READ WHAT
HAPPENS AT THE WEEKENDS BY JAYNE BISHOP AND FRIENDS
THEN
HAVE A LOOK AT THE PHOTO GALLERY.
Hoar
Park
Craft
Village
and
Childrens
Farm,
Nr
Nuneaton
Friday
morning
started
off
very
promising,
but by
lunch
time
the
cloud
came
over,
and the
rain
came
just as
everyone
started
to
arrive.
One of
the
first
few
onsite,
instantly
did
something
which
would
put him
in as a
strong
contender
for
this
weekends
Brocklehurst
Award.
As Mark
Nicklin
got out
of his
car to
inspect
the
field
and
decide
where
he
would
pitch,
he
looked
around
and
turned
back to
his car
and got
in the
back
seat of
his car
to
drive
off….Would
he be
beaten
as the
weekend
went
on?
By
teatime,
we were
upto 35
units,
the
rain
had
phased
out,
and the
TVs and
Gazebos
were
all set
up to
watch
England
play
their
second
World
Cup
match.
Hoar
Park
is a
limited
site,
and
everyone
was
tightly
packed
in, and
an
impressive
CCY and
CCJ
area
were
all set
up.
This
was
again
one the
Youth
Test
Practice
weekends,
so by
Saturday
morning,
the
activities
had
began
with
all the
Youth
doing
their
test,
doing a
written
test to
see how
much
they
have
remembered
so far,
this
was
followed
by them
all
setting
up
their
cookers
and
preparing
their
meals
again
in
preparation
for
their
Test
Weekend.
They
all
seem to
totally
in
control,
and
served
up
dishes
such as
Pasta
with
Chicken
and
Bacon,
Spaghetti
Bolognaise,
Chicken
Carbonara.
All
supervised
by
Youth
Leaders,
Andy,
Ruth,
Shaun
and Caz,
and
assisted
by a
keen
team of
testers!!
With
the CCY
kept
busy
preparing
for
their
tests,
the CCJ
were
making
and
eating
Pancakes,
carefully
supervised
by
their
leaders
Angie
and Kev.
Late
Saturday
afternoon
the Sun
came
out,
and
some
went
off for
a
Birthday
meal in
the
Craft
Village
celebrating
Ruth
hitting
the big
30 and
Sarah
Davis
hitting
the big
50.
Congratulations
to both
of you.
Whilst
the
remainder
of us
set up
the
BBQs
and
enjoyed
the
early
evening
Sunshine
and a
lovely
meal.
The
evening
saw
little
groups
of
people
enjoying
the
nice
weather
and sat
around
chatting
in
small
groups.
Sunday
Morning
and
coffee
morning
was
delayed
to
allow
anyone
to
attend
Furnace
End
Boot
Sale
just
across
the
road.
Midday,
and
with
gorgeous
sunshine
we had
a well
attended
Coffee
Morning.
Another
opportunity
to sing
Happy
Birthday
to our
Birthday
girls,
and for
Steve
to read
out the
nominations
for
this
weekend
Brocklehurst
award.
A few
nominations
were
put
forward,
but the
unanimous
applause
was for
Mark N,
for
getting
in the
back of
his car
to
drive
off
instead
of the
front!!
I did
forget
to
mention
at the
beginning,
Mark
had
arrived
on site
with a
lovely
new “Brok”
Medallion
made by
a
friend
of
Di’s, I
don’t
think
he
thought
he
would
be able
to wear
it
himself
so
soon….
At
least
for a
week
before
we see
who’s
next.
SEE THE
PICS
.......................................................................
WILMCOTE MAY
2010
The weekend
started in
the usual
manner with
plenty of
vans
welcomed on
site by Alan
& Marion
Davis in the
afternoon
and the CCY
area, set up
by Andy,
ready for
all the kids
to put their
tents up.
After
everyone did
the usual
greetings
and dinner
many campers
wandered up
to the club
for a quiet
drink and
the pleasant
conversation
that
accompanied
it. The kids
on site went
to the local
park where
unfortunately
my son fell
off the
swing, and
consequently,
I had to
spend four
hours in A&E
while
everyone
else enjoyed
themselves
in the pub.
Luckily for
me the club
was still
open so I
could
partake in a
soft drink
upon my
return
before
quietly
retiring for
the evening.
The next day
was bright
and sunny,
so after
breakfast
the youth
set about
training for
their tests
with Andy
Nicklin,
Shaun
Roberts and
Bernie
Boardman.
Andy split
them into 3
groups
taking 1
group off to
teach them
camping
craft, while
Shaun took
another
group off to
learn first
aid and
Bernie doing
instructions
in his
speciality -
map reading.
After
rotating 3
times, to
make sure
all the kids
got thorough
training, it
was time for
them to
practise
their
culinary
skills. All
the youth
who were
training got
out their
stoves,
chopping
boards,
knives and
wooden
spoons and
proceeded to
prepare a
range of
dishes -
Spaghetti
Bolognese;
egg fried
rice and
vegetables;
pasta
carbonara;
fish and
fresh
vegetables;
chicken
paella and
many more
that looked
wonderful.
The results
were nothing
short of
brilliant
and were
judged by
the chief
taster Jayne
Houldey and
just about
anyone else
who could
get a look
in. Once the
cooking was
over a few
members got
together to
prepare a
small party
for our
youth
leaders 4
year old
daughter
Megan.
All the kids
on site were
invited and
after a few
games and
some music
we sang her
happy
birthday and
she blew out
the candles
on her cake.
There was
plenty of
food to go
round and
all the kids
had a great
time. After
dinner
another
visit to the
pub was in
order where
drinking,
darts and
pool were
the
evening’s
entertainment.
Sunday
morning was
another
gorgeous
display of
sunshine,
despite
reports of a
downpour
during the
night. Other
reports were
of a phantom
bed hopper
who
allegedly
jumped on
several
drunken
campers
while they
were
sleeping in
their beds.
Coffee
morning was
well
attended and
Steve
Kennings
announced Mr
Keys had won
the bonus
ball. Jai &
Riley
Grummett
were
presented
with new
little bears
t-shirts and
Sam Davis
his new
juniors
t-shirt.
There were a
few
nominations
for our
Brocklehurst
award
including a
nomination
for my wife
for tripping
over the dog
lead,
falling
through the
caravan
door,
smashing her
wine glass
and cutting
her hand.
Another was
two girls
walking back
to site at
dusk and
could see a
man
approaching
from the
other
direction –
one warned
the other
not to talk
to him as he
might be a
bad man and
try to steal
her. When
the figure
got closer
it became
apparent,
that it was
in fact, her
Grandfather.
Peter
Grummett won
the award
for spending
the weekend
wrapped up
like a Mummy
in a Blanket
whilst the
sun was out
and everyone
else was sun
bathing.
Once
everyone had
dispersed
from coffee
morning,
once again,
Andy and
Bernie got
the youth
together and
took them on
an hour long
walk of the
surrounding
area whilst
putting into
practise the
ordinance
skills they
had
acquired.
All the
youth loved
being out in
the fields
of local
sheep and
horses and
returned
along the
canal tow
path. On
arrival back
at the site
they
continued to
pack their
own
belongings
away.
I think I
can say a
great
weekend was
had by all
and hope to
see everyone
again, and
many more,
at Studley
this weekend
coming. I’ve
heard the
Stewards are
a wonderful,
loving,
caring,
warm,
accommodating,
helpful
couple.
Paul
CLICK FOR
SLIDESHOW
.............................................................................
May Day with NWDA at
Hampton
House Farm, Kineton
Friday morning and with a bright if not slightly
windy start, the Marshalls donned their High Viz’s and our meet
Stewards, Mary and Trevor and John and Judy,
were
up and ready and eagerly awaiting the first of the units to arrive.
Throughout the day, there was a steady flow
of arrivals, from many different DAs, and the final ones arriving
Saturday morning, gave us an impressive turnout of 114 units.
Saturday morning, and preparations began for the
Penny Fair in the afternoon, sticking on raffle tickets, filling jars,
blowing up balloons, icing little fairy cakes for the Cake Stand.
By 2.30 the Barn was buzzing with activity
with an array of stands for our members to spend their pennies,
including Teddy Tombolas, Jar Tombola, the ever popular Drinks Tombola,
Name the Teddy, teas and coffees, and my favourite… the Cake Stand,
which was an impressive display of home made cakes, very kindly donated
by our members.
The weather stayed kind to us all afternoon, and
many managed to enjoy a lovely BBQ before the heavens opened and down
came the rain.
It was great timing for everyone to
congregate in the Barn, which was a great change from a muddy marquee!,
Making
themselves comfortable for Saturday nights entertainment - “NWDA
has Got Talent”. With 12
entries in total, including a late entry, it was a full night of
entertainment.
Our thanks go to each and everyone of you,
for making such fantastic entertainment. Karena (Fantastic Dancing),
Andy and Jackie (Back to Cuba, with Salsa Dancing), Dave, Gail and
Sharon (I closed my eyes!), John Tandy ( Jack the Peg), Tracey and the
Crap Cardigans (Paul, Gary and John) (Can’t Hurry Love), Mr Keys,
(Georgia), Benji
and Callum (Gruffalo), Ted and Allen (Underneath the Arches), Hilda
Knight (Crazy), LiamBratt (Tears in Heaven)
and
Shannon (Can’t fight the moonlight), with the late entry Georgina
(Hopelessly Devoted to You).
It takes some courage to get up on stage in
front of all those people, and they all did fantastic.
In
between all of these, Ade came on and did his very funny rendition of
the Proclaimers, I would walk 500 miles, unfortunate for Ade he wasn’t
getting judged!...Your turn will come on Sunday night Ade…
The 12 were whittled down, to the final 4 to
win, which were Georgina, Shannon, Mr Keys and John Tandy’s Jake the
Peg, and with the Judges comments taken in to account and the very
reliable Clapometer, Shannon Danks won and got back on stage to perform
her Leanne Rhymes winning number, to a cheering crowd and very proud
family and friends.
Sunday Morning we all woke up to the last part of
the rain which had fell through the night, everywhere was sodden, and
getting very muddy.
We made the decision to hold the awning sale
and auction in the Barn. Our catering team cooked up Sausage and Bacon
baps for everyone, and served Tea and Coffee.
The barn was full with traders selling their
wares.
