By laboriously sweating over my tide tables for 2012 to determine periodicity, I calculate that low tide at Ramsgate will be at roughly 10.00 BST (GMT+1) on Sunday May 12th 2013.

I am therefore thinking of May 10th to 12th for the 2013 British Congress in Ramsgate (a beach walk is planned for the Sunday morning).

If anybody can see that I have messed up my calculations, or knows of any reason why these dates would inhibit participation from Belgium and Northern France, please say.

Thursday May 9th appears to be a public holiday on the near continent, which strikes me as odd - why a Thursday? I imagine a lot of people would convert that to a long weekend.

sudanglo:
Thursday May 9th appears to be a public holiday on the near continent, which strikes me as odd - why a Thursday? I imagine a lot of people would convert that to a long weekend.

That day is Ascension Day, which, being celebrated on the 40th day after Easter, is always a Thursday.

In Austria at least, schools usually close on the Fridays after the public holidays of Ascension Day and Corpus Christi (also always a Thursday, being dependent on the date of Easter) and some working people also take a day off on these Fridays. Unfortunately I don’t know about France.