evening: 630pm: Gustav’s Famous Link Quiz at the Marcia Inn (www.marciainnbishopthorpe.co.uk), incl. Pizza supper (£5-6 pp approx.)

930pm onward: further socialising at the Marcia

Saturday 24^th

11am-6pm: Main crossword event at Marcia Inn, incl. hot lunch (£14-15 p.p. approx.; pub menu available). Socialise, do puzzles …

7-8pm: appetisers. Meet at Dick Turpin pub (https://camra.org.uk/pubs/dick-turpin-york-123334).

8 for 830pm: Indian meal at Woodthorpe Spice (https://woodthorpespice.co.uk/) – note (a) that this may be number-restricted (around 32 people); (b) that the restaurant is under (excellent) new management.

Sunday 25^th

Departure: pre-train pint or two at the York Tap (opens 11am) (https://camra.org.uk/pubs/york-tap-york-123772)

So that I can get an approximate idea of numbers, I’d be grateful if you would indicate below whether you are likely to attend and, if so, whether you would like to partake of the above options (the normal pub menus will also be available, but there may be a longer than average wait). Please indicate, as follows:

A – your name(s) with pseudonyms as appropriate, these are useful for name badges;

B – attending Marcia on Friday? Y/N

C – (if Yes to B) – food, please? Y/N

D – attending Marcia on Saturday? Y/N

E – (if Yes to D) – food, please? Y/N

Note that, at present, this is about the likelihood that you will attend, it does not commit you to attending. There will be a further announcement at the start of October.

Holiday Inn booking

Here are the details of the email:

Rate:

23/10/2026 – £109.00

24/10/2026 – £169.00

25/10/2026 – £79.00

Board basis: Bed and Breakfast

Your group code: GD4

In order for your guests to book this, they will need to contact our Central Reservations Team on 03333 209 357 and then select option 1, then option 1 again to go through to the booking team. They will need to quote the group code in order to book onto this block.

Alternatively, they can make the booking online at JETdoc 1730841 (https://www.ihg.com/redirect?path=rates&brandCode=HI&localeCode=en&regionCode=925&hotelCode=YORTR&checkInDate=23&checkInMonthYear=092026&checkOutDate=26&checkOutMonthYear=092026&_PMID=99801505&GPC=GD4&cn=no&adjustMonth=false&showApp=true&monthIndex=00), once you have entered your dates and pressed book now you will need to expand the change search section (in dark grey at the top). Once expanded, you will need to select group code from the rate preference drop down and enter the above code.

Upon booking, all guests will be required to provide card details for guarantee purposes only, no payment will be taken until 14 days prior to arrival. In case of any late cancellations, or non-arrivals, the card provided upon booking will be charged for these costs. Your guests can cancel their reservations free of charge up until 14 days prior to arrival, any cancellations made after this will be fully chargeable.

These rooms and rates will be held until four weeks prior to arrival. At this point, any unsold rooms will be released and go back to general sale, after that stage the agreed rate will no longer be available. Guests will still be able to book; however we will only be able to offer our best available rate at the time of booking and this would not be part of the group.

Please note that there will be various rates showing online between now and the date of arrival, however these rates come with different terms and conditions such as full pre-payment, no option to cancel etc. In addition, your rate will not change between now and the six-week cut-off date.