Some of the larger items, which didn’t sell
then get put into the Auction, which Steve and Ade host and makes great
entertainment, with their off the cuff banter.
Many people kindly selling off their items,
and giving the proceeds to our Charity, Warwick Special Care Baby Unit,
which makes Gary
very happy
J
Sunday afternoon and due to the weather the
volleyball and football had to be cancelled, which gave us all chance
for a chill out afternoon, and a few of
our committee men took a well deserved
break, and disappeared to the local pub in Kineton, coming back full of
stories from the locals they met up with.
Sunday evening, and all back to the barn for Miss
Mayflower, with 8 contestants, all looking far too comfortable in their
attire, waiting in the wings, to be brought out on stage to be
interviewed by Steve and judged by the audience.
What beauties….They were all welcomed onto
the stage, with perfectly chosen pieces of music by Aneel. 1. Michael as Sandy, 2. Paul as Virgilia,
3. Ade as AdeGaga, 4. CJ as Dolly, 5. Dave as Polly, 6. Andy Reynolds as
Bubbles, 7. Lloyd as Peaches and finally Chris Reynolds as Mrs Dervill….They
all had random questions asked, and kept the audience amused with their
answers and actions!
The final decision came down to the
Clapometer, and the crowd went mad for Ade Gaga!, So for the 2nd
year running our Miss Mayflower goes to our own Ade Houldey…how did
he managed to walk in those shoes, but what
fantastic legs!...
With the exception of Dave alias Polly who
stayed in his red Basque for the remainder of the evening, all the other
men went back and got changed and came back as themselves for a dance
and finish off the night with some “tunes” by Shaun and Mark .
All good things have to come to an end, and it’s
that time again.
Coffee morning and back to the barn for a
really uplifting coffee morning. Steve gave thanks to everyone who helps
pull these weekends together, and was then rather touched, to have Tony
Nash – Chairman of W&HDA stand up and thank Steve and ask everyone to
get on their feet and applause the Committee of NWDA for the hard work,
and for putting on such a successful weekend again.
Thank you ‘Towen’…and thanks for your
support.
Prizes were presented for all the
competitions throughout the weekend, including 3 people getting their
winnings from the Bonus Ball – Cath Harding, Dave Phipps and Mick. Riley
and Jai collected a large jar of sweets for “How many Sweets in the
Jar”, Tony Nash collected his prize “Whats in the Box”, Andy Boyes
collected a voucher for a free weekend at August Bank Holiday for
guessing “How many Balloons in the Car”, Min won Faye’s beautifully
decorated May Day Cake in “Guess the Weight of the Cake” and Alan Davies
won “Name the Teddy”, Fluffy and then kindly redonated it to be
Auctioned for Charity.
Gary, came on stage and conducted the auction,
which went between Lisa Nash and Steve K who was being put under
pressure by Molly giving puppy dog eyes from the floor to her
Daddy….Thanks Steve for £35 to go to our Charity..
We can’t close a weekend without the “Brocklehurst”
presented for acts of stupidity throughout the weekend, Steve took this
opportunity to just let this wider audience know what Paul Grummett had
done a couple of weeks back, following his Sat Nav to the point where he
drove his car and caravan into a River …and kept driving….!!
This week, we had a number of great
nominations but the crowds cheered for Mark Nicklin, who suggested we
use all the balloons which had filled the car for “Guess how many
balloons” to put in someone’s caravan on Saturday night, for a
laugh…..this backfired on him, when all his “friends” filled his
bathroom in his caravan before he had chance to do it to them…good sport
Mark! Sounds like your Saturday night went with a bang..
Its all over again, and as we always say “You have to go home to come
back again”, these weekends would not be possible without the continued
support of our members and as Steve always says….Thank you for choosing
NWDA.
CLICK FOR SLIDESHOW
..................................................................................................
ASTON CANTLOW
APRIL 2010
Lorraine and I started our
weekend with positivity and began by washing the mud from Easter off the
van and car. With this done we loaded and were on our way to Aston
Cantlow under the sound advice of Tom-tom the Sat Nav. As invaluable as
Tom-Tom is, he sometimes gets confused and seemed to have mistaken a
river for a road, but undeterred I thought I’d give it a go anyway.
After driving a short distance down river I thought with the increasing
depth that it would be prudent to make a retreat and so skilfully
reversed my caravan back up river and onto dry land up river (no mean
feat I hasten to add).
After a complicated manoeuvre, involving a
country lane passing point, a tow rope and a rover 25, we were on our
way and I relaxed in the knowledge that I hadn’t needed to call anyone
for help so the secret of my adventure was safe. A short time later we
arrived at the beautiful flat green field at Meadow Furlong in the
gorgeous sunshine only to be greeted by smirking faces and it dawned on
me that my wife had phoned ahead and spilled the beans so I was the
laughing stock of the field. Dave also had a slight accident on the way
to the site by the way of a blow out on his caravan tyre, and after
several hours of waiting on the motorway for the rescue truck, they
finally made it to the site just as it was getting dark (there’s
commitment for you).
After setting up we relaxed a little had a bite to eat
and headed for the village club. We decided to have a few drinks and
shoot some pool so after picking some doubles partners we racked them up
and flipped a coin. I was lucky enough to win the toss so I got ready to
break while everyone was chatting. I hit square for any even spread but
in a fluke accident the ball chipped up off the table and hit Di Nicklin
in the left cheekbone. This enabled several members to practice their
first aid skills and administered Ice to the swelling. After a pleasant
evening we headed back to the field for more drinks and then quietly
dispersed to bed ready for the next day’s activities.
Saturday morning we awoke to glorious sunshine, had
breakfast, laughed a little over the previous nights fun and the youth
met up with our CCY leader Andy Nicklin to commence their practise for
the CCY test they will be taking later this year. In all there were 9
youth who turned out for Andy’s first lesson and he had them all
enthralled with his knowledge of Map reading, correct tent erection
procedures, first aid and culinary skills with a single stove burner.
After the educational session our stewards Carol and Eddie French went
to great effort to set up sports activities for the kids with plenty of
medals for our budding sports stars of tomorrow. A few of the men then
decided to nip to the pub for a quick one before lighting the barbecues
and after Andy Fleur had one quick one too many the rest of the lads
carried him back to save him from a local dog who wanted to eat him
after he fell over it.
After barbecues and a few drinks we all tried our hand
at bingo put on by Carol and Eddie. The Bingo went down a storm
especially with my wife Lorraine after a couple of wins left her a few
quid better off than when she started. June Roberts and Grainne Hanley
were also bingo winners. Unluckily the light gave out and we had to
retire from the game but we used the rest of the evening to take the
opportunity to drink more. The only person who seemed to be missing was
Andy Fleur and it was later discovered that after his session in the pub
he’d gone for a lie down and didn’t emerge until Sunday morning.
Sunday morning arrived and
bought us yet more sun and the arrival of Dave Wilkes signalled the
commencement of the next CCY lesson. Dave talked the Youth through the
workings of the different types of camping stoves and discussed the
safety precautions to be applied when using them. While the kids had
their lesson we had coffee morning and announced the winner of the
prizes. The quiz was won by Steve and Karen Francis alongside Karen Lane
and Lloyd Flavell.The youth quiz was won by Grainne Hanley, who was
unable to receive her prize as she hadn’t yet, woke up. We had a
football card which was taken round and also won by Mark Nicklin! Steve
Kennings told us about the upcoming events the main one being our mayday
meet which will be packed full of fun and then moved on to the coveted
Brocklehurst Award for which I obviously won but first there were a few
other mentions as I wasn’t the only idiot on the field at the weekend.
Gail Taylor fell out of her caravan, sprained her ankle and ended up
wearing a compression bandage and hobbling round the field all weekend;
Sam Acton noticed an vapour trail line in the sky, but being as there
wasn’t any planes flying due to the ash, it was pointed out that in fact
it was a telephone wire; Andy fleur was mentioned for just being so
blind drunk and having to be carried back to the site after he claimed
he only had TWO drinks; Ruth Boardman, our CCY leader, had a special
mention for an act of stupidity at Easter that she had been keeping
quiet. She was alarmed that the smoke machine was actually smoking and
thought it was on fire. Of course along with three other acts of pure
idiocy, including driving down the river (caravan in tow), smashing my
head off Shaun’s caravan door, hitting Di in the face with
a pool ball and going home to realise I had
forgotten my garage keys and then had to take the garage doors off the
hinges to get in! I won the Award and was presented with a little duck
to take the place of my sat nav, so with any luck I shouldn’t have any
problems in the future.
I just want to take the opportunity to thank Carol and
Eddie French and all those who turned out for such a pleasurable weekend
meet. See you all soon
Paul
Grummett
CLICK FOR SLIDESHOW
......................................................................................................
WESTON ON
AVON
April 2010
For this lovely peaceful, picturesque venue, Weston
Farm traditionally is a quiet weekend, with only a handful of units! But
with the fantastic forecast, and the Youth Training in progress for
their test weekend, Friday afternoon and the caravans just kept on
coming…As dusk fell on Friday night we were at 47 units, with two more
arriving on Saturday morning, and had to pitch in the neighbouring
field.
The CCY area was full again this
weekend, with 10 members spending their Saturday working on Map Reading,
throughout the day, we watched them navigating around the field with
their compasses under the guidance from Berni or Dave.
The weather was gorgeous and as the afternoon warmed up, the many
children on site enjoyed playing in the paddling pools, playing on their
bikes or just chilling out with each other in the sunshine.
Just before tea time, Carol French arranged
an impromptu Bingo game, enjoyed by many.
All around the field were little pockets of people
just sitting around enjoying the sun, this carried on into the night as
the BBQs were lit and everyone enjoyed a very pleasant evening. There
was even some birthday celebrations, one being Michelle having a well
deserved break from her busy work and enjoying her celebrations with her
family and friends.
Sunday morning and again although we had had some
rain during the night, we woke to a lovely morning. Coffee morning and
the tradition of the Brocklehurst awards for acts of stupidity…It has
been said after last weeks unanimous winner Paul Grummett driving his
car and caravan into a River and keeping going…and he said that’s what
the Sat Nav said…I do feel we will be hard pushed to find anything to
match!....What we did have this weekend was Georgina confidently
describing an “acre” as the size of a field…John Stride trying to
carefully manoeuvre his BBQ out of the way and leave it behind his van,
not realising he had lost a leg on the way and watched his BBQ tumble
down the bank into the River…. But the “clapometer” gave the award to
Berni Boardman, who called up the Steward of the weekend on Friday
afternoon complaining that he had arrived on site and the Steward was
nowhere to be seen…. soon found out, Berni was actually on the field of
last weekends rally not Weston Farm. Andy and Jackie were as required
all set up and awaiting the units on Weston Farm!!
