Saturday, October 2 at Chung Ying Gardens
17 Thorp Street , Birmingham , West Midlands , B5 4AT
12.00 noon until 5.00pm

Located in the heart of Chinatown, Chung Ying Garden is one of the largest
and most popular Chinese restaurants in the Midlands

The link below takes you to a video presentation of the different rooms throughout the restaurant. The room we have booked is large, with round tables seating 10 people per table. The best pictures in the video that show the room we have booked are numbers 16 and 17. The room with the bar at the far end.

http://www.chungying.co.uk/en/Chung_Ying_Garden/Gallery.cy

We have our own bar which will be manned throughout our dinner and meeting, with our own toilets and even a ‘smokers balcony' for those who feel the need. We also have our own PA system and large projection screens for the benefit of those sitting at the back of the room. The large room seats up to 80, but if there are more than this number attending, there are sliding doors at the side of the room that open up to an adjoining room, which seats a further 50 people. There is a large projection screen in that room too.

Sadly, there has to be a draw back. If you look at the first picture in the video, you will see there are about eight steps up from the street to the ground floor. There is a further wide flight of stairs up to the first floor. However, for those in wheel chairs, or those who find stairs difficult, James has assured me that they have “some big strong lads” who will be only too happy to help with the transportation of anybody from the street right to your table. They have apparently carried wheelchairs up on numerous occasions. There is no lift and no stair-lift, but once you are there, everything else is on the same floor.

There is plenty of car parking at the back of the restaurant, and plenty of other car parks around the area, including the very large Bull Ring Centre car park, which is five minutes walk away.

However, some of you who are travelling by train will be pleased to hear that the New Street Station is about a 10 minute walk away, and if you need a taxi, this is a very short distance. There is a tram that will take you from Snow Hill Station to very near Chung Ying Gardens . By the way, there is also a ‘sister' to Chung Ying Gardens, which is a smaller restaurant called ‘Chung Ying' close by, so be sure to mention the ‘ Garden '.

Lunch will be served at 12.00 noon sharp, after which, there will be speeches by Dr Peatfield, Dr Skinner and Dr Mantzouorani. After that, it will be open to a question and answer session. This time however, if you have any specific questions to ask, please write them down and send them to me at sheilaturner@tpa-uk.org.uk so we can be ready to hopefully find a satisfactory answer. Sometimes, it is difficult to be able to answer spontaneously, as we found at the last two meetings.

I visited the Chung Ying Gardens Restaurant to sort out the menu and I hope you will all be happy with it. For those who do not like spicy food or who have special dietary needs, James will be happy to accommodate these, but you must contact him nearer the time to discuss your wishes with him (0121 666 6622) and speak to James ONLY.

We have agreed to cut down the cost of the menu for our TPA party from £17.00 a head to £12.00 a head. You will pay for your meal at the end of the meeting and the cost of drinks, coffee/tea, puddings etc will be extra.

Chung Ying Garden Menu 

These will all be served in bowls and brought to your table so that you can help yourself to whatever you like.

Please let Amanda know by emailing her at galathea@tiscali.co.uk if you would like to book a place for the lunch and meeting and let her know how many guests you will be bringing with you. This is very important as the accommodation will only seat just over 100 - so it will be first come, first served. Please note that it is expected that all guests will be taking lunch. The accommodation and service has been given to us free of charge on the understanding we will be all be eating, so please take note. That is, all you will be expected to pay, as we have made no charges to attend the meeting.

Also, with the great success raffling prizes to raise funds for TPA at our April Meeting, if you are would be happy to donate a raffle prize yourself for the October Meeting, please contact Marie and let her know at holloway.marie@googlemail.com .

For those of you who will be coming some distance, below are some hotels and B and B accommodations. Central Birmingham hotels can be expensive, especially Friday and Saturday nights, but there are some cheaper (basic) hotels in the area.

Please be aware that the Conservative Party Conference is also being held on Saturday, 2 October, so book your accommodation early . There are several large hotels nearby, but being central Birmingham as well as Friday and Saturday nights, as you can imagine, the price can be high. The Ibis Hotel, which is very close to the restaurant is charging £95.00 per room per night! However, there is one hotel called The Etap and the room rates are the same for both Friday and Saturday: £55.00 per night per double room. This is a basic hotel but with good clean rooms for three people (with a bunk bed) plus flat screen TV, a comfort shower and separate toilet. Perhaps if quite a few stayed there, you could share a taxi(s) to the Chung Ying Gardens .http://www.etaphotel.com/gb/hotel-5678-etap-hotel-etap-hotel-birmingham-centre/index.shtml

Here are a few smaller establishments that seem to have reasonable reviews:

Westbourne Lodge
27-29 Fountain Road
Birmingham
B17  8NJ  
Telephone 0121 429 1003     
www.westbournelodge.co.uk
Good standard of B and B, charges £85.00 per double room and £65.00 per single room per night. (Six rooms available) - Situated approx two miles from the New Street Station.

Elmdon Lodge Hotel
20-24 Elmdon Road
Acocks Green
Birmingham
B27  6LH
Telephone 0121 706 6968   
www.elmdonlodge.co.uk
Again, good reviews, charges £65.00 per night for double room and £59.00 per night for twin room and has free parking. It is situated approx four and a half miles from the New Street Station.

Gables Nest Guest House
1639 Coventry Road
Yardley
Birmingham
B26  1DD 
Telephone 0121 708 2712  
www.guesthousebirmingham.co.uk
Good reviews - Has five double rooms and charges £50.00 per night - Four miles from the New Street Station.