BRUMMIE CONTRAS
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                                                                                   You're at   ELMDON HEATH C.C. HALL  page.     
Primary venue, B91 2SF - Elmdon Heath Community Centre Hall.
1st visit here ? £2 discount at the door. Ask !  Carry - HERE.
maps/details to get to Hall

M42 J5 is nearby. Dancers should find this venue very easy to reach by car.
What Hall looks like HERE. Hall is NAMED on map HERE. Where? Satellite gMap HERE.
Hall is open early to shelter travellers
- A welcoming hot drink & biscuits at 1:30pm.
NB Bus stop icon at a recess in front of the Hall marks hourly 966 inbound stop from B'HAM INTERNATIONAL RAIL STATION. 
From THIS STOP promptly at the Dance END - await 17.30 - catch 966 if RETURNING to SOLIHULL Centre. ( 3min walk to Solihull Stn.)

B'ham Sunday Busses next : then Rail Stations (each has a dedicated page).

By each bus route or suggested bus time: is now a CHECK link. Please do just that. Sunday timetables do get changed.

37 Bus from B'ham centre. Moor St MS16 stop Moor St Rail / 3min walk from New St Rail ! Every 10 min! 35 min ride via Acocks Green to bus stop ​opp Lode Heath School, 5 min walk to venue  !
On right Moat Rd. Becomes Cornyx La. Hall on Right. Walk route : bus to named Hall HERE.  CHECK : 37 BUS  Times: 37
72 Bus from B'ham centre ! every 30 min via Bromford-Castle Bromwich-Chelmsley Wood-Marston Green Rail Stn
- to same bus stop
​opp Lode Heath School,
5 min walk to venue  !
Right along Moat Rd: soon Cornyx La. Hall on Right. Walk route: bus to named Hall HERE.  Check 72 BUS  Times: 72 BUS
49 Bus every 30 mins from Northfield via Rubery-Longbridge rail starion-West Heath-
Kings Norton rail station-Cotteridge-Pool Farm-Maypole-Shirley rail station-Solihull rail station
-STAY ON BUS-past Solihull Hospital to [4th bus stop after station] (opposite) Hermitage Rd.
Walk is only 5 min to venue  ! Cross Lode Lane. Best follow along footpath beside playground into Hermitage Rd. Then left along Hermitage Rd to reach where Moat Rd becomes Cornyx La. At T turn Right - soon Hall is labelled on the Right. The walk route from the bus stop on streetmap where the Hall is NAMED can be viewed  HERE.  CHECK : 49 BUS  Times: 49
X2 Bus ride is 30 min from B'ham centre Moor St MS4 stop Moor St Rail / and 3min walk from New St Rail ! Runs every 20 min : via Bordesley rail station-Yardley-Sheldon-Wheatsheaf-Old Lode Lane -
- to same bus stop
​opp Lode Heath School,
5 min walk to venue  !
On right Moat Rd. Becomes Cornyx La. Hall on Right. Walk route : bus to named Hall  HERE.  Check  X2 BUS  Times : X2

966 Bus STOPS OUTSIDE THE HALL DOOR : takes 30 min from Five Ways Erdington !... Every HOUR ! via Castle Bromwich-Chelmsley Wood-International rail stn-to stop AT the venue !    CHECK : 966 BUS  Times: 966
A station well-connected by RAIL - see PAGE dedicated to :
BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL RAIL STATION/NEC.

966 Bus - DIRECT, BUT only HOURLY Sun bus service to get to the dance - catch the 13:28 from NEC Stop SB 
- 11 min ride
to Hall view stop outside hall: "opp Da
mson Lane" CHECK : 966 BUS  Times: 966
RETURN 966 is HOURLY towards International Station : LEAVE DANCE VERY PROMPTLY at END.Timetabled 17:24. Advise wait from 17:21 -  BUS 966 to NEC stops over the road from the Hall - NB. This NEXT 966 return bus is timetabled at 18:33.

You may find PLUSBUS
provides a cheaper bus ride AS you book your rail ticket.
BUT your set-off rail stat'n must be outside B'ham/Solihull: away from icon area HERE.

BEWARE that sometimes Plusbus's quoted times are NOT always fully updated.
Depending on such outdated times can be dangerous. Check WM timetables too!

NEAREST  rail to CC Hall is  -   SOLIHULL. 
Hall is 7-11mins cycle: 20-26 min walk from Solihull Rail.
Two sides of A4 maps & routes: see & print off from
ROUTEMAPS page.
Walkway, bus & cycling details are also available on these.
FREQUENT (less than 10 min) buses from Solihull Station run along Lode Lane.
Leave a 5 to 8 min walk to Hall.
Bus times from station/route and walking route are on the carry-maps.