This is Berni Boardman, who had given up his
time to spend the weekend training the Youth
in “Map Reading”…maybe you need to revisit
those books again Berni…J
Thank you to Andy and Jackie
Flear, who stepped into Steward when Mick and Min had to drop
out….thinking he would be stewarding a nice quiet one..He was well
supported by last weeks stewards Carol and Eddi French.
Great weekend.
NOW CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW
.................................................................................
EASTER
April 2010
Easter weekend at Great
Comberton arrives, and with mixed memories of a glorious sunny Easter
last year and the very wet and muddy one we had about 3 years ago, we
were all unsure what the weekend would bring, as the rain had come down
most of the week, right upto Friday morning when the first units
arrived.
Stewards Jayne and Ade and Jan and Aneel
were up early Friday morning to start welcoming the hardened members to
the NWDA Easter Meet.
With the field already wet, and muddy,
everyone was given the choice of checking out their chosen pitches,
before having them pulled on by the 4x4s, or turning around and going
home!
Over 75 units braved the
elements, many of which had to towed onto the field. Lots of
hands
came to help when the marquees started going up, and again our fellow
campers came out to help on Saturday morning, when the decision was made
to move the Marquees to a dryer less muddy part of the field.
Saturday afternoon and Paul
Grummett, débuted at the Bunnykins Bingo to just a handful of players,
well done to Shannon
for winning both full houses!
Whilst many others chose to miss the “April”
showers and go swimming at Pershore Leisure Centre. If it wasn’t wet
enough on site!
The North Warwicks Disco entertained us on
Saturday night, christening our new DA equipment.
Sunday morning and we woke up
to glorious sunshine. All Easter Sunday activities took place, with the
exception of the Ramble which had to be cancelled due to impassable
footpaths. The fantastic Children’s Egg Hunt, all arranged and supplied
by Carol French went down a treat with all the children. The Egg
Throwing pulled a big crowd and many laughs were had.
Well done to Mia Reynolds and Mathew Beaston
for winning the Children’s, and Mike and Tracey for winning the Adults.
Sunday evening, the Sunshine
must have dried a few more people out and the Marquee filled up for the
Easter Bonnet Parades.
The Children’s Prize went to Lauren Noakes,
who looked gorgeous, and the Adults Prize went to Adam Bryans alias
Pinnock….not so gorgeous…..The Marquee remained full for Ades Play Your
Cards Right,
with his less than glamorous “Dolly Dealer”
……Andy Tain…Many contestants came and took their seat, but left to the
track “Another one bites the dust” kindly played by Aneel.
The winners for the night were “D16 ADE”,
who won a staggering £16 and Steve Kennings our Chairman who donated
half of his winnings to this years Charity, Warwick Special Care Baby
Unit.
Monday morning and with more
mud that any of us now care to think about, Coffee Morning took place,
with Hot Cross Buns, and many prizes to be presented for colouring
competitions, quiz’s and of course the Raffle.
The Marquees came down, the majority of
members were towed off the field by our Committed Committee, who
secretly all love the playing in the mud, before the remainder of us put
on any clean clothes we had left and headed to the Club on Site for a
Quiz night, hosted by Gary Bratt.
Despite the weather, and sooo much mud a
great weekend was had by all.
By midday Tuesday the last units left the
field and headed home to piles of very muddy washing….Look forward to
seeing you all out at the next meet..
NOW
CLICK THIS FOR SLIDESHOW
................................................................................................................
HALLOWEEN 2009
Who can believe this was our 6th
NWDA Halloween weekend? Falling during the school half term enabled a
few of the Committee to be out on site on the Tuesday to peg out and
plan the field for the 118 units that were booked to attend. The weather
was very kind to us and unbelievably mild for the time of year.
Wednesday came and, with work commitments out of the way for many, more
of the working party began to arrive and work soon began on the creation
of the Ghost Walk marquee – a culmination of Ade’s ideas from watching
too many SAW films!
Thursday morning came, again
with glorious weather, which allowed most of the men to don shorts and
t-shirts to begin erecting the marquee Castle frontage. Meanwhile, the
catering team headed off in Lin’s little white van for a trip to the
Cash & Carry to purchase all the food and refreshments required to feed
a very busy working party and also our guests on Saturday evening. Our
thanks goes to Faye, Mary and June who did a fantastic job of feeding
the working party with crusty baguettes and endless teas and coffees.
The next job on the list was to
decorate our hired marquee with Halloween bunting and 400 balloons to
ensure it all looked impressive and welcoming for our guests’ arrival on
Friday. Thanks to balloon pumps and some willing helpers, the marquee
was all set for the weekend’s activities in no time at all!
Friday morning came and Stewards
Di, Mark, Shaun and Caz, along with their team of marshalls, began
welcoming our pre-booked members from early in the morning until late
into the night. It seemed that no sooner had people pitched, than they
were busy decorating their units to the theme of Halloween. The Ghost
Walk team put the finishing touches to the walk and the marquee, and
then practiced their dance routine, choreographed by Ade’s dad, John
Houldey. Luckily, they managed to get through the routine without any
injuries from the "knives" used in this dance… ! Then it was time for
the boys to get transformed in whatever ghoulish character they were to
be in the Ghost House with the help of Liz Reynolds, a first class make
up artist, who was responsible for the very realistic blood and guts
appearance of most of them!! You did a great job Liz – well done!
Meanwhile, the catering team
were busy preparing warm soups (to warm the Ghost Walkers beforehand)
and mulled wine (to calm them after they had been scared witless!) As
darkness fell, and with the scarers in place, the first group headed off
and the waiting groups became a little unsettled by the screams coming
from the woods! Serving behind the soup desk was very rewarding hearing
everyone’s feedback as they returned one by one, laughing and praising
all the hard work that had gone into it. With the last group back
safely, all the scarers were called on stage to be thanked and have
their true identities exposed in the light! Many members took this
opportunity to have their pictures taken with some of the very
frightening looking scarers. Friday night ended with a great disco and
some very sore feet!!
We all woke to a glorious
Saturday morning. The CCY leaders and assistants (Andy/Ruth/Shaun/Caz),
helped by Tracey Scott, had all been busy arranging lots to do to keep
the little ones busy - colouring competitions, apple bobbing, doughnut
eating, tuck shop, tombola and to finish off a Pumpkin Piñata full of
sweets. As the clearing up commenced, the other end of the marquee was
turned into a mini cinema for the kids to watch "Abbot and Costello
Meets Frankenstein".
Behind the scenes, the Catering
team were back in the kitchen preparing all the hot food for the
Saturday night party. On the menu was Chinese Chicken Curry, Chilli Con
Carne and a Vegetable Chilli, all served with Crusty Bread, and Hot Dogs
for the little ones. With everything prepared and Hell’s Kitchen ready
to go, Lin, Jan, Jayne Houldey, Jayne Bishop, Caz Roberts and Georgie
Tain had the chance to join some of the other DA members and working
party for a well deserved drink and chill out couple of hours in the
Club next to the site.
As dusk descended everyone
returned to their vans to get the children dressed up ready for "Trick
or Treat". Then it was time to get on our scary outfits and head to the
marquee. There was soon a queue of hungry ghouls and it gave us a good
chance to have a look at the amazing costumes as everyone was led
through from the main marquee. With everyone fed and the mammoth washing
up job done, mainly by Aneel (Jan’s personal washer upperJ
) and Paul Grummet, we all headed to the marquee to dance the night away
to another night of fantastic music. We were overwhelmed at the sheer
amount of people who had made such an amazing effort. Andy’s tunes
ensured that the dance floor never emptied, until unfortunately Walk On
had to be played and the night came to an end. Unfortunately, there were
a few of us who did not want the night to end and before we knew it,
3.30 am had arrived and we reluctantly dragged ourselves to bed!
We were all woken on Sunday
morning to torrential rain, gusting winds and the sound of balloons
popping as the last day of our meet began. Coffee Morning got under way,
with many announcements and prizes to be given out. Congratulations go
to the following winners:-
Best Dressed Male : Lloyd and
Eddie Robinson
Best Dressed Female : Sharon and
Lorraine Grommitt
Best Under 8’s Boy : Alfie
Best 8 – 14 Boy : Liam Bratt
Best Under 8’s Girl : Megan
Nicklin
Best 8 – 14 Girls : Georgia
Best Dressed Unit : Carol French
Best Jack "O" Lantern: Lloyd and
Kaz
Colouring 6+ : Cordella Green
Colouring 5+ : Benji Tain
Scavenge Hunt : Sophie Boyce
What’s in the Pumpkin: Liz
Francis
In addition to all of the above,
four very special presentations were made to NWDA’s younger members who
have recently turned 8. Well done to Molly Kennings, Lottie Frome, Jenny
Francis and Jacob Tain who all received NWDA CCJ t-shirts.
Steve stepped back during
proceedings, and handed the mike to Gary Bratt, our Charity
Co-ordinator, in order that he could promote NWDA’s Charity Night on
Saturday 21st November at Avenue Bowls Club, Coundon,
Coventry. Unbeknown to Gary, Di Nicklin made a surprise presentation of
a cheque for £800 which she had raised at The Pallasades – this has to
be the only time in history that Gary Bratt was actually speechless!
What a fantastic effort and well done Di for your hard work.
Steve then read out the
nominations for this weekend’s "Brocklehurst" award, of which there were
a few!. The culprits for acts of stupidity this weekend included Tracey
"Crap Cardigan", for putting a slow cooker on a washing up stand – for
it to then fall straight through to the floor; Andy Tain, for pointing
out a "Chinese Lantern" floating through the sky - which was actually a
light on the top of someone’s pole; Maureen Bishop, one of the Best
Dressed Unit Judges for saying "shame the units haven’t got numbers on,
so we can identify them easier". When it was pointed out to her that all
cars have registration plates, she said "What if they don’t have a
car?"!!!! And finally, our own Chairman, Steve Kennings, for rushing to
get from one part of the ghost walk to another, getting tangled up in
chains and falling flat on his face. The "clapometer" results went
overwhelmingly in favour of Steve Kennings. Not to be outdone, Steve
then went on to present the end of season Brocklehurst to the "buffoon"
who has received this prestigious award previously and whose act of
"buffoonery" is outstanding! The present holder, June Roberts, gladly
handed over the trophy to our very own Georgina Tain, on behalf of her
husband Andy, who was taking a trailer back to storage! Andy’s act of
buffoonery happened at August Bank Holiday when, after a long night and
a few too many beers, pushed his son in his pushchair back to their
caravan, only to realise when taking him out that it wasn’t in fact his
child and he had taken the wrong pushchair!!!
