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Opened in 1868, the Palace Hotel is one of those grand hotels that these days has a rather tired feel and, whilst cosy in some ways, it could do with a bit of sprucing up. The hotel has been used by a number of conventions recently, such as Novacons and Funcon, and its chief advantage seems to be that it is open for such business - in other words, they are happy to have large groups (and that is very important - though see later comments).
The imposing edifice you see from the front is the three-storey main block but many of the rooms are in the long blocks that run from the back of the building, sometimes making for a bit of a hike to your room. Thinking of which, mine was small and a bit cramped by its slightly odd layout but otherwise adequate; it had easy-to-use touch lamps by the bed and the sash windows opened to let in fresh air (lots of it, if you wanted it). The bathroom was more style than utility; for example, the wash basin was far too small to allow you to fill the kettle with which the room was provided.
Using the rather ancient lift was an adventure; once a button was pressed it was committed and that meant that you had to be careful to press the desired button at the right moment else the lift might go somewhere else. Furthermore, the lift only served the main block; the rearwards blocks were half a storey up/down, meaning that anybody using the lift to get to one of those rooms was still faced with stairs, even if for only half a storey (and storeys are high in such a hotel). Those who had problems with stairs had to ensure they were in the main block.
Unfortunately, the main restaurant was closed for maintenance and redecoration; apparently this included fixing the ornate mouldings on the ceiling (and you do not want those falling on you). Consequently, a smaller room at the back of the hotel was pressed into service and it was not very good. At breakfast, the room was very hot though fortunately some tables were available outside in the much cooler lobby/corridor and, using large, round tables, this provided a more sociable breakfast. The room’s size also impacted on dinner and it was necessary to book your required time well in advance and hope that they would adhere to the booking time, especially if you were involved in the programme and had to be on stage at a programmed time. Due to the way the staffing worked, only one person could actually take dinner orders and, if she was elsewhere (which she often was), you were faced with several other members of staff doing very little whilst they waited for her to come back. Throughout the weekend, I was not impressed with the organisation of the hotel though I did find that the staff themselves were very friendly and tried to be helpful.
I took to having lunch and dinner in the bar, which also had its problems. The lounge was OK but the bar was a sort of rounded thing sticking out at the end of the room and getting in everyone’s way - whoever had designed it had forgotten that there would be people passing through the lounge. The bar staff were often absent, one reason being that every food order had to be taken down the corridor to the kitchen; for some reason the bar staff then got stuck in the kitchen for many minutes (each time), meaning that those queuing at the bar spent most of their time waiting for the bar staff to come back and continue serving. The food, though, when it came, was good. The beer, on the other hand, was disappointing. The best the bar had to offer was Tetley’s Smoothflow, a keg beer with a huge head, whilst the con bar (when it was open in the evenings) did not have the promised real ale but instead supplied cans of ‘craft’ beer wallowing in a large tray of ice (which did them no favours, not that they were that enjoyable when at a sensible temperature). When asked, the bar staff had little knowledge of beer - all they did was serve it.
I noticed on the Saturday morning that the water coming out of the taps was decidedly brown and asked the hotel reception what the problem was. One very helpful lass explained that there had been a burst water main the previous night but the water authority had fixed it and the water was now fine to drink. However, none of the other staff were aware of the problem (or had even noticed the water colour) and this left me a bit worried as to whether there was anything else wrong of which they might be blissfully unaware.
All told, I was not overly impressed with the hotel and it seems I was not the only one. There were many negative comments throughout the event and afterwards the convention committee asked for feedback on our thoughts, especially given some of the problems that had been reported to them. These included at least one unusable room and several other poor rooms, with the hotel and its head office being unable or unwilling to sort out the problems. They have tried to take them up with the hotel but I gather that instead of such problems being dealt with, communications with the hotel (or perhaps its head office) have somewhat broken down. I have heard that, whilst several cons have been held there, other fans have commented on the lines that our experiences were ‘par for the course’. It would seem that the hotel is ‘popular’ with conventions in that it is cheap and willing to host them, though one wonders if that is a sufficiently good reason for using it. Perhaps other conventions should take note? At least one person has said that they will never attend another convention at that hotel nor, indeed, at any other hotel in the Britannia Group. I find myself tending to agree.
So much for the hotel - what of the convention?
