[susieq]

Sticks - Southport and Liverpool ARE a mere hop, skip and a jump away from my fair city but whilst Co. Durham may be 'just across the Pennines', I wouldn´t describe it as 'not far'. It would certainly be a long way to come for an evening.

Anyway, I thought the convention was really more of an opportunity for members to meet each other and have a chat, a drink and a jolly good time. Whilst it would definitely be icing on the cake to have an ex HM there, I don't think this was the original purpose was it, or have I misunderstood?