With coffee morning over and
clearing up done – it was then time to make sure the field had been left
as we found it and head home to get ready for work the next day!
Our thanks go to everyone who was part of making this meet a huge
success. It takes the efforts of the members dressing up their units,
and themselves, and keeping the atmosphere as amazing as it was.
During the weekend Steve took a
couple of opportunities to point out that this could be the last
Halloween meet. This is mainly based on all the hard work that goes into
it and the fact that year on year the meet makes a financial loss due to
the scale of the meet. However, this gave us the opportunity to listen
to our supporters – many of whom said that we should put the cost of the
meet up to cover the loss. The Committee will meet during the next month
to make a final decision, however, in the meantime, your feeback is
invaluable so please feel free to e-mail us or use the Contact form on
the whole page.
by Jayne Bishop
CONKERS AND PANCAKES
Studley
25th-27th
September 2009
Stewards-Youth Leaders and Youth
Members
Smashing and Delicious are two words that can
be applied to the Conkers and the Pancakes this weekend. Sun and Fun are
two other words that spring to mind.
As you may have gathered we had a very
successful weekend, with the site at Studley being fuller than I have
ever seen it before. We were efficiently greeted by our Youth members,
who had their work cut out trying to fit us all in, and were promised a
weekend of activities to keep us entertained at the same time as raising
funds for the Youth Section. The marquee was up, and ready to bring the
whole area alive with music, lights and laughter Friday evening;
although we were respectfully quiet by 11 pm. Promise!
On Saturday morning our Youth Members were busy
taking names for the Conkers Contest, as well as persuading us to part
with our money for a go at Guess the Name of the Teddy, Bonus Ball, the
Football Card, and to buy Raffle Tickets. Once we were able to escape,
some of us went shopping in Redditch, some went to nearby Broad lane
Caravans, and some sat around trying to complete the quiz we had been
given as we arrived. We had to name the faces of celebrities that
started out as Child Stars.
At last it was time for the Conkers Competition
to begin. Contestants battled in the afternoon heat, conkers gleaming in
the sun, until we ended up with our two finalists and the winners of the
kids contest. The kid’s final was between Katie and Joseph-with Joseph
being the victor. The two adult finalists lay down their conkers for the
evening as they prepared for the final the next day.
After a BBQ we were gradually drawn to the
marquee by the tempting smell of pancakes (cooked by youth members) and
by the sounds of good music. A great evening unfolded with everyone
being in a party mood.
There were surprisingly few hangovers (that
anyone would admit to!) on Sunday morning as we gathered outside for the
final of The Conkers Contest. Shaun and Lorraine went into battle and
Shaun was soon declared the winner. After presenting Shaun with his
prize our Chairman Steve Kennings began Coffee Morning by informing us
that 41 units had been camped for the weekend from eight different DA’s
(District Associations)
Steve went on to congratulate all our Youth
Members for actively being involved with raising funds this weekend for
future Youth Rallies and activities. Even the CCJ (Camping Club Juniors,
aged 8 to 11 years) managed to raise some money, all by themselves, by
conducting their own fundraising activities. Sam, Jacob, Lottie, and
Joseph were also congratulated for each sleeping in their tents, by
themselves, in the CCJ area, for the first time this weekend. Well Done.
Steve then took the opportunity to advertise
forthcoming events such as our famous Halloween meet at Wilmcote, a
Charity Race and Auction Night in November, and the Christmas Party
(details of which can be found on the websites Socials page)
Bonus Ball winner was John Harding, Name the
Bear was won by Ethan, Football Card winner was Tony Roberts, and the
winners of the Quiz were Denise and Derek.
Joseph’s Mum received his Conkers prize on his
behalf because he had gone to play in a football match; although he had
his photograph taken when he returned later.
And finally: There were many nominations for
the Brocklehurst Award this weekend, including one for Tracey (crap
cardigan) who was frantically searching for her dog Friday night . . .
until someone reminded her she hadn’t actually brought him this weekend!
But by popular demand it was awarded jointly to Diane Nicklin for being
a dutiful (if a little drunk!) Mother by going to her sons tent to tuck
him in (turning off his lantern and kissing him goodnight etc) . . .
only it WASN’T Lewis’ tent she had gone into, it was Sam’s!! Also to
Kevin Frume for being a ‘know all’ (too complicated a story to explain)
when it came to cars!
Yew Tree Farm
Pound Bank, near Bewdley
18th-20th
September 2009
Stewards-Mark and Michelle
Lievers
It may have been a comparatively long journey
for a Friday evening, in fading light, dodging impatient motorists,
wishing we hadn’t followed the advice of Sat’ Nav’; but it turned out to
be well worth it.
The lovely site at Yew Tree Farm on the edge of
the Wyre Forest was well populated this weekend and by the time we had
set up, eaten, and taken a stroll around the field on this very mild
evening, the rush hour traffic was but a distant memory. And by the time
we had been to the pub, conveniently situated just outside the site, we
were completely chilled!
I have to mention that our house guests who had
moved in last weekend, the Daddy Long Legs, were still in residence:
Some sprang back into life as soon as the lights were switched on, some
were found in sad crumpled heaps in various corners of the caravan, and
some were soon snapped up by the dog!
So, having evicted the Crane Flies and
reclaimed the caravan as our own, we awoke to a gloriously warm and
sunny day Saturday morning. Breakfast outdoors was first on the agenda.
Sitting around chatting was next!
However, having sat around for quite long
enough, by mid afternoon we decided we ought to do something and set off
to explore.
We hadn’t gone far when Steve found himself
having to peel a Dragonfly off the tarmac after it almost met its end
under the wheels of a car. We took it back to the caravan, where it
posed for photographs before flying off in search of a mate, vowing
never to fly low over a road again!
By this time it was so late we opted to go to
The Forestry Commission Visitor Centre, approximately two miles away, by
car, where we spent a couple of hours walking some of the circular
woodland walks. The centre has routes to follow with signs to say what
wildlife to look out for and Sam managed to kidnap an unusual
caterpillar to identify later. It also gave Steve another opportunity to
get close up and personal with a few more mini beasts on the macro
setting of his new camera!
In addition there is a fantastic outdoor
adventure centre there which consists of a series of tree top bridges,
tunnels, and zip wires to negotiate (all under supervision and with
safety harnesses) for ages 10 years and over and takes around 3 hours to
complete. Sam is already planning his 10th birthday there in
2 years time!
When we finally returned to the camp site a BBQ
was definitely next on the agenda even though it was dark by the time we
got it.
We then decided we wouldn’t waste a beautiful
evening inside the pub so sat around, in various groups, under a starry
ceiling with the forest treetops silhouetted against the night sky.
Poetic or what?!
Sunday morning was equally as glorious as the
previous day, although by the time I was awake I discovered that Steve
had already been on an hour long walk with the dog, making the most of
footpaths and scenery that we just do not have in Hallgreen! By the way
Jack, our juvenile Jack Russell, gave us one final memory of the fishing
weekend when we arrived home last week: he ate the remaining
maggots…then brought them back up all over the kitchen floor 5 minutes
later!
During Coffee Morning Chairman Steve Kennings
informed us that 53 units had attended from South Wales, East Worcester,
and North Warwickshire. He then reminded us all that next weekend’s
Conkers and Pancakes meet will be hosted by our Youth members with a
focus on raising funds for youth activities.
Ann Francis won the Bonus ball, and Trevor
Whitehead won the Brocklehurst. He had set off for Button Oak on
Saturday afternoon insisting he knew exactly where he was going; which
made it hilarious when he arrived back at the site 5 minutes later
having driven full circle around the local lanes!
George and Faye Nicklin were then called out to
the front to allow us to publicly thank them for being first class
stewards at the Isle of Wight Holiday Site for 10 weeks again this year.
They had a very busy time there.
Once Coffee Morning was over we ventured off to
do what we had intended to do the day before; which was to WALK to the
visitor centre ‘cross country’, or ‘off road’. I am proud to say we
successfully navigated our way there, rewarded ourselves with an
ice-cream, then turned around and came back again! Needless to say the
tranquillity, beauty, and fresh air of the forest was something we were
glad we hadn’t missed.
Maybe if those impatient motorists that we
passed on Friday evening did what WE do every weekend they might still
be anxious to get there, but would definitely be of calmer frame of
mind!
The Riddings, Atherstone
11th-13th
September 2009
Stewards-Shaun
and Caz Roberts
It’s that time of year again: Crane flies,
commonly known as Daddy Longlegs (also named Pop Stanleys a few years
ago by one of our younger members!) were out in force! By the end of
Friday evening it seemed like the whole local population of them had
moved into our caravan!
Apart from that it was a beautiful evening,
with a hint of autumn in the air, spent eating, drinking, and standing
around outside (while the Daddy Longlegs did whatever Daddy Longlegs do
in the warmth of our caravans!)
Of course it was also the time of year when we
hold our annual fishing contest on one of the pools below the camp site.
Despite any excess drinking the previous
evening the men folk were up (or kicked out of bed by their other
halves) bright and early Saturday morning for the peg draw, before they
set off down the drive for a hard days fishing.
Back at the caravan I was personally in my
element, being able to fulfil the need to do some housework, and spend
some quality time with the child and the dog-though not necessarily both
together- after a week spent juggling parenthood, wifehood, career, and
dog owner responsibilities!
Needs fulfilled I was then eager to pop along
to the fishing pool to see how Steve and the others were getting on in
their quest to net the best catch of the day. After several updates
throughout the day I can report that, basically, a couple of them caught
some big fish, a few of them caught a lot of smaller fish, and some of
them didn’t catch anything at all!
