# UK dopers, The Bird in Hand, Hilverston?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-the-bird-in-hand-hilverston/161506>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 15, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-the-bird-in-hand-hilverston/161506 "2003-03-15T02:52:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-the-bird-in-hand-hilverston/161506/1 "2003-03-15T02:52:20Z")

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Help,  
Where is this place?, has anyone been there before?, I am planning on staying there for 1 night (BSA motorcycle rally), how close is it to the Stafford County Showground?, should I take the train to Stafford (I am coming from Gatwick) and a taxi there?, are there any facilities on site (toilet, shower, cabins, etc.) ?.

unclviny

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**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-the-bird-in-hand-hilverston/161506/2 "2003-03-15T11:45:54Z")

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Apparently it’s small enough that it doesn’t appear on any UK maps (I’ve tried two online maps and one paper road-map). Even Google only has three hits for that name.

Aha! Found it - it was the wrong spelling. Try **Hilderstone** - [The Bird in Hand](http://www.travelpublishing.co.uk/HiddenInnsHeartofEngland/Staffordshire/hhe13141.htm).

How to get there - use this [Railtrack journey planner](http://212.87.65.227/bin/newquery.exe/en) for train times. The departure station will be Gatwick Airport, and the nearest station to you is Stone (North Staffordshire).

You’re looking realistically at five to six hours on the train, allowing for delays, with a minimum of one change (Gatwick to Stafford, Stafford to Stone). After that you’re at the mercy of local public transport - for somewhere that isolated, I’d take the taxi option. Local map [right here](http://www.multimap.co.uk/map/browse.cgi?client=public&db=hcgaz&addr1=&client=public&Submit.x=16&addr2=&advanced=&Submit.y=9&addr3=&pc=&X=395058&quicksearch=Hilderstone&Y=334692&scale=100000&place=Hilderstone,Staffordshire&coordsys=gb).

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**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-the-bird-in-hand-hilverston/161506/3 "2003-03-15T11:47:19Z")

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Oh. Eight miles from Stafford itself; you could just get a taxi from there.

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**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-the-bird-in-hand-hilverston/161506/4 "2003-03-15T19:15:28Z")

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All hail Crusoe,  
Dopers rule!, I was given the wrong spelling and that made it rather difficult to find, it looks like an easy deal, I will take the train to Stafford and a taxi to Hilderstone, then Saturday morning taxi back to Stafford, I will drop my stuff at my hotel and head for the bike show (at the showgrounds).

thanks for the help

unclviny

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**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-the-bird-in-hand-hilverston/161506/5 "2003-03-15T19:20:30Z")

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No problem, have fun!