Accommodation near the National Archives

[Andrew Arthy]

Hi,

I'll be in the United Kingdom in the first half of September 2005, and most of my time will be spent at the National Archives at Kew. I was wondering if anyone knew of any places to stay close to the archives?

Any suggestions are welcome. I have done a search of the Internet, but didn't really find anything satisfactory.

PS - Andreas and Kjetil, what dates are you guys going to be at the NA in September?

Cheers,
Andrew A.


--- Kjetil Aakra posted:

Re: VE Day celebration at Duxford

Hi Mark.

Andreas is over there on a recce-mission preparing the ground for the real event in September! Hope to meet you then, myself.

Kjetil

[Nick Beale]

The NA used to have a leaflet (in pre-internet days) of nearby accommodation and if you are there, people advertise on a notice board in the foyer (which is no help when you're in Australia, I agree).

I haven't looked on their website to see what advice they give there.

There are various websites that find hotels in London (google something like "London hotel find").

Also: take i/d (e.g. passport) on your first day, you need to show something to register as a reader.

You can use a digital camera (no flash) and laptop in the reading rooms which is a great help.

Also, if you're working a lot from microfilm (e.g. RAF Squadron ORBs and ULTRA) buy one of their copier cards to use the film/fiche printers and amass £1 coins to top the card up.

Warning: London is not a cheap habit!

[Jaap Woortman]

Dear Andrew,

My advice would be take a bed and breakfast at the Leach family.
You can have lunch at the PRO. Not too expensive.
I and several of my friends have been there several times when they were studying at the PRO. It is about 5 min. walk from the PRO and from the Kew railway station. And even more important close to the pub Flowers and Firkin at the Kew railway station.
See attachment for contact information.
If you need more information send me an email.

Jaap

[Linzee]

On the National Archives website http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ there is a 'Visit Us' link which has a link to accommodation http://www.kewaccommodation.com/

Or you can contact the Richmond Tourist Information Centre on +44 (0) 208 940 and they should be able to provide you with some information.

Good luck and enjoy your visit
Linzee

[Andrew Arthy]

Nick, Jaap, and Linzee,

Thanks very much for the replies.

I should have prefaced my question by saying that I had done a Google search for youth hostels in Kew, without any luck.

B & Bs seem to be the more expensive option (considering I am a 'poor university student'!). However, it seems they might be the best choice.

Cheers,
Andrew A.