The day was broken up with regular rations of
bacon sandwiches from the kiosk, delivered by the lovely ladies of The
Riddings; and freshly prepared baguettes from Caz’s caravan, delivered
by the even lovelier ladies of NWDA.
At 3 o’clock everyone gathered for the all
important weigh in. After Andy Flear’s catch weighed in very early on at
26 lb, it was quite clear that it would take a lot to beat him; and
although some came close (not a lot) he was declared the winner.
And so we helped our men carry their fishing
gear back to the camp site (well, some of us did!) to be packed away
into the loft for another year; listening to accounts of ‘the one that
got away’ as we went!
The glorious weather meant that most of us
chose to BBQ later, because at this time of year every BBQ we can fit in
is a bonus now. But that was after we went along the road for a
pre-dinner drink at the local pub-which conveniently had a bouncy castle
for the kid’s entertainment.
On Sunday morning Chairman Steve Kennings
informed us that 30 units had attended the weekend. He went on to thank
Andy Nicklin for organising the fishing contest, and Caz and the girls
for catering for the fishermen (as well as those remaining on site) by
preparing lunchtime baguettes.
A mention went to James for catching nothing
but sunburn in the fishing contest; and presentations were made to
runner up Harry Reid, aged 13, whose catch weighed in at 19 lb and to
our winner Andy Flear.
Gary Bratt advertised a forthcoming Race
Night/Auction being held near Coventry to raise money for this year’s
charity; and members of the CCJ (Camping Club Juniors) spoke about their
own fundraising achievements. They were each then presented with a
certificate for speaking at coffee morning (the kids, not Gary)
Bonus ball was won by Jenny Edwards this week,
who had to receive her winnings all in £1 coins; and the football card
winner was Chris Edwards!
After a few nominations for the Brocklehurst
Award it was jointly awarded, by public vote, to Shaun Roberts AND Mark
Nicklin:
Whilst at the pub Saturday afternoon Shaun,
being concerned when Tracy (of ‘crap cardigan’ fame) complained she felt
cold, reached over to someone’s pushchair to offer her the use of one of
our cardigans…only it WASN’T one of OURS! The rightful owner was not
amused!
The award also went to Mark because he almost
started a major ‘man hunt’ Saturday night when he could not be found
anywhere. After looking for him, knocking on lots of caravan doors, and
being on the verge of calling the Police he was eventually found UNDER
his caravan bed!!
So it is not difficult to see how a laugh on a
relatively quiet, and sunny, weekend can help to alleviate the effects
of a stressful week and prepare you for the next. I’m looking forward to
next weekend already.
Weston on Avon, near Stratford
4th-6th
September 2009
Stewards-Trevor and Mary
Whitehead
Well, we nearly had the field all to ourselves
this weekend. With a grand total of 7 units it was quite an intimate
gathering.
After initial greetings everyone more or less
kept themselves to themselves Friday evening; and after taking the dog
for a late walk, on what turned out to be a very mild evening, we turned
in for an early night too.
But we were up bright and early Saturday
morning because the sun was shining so we decided to go to a Country
Show we had seen advertised:
Approximately 18 miles from where we were
camped, the Morton-in-Marsh Show is an annual countryside event that has
been staged on a large farming estate for many years. There were 3
arenas, several big marquees, many interesting trade stands and stalls,
plenty of food outlets, and enough toilet units to cope with the crowds.
We thoroughly enjoyed the whole event and
finally headed back to the campsite after 6pm still wondering whether or
not we HAD seen everything!
We made several purchases of items guaranteed
to make life easier; watched parades of Prize Livestock and Vintage
Tractors as well as Sheepdog demonstrations; marvelled at an Australian
Quad Bike Stuntman; laughed at the Terrier Racing; came very close to
some very big horses; had photo’s taken standing next to large, shiny
agricultural machinery; took MANY photo’s of two very agile young ladies
performing breathtaking manoeuvres on their ponies; and spent a small
fortune on Bison Burgers, ice-creams and Americano coffee-each of which
was delicious!!
By the time we arrived back at camp we were
rapidly losing day light, but that didn’t stop most of us having a BBQ.
Afterwards several of us braved the autumnal chill for a while before
heading indoors for another cosy, early night!
We weren’t the only ones that had a lovely day
though. Others reported they had also been spending money at places like
Wellsbourne Market, or in Stratford.
Sunday morning saw us all having a welcome
lie-in and just about managing to turn up for Coffee Morning at 11.30!
Trevor made a few announcements then we had another cup of coffee,
finished off the biscuits, and sat around talking for a while longer.
However, we did then decide to make the most of
the pleasant weather and walk along the river to Welford-on-Avon to buy
an ice-cream at the village shop by the maypole. We continued along one
of the Public Footpaths, saw a house we could buy if we win the lottery
this week, and called at a very nice Pub for soft drinks.
By the time we returned to the secluded little
site that was home for the weekend, we found we would be the last to
leave-again!
Sarah Davis
pictures coming soon
August Bank Holiday
28th-31st
August 2009
Evesham Sports Club
Stewards-Steve and Lin Kennings
Supported by the NWDA committee
"Hi-de-Hi. Good morning campers". For this
weekends vacation we were transported back in time to the 1950’s when
holiday camps were all the rage, as depicted by the 1970’s T.V ‘sit com’
Hi-de Hi.
Everyone certainly seemed to be in the holiday
spirit as they arrived to check into OUR holiday camp during the day and
evening of Friday; some just in time to join us in the marquee for an
evening of music, impromptu joke telling, and a quiz-which was won by
the Rochelle family. Being law abiding campers we were, of course, all
quiet in our chalets (aka caravans/tents) by 11 pm.
On Saturday morning there was much excitement
as our Youth members prepared to be launched onto the river Avon in
canoes, under the guidance and supervision of members from the Canoeing
Group of The Camping and caravanning Club. It all went swimmingly well
and not a single participant remained dry!
Meanwhile, for those not afloat, there was
Clown Face Painting in the marquee; which explained why there were a few
clowns taking part in the Holiday camp Games that followed! I am not
sure who the winners were, but I do know that a LOT of people got very
wet!
Running slightly later than planned due to the
popularity of canoeing, the Bingo went ahead in the late afternoon
sunshine, with a few people walking away with more money in their
pockets than when they arrived.
There was just enough time for a BBQ before the
sound of music from the 1950’s began to draw the happy campers back into
to the marquee for a fun packed evening of entertainment in the style of
Maplin’s Holiday Camp.
The Glamorous Granny Contest was won by West
Mids DA’s VERY glamorous Patricia Colley; Tony Roberts was declared
Grumpy Granddad; best knobbly knees belonged to George Holland; and the
Fancy Dress Competition winners were Eric Potter, and Ann Francis, who
really looked the part.
After a good nights rest the kids were back in
the arena on Sunday morning for Volleyball Training and a Mini
Tournament. Even the adults found some spare energy to take part in
their Volleyball Tournament. Alternatively you could go into the marquee
for a Dance Class with Andy Frear, who conducted a more modern
interpretation of Maplin’s own Barry and Yvonne.
Also, due to demand, our canoeing experts
kindly agreed to run an extra session for some of the adults who had
been yelling words of advice, from the river bank, to their kids the
previous day. It was SOON proved that it is easier said than done; and I
wouldn’t be surprised if the instructors were secretly wishing for the
KIDS back! In fact we missed a Fund Raising opportunity as we could have
sold tickets had we known it was going to be SO entertaining to watch!
There was a little time during the afternoon to
stroll along the river bank (carefully stepping over some VERY long
fishing poles belonging to the professional fishermen/women whose names
were, fortunately, displayed on boards as I doubt any of us would have
known who they were! ) to the Fishing Show Marquees on the park grounds
in Evesham. It didn’t matter if you weren’t interested in fishing though
because there were fairground stalls, a craft marquee, an ice-cream van
(as well as other food vans) AND a beer tent!
However some members were busy making last
minute adjustments to their inventions to be presented in the Dragon’s
Den in the marquee from 7.30 pm onwards.
Quite a lot of people had taken the time and
trouble to make and bring along their inventions . . . which included a
poopa scoopa, a disguise for drink cans, and some that are probably best
not mentioned at all! The NWDA Dragons predictably gave THEM all a hard
time, and US all a good laugh!
Afterwards we were treated to a performance of
the dance learnt by those that had attended Andy’s Dance Class earlier.
A very rousing Last Night Disco followed, with
great music selected by Mark and Shaun.
The weather for Monday’s Coffee Morning was
wonderfully warm, as we sat around outside with a delicious English
Cream Tea. Our Chairman Steve Kennings began by saying that there were
representations from quite a few District Associations, including some
from Teesside who had arrived after a 7 hour journey! We were also
delighted to have around twenty CCY (Camping Club Youth aged 12 years
upwards) and five CCJ (Camping Club Juniors aged 8 to 11 years) in their
own area.
Steve went on to thank all holiday campers for
taking part in the various activities; guest DJ Allan Davis, along with
Ted Capper; ALL the committee and their families; and the Editors of our
seasonal newsletter Bear Facts.
We then had a parade of anyone present who was
celebrating a birthday this week-including NWDA Treasurer Aneel Khanna
who reached the age of 50 (said to be The Youth of Old Age!) and sang
Happy Birthday to them all.
Steve publicly thanked the Camping Club members
from the Canoeing Group who gave up most of their weekend to expertly
instruct a lot of us at the Beginners Level of Paddle Power. It was a
fantastic experience for everyone that took part, and they each received
a certificate. Some of our Youth Members presented the team with gifts
to show our gratitude.
Andy and Jackie were also called up to receive
a thank you gift for running the Dance Class, and for raising £15 for
this years chosen charity (Warwick Hospital’s Neonatal Unit) in the
process.
The Dragons Den contestants were each given a
bottle of wine (apart from the inventor of the drinks can disguise, who
was given some cans wrapped in tape!) for being such good sports.
There were two winners of the Bonus ball; and
the Colouring Competition was won by Lola in the under 5 year’s
category, Luke from the 5-8 years entries, and Ellie from the entrants
aged over 8 years.
Three Lucky Programme Numbers were drawn out to
win hampers, made up from donations, including June’s: Her hamper was
returned to her because she had apparently donated a box which
concealed, hidden at the bottom, the famous Brocklehurst trophy that she
keeps trying to get rid of! Better luck next time June!
