2pm, August 16th, 2008.
The registrar asks you be seated at 1:40pm. The ceremony
(which, strictly speaking, is a reaffirmation ceremony as we were
married May
5th last year on Marconi Beach, Cape Cod) will begin at 2pm,
will last about an hour, and, for your information, will include
three long readings. Wedding breakfast to begin around 4:30pm-5pm;
speeches 6:45pm; evening entertainment at 8:30pm -12pm; evening
food & tea and coffee 9:30pm; last orders 12:45pm.
The wedding takes place entirely at the Merewood Country House hotel (015394 46484), Windermere, LA23 1LH.
From the south: get to the M6, turn onto the A591 (via A590) at junction 36.
From the north: you have several choices, but for those without a preferred route we suggest you aim for Kendal. Via Carlisle/Penrith, you take the M6 south to junction 39, and take the A6 to Kendal. From Kendal, head north on the A591 (via A5284).
In both cases, from the roundabout with the A592, it is 1.5 miles north on the A591 to the driveway to Merewood, which will be on your right. The driveway is marked with a sign but forms a tight junction with the A591 (the main road) and is easy to miss. The road leading up the hotel (Kirk Ln) is one lane and steep so please take care along it and at the junction – go slowly and watch for on-coming traffic.
Nearest station is Windermere, 2.3 miles from Merewood; 2.7 miles from Briery Wood. You will need to get a taxi to the hotel. There are usually some waiting at the station, otherwise book, or call one of the above numbers on arrival. Oxenholme the Lake District is the nearest station on the West Coast mainline and the station you usually change at for Windermere. It’s a 30min drive from Oxenholme to Merewood / Briery Wood. The Oxenholme-Windermere train takes about 25mins; Euston-Oxenholme 3hrs 15mins (in theory). There are Oxenholme-Windermere trains every hour (see the PDF timetable.)
Lakes Car Hire, 0.8 mile from Windermere station – 015394 44408
Pegasus (recommended) | 015394 48899 |
Abacus Taxis | 015394 88285 |
B-Line Taxis | 0800 0281481 or 015394 44644 |
Lakes Taxis | 07831 855817 or 015394 44055 |
Windermere Taxi services | 015394 42355 |
Merewood is full (it has few rooms) but the Briery Wood Hotel (Merewood’s sister hotel) is a five minute drive (0.4 mile) from Merewood. Say you are attending our wedding at Merewood to get the rates below. We will book taxis in advance for you to return to Briery Wood after the wedding.
Briery Wood Country House HotelTariff –
Cheaper options – B & Bs in Windermere or Ambleside are £30-50 per person per night. The YHA in Windermere starts at £13.50 per adult per night for members.
Please, please, no gifts - Adam and I want to see people on our wedding day. We so rarely get to see family and friends (we see each other all the time!) so the real gift for us on August 16th will be the fact that you’ve made it.
People have been kind enough to insist, however, and also to ask for guidance, and so, if you would like, we would like to ask you to make a contribution to the ‘Change Cancer’ appeal set up and managed by Rachel’s honorary godfather, Keith Beattie. This would enable it to buy some pieces of equipment in commemoration of our marriage, for the ‘Henderson Suite for Cancer Care’ at West Cumberland Hospital.
So many members of Rachel’s family have died from cancer and many of them were treated at this hospital - which at the time had no such specialist cancer facility - among them, her Granddad, her Nana (who died from complications due to a cancer we didn't know she had), her Uncle Joe, her Auntie Nellie, *all* of her Granddad's brothers - Uncles Redvus, Les, Tom, and his sister, Auntie Jennie; also, in 2001, one of her closest friends, Rob Wilson. In more recent years (and also 2001) her wonderful godmother and one of her mum's closest friends, Ann Beattie (Keith's wife) died from ovarian cancer and was treated in the then just opened Henderson Suite.
The ‘Henderson Suite’ was originally a one room treatment facility with little or no privacy for patients and no specialist area for the treatment of children. The money Keith has raised in memory of Ann has so far helped to buy an additional treatment room, a quiet room, a specialist chemo unit on the children's ward, and a specialist treatment chair.
We would like to use this chance to contribute to that appeal and buy some pieces of equipment which the ward still needs. They will be marked with a plaque in commemoration of our marriage, and dedicated to Ann – our wedding is an event we know she would have loved to have been present at.
Should you choose to do this, please send cheques made payable to 'The Henderson Suite' to –
Keith Beattie, 'Change Cancer',Keith will send you a receipt and we’ll send you photos of what we purchase!
Rachel (UK mobile) | +44 7768 117 173 |
Adam (UK mobile) | +44 7788 660 596 |
Merewood Hotel | +44 15394 46484 |
Briery Wood Hotel | +44 15394 33316 |
Let us know if you’d like hard copies of the speeches, readings and ceremony so you can follow them in comfort.
Whilst the wedding breakfast will be a 4 course meal affair, the evening food will be limited to fish & chips, and wedding cake. Perhaps best to have a large breakfast and eat everything put in front of you at 4:30pm!
Everyone will, as customary, be allocated to a table but there will be no assigned seating on the actual table (though probably best to allow those in high chairs to sit next to the people feeding them ;-)).
The bride and groom will not be doing this so don’t wait – please just take to the dance floor after the cutting of the cake, at 8:30pm, whenever you wish.
Please sit wherever you would feel most comfortable, the hotel has disabled access at its front entrance – ramps will be put out to cover the stairs.
3pm - 4pm, hopefully on the lawn… please stick around - Charlie Whetham has the task of grabbing people so please look out for him!