Although it’s been low traffic for a while, the North West Google Group – https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/NW-hack-space – is a good way to reach active members across the region’s hackspaces and MakerSpaces with your news, events, and proposals for joint projects.
North West mailing list / forum
June 27, 2014MakerSpace FY1, Blackpool – looking for new home & more members.
June 27, 2014Blackpool Makerspace, home of much inspirational hackery, and which also hosts the local GNU/Linux User Group – needs a new site in September, and some additional members to help cover the cost of that. Details below.
This is a post from Blackpool Makerspace mailing list, the Makerspace is currently based at Ripon Road in Blackpool, however it is due to be sold probably in or around September. This will mean that we will be without premises for the Makerspace and Blackpool Linux User Group. If anyone would be interested in entering into a joint Hack/Makerspace please read on, we would be love to hear from you.
We now need to decide if we have enough members who are willing to pay a subscription to take on another premises.
Losing the Makerspace would be a huge blow to our group, but it needs to be financed to support it’s growth.
We estimate that it will cost at least a £100 week to rent a new premises and to pay towards the utility bills.
We have 4 people committed to paying £10 per week, they are myself, Tony, Olly and Les. So we need to raise at least another £60 a week.
We need more people to subscribe at any level that they can afford (up to £10/week) to keep a Makerspace in Blackpool. Please subscribe and help fund our Makerspace which has done so much great work in the Geek Community.
In the longer term, the more people that join the Makerspace, the cheaper the subscriptions will eventually become, this makes it better value for everyone.
If this is not of interest to you but you know someone who might be interested, please feel free to pass on this e-mail to them.
If you or anyone else would like to help please get in touch by any of the methods listed below.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Mike Hewitt
PC Recycler Ltd.
29-35 Ripon road
Blackpool FY1 4DY
01253 293258
07711 736899
www.pcrecycler.co.uk
Potteries Hackspace Re-launch
October 31, 2012It’s tonight! The new space in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Here’s Simon’s announcement:
“After some clearing (which I sadly missed) and some bench building and pizza, the new Hackspace is now open! The address is
Potteries Hackspace (Formerly Randles Garage)
Higherland
Keele Road
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Staffordshire
ST5 2HN
The entrance is up the slope at the back, in through the roller shutter doors, and we’ve the benefit of being opposite the Wagon and Horses Pub..
Thanks to James for arranging it, we’ve now got plenty of space for crazy building, pizza nights, soldering and small explosions.. At the moment, it still needs work, we need to put in some electrical sockets and get some more desks and things, but its a start!
The first proper meeting will be next Wednesday, (31st) at 7pm, and everyone is welcome!
Bring something to build, play with, show off, or just yourself….
Hope to see everyone Weds..”
and here’s a map link:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ST5+2HN&hl=en&geocode=+&hnear=ST5+2HN,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=16
Meet you in Tunstall
November 2, 2011Things are moving ahead slowly (very slowly, but I’ve been a bit too busy lately). We have the new space in Tunstall at TECC, where we have a temporary bench for making and hacking until they get the grant to expand the internal space, when we will have even more facilities.
We need to start meeting and making regularly, so I’ve put up a poll on Doodle to see which week(s) in the month, and what times, suit people.
http://www.doodle.com/mbem893qgmukcr7f#table
Please fill in your availability – the hackspace won’t gt anywhere without you!
We’d also like to run some weekend events, such as Howduino, to draw in a broader local audience. All suggestions welcome 🙂
A Potteries Hackerspace
June 1, 2011While the geographers may dispute whether Tunstall is part of England’s North West, we’re just happy to announce that the wonderful people at The Ethical Computer Trust in Tunstall have offered us space at their new facility.
Behind these gates - frenzied computer recycling activity and, soon, a hackspace
For more details and updates on the new space as it starts up and develops, join the Potteries Hackspace GoogleGroup – or check back here, or on Twitter.
Liverpool Makers Night – Weds 16th February
January 31, 2011Building on the success of January’s Makers Night and the excellent Fabcamp this weekend, we’re holding the next Makers Night on Wednesday 16th February.
Once again it will be in the basement of the LJMU Art and Design Academy (directions and address), starting at around 6:30pm for a 7pm start.
It’s open to anyone and everyone – you don’t need to know anything beforehand, come along and find out more first hand.
The evening will run something like this…
7pm: Welcome and housekeeping
7:10pm: “One Minute Project Pitches” – If you’ve got a project or an idea for a project and want to get some help, then here’s a chance to pitch it to the whole group to find someone to lend a hand or expertise.
