Welcome to the sixth bulletin for the 2006 YAPC::Europe Perl Conference.

Conference Website

With much fanfare the Birmingham 2006 Organisers are pleased to announce the launch of the official website for YAPC::Europe::2006.

• www.birmingham2006.com

The site will be updated with newsletters, articles and news over the coming months. We will be featuring both conference related articles as well as things to do in and around Birmingham, for anyone wishing to extend their stay. If you have any suggestions for things you'd like to find more information about, please let us know and we'll update the site as soon as possible.

Conference Wiki

Following on from the above announcement, we are also delighted to launch the official conference wiki, which you can now go and sign up to and add stuff to your hearts content. Well within reason of course :)

• http://yewiki.grango.org

To use the wiki, you will need to register. Due to the amount of wiki spam that has plagued other wikis, we have decided to lock down the wiki a little to only allow registered users to have write access. There are a couple of pages only admins can edit, but pretty much everything else you'll have access to.

Around The Midlands

In bulletin 4.0 we had a brief look at some of the places to visit in Birmingham, so to give you that little extra incentive, you thought we also tell you about places to visit that aren't too far away as well.

• Stratford Upon Avon

For those interested in all things Shakespeare, you may like to take a trip to the Warwickshire town where the playwright was born. His place of birth is now a museum in the centre of town, and there trips daily to Ann Hathway's cottage and other sights around the town. You can take a stroll or hire a boat along the River Avon, or if you're a theatre buff, perhaps watch a play at The Royal Shakespeake Theatre or The Swan Theatre next door. The town is always a hive of activity, where you can just amble around admiring the buildings, enjoy the teashops, pubs and resturants or just sit and have a lazy picnic on the banks of the Avon in front of the RST. From Snow Hill and Moor Street stations, Stratford upon Avon is just 50 minutes via a local train, or 60 minutes on Sundays via the Shakespeare Express, for those who might be stream train enthusiasts.

• Severn Valley Railway

And a again for stream train enthusiasts, or even just a fun family day out, The Severn Valley Railway is a fully operational steam railway between Kidderminister and Bridgenorth. For a day ticket you can travel at your leisure on the trains, stopping off at stations along the way. The SVR museum is at Highley and you can also take a walk around the engine sheds at Bewdley. Bridgenorth is a olde market town and still thrives today with many teashops and small traders. Trains are available from Birmingham to Kidderminister (35-45 minutes), where the mainline and SVR stations are next door to each other.

• Warwick Castle

Warwick was a midlands stronghold in times gone by, and provides one of Britain's greatest Mediaeval experiences. The castle has stood for nearly 1000 years and is the most intact castle in Britain, apart from Windsor. Since much of the buildings are still intact, it is a ideal tourist attraction for those wanting to discover something more of the history of the area. During the summer evenings open air concerts are also held in the gardens. Archery and Jousting shows have more recently been added to the summer events, and is a great day out for the family. The town centre is a short walk away, as is the mainline train station to Birmingham, which is just a 35 minute train ride away from Birmingham New Street.

• Alton Towers

Britain's consistently top tourist attraction is the Alton Towers theme park. The park is located between Stoke on Trent and Uttoxeter in Staffordshire (about 40 miles from Birmingham). The park has grown considerably in recent years and has a variety of rollercoasters, water rides and childrens areas. Trains to Stoke on Trent take 55 minutes, with a special bus transfer available form Stoke station to the theme park.

• Drayton Manor Park

A slightly smaller version of Alton Towers, but still with and impressive variety of rides on offer. There is also a small game reserve attached to the theme park. Unfortunately the theme park is best accessible via road, although there may be buses from Tamworth (15-20 minutes from Birmingham New Street).

• Nottingham

Robin Hood & Sherwood Forest are Nottingham's biggest tourist attractions. In the city centre The Tales of Robin Hood provides a brief history of the area and legends, while the remains of the castle grounds are open to the public, although a mansion now sits atop the hill where the castle once stood. If you're looking for a bit of refreshment, take a walk to the bottom of the castle hill and discover Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. Built into the rock of the hill, this is reported to be Britain's oldest surviving pub. Taking a trip out to the north of the city is Sherwood Forest, which once covered a large part of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire. Sadly it is now a considerable shadow of it's former self, although you can still visit the Major Oak, considered to be the oldest living tree in Britain. Bus trips are available from Nottingham city centre to the forest's visitors centre. Trains to Nottingham take about 75 minutes from Birmingham New Street.

Contact

Should you wish to contact us, there is an email address available for direct contact, where you can mail us with your questions and suggestions. There is also the regular YAPC::Europe conference mailing list, which is open to all.

That's all for this release. Look out for more news and announcements in the future.

Thanks,
The Birmingham 2006 Organisers
www.birmingham2006.com