Talking of which-this week’s winner, chosen by
the audience from several daft nominations, was Andy Tain: He won it for
reportedly returning to his caravan late Saturday night, taking his son
back in the pushchair…only to discover when he got there that his wife
Georgina had already put Benjamin to bed earlier and he had got the
WRONG CHILD !!! Fortunately everyone eventually ended up with the
correct offspring!
Good night campers
by Sarah Davis
Moat House Inn, Alcester
Friday 21st-Sunday 23rd
August 2009
Stewards- Allan and Marion Davis
A small booked meet in the back garden of a
lovely old Pub: What more could we ask for? Add to that a reunion after
summer holidays spent in various locations, as well as some sunshine,
and we had a perfect weekend.
The Pub was an ideal location for catching up
with news and having a laugh Friday evening. It was also the obvious
place to stop for refreshments after popping along the road to Broad
Lane Caravans on Saturday! For those of us that didn’t need any spare
parts, or want to look at the new caravans, sitting around
in the sun was more appealing! It was even warm enough to fill a
paddling pool for the kids to have a splash around.
Despite being great weather for a BBQ (at this
time of year you never know how many more barbeques you are going to be
able to do before the weather changes!) most of us opted for the more
effortless option of trying out the Pub Restaurant Menu. I think I can
safely say that nobody regretted it. Around twenty five of us were
seated in a room which we had all to ourselves, complete with wide
screen T.V, and were well satisfied after our superb meals. Apparently
the Pub is haunted by friendly ghosts, but fortunately they allowed us
to eat our meals in peace!
At coffee morning on Sunday we congratulated
Jenny, who recently reached the age of 8 years, for sleeping outside her
Parents unit in her own tent (Big sister Lizzy is now in the Youth area
for ages 12 years and over). This weekend’s stewards Allan and Marion
were presented with a bottle of wine, and June Roberts was called up to
receive the Brocklehurst Award in the absence of any other nominations!!
Diane then requested it be presented to Dave for not realising that J.P
Chenney wine bottles are SUPPOSED to be bent at the neck…at which point
June saw an opportunity to pass on the former trophy (a sort of
vegetable tureen) which had been retired from circulation into her
PERMANENT care not long ago!! Nice try June!!
Temporary Holiday Site,
Binton Social Club, Binton, Stratford
11th July-8th August
As
Steve, Sam, and I recently took ownership of a new Jack Russell puppy we
decided to delay our main summer holiday until August this year. Of
course we couldn’t stay away from a campsite field for long, and found
ourselves heading for the NWDA Temporary Holiday Site in our own area,
at Binton near Stratford, for a weekend.
We
were greeted by Stewards Pete and Maureen, who reported that they had
been busier than last year. There was certainly a healthy splattering of
caravans, motor homes, and tents when we arrived.
Despite a lot of rain earlier in the day, we were lucky enough to enjoy
a very mild and dry evening which enabled us to sit on the terrace of
the social club to partake in a pre dinner drink; and to gaze up at a
star studded sky with an after dinner drink later.
On
Saturday we drove round to Wilmcote to hop onto one of the open top
Sight Seeing Tour Buses for an expensive ride into Stratford! At least
we saw some places of interest along the way that we had not seen before
even though we live ‘on the doorstep’!
On
Saturday evening it simply wouldn’t have been camping if we hadn’t had a
BBQ, along with most of the other people on site.
All in all
we enjoyed a relaxing and peaceful weekend…apart from being bombarded by
music and search lights from Global Gathering at Long Marston until the
early hours of Sunday morning! Good job we didn’t need to be up in time
for Coffee Morning!
Many
thanks to Pete and Maureen for acting as stewards at our temporary
holiday site again this year, despite bouts of ill health. We wish them
both well.
by Sarah Davis
The Volleyball Meet
Thurs 9th-Sun 12th July 2009
Ashdene Farm, Drayton Bassett
When it comes to volleyball I am no expert, so
rather than pretend to be I decided to report on the event from a
layman’s point of view. After all I had never before been to a
volleyball meet, and had no chance of trying to work out who was playing
who in what division on any one of the volleyball courts!
Of course being an NWDA member I had recently
been caught up in the excitement of hosting this event for the first
time, and found I couldn’t wait to experience a volleyball meet for
myself.
On arrival Friday evening I wasn’t surprised to
find the entrance well signed and to be met by smiling Marshalls,
efficient Stewards, and a very professional looking programme (this is
NWDA). The field looked great with tidy rows of caravans, little groups
of tents, and a large marquee-all centred round nine volleyball courts.
I noticed a few members putting in a little last minute practice, and
pondered for a moment on the dramas that could unfold over the weekend
on the silently awaiting courts.
Volleyball teams could be registered over a
drink in the marquee bar Friday evening; then it was early to bed for an
early start to the tournament the next morning.
During the brief opening ceremony Saturday
morning a minutes silence was held in memory of Sue Trowman, former
Chairperson of The Volleyball Meet, who passed away last year. The day
was then spent watching all the teams compete in the three divisions;
including the ladies, the over forties, and the Youth teams.
As a breather from cheering on your favourite
team, or to dodge the showers, you could wander round the trade stands,
have a go on the raffle and tombola, and spend some pennies at the tuck
shop or in the bar. There was even a ‘corner shop’ just in case you had
run out of basic supplies.
On Saturday afternoon there was plenty to keep
the kids entertained from games and colouring in the marquee to a Foam
Party followed by a Cheerleading class. And it was a relief that the
heavy rain that had been forecast didn’t arrive until 7pm when all the
outdoor action was over for the day! I just wished we hadn’t already lit
our BBQ! For those that hadn’t got that far there was always the food
van or Adrian the farmer’s delicious home grown pig- roasted to mouth
watering perfection and served in a bap with stuffing and crackling;
that is if you could banish from your mind the image of the pink piglets
over at the farm! However, once all fed from one source or another, most
of us took shelter in the marquee for the remainder of the evening and
had a great time relaxing, dancing and having a laugh.
Despite a few hangovers plenty of people were
up early Sunday morning to support players in the remaining matches. The
sun shone for a while and although it had gone before it was time to
watch the first division final we were glad it didn’t actually rain. At
least we had our Cheerleaders to brighten up the day.
The all important(to
some!)results
The closing ceremony was introduced by NWDA
Chairman Steve Kenning, who began by thanking the many people involved
in putting on this meet. The following winners were then announced:-
Colouring Competition under 5’s…Summer French
Colouring Competition over 5’s…Hannah Harris
Colouring Competition over 11’s…Katie Buchannan
Brocklehurst Award…Vinnie Coleman (who was
voted the winner from several nominations for complaining that the
postcode listed for the meet was no good. When asked what he had put
into his ‘Sat Nav’ he replied M42 J10 !!)
Under 14’s Team runners up…NWDA
Under 14’s Team winners…NSDA
Refs: Deb Johnson and Chris Lamb.
Trophies presented by Carol Smith, Chairperson
NECDA.
Wooden Spoon (for the team with the least
points)…NECDA
Presented by Roger Bishop, former Central
Counties Chairman.
Division 3 runners up…Rossendale(presented
earlier as they had to leave)
Division 3 winners…Porky’s, from NWDA
Refs: Nikki Wardle and Jan Wardle
Trophies presented by Frank Grant, President of
Central Counties Region.
Division 2 runners up…Seven over the Hill
Division 2 winners…Golden Pops
Refs: Lee Copperthwaite and Aneel Khanna
Trophies presented by Norman Helmsley, present
Central Counties Chairman.
Division 1 runners up…Black Country Boys, from
WHDA
Division 1 winners…Flower Power
Refs: Darren Bishop and Aneel Khanna
Trophies presented by Albert Walker, Vice
Chairman of The Camping and Caravanning Club.
Junior Player of the tournament…Daniel
Coulthurst
Trophy presented by Larry Brown, immediate past
Chairman of Central Counties Region.
Most Promising Player of the tournament…Andy
Glossop
Trophy presented by Albert Walker, Vice
Chairman of The Camping and Caravanning Club.
Female Player of the tournament..Amy Goulding
New Sue Trowman Trophy presented for the first
time by Vinnie Coleman.
Male Player of the tournament…Chris Jennings
Trophy presented by Rob Loudham, Director
General of The Camping and Caravanning Club.
And finally a little medal was presented to
each of our Cheerleaders.
The meet was then formally closed with three
cheers by Robert Loudham, Director General of The Camping and
Caravanning Club.
Was I glad I came to The Volleyball Meet
despite being neither knowledgeable nor interested in the game? OF
COURSE I WAS!
It was a fabulous weekend with plenty to do
whether you played or were a spectator; teams to join whether you were
an expert or a novice; lots to interest you whether you liked volleyball
or not; and lots to enjoy whether your team won or not.
So spread the word and join us again next
year…but order some slightly better weather please!!
By Sarah Davis
Now see
if you can spot yourself
Fri 25th-Sun 28th
June 2009
Sports Field, Brailes-near
Banbury
I am so glad we didn’t take any notice of the
people who warned us that thunderstorms had been forecast for the WHOLE
weekend. I am also glad that we weren’t put off by the torrential rain
and flash floods that we drove through and left behind in Birmingham
Friday tea time! The weather in Banbury was glorious ALL weekend!
Despite the mist that settled over the field
after sundown Friday it had been a mild and pleasant evening devoted to
eating, drinking, and sitting around chatting in small groups.
On Saturday morning we awoke to the sun shining
over the flat and open field. We found ourselves suddenly very
appreciative of the rolling hills, trees, and green fields of the
surrounding Warwickshire countryside.
By the time we had tried out the play area at
the other end of the field, walked through the picture postcard village,
and stopped for a lunchtime drink in the garden of The George Hotel (a
real ale pub) we had begun to realise how much this area has to offer.
There is a butcher, baker (and NOT a candlestick maker!) as well as a
newsagent across the road from the site; a large and historic church,
and public footpaths within walking distance; as well as buses running
through the village. Places such as Banbury, Oxford, Leamington,
Warwick, Edge Hill (famous for its battle, and more recently for The
Castle Pub) or Stratford would also be near enough to drive to.
However the weather was too unexpectedly lovely
for us to want to do anything other than BBQ and spend another warm
evening sitting around on this occasion!
On Sunday morning Sam (7) and Molly (9) helped
Chairman Steve with announcements as we all sat out in MORE sunshine and
warm weather. The Brocklehurst award was expected to go to Min, as June
wasn’t present this weekend, but instead was presented to Glenys Barrow.