Full details at
our page on Solihull Station - HERE : Rail - Solihull Station.

In 2016 the direct S1 Sunday bus was entirely removed. Solihull Station stop for 966 Sunday direct was taken out too.
966
 - direct, hourly
Sun bus service  - NOT outside Solihull Station: it's 3min walk away.
Catch 13:17 from Solihulll Stop SB. 7 min ride, & alight at Greville Arms, opposite the hall.
BUT - Next 966 bus is at - 14:17.

But best RETURN to near Solihull Stn : IS hourly 966. Leave dance PROMPTLY at END. 
Timetabled 17:33
. Advise wait from 17:30
- BUS 966
to Solihull stop is just outside the Hall -
- ride 
to Solihull Centre
 
: 3 min walk to Solihull Station. NB. This return bus is NEXT timetabled at 18:31.

**
Should these 2 rail stations NOT be convenient, check stations on the bus routes above.
                                                                               Details last updated on  23/1/17
**

All our venue's windows open properly AND it has ceiling FANS !
-
Comfortable Contras -  COOL in every sense !
_
Picture
CONGRATULATIONS, MANDY - another ace pic - OUR LAST DYNAMIC "ONLY LIVELY CONTRAS" DANCE OF 2015 Mandy's Copyright.. Nov 29th 2015.
Our Previous Venue
It's a regret that
relative convenience of public transport to the Chaplaincy had been used to limited advantage.
Students attending B'ham Uni nearby: & those in Cath Soc were not even trying-out Contras at the Chaplaincy.
Young and enthusiastic bands & callers are greatly appreciated by our older, as well as by our student dancers.
A great line-up is promised - wherever we meet to dance Brummie Contras.
- Kim's brilliant XMAS PARTY on 20th Dec 2015 - was our 1st dance at Elmdon Heath -
DANCES THERE THROUGH 2016 HAVE BEEN MUCH ENJOYED - BUT IT'S MORE FUN IF  YOU  COME REGULARLY.

***
NB: Any venue has good & bad aspects. Always there's balance between finding a hall-fee
AND still offering an excellent band & caller fair recompense for their days' work & travel.
Our bands are BRILLIANT  - many musicians need to drive a long way.
(Linda - the superb extemporising violinist of ECDB travels from Brighton.)
Most musicians are exceptionally generous with time & travel: giving us superb music.
Much h
igher costs loomed at our previous Chaplaincy Hall. David: a new part-time Warden expected 30% more for 2016. This forced a permanent venue transfer.
He'd left and locked the main door (- unannounced and whilst supposedly on duty -
arrivals at the dance found they were locked out, with the side door also locked)
He had also removed the previously agreed side-door facility to unload equipment.
Bands kept waiting with their gear at the front, had to lug it all a needlessly long way.

A £14 door price just to pay the new Chaplaincy Hall fees would
have decimated our attendance - rather than encourage a gradual
increase in numbers - which we need for the Contras to continue
.

NOW - key access - proper stage - ceiling fans - windows all open - less silly hassels.
( The Chaplaincy exterior title picture is now gone, SINCE WE NEEDED TO MOVE OUR VENUE. )
But bands & callers still need to receive a more fair remuneration, which they deserve !
Most dancers travel by car. Motorways usually cause less stress to car & driver.
Elmdon Heath Hall is
 conveniently CLOSE TO M42 J5. In quiet traffic, 4 mins away.

​A satisfactory venue - 2017's Brummie Contras ( not Good Friday ) will continue here !
What the hall looks like HERE. Pointed out on gMap below -
It's labelled position on open Satellite Map
HERE.

Route from J4 of M42 take A41 - just at first, it's dual carriageway - in just over half a mile are two close sets of traffic lights.
At the first lights continue ahead and immediately take the right lane to turn right at the second set of lights into Yew Tree Lane.
Continue on a curve to the left, to remain on Yew Tree Lane at a fork. Cross speed humps and pass minor junctions until your road ahead becomes Cornyx Lane. (Damson Lane goes off to your right.) You are passing the Greville Arms on the right. Look left. The hall sign reads "Elmdon Heath Community Centre ". Turn left into Glebe Road: immediately left into the service road. To right of the Hall, take tarmac driveway, & park behind the hall; else further around on its far side. Download HERE, to print route instructions & a Map.
NOTE THERE ARE ALSO MANY CAR SPACES ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE HALL. When parking behind, PLEASE LEAVE ACCESS TO THESE ! 
Very easy motorway access! AND Elmdon Heath Hall does "tick more boxes".
Plague echoes are present : reduced by side curtains; care, skill & time with sound set-up.
For Bands there's a useful trolley to transport equipment from outside onto the STAGE.
YEA - there's a PROPER STAGE FOR BAND AND CALLER here !
Access by supplied key SHOULD be preventing repeats of musicians, caller & Jackie needing to hang about outside at the start instead of being able to enter to prepare for dancers.
Dancers won't again be insulted by arriving to dance - to find the entrance & side door locked: by a warden
having entirely left the premises and given those inside no warning.
Windows at Elmdon Heath all open satisfactorily.
Ceiling fans cool dancers. (There's one on stage too! ), so we hope for cool summer dances.
The kitchen has a wall boiler; so we don't now need to wheel about,
or leave around a dangerous urn containing boiling water.

