Accommodations in London and Manchester
The Penn Club at
21 Bedford Place
London WC1B 5JH
It is run by Quakers and is one block east of the British Museum just off of Russell Square. I stayed there for the the first three months of this year and found it agreeable. I paid a longer term rate which included meals. As I recall, the shorter term rate including breakfast was somewhere in the range of 30L a night but you can check with the PEnn Club on that if you are interested.
In Manchester, in 1977 I stayed there as a graduate student at the YMCA in downtown Manchester. It was ok as I recall and was affordable on a grad. students stipend.
David Mitch
Mitch@UMBC2.UMBC.EDU
I strongly recommend the Ridgemount Private Hotel, 65-67 Gower St., WC1 (tel. 636-1141). It's centrally located, near the University of London and British Museum, and is well run and quite comfortable. In 1986 I spent three months there as an exchange student at Birkbeck College, and have been back I think four times, with the most recent stay being last month. Whereas some places tend to slip into decay, the Ridgemount has been nicer on each trip. For a double room w/ sink, tv, and full English breakfast, my wife and I paid 35 pounds a night. I'm not sure what a single room costs. There are many hotels on Gower Street, some of which are a bit cheaper, but the Ridgemount is definitely the best of the lot. The proprietor's name is Mr. Rees, and he is very helpful and quite friendly. If this hotel is in your price range, I think you would find it a good value in a wonderful location (British Museum is not much more than a five or six minute walk).
Good luck in finding accomodations; I'm sure you'll have several responses, each of which telling you there's only _one_ place to stay.
PETE MCCLUSKEY (mccluske@comp.uark.edu)
The best place to stay in London, especially if you'll be staying more than two months, may be the London House for Overseas Graduates. Since it is located at Mecklenburgh Square, it is only a 10-15 minute walk to the BL (both old location and new) not to mention Chancery Lane. The rates are also quite moderate, especially for longer stays (if I recall, they have a rate of about 7 pounds per night for longer stays, and 12 for shorter, for a single room with refrigerator, phone & sink; bathrooms down the hall; access to kitchens, cheap bar, cafeteria/mess hall, and a very collegial environment).
They should be listed under "Goodenough Trust," I believe.
Cliff Rogers
Ohio State
This may seem a perverse suggestion, but I often and very comfortably stay in convent guesthouses, esp. in London. The price cannot be beat, as it is often 'give what you can afford'; they are often very centrally located, thanks to the length of time they've been around (for example, St. Saviour's Priory is a ten min. tube trip from the British Library); they are comfortable and give you considerable freedom of action, and most welcome men and couples AWA women. It is a wonderful way to get to know some very interesting English people as well.
Susan Mumm,
History, York U, Toronto
(smumm@vm2.yorku.ca).
I stayed at a dandy little place called the Vanden House when I was last in London in 1986. Address is 1 Vanden St., across from the St. James Court and the new Scotland Yard headquarters (with the revolvbing triangular sign). It's around the corner from the St. James Park underground station as I recall, a reasonable walk from Victoria station (if you're flying into Gatwick and taking the train in), and a block or so over from the Mall and Buckingham Palace (just for geographical reference). If you do try it, let me know if it's still as good (and cheap). I'm planning on going over myself in the summer of '85.
John Ogasapian (ogasapiaj@woods.uml.edu)
Robert Hall, good to meet you, virtually. May I suggest you contact Quaker International Centre, 1 Byng Place, London, WC1EE 7JJ, tel. 071-387 3601. The great advantage is that it is two blocks from the BL, diagonally across the street from Dillon's. The rates are probably 25 pounds nightly or so. My wife and I stayed there in 1988 when I was doing research for my new book on George Fox, and we've been back since. Hope this helps.
Larry Ingle lingle@utcvm.utc.edu History, UTC
Don't know about Manchester and you didn't say what level of accomodation you require but, on my last trip to London, I stayed at Cannon Court, 37 Belsize Avenue, London NW3 4BN, Tel: 071-794-6262, Fax: 071-794-6484. The company is called Welby and the manager is Iraj Elganian. These are Short Let Accomodations, quite seedy, but clean, adequate, and cheap (I thought). Most of the tenants seem to be students on the move. We paid 20 pounds a night for a double room with small kitchen and shared clean bath. 30 quid gets you a private bath. Tube station is Belsize Park, about 2 blocks away. Convenient supermarket to stock kitchen with breakfast across from tube station.
Eugene Marner
I noticed your request on the list. What an odd coincidence. I assumed I knew most of the folks at UTK interested in this subject. You might try the Penn Club in London near the BM. Its nice and not terribly expensive. Yours, T. J. Heffernan
All I do is arrange the first couple of nights in advance, to allow time to recover from jetlag. Then I pick up a copy of Loot from any newsagents, look under a heading called 'short term lets' or something similar, decide what part of the city I want to stay in, and make a few phone calls. Last summer (I decided I wanted a break from convents) I paid 60 pounds a week for a huge bedroom in a nice Georgian house close to the British Library. Summer is especially easy because so many people let a room to a student during the winter, and thus have a vacancy during late June through the rest of the summer. Such places are often nicer than B&Bs, much less costly, and far friendlier. They generally give full use of kitchen, laundry, sitting room, etc. Women should use some caution of course, but since the recent Gloucester murders seem to have been carried out in a house used as a B&B, I'm not sure they are any safer.
S. Mumm, History, York U.
SMUMM@VM2.YorkU.CAM
Regarding your question about accomodations, I have had good luck staying at James Madison University's hotel on Gower St. It is just around the corner from the BL and about a mile from the PRO. The facilities are somewhat stark, but it's clean, convenient and relatively cheap. The person to contact is Judy Cohen, JMU Overseas Programs, JMU, Harrisonburg VA 22807; 1-703-568-6979. Good luck,
Bill Palmer
Marshall
HST005@MARSHALL.WVNET.EDU
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