In a debate over whether or not their solar panel was working, when her
husband said it must be because he could hear it humming ( he SO nearly
got the award himself!) she actually agreed that yes she could hear it
too! Darren and Jayne were then presented with a bottle of wine as
a thank you for stewarding this lovely weekend.
Having spent the rest of the day basking in the
sunshine we finally returned to Birmingham in the same weather
conditions as we had journeyed there in… RAIN!
Fri 19th-Sun 21st
June 2009
Brookleys Farm, Bidford on Avon
SOME optimistic people had predicted a hot
weather weekend, so on that front we were disappointed; but from every
other point of view our expectations were exceeded. This became a
weekend of happy gatherings.
From Friday afternoon onwards we welcomed a
steady stream of weekend holiday makers. Members came from several DA’s
(Worcester and Hereford, East Worcester, Coventry, Leicester, West
Midlands, and of course North Warwick’s) totalling 30 units in all.
Once set up we all spent a lovely evening
eating, drinking, wandering around the farm, and catching up with old
friends.
On Saturday morning the weather was promising
to begin with, but as the day went on we were reaching for more and more
layers! However it didn’t stop a crowd of us driving along the lane to
the centre of Bidford on Avon where The Frog, a pub by the river, was
having a day of live music in the garden. This proved to be well worth
braving the occasional shower for, and we only just made it back to the
site in time to take part in a Pub Crawl with a difference:
Everyone had been given the name of a genuine
Pub, which then had to be illustrated in a drawing alone and displayed
outside your unit. We then went round each others units and had to write
down what we thought the Pub names were. Some of them were obvious, and
some of them were not! Some of the drawings were also works of art, and
some of them were not! Either way it created a laugh and got people
circulating. Many thanks go to Andy Flear for organising this brilliant
quiz.
After that entertaining interlude most of us
enjoyed a BBQ, followed by a slice of cake to celebrate Charlotte
gaining her University degree.
Coffee morning announcements were made by Shaun
Roberts, who reminded everyone of forthcoming events, and wished all the
Dads a Happy Father’s Day. Chocolates were presented to the winner of
the Pub Crawl Competition - Tracy (of Crap Cardigan Fame!) who correctly
named 21 of the 30 pubs and to Steve Francis for the best artwork with
his interpretation of A Hole in the Wall. Other pub names included The
Sozzled Sausage and The Famous Virgins and Castle.
Now, despite June being NOMINATED for the
Brocklehurst Award AGAIN this week, it was awarded to our other regular
‘offender’ Min. She regrettably referred to the sucking of a sugar lump
as "like an orgasm", rather than an organic experience!
Mark and Diane were presented with a bottle of
wine as a thank you for stewarding, and just as coffee morning was
closing there was an extra treat in store for us:
The RED ARROWS suddenly appeared from nowhere,
flying in formation, fairly low overhead! They released a smoke stream
that we would like to think was for OUR benefit but was MORE likely to
have been directed at the neighbouring Gliding Club! Unfortunately Steve
was unable to photograph any of it because he had just sent Sam off with
the camera to take photo’s of the farm ponies!
Central Counties Regional Meet
Woodbine Farm, Grandborough
Fields, Rugby
11th-14th June 2009
Hosted this year by Coventry
District Association
Whoever chose the dates for this year’s Central
Counties Meet must have had advance notification of the weather forecast
because the weather LAST weekend couldn’t have been worse, whereas the
weather THIS weekend couldn’t have been better. The sunshine was the
final ingredient needed to make a perfect Regional Meet. Plenty of
people must have thought so too because around 250 units were finally in
residence for the weekend-some having been there since the working party
set themselves up in the pouring rain the previous weekend. It wasn’t
long before we were all settled in and ready to participate in an action
packed programme.
From the live band Impossible Dream on Friday
evening to the Opening Ceremony Saturday morning, then the volley ball
heats being played most of the day- as well as the Mardi Gras during the
afternoon, not to mention the band 80’s Affair in the marquee Saturday
evening, followed by the Sunday morning Service of Celebration, the very
energetic Team Games and Volleyball final, to the Closing Ceremony
Sunday afternoon I think I can safely sat that a great time was had by
all!!
The colourful Mardi Gras was won by Northants
DA in the larger groups category, who depicted the West End Musical Les
Miserable. Our own DA members won the smaller groups category with
Saturday Night Fever; The Horace Ringrose Trophy, presented to the
winning team in the family games, was won by Coventry DA this year; and
the Stan and Edna Williams Cup was awarded to the winners of the
Volleyball contest-our very own team from NWDA, who beat Notts DA in the
final. Well done to all.
Any spare time in between taking part or
cheering on various teams (whilst sampling any of the refreshments
available from one or two of the catering outlets on site) could be
spent perusing the various Trade Stands, where several bargains were
purchased, or having a go on the inflatable equipment.
During the Closing Ceremony, before the
presentations were made, many people and organisations were thanked for
their contribution to this meet. We were proud to note that our own NWDA
member Darren Bishop (originally from Coventry) was thanked for
producing all the artistic signs and trailer decoration. Various people
also took to the stage to advertise various forthcoming events;
including our own Chairperson Steve Kennings, who was there to promote
the Volleyball Contest that we are excited about hosting for the
first time this year at Ashdene Farm, Drayton Bassett from 11th-13th
July. This year’s meet was then officially closed by Liz Stringfellow,
the Central Counties Regional Secretary.
Once the generators had been turned off and the
large inflatables had gone home, some of us hung around for a little
longer as the field gradually emptied. We were determined to make the
most of the glorious sunshine and really enjoyed relaxing for a while
longer. It wasn’t until then that we realised what a remote and peaceful
area we had been occupying. You couldn’t hear ANY traffic, and by the
end of the day there were very few signs remaining of what had taken
place over the past week. Maybe the neighbouring sheep will hear the
ghostly echoes of laughter and cheering for a few more days to come!
By Sarah Davis
22nd-31st May 2009
Rhayader, Wales
Although we love our
Warwickshire countryside it was refreshing to once again leave
Birmingham behind us as we journeyed through Staffordshire, then
Herefordshire, to Rhayader in Wales.
After only a couple of hours
the rolling hills and impossible to pronounce sign posts indicate that
you are nearly there. And as soon as you spot a majestic Red Kite (of
the feathered variety) souring above you, you no longer need your
Satellite Navigation System to inform you that you have reached your
destination.
Rhayader, in the heart of
Wales, is an historic Market Town. It is situated in the Upper Wye
Valley 700ft above sea level and nestles among the peaks of the Cambrian
Mountains. The small town centre has all the shops that you need for
essential supplies (BBQ meat, beer, wine etc!), as well as a Pub for
every occasion! It provides an ideal base for outdoor activities such as
bird watching, mountain biking, pony trekking, walking, and fishing. The
town is also the gateway to the spectacular beauties of the flooded Elan
Valley. Its pure waters were discovered by the Victorian mayor of
Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain: Desperate for a safe water supply he led
an ambitious scheme to flood the Elan and Claerwen valleys with a series
of dams, piping water 72 miles to Birmingham.
Our NWDA Temporary Holiday Site
is situated at Gigrin Farm, just outside the town centre. We occupy a
field that overlooks the farm and town, and has a hill rising behind it.
The farm is a well known feeding station for the magnificent Red Kite
Birds of Prey. Once almost eradicated from this Country, their
population has been restored in mid Wales thanks to the dedication of
the family who own the farm. Now hundreds of these very impressive,
large birds can be seen congregating overhead every day at 3pm as they
wait for Chris to deposit a trailer load of red meat near to the many
bird hides. Visitors (including T.V crews) come to the centre from far
and wide to witness the spectacular sight of so many Red Kites (and
crows) swooping down to feed. We felt privileged to be surrounded by
them all week.
So what else did we all get up
to? Well some of the activities that we or other people enjoyed
included…walking various stretches of the river Wye; paddling in and
picnicking by the river Wye; walking, cycling, or driving around the
Elan Valley Trail and Visitor Centre-which covers more than 16 miles in
total and takes in breathtaking views of the dams, reservoirs,
waterfalls, and hills; visiting Gilfach Nature Reserve and discovering
the restored and very old traditional Welsh Longhouse; driving to nearby
towns Llandrindrod Wells and Bluith Wells, or further afield to the
coastal town of Aberystwyth(40 miles away); popping into one or two of
the many local Guest Houses for an expertly prepared Cream Tea; taking
part in activities at the local Leisure Centre; visiting the Welsh Royal
Crystal centre on the edge of town; sampling the food or drink at
various public houses; sitting around making the most of the sunny
weather we never imagined we would be lucky enough to get!; and
following the Farm Trail up the hill( having sat looking up at it all
week!) to sit on Jackie Patterson’s Memorial bench near the summit and
admire the views.
Talking of summits-we are very
proud to report that a group of our members travelled over 90 miles to
trek to the top of mount Snowdon in order to raise money for this year’s
charity Neonatal Care at Warwick Hospital. I understand they rose well
over £1000. Well done to all our mountaineers and to everyone who
sponsored them and put money into the collection boxes on site.
And finally- I was going to
mention that although we did not intend to make any Brocklehurst Awards
(it would have hardly seemed right without June there!) it wasn’t long
before we had a classic example of one: Georgina was dashing around the
field, frantically searching for Benjamin who had suddenly gone missing,
when someone pointed out that he could be heard calling from their
bathroom for Mummy to go and wipe his bottom!: However, during an
evening when we were all sat together around a camp fire on the banks of
the river Wye, Chairman Steve Kennings had a list of further nominations
for the Brocklehurst Award; and we voted for Paul Bratt, who had swam
several lengths of the swimming pool before realising that his mobile
phone was in his swim shorts pocket!!
Once again another action
packed yet relaxing holiday spent in the company of our wonderful NWDA
members; and yet another stunning place for us to aspire to retire to.
Hampton House, Kineton
15-17 May 2009
This weekend could best be summed up as wet and
windy, yet lots of fun. The whole weekend was probably saved by the
accidental foresight of the landowner who had recently erected one of
those large party marquees; complete with carpet, heater, garden chairs,
and a three piece suite! So although the Bowles Contest was cancelled
due to bad weather we had a luxurious place to gather Friday evening,
were able to have a party for Megan’s 3rd birthday Saturday afternoon,
held an Allan Davis Musical Evening Saturday night, and had somewhere to
take shelter for coffee morning on Sunday. Amazingly the marquee was
still standing by then; which is more than can be said for some people’s
canopies and awnings!