The UK Guest of Honour (GoH) was Robert Beckwith, the Overseas Guest of Honour was Lauren Oxford, and the Guest Emeritus (EGoH) was Mike Whitaker.
The music opened with the ever-popular Christo, followed by Blind Lemming Chiffon, and then Talis Kimberley. The evening finished with Lauren running a themed circle which lead into the normal open circle.
Saturday morning started with a workshop from Robert then a set from Playing Rapunzel. Next came a report on the Filk Fund and then the first session of the auction. After lunch came Piers Cawley with his traditional style and impressive vocal volume, at times accompanying himself with his new looper. C. J. Ueberall came next, followed by Filkcon stalwart Valerie Housden, who offered interesting songs and good, clear singing. Robert performed his first GoH slot and entertained us with many funny songs, though his voice could do with being louder. And so to the main concert, where folks were restricted to one song each. Of particular note were Chantelle, Bill & Brenda, Steve, and Christo (whose song ‘Three-Headed Girl’ is now 20 years old).
The evening consisted of two concerts: GoH Lauren then EGoH Mike and Friends. I thought Lauren had a good voice though it would benefit from a little more evenness of volume, and her chat between numbers was a work in progress. Mike’s set was much rockier with a well-experienced band consisting of himself, Ann, Jamie, and Rika, plus guests Amy, Bill & Brenda, Lauren, Robert, and Talis. The evening finished with a bang!
I started Sunday with another local walk, just down and back up the main street, thus missing the workshops from Lauren and Mike. The first concert slot of the day was nicely filled by Edwin Brady adding to the catalogue of humorous songs, followed Karl-Johan Norén and his more traditional renderings.
Jackie Mitchell provided a good start to the afternoon, followed by Robert’s second GOH slot with more of his humorous songs. Next came the annual Sams Awards Ceremony, or UK Filk Awards to give them their proper name. Due to CoVID’s interruption in conventions, the eligibility for Best Serious and Best Silly were extended from five to seven years. The awards went to:
Best Serious: Valerie Housden for ‘One Last Kindness’
Best Silly: Edwin Brady for ‘The Meeting (Could've Been an Email)’
Filk Gold: Playing Rapunzel for ‘Nine Hundred And Ninety Nine’
Best At-Con Performance: Talis Kimberley & Amy McNally for ‘Half Cremona’
Lauren performed her second GoH slot, followed by the Sams concert, where the award winners reminded us why they had won. The concert programme concluded, as so often, with the NMC (the N'early Music Consort) leading the singing of ‘Sam’s Song’.
The NMC have entertained us for so many years but this was their final performance. Valerie, who has conducted them for so long, was retiring from the position and so, with age catching up with so many, they have all retired. But we do have the memories (and some of us even have their CD).
The event over, many headed to dinner, some staying the hotel and others venturing into town. A bunch of us tried the Taj Mahal and enjoyed a very pleasant Indian meal - and at a very good price. Then it was time for socialising at the bar or joining the final singing circle.
All told, I had a very enjoyable weekend thought I felt that the sound was a touch disappointing compared to previous years. Possibly the very large room was not quite as suitable, and the layout of the chairs (spread around the room in pairs rather than the usual rows - presumably to reduce the chances of infections) might not have helped the acoustics. And a lesson for all, CoVID or no CoVID - do not make announcements whilst wearing a mask! Nor try singing with a mask on!
As normal these days, everyone was asked to test for CoVID before attending and to stay at home if positive. When I arrived, many were wearing masks; however, as the weekend went on, most masks quietly disappeared. CoVID has become just one more infectious disease we all have to contend with and inevitably mask wearing will fade away, apart from those who are particularly vulnerable. Perhaps we should remain a little more thoughtful about communicating diseases than we used to be?
It was a pleasure to be back at a live event and my thanks to the convention committee for all their hard work, to the musicians for their music, and to everyone else for simply being there and making it a good weekend.
Next year's convention, Contabile 35, will run on the 7th-9th of February 2025 at the Wensum Valley Hotel, Golf & Country Club, near Norwich. The UK guest will be Edwin Brady, the Overseas guest will be Michael ‘Moonwulf’ Longcor, and the Filker Emeritus will be Valerie Housden. For further information, see www.contabile.org.uk.
Peter Tyers
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