7:20pm: Get Excited and Make Things. Work on your project or learn something new. This is the meat of the evening and will include (but is not limited to):
- A “Beginners Arduino” session if anyone wants to get started with Arduino or electronics. Ideally bring your laptop with you if you want to do this.
- Laser-cutting. I expect quite a few of the people who came to Fabcamp will be along to get some more time on the laser-cutters but you don’t need to have been at Fabcamp to find out more and have a go…
- General hacking. I.e. work on your own project with like-minded individuals on hand to be impressed when you get something working, or to offer advice and sympathetic head-scratching if it doesn’t
- Makerbot Cupcake building. Local company Blue Fountain have very generously bought a Cupcake 3D printer kit which will hopefully have arrived by then, so we’ll need some people to start building it…
- A tutorial workshop session. We haven’t finalised one for February yet, but hopefully each month one of the hackspace members will lead a simple project tutorial – something like making an Arduino from scratch, building a solar chime, or a simple FM transmitter. Check on the mailing list to find out if we’ve got anything organised.
8:45pm: We get kicked out of the ADA and retire to a nearby hostelry for a well earned pint.
If you’ve got any questions, want to find out more, or just want to hear about future plans, sign up for the NW Hackspace mailing list (/Google group).
Hope to see you on the 16th!
Maker Night, a Review and Slides
January 22, 2011There was a great turn out for Maker Night on Wednesday, and it seemed to go down well. I’ve written a bit about it and posted my slides over on my blog.
They’ll be held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, at the Art & Design Academy on Duckinfield Street. 6:30pm for a 7pm start.
First Liverpool “Maker Night” on Wednesday 19th January
January 12, 2011As part of the ongoing mini-reboot of the Liverpool Hackspace, we’re making the monthly meetings more focused and hands on (rather than just drinking and chatting) evenings, from next Wednesday. It’s a good chance to get to grips with electronics, hardware hacking and digital fabricating…
We’ll be meeting at the Art and Design Academy (directions and address), on the 19th Jan at around 6.30 for a 7 o’clock start – finishing at 8.45 so that we can make it to a public house for post meeting refreshments.
As this is our first meeting at ADA and we’ll hopefully be having some students attend we’re aiming to make it an introductory session so that the students aren’t dropped into a room full of geeks talking about resistors and the finer points of TC54 usage. We’re hoping that we can initiate some cross-disciplinary use of the workshop as well as introducing some fine art, design and architecture students to the joys of making/hacking things. It’s a great opportunity for us to get access to their digital fabrication stuff, as well as the general workshop – I’m personally hoping to learn some none-digital stuff from the students that already know how to use the workshops.
The general structure of the evening is likely to be as follows, with some obvious flexibility in timing if any talks run over.
1. Welcome – Adrian McEwen.
2. Housekeeping – Lol Baker.
3. Fabrication lightning talk – Andy Goodwin
4. Physical computing talk – Adrian McEwen
5. a. ARDx kits (introduction to Arduino), or
b. Planning for those interested in building the Cupcake (when it arrives), or
c. General hacking for those that wish to do so.
6. Wrap up with Q&A on next event
7. Retire to public house for refreshments.
If anyone has anything they think they’d like to add to point 5 then please let us know. If you’re unsure what you could work on, or aren’t really sure where to begin, come anyway and I’m sure we can find a project for you to do. If you’re thinking you’d rather just lurk, then come and lurk in person – we’re pretty friendly – honest!
It would be great if you could make it and please feel free to invite anyone else you know who may be interested. It’s a great opportunity for us to increase the membership and the breadth of knowledge of the Liverpool hacking community, and hopefully provide a temporary but warm space for us to hold our meetings while we’re looking for space.
Next Liverpool meeting – Wednesday 15th December 2010
December 13, 2010Although things have been quiet here on the blog, there’s been a flurry of activity on the mailing list of late, and even more offline. We’ve been getting more proactive about finding a space – both in the short-term so we can get on with building things at meetings rather than just drink beer and chat; and also looking at getting a full-time permanent space.
We’ll be discussing the upcoming plans on Wednesday, so it would be good for anyone wanting to find out more or get involved in helping move things forwards to come along.
We’re convening at the new Leaf on Bold Street (the old Microzine shop) anytime after 6pm for a 7pm start. It’s not clear if Adam will be wearing his Tron costume, but if he does we’ll be easy to spot. Otherwise keep an eye out for Bubblino or random bits of electronics on a table.
Next Liverpool Meeting – Monday 10th May
May 6, 2010It’s been far too long since we last got together for a drink and a chat about all things hardware hacking, so Adam has booked the upstairs at the Peacock on Seel Street for this coming Monday evening at 7pm.
It’s up on upcoming here, and we hope to see you along on Monday.
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