Despite the terrible weather forecast almost
thirty units joined us for a potentially peaceful weekend. Peaceful,
that is, apart from the howling wind!
It was interesting to imagine this huge field
full of caravans, and the enormous barn decorated, for our May Day Bank
Holiday event next year: Definitely a date for your diary, and one when
we shouldn’t need to turn anyone away due to lack of room.
Between rain showers some of us did manage to
get out and about into the surrounding Warwickshire countryside: The
places we visited included Wellesbourne village, Wellesbourne Market,
the picturesque village of Combrook, historical Compton Verney,
Charlecote Park, and the many well maintained public footpaths in this
beautifully wooded area. Another location we shall aspire to retire to!
By Saturday evening, after so much time spent
relaxing, most of us were quite happy to sit back and enjoy Allan’s
music whilst our Youth provided the floor show. It was energetic and
entertaining, and some of us joined in from our seats!
At coffee morning it was announced that Mary
had won the Bonus Ball, Stewards Jan and Aneel were presented with wine
as a thank you for stewarding this weekend, Allan (and roadie Ted) were
thanked for a great night of music, and nominations for the Brocklehurst
were Steve, Ted, Diane, and Jayne (which also involved June). Jayne was
the overwhelming winner (probably due to the fact that it also involved
June!) because when June kindly escorted Jayne back to her caravan
Saturday night, giving her a gentle shove up her steps, Jayne passed
wind (not the words Steve used!) in her face!! It certainly WAS a windy
weekend in more ways than one!
May Day Rally
Heathcote Farm, Warwick
Fri 1st-Mon 4th
May
As we missed the Easter Meet to go and stay
with my Dad in Spain, and couldn’t attend last years May Day Meet
because of a christening in Oxford, Steve and I were really looking
forward to this Bank Holiday weekend.
We arrived at Heathcote Trout Farm Thursday
evening along with some other NWDA members who needed to be ready for
the site to open at 10.00 Friday morning.
Rumour has it that chief Marshall Andy Tain was
actually up and ready with his clipboard at 5.00- which may have been a
little early, although campers certainly did start to arrive from the
time that the site opened; and didn’t stop all day. They were
efficiently pitched by a well briefed team of Marshalls so that by the
end of the day the field was full of neat rows of campers all ready for
a weekend of fun to begin.
As a warm up to the fun filled programme of
entertainment promised over the weekend we started with a quiz in the
marquee at 9.00 on Friday evening. The winners were the Twirlers.
On Saturday afternoon the sun was shining, as
ordered, for the Penny Fair. Stalls included-fruity cocktails for sale,
various table top games, penalty shoot out, the human fruit machine,
jewellery for sale, tombola, raffle, refreshments, and a cake stall.
There were also promotional stalls for our IOW holiday site, and our
Youth Sections. Afterwards there was time for members to practise their
skills for the Talent show, and have a BBQ, before the crowds flocked to
the marquee for Britain’s (or rather North Warwick’s) Got Talent.
As excitement mounted in the marquee we were
firstly introduced to the judges: Enter Amanda Houlden (Jayne Houldey),
Simon Cowell (Steve Cattan), and the Regional Chairman’s wife VIP Jean
Brown. The Acts that followed left us all astounded as they impressed us
with their various talents: Lisa sang the dramatic song My Immortal;
Mike Ashcroft sang Any Dream Will Do, accompanied by the children in the
audience; Kimberley and Michaela sang a Taylor Swift ballad; Molly,
Gracie, and Lottie did a dance to Michael Jackson’s Bad; Liam and Lisa
sang and played Happy Ending; Shannon moved many of us to tears when she
sang Hero; and Lewis along with his brother Ross did an unbelievable
Break Dance.
An Intermission gave the Committee the chance
to auction some of it’s members as slaves, to be put to work for an hour
the next day: Irene Reynolds won Steve Kennings; Regional Chairman Larry
Brown won recent recruit Angie Frume; Lorraine bought Mr Fix it Gary
Bratt (maybe he would be able to fix Bobby the dogs bad haircut!); and
treasurer Aneel Khanna was bid strongly for by his stepdaughter who
wanted HIM to do what SHE wanted him to do for a change! More about how
they got on later!
The talent show continued with an energetic
Salsa dance from Andy and Kaz; a comedy act called The****Cardigans, who
gave us all a laugh; Linda Pulley sang the lovely song Desperado;
brothers Kieren and Joshua (aka Brassed Off) got us all on our feet; and
finally Georgina-who had just returned from a family wedding in
Southampton-mesmerised us all with her rendition of Wind Beneath My
Wings.
The judges decided that the top three acts to
go through to the final would be Shannon, Georgina, and Lewis & Ross.
They each performed again and the audience reaction awarded third place
to Georgina, second place to Shannon, and first place to Lewis & Ross.
Well done to everyone who took part, and thank you for keeping us all
entertained.
After the events of Saturday night, the smell
of bacon and sausages cooking in the marquee was just what we needed to
lure us out of bed ready for Sunday morning’s famous Awning Sale at
10.00. Many bargains were available, and some went home with the
weekends costs covered. An auction followed in an attempt to make a few
more sales.
During the afternoon Steve captured on camera
the ‘slaves’ working for their Masters. As far as we can make out
Chairman Steve, and Treasurer Aneel (who by the way had to put the fee
in himself!) got off fairly lightly having to perform some household
duties and a massage; whereas Gary found himself being dressed up in
women’s clothes to do the WHOLE families washing up before having to
take all THREE of their dogs for a walk around the field! As for
Angie…she had a lovely time sat drinking tea with Larry Brown!
Family Games were available for those feeling
energetic enough Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday evening many caravan doors were
locked, with curtains closed, as men made themselves (with a little help
from their women no doubt!) ready for the much waited for Miss Mayflower
Contest. Their efforts were revealed a short while later as they were
each introduced to a panel of judges in the marquee. We saw entries from
Victoria (aka Lloyd), Lulu Rose (aka Neville), Bubbles (aka Andrew), The
Ugly Sisters (aka brothers Paul and Gary), Chloe (aka young Callum), Mr
& Mrs (aka Tony Nash and Caz Roberts), and finally Mr Mayflower
Contestants Callum & Alex (aka Grainne and Shannon). The judges
pronounced that the winner of this year’s Miss Mayflower contest
was…Lulu Rose. Her Agent will be taking bookings for guest appearances!
On a very chilly Bank Holiday Monday we needed
to retreat in to the marquee for Coffee Morning. Chairman Steve informed
us that 93 units had attended this weekend, with members joining us from
as far afield as Worcester & Hereford, Teeside, and even South Africa!
We are also pleased to note that 19 Youth were camped in the youth area
and as always all our younger members were very well behaved.
Next years May Day Bank Holiday Meet is going
to be held at Kineton, near Stratford, which can accommodate many more
units.
Thanks were made to the committee and their
friends and family for all their hard work in putting on this event as
well as to all our guests who entered the various contests.
Money raised over the weekend is as follows:-
CCJ £135
CCY £90
Charity Fund £80
DA £130
The Bonus ball winner was Lisa Nash, Guess the
weight of the cake (made and donated by Faye Nicklin) was won by D.
Taylor, the person who correctly guessed where the IOW treasure was
buried (Osbourne House) was Roy Pulley, Samantha guessed the name of the
teddy (Derek, her Dad’s name!) and Andy Nicklin and Jan Wardle both
guessed how many sweets were in the jar.
A prize was awarded to Friday evening’s Quiz
winners, and contenders for the Brocklehurst Award were read out: The
nominees were…June (who thought she had seen the last of it!), Tracey
(****cardigan), Jan, Andy Tain, Carol, and Grainne & Amy. The audience
unanimously decided that Andy should win it for going up to the
ambulance that had been called for someone (don’t worry, he was fine) as
it arrived on the scene, then proceeding to explain the situation to who
he thought was a paramedic sat in the passenger seat of the ambulance,
before realising that it was actually Mark Nicklin sat there because he
had met the ambulance at the gate then had a lift back across the field!
Steve went on to thank this weekend’s stewards
Trevor & Mary and John & Judy (who were glad to receive a bottle rather
than another umbrella!) as well as Keith & Ann Bratt who had not yet
been thanked for stewarding our AGM meet at Rowington Village Hall.
Callum’s ticket was drawn out to win the Sweet
Tree, which had been donated by Tony & Lisa and raised £64; then many
more lucky children won prizes from the children’s raffle. The adults
raffle concluded coffee morning…apart from one last laugh:
June was the owner of the LAST ticket to be
drawn, and the remaining prize on the table was THE BROCKLEHURST TROPHY
that she had sneaked on there earlier! It would seem she will never be
able to get rid of it!
Now take a look at the pic
Friday 24th-Sunday 26th
April 2009
Binton
Twenty eight units turned out
for what proved to be a peaceful and relaxing
weekend. The weather was mild
and mostly sunny, with rain only putting in an appearance before most of
us were up Saturday morning.
During the weekend some of us
frequented the on site social club (some more frequently than others!)
whilst others popped into nearby Stratford to do a spot of shopping, or
drove out to places such as Bidford-on-Avon, or engaged the kids in an
impromptu game of football.
On Saturday afternoon we had
reserved a place in front of the wide screen T.V in the social club to
watch Birmingham City play Preston - but the least said about THAT the
better!
On Saturday evening the breeze
of the daytime had died down, and the clear dark sky reminded us of one
of the reasons we enjoy camping so much. Someone even saw a shooting
star!
Unfortunately, on Sunday
morning, we were also reminded of one of the things we DREAD about
camping… the Brocklehurst Award!! It is the moment during coffee morning
when we ALL wonder whether or not we have said, or done, anything silly!
This weekend it was awarded to our Chairperson, Steve Kennings, for
desperately trying to get the football match back on to the T.V
(Michelle had switched it to a more female friendly channel!) by
frantically pointing the remote control at the screen – only to find
that the Sky sensor was BEHIND him in the bar!
The weekend ended by thanking
Youth Leaders Andy and Ruth (and Megan of course) for stewarding; and by
reminding everyone that although we are looking forward to next weekends
action packed May Day Bank Holiday Meet, it is actually now full
|