Harrogate Contra events are held at:
St Aelred's Church Hall
Corner of Woodlands Drive & Woodlands Grove,
Harrogate, HG2 7BE
Please note there is no bar, but there will be a plentiful supply of Harrogate's famous tap water.
Feel free to bring your own drinks.
Directions by Car:
From Harrogate town centre follow signs for Knaresborough, York (A59).
At the Empress Roundabout (Junction with A59/A661), take the 3rd exit A661 (signposted Wetherby).
At the traffic light junction adjacent to the Woodlands pub (on your right),
turn sharp left over the hump onto Woodlands Drive (marked as a 1-way street).
Downhill for about 500m and St Aelred’s Church Hall is on the left hand side.
From the A1, take junction 47 (A59).
Follow signs to Harrogate - A59, A658 and eventually turning right onto A661.
At the traffic light junction adjacent to the Woodlands pub (on your left),
take the first right turn over the hump onto Woodlands Drive (marked as a 1-way street).
Downhill for about 500m and St Aelred’s Church Hall is on the left hand side.
by Public Transport:
The hall is a few minutes walk from Starbeck Railway Station.
Turn right out of the station, and walk gently up hill in a westerly direction (towards Harrogate town centre).
Fairly soon turn left onto Stonefall Avenue (Bradleys Fish'N'Chips on the corner).
Walk a few hundred yards and you will find St Aelred's Church Hall on your right.
The car park entrance is on Woodlands Grove. The car park is fairly small.
If parking here, be aware you are likely to be boxed in by other vehicles.
This will not be a problem if you plan to stay to the end.
Please do not park on the grass.
The hall has a pedestrian entrance on Woodlands Drive.
There is ample street parking on Woodlands Grove, Woodlands Drive and Stonefall Avenue.
Facilities
The hall has a good wooden floor, and fairly bright fluorescent lighting (with no options for dimming). There is a small kitchen on the side with facilities for providing fresh water, tea, coffee etc.
Toilets are adequate but not great for disabled access.
The house sound system is good quality and suitable for use by live bands - comprising wall mounted Yamaha speakers with an 8 channel Yamaha mixer amp on the side of the stage.
Clarity of sound is excellent without needing to be over loud.
The stage is reasonably spacious but usuallly cluttered with junk and not very high.
The whole area is open plan, so anyone needing a quiet place to escape for a while is really limited to the lawn outside.
We expect 40 to 60 dancers on a typical evening. The maximum the hall would take is about 80.
Local Amenities
If travelling some distance, you may wish to take advantage of Starbeck's plentiful eating places.
Our favourite takeaways on Starbeck High St are:
Pizza Pan on the High Street just on the Harrogate side of the level crossing - ring them 10 minutes in advance and pizza will be ready collect on the way past (cash only).
Fish and Chips - Portside on the High Street on the far side of the level crossing or Bradleys on the corner of Stonefall Ave.
There are plenty of other options along the Starbeck High Street, just over the level crossing.