On our many Dance fliers - adverts for our Dances did much to "sell" the Chaplaincy Hall & its good points.
BUT
!  No stage. No curtaining to improve acoustics. No opportunity to open windows or through doors, to ventilate.
No ceiling fans. Bands kept waiting, then expected to lug equipment through 3 entrance doors and 2 halls, to set up !

Facilities at the Chaplaincy Hall had deteriorated, even since a personal offer to buy sound absorbing foam.

Kim's Christmas 2015 Party with Contras
was moved to the substantial hall of -
Elmdon Heath Community Centre.
In Cornyx Lane, Solihull, it's usually less than a 5min easy drive from  M42 J5.
A venue move deeply disappointed.
This though appeared the best prospect for the future of "Brummie Contras".

The Hall is directly indicated on the map ABOVE.
[ Navigation only by Hall postcode - B91 2SF - will direct the correct distance along , but to the OPPOSITE side of Cornyx Lane. ]
PARKING is plentiful - behind the Hall - properly surfaced and safely enclosed.
Turn off Cornyx Lane into Glebe Road - IMMEDIATELY left into the service road -
then drive to the right of the hall to park behind the hall itself.
The move from the venue previously pictured in our title is likely to be permanent.  The MAP ABOVE HERE POINTS OUT ELMDON HEATH HALL off CORNYX LANE.
SOME of MANY PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH TRYING TO CONTINUE AT THE CHAPLAINCY ARE OUTLINED ABOVE
.
To encourage attenders, almost every band has joyfully played music excellent for Contras, and -
to allow the gradual build-up regular dancers - have - like the callers - accepted fees based on our takings.
These remunerations have often inadequately reflected their travel and other costs.
Band fees have been personally subsidised, when remuneration from takings has seemed particularly unjust..

Last updated on  21/12/16
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CONTACT US page

​I / we wish to be AT THE NEXT DANCE
Page with details to get £1.50 each off door price next time.
Also deadlines (to check before you email).
For a group, download a form to complete & email.


Go to Great Alne Long Weekend website -
24th -27th April in 2020 for its DETAILS.

Event doubly extends the last w/e of April in 2020 
Quality workshops for ALL ages / abilities.
Enjoy a contra here on the Friday eve.
Karin Bellaart from the NETHERLANDS will also bring all kinds of lovely INTERNATIONAL DANCES as Nel did in 2017 & 2018.

EXCELLENT PART-SONG & A WIDE RANGE of OTHER DANCING.

Bring (grand)children. Share Maypole/Morris dances & ring handbell tunes from before noon on Sat & Sun.
NEW IN 2018 - EXTRA Sat/Sun PRICE DROPPED for ADULT DANCERS and THEIR ACCOMPANIED u18's

( The Great Alne Long Weekend is a "sister" website to this one) -
 click-on to go to one of these pages - 

ELMDON HEATH CC/RAIL/BUS  - Page especially to help with Rail Station connections, and Sunday bus services to Elmdon Heath Community Centre Hall.


See ROUTEMAPS:DOWNLOAD&PRINT -
 - Page has maps for car, bus stops, bike path & walking routes -
- to the   -  Elmdon Heath Community Centre venue. Download this to a smartphone to carry to walk from bus etc,
(or print on paper) to carry: even in the car. Ideal for initial visits. 




 CONTRA - What's that !   -  Information Page,


 But I've never really done this stuff before !  - Information Page.
DANCE DATES page
​  
FLIERS for NEXT BRUMMIE CONTRA pages. These may Pop-up : often below Dance DATES.
They are in pdf. You may view or DOWNLOAD.
If you would like to share out the fun of the "Brummie Contra" dances - then (regularly please) download, print - and distribute a few of these fliers in your area & dance club.
For some Contras to come, a flier page pop-up may show below other main pages or elsewhere !