ES - New Site : Tanglewood Forest

Susan Carol Tribble susant at unt.edu
Mon Oct 2 08:09:42 PDT 2000


According to Lady Innes, there was a problem with creepy critters.  So how
bad is the snake, bug and other creepy critters problem?  And how would
the trash situation be handled?

Lavina

On Mon, 2 Oct 2000, Timothy Rayburn wrote:

> 
> Greetings Elfsea,
> 
> This weekend several members of the populace had a chance to go and
> view the site that is used by the local Amtgard kingdom called
> Tanglewood Forest.  I believe that I can speak for everyone who went in
> saying that we see incredible potential for this site.  There are
> differing opinions as to it's current suitability, as you can tell from
> Lady Innes' posting about her impression.  I would like to share my
> impression with you.
> 
> Tanglewood Forest is privately owned land by David Hall.  David Hall is
> a well to do computer programmer working in the Dallas area and living
> in Rowlett.  Within Amtguard he holds their peerage for Service (the
> equivalent to our Pelican) called the Knight of the Flame.  He is a
> very down to earth individual who has developed Tanglewood Forest as a
> home for recreator groups, originally for Amtgard.  David is very
> excited about the possibility of having the SCA use this site.  He does
> not operate the site for profit, he is otherwise employed as I noted. 
> Instead every dollar the site earns is put back into improvements on
> the site.  Currently that bank account is over $8,000, as they have
> been saving up for a large covered pavilion on the site.
> 
> Let me start by agreeing with Lady Innes, we could not hold Springfaire
> at Tanglewood Forest right now.  The site needs to have the larger list
> field cleared, and camping space increased to accomidate the potential
> maximum of Springfaire.  The site is capable of this easily, it is
> highly under utilized right now, and will easily hold 800 or more
> whenever they 'complete' the project (which may be some time indeed).
> 
> Where Lady Innes and I differ is in the belief that by Springfaire this
> site could be ready for us.  David Hall has promised to prioritize
> anything we deem necessary to hold Springfaire there.  And, in my
> estimation that means two things : 1) Complete the larger of the two
> list fields on the site, and 2) Clear roughly a dozen new camping
> circles.
> 
> General Information
> -------------------
> Existing Facilities :
> * Small List Field lit by overhead lights. Roughly the size of the 
>   Defender list fields, but without area for Pavilions around them.
> * Feast area with electricity.  The area is roughly the size of the
> hall 
>   used for Dragon's Fire Tor Yule Revel for the last several years.  It
> is
>   uncovered at the moment.  This area is the location for the planned 
>   covered pavilion.
> * Bardic area cleared, with cement fire pit and tikis.
> * Many cleared campsites.  Enough for 300 folks who were neighborly.
> * Moderate sized parking area, packed gravel, no grass. Small amounts
> of 
>   possible other parking on grassed areas.
> 
> The site :
> * has excellent tree coverage, as Innes reported mostly Oak some Cedar.
> * is in Corsicana, south of Ennis, reachable from 45 and 35.
> * All roads on site as *packed* gravel.  The roads are not quite as
> nice 
>   as Canton, but much better than Gulf Wars or Country Junktion.
> * Electricity is on site, to the small list field & feast area.  Not
> far 
>   from some camping areas.
> * Water will be on site shortly (they are waiting for the meter, the
> pipes 
>   are run).  Water is currently only planned to come to the main gate, 
>   some distance from camping.
> 
> Camping
> -------
> Let me tell you a bit about the camping areas on this site.  Camping is
> organized in small cleared areas throughout the forest.  They are tied
> together via a series of roads (one way, one lane) which run throughout
> the land.  This gives great seperation of camp areas, and excellent
> privacy.  Further, the current camping areas are widely spread, with
> several deep into the site.  This will provide excellent noise
> isolation, allowing the more distant camps to be used by those who wish
> to drum long into the night, while leaving quieter camps closer to the
> fields for those who want them.
> 
> Clearing more campsites is fairly easy for David.  It is mostly the
> process of clearing the underbrush from the area and he has a tractor
> on site which can do most of that (even in the forest).  That same
> tractor is capable of pulling cars out if people are stupid enough to
> park in their campsites rather than on the gravel parking lot.
> 
> List Fields
> -----------
> Currently there is one cleared listfield area at Tanglewood.  This area
> which they call the 'list field' could hold one of our tourney fields
> with pavilions around it.  Obviously not big enough for Springfaire. 
> They are in the process of clearing their 'battle field' which will be
> big enough for even a Defender list, or possibly melee scenarios when
> they are done.  A portion of this area was about half cleared when we
> visited.  There were stumps that needed pulling, and a tree or three
> left to cut down.  After that it would need to be cast with some sort
> of grass.  This is some substantial amount of work, but not more than
> can be accomplished in the 7 months until the event.
> 
> Drainage
> --------
> Like all of North Texas, without exception, the site is top soil
> covering clay deeper.  This is the geologic nature of this area and the
> best you can do is find areas that are better than others.  The various
> roads on the site are crowned to provide a wash between the campsites
> and the roads.  All of the roads are gravel packed.  Ruts from cars
> getting stuf do exist, but only off the roaded area.  The county has
> recently redone the drainage on the road to the site (because of a
> problem where Tanglewood was fine, but the main road was washed away). 
> This has completely solved that problem as there are several foot deep
> gullies along the main road for water to move along.
> 
> Stores
> ------
> I did not pay as much attention on the way in to stores as I did on the
> way.  Within 15 minutes of site (back to Corsicana) there are two or
> three supermarkets and a Walmart.  Some are on the main drag, some are
> off it (and I called friends who've lived in Corsicana).
> 
> Summary
> -------
> I will be speaking in depth about the site and answering questions at
> Business Meeting and Moot.  I believe this site has potential and long
> term could be an excellent home for Elfsea events as it grows to handle
> our numbers.  What is needed for Springfaire is the list field
> complete, and the extra campsites cleared.  If David can agree to have
> these items completed in a few months, then we could use this site.
> 
> We currently have reservations for Canton on the date for Springfaire. 
> What I would like to do is revisit this site in a few months and see
> where he is.  David has said he will prioritize what we need completed,
> let's see if he can do it.  If he can, then we can try a new, more
> rural and less mundane site in a beautiful forest setting.  If not,
> then we still have the Canton site reserved, we are out no money, and
> the event is held at Canton.
> 
> The break point for us is no later than February 1st.  This is the
> submission deadline for the March BlackStar.  Since the event is in
> late April this would give us March and April to have Springfaire ads
> which include the site information.  I feel the possibility of a new
> site is worth exploring, and the site definitely deserves a second look
> in a few months.
> 
> If you have ANY questions about the site, please feel free to ask
> openly on the list.  I want to hear your opinions.
> 
> Timothy of Glastonbury
> Autocrat for Elfsea Springfaire
> 
> 
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***susant at jove.acs.unt.edu***
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