National History Show. Olympia, London

[johnP-bedford]

Sasha,  That was nice, coming to find me & say hello. Hope you had good day.
Yes I noticed the workshops & taks were fully booked up, but I could stand outside the areas, see & hear OK, & follow the discussion. I saw Ian Hislop & Nick Barrett; got useful info from the Archives stand & had a good (although tiring) day. ....  However if I had spent £20 on a ticket.... I'd think twice...

johnP 

[SCH]

We had a great time.

Cannot stress enough...............book those show tickets ASAP !!!

When you get in to the Hall, go straight all the way to the WDYTYA stage, next to that is a ticket booth...........just ask for your WDYTYA stage tickets there and then ! Avoid the queues.

As for the Theatre up on the Gallary level, no ticket required, but get there about 25 mins before the show is due to start.......and queue.

Ian Hislop was great. David Starkey was excellent.

I didn't bother going to any workshops.

All the 'ask the experts' and other 'query' bits and pieces were VERY popular.

You won't get everything done you want to, so you'll have to compromise.

Stay right to the end and it's much easier.......cos all the old folk go home and you get the last hour with clear stands (sorry but it's true !!).

Anyone going on Sunday or Monday................ENJOY !

[millymcb]

Thanks SCH.

I'm going tomorrow so will head your advice

[SCH]

Thanks SCH.

I'm going tomorrow so will head your advice

And get there before 10am................cos you have to queue !!!!

If there is two of you......as soon as you enter the show..............one of you sort out the Live Show WDYTYA tickets.....the other one turn to the left and get the coffee's !!

If you want to sit in the Spitfire, it's in the back left hand corner ! It's not 100% original, it's part replica/part original bits !

And if you want a bit of a break from the show go to the Gallary level, cos you can sit there, it's not crowded, bar and toilets. You can look at the show below and plan your next stage !

ENJOY !

[millymcb]

Will get up bright and early and put my queue-ing shoes on!

Thanks again

[SCH]

Who has been today then ?

[millymcb]

Hi SCH


We went today.  Thanks for your tip about getting there before 10 and then going straight to the ticket place.  It worked very well.

We went by train as Olympia Railway station is right next door which was very easy.

We had a good day. It's quite hard work wandering about but there are lots of places to stop for coffee and sandwiches (in main hall and also up in gallery level for those going tomorrow).  We saw a couple of speakers and then wandered around looking at the stalls... picking up free back-issues of magazines and trying to avoid subscribing to all the publications offering discounts!

So - an interesting if tiring day...

If anyone is going tomorrow...enjoy!
 

[SCH]

Brilliant stuff

Which mags were offering free back issues ?!?!

Tomorrow, it's only 10am - 4pm
(but I'll bet there will be some great discounts by 3.30pm on some stands !)

[bluebellwoods]

I went yesterday - I managed to get Family History, Family Tree and History today, back issues, several of each with the free CD's. I travelled from Lancashire - it was a long day and I'm glad I did it, but if I had paid £20 I would have been disappointed. I think the ticket system for the workshops was badly organised, and I wish I had seen David Starkey and Nick Barrett rather than attending workshops. I didn't really learn anything from the workshops that I didn't already know. As I said, I'm glad I went but for me to go again next year it would have to be better organised and perhaps in a central location such as the NEC in Birmingham. Still, it's the first one of its kind and it can only get better.