By BrianC
August 5 2003

Long awaited, especially by those who were there last year, this Sunday 10th August sees the LI Craic team hit Henley. Herewith some details about getting there, the menu and the general outline of the day.

Getting There:

By Car: The most common route into Henley is via the M4, take Junction 8/9 which brings you to the M404 then follow the signs to Henley. You will approach the town by crossing Henley bridge, on hot weekend days there can be significant queues before you reach this. Once you are over the bridge go straight on until you reach the next set of lights. At these lights turn right into Bell street, about 150m along this road you come to a mini-roundabout, take the right hand turn. This year we are asking that you park in car park C, this is on the left just past Henley RFC, parking is two pounds for the day. If you have stuff that needs to be brought down to the riverside you will be able to drive down to it via the entrance which is directly opposite the Swiss Farm camp site.

By Rail: Henley is on a branch line from Twyford which is on the main London to Reading line. Trains from London Paddington leave at 46 minutes past the hour, the journey time is 66 minutes including the change at Twyford. On Sunday morning there is one direct train to Henley at 9.32 which takes 23 minutes, subsequent trains leave at 15 past the hour and take 35 minutes including the change.

By Bus: There are regular bus services from Henley to Reading, High Wycombe, Marlow and Maidenhead.   There is also an hourly service from Oxford to Heathrow via Henley.

Further details about Henley can be found on the Henley Traders or the Henley Online websites.

The Barbequeue:

Here is the draft menu, courtesy of OxonRob.

For your £10, the following, PLUS Marie's delicious salads, breads and melons and even (Thanks Mrs Goz) some pineapples, the latter two with straws.

LUNCH - from about 12/12.30 but not later than 2. The cooks want to watch rugby too!

Minty lamb steaks (No, not chops)

De luxe Chinese spare rib

Lemon Pepper coated chicken drumsticks

Honey Roast Sausages

Plus Vegetarian offerings by MWM

SUPPER - about 1-1.5 hours after the final whistle

Rob's now famous butterflied legs of lamb, marinaded in rosemary and garlic

Tuna steaks, marinaded in lime and coriander

Rib of beef, cooked on the bone

More Vegetarian offerings by MWM.

As with all such gatherings this is a BYB (Bring your own Booze) event. It would be useful if a few of you could also bring corkscrews, bottle openers and, where possible ice.

Boat Trips:

As with last year we will be running these on an ad hoc basis. If you particularly want to cruise the Henley stretch, glass in hand or perhaps try your hand at handling a boat find me on the day.

Staying Over:

There are groups of us staying over on both Saturday and Sunday nights either on boats, in tents on the meadow, the nearby camping site or hotels in town. You are more than welcome to join us.

The Fat Bloke Sevens:

This is not an LISC event but a separate supporters sevens tournament that is being run on one of Henley RFC's training pitches close to the meadow where we are holding the Barbeque. Sixteen teams of over-weight, under-trained fat blokes will run around trying their best not to have cardiac arrests. After this tournament there will be an exhibition match on the main Henley RFC pitch.

The Henley International Sevens:

This is a highly respected sevens tournament, teams this year include Apache, British Army, China, Henley Hawks, Jedi, London Visigoths, Loughborough University, Marauders, Northampton Saints, Samurai, Scorpions, Sky Runners, London Nigerians, Uganda, West Indies and our first round rivals from the Middlesex sevens, Young England. Further details can be found on the Henley RFC Site.

So there you have it, the weather forecast looks good, almost all the arrangements have been made. It looks set for a truly great day. I can't wait.