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Hearty Happenings
Issue 5
A Message from the Editor
Welcome to the fifth Hearty Happenings. If you have anything you would like included please get in touch by e-mail at maggieeathofe@waitrose.com, by telephone or to my home address, both of which are in your rally folder.
The next publication will be December, so items to me by the end of November please. Margaret
Chairman’s Note
Where do I start? So much has happened since the last edition of Hearty Happenings. We have not had the best of luck with the weather again this year, although we did strike it very lucky at Kimbolton. We have also been unlucky with a couple of the sites booked for this year. Both our Annual Members Meeting rally and the early May rally had to be re-located at short notice. We were very pleased that we have a small group of members, most of whom are on e-mail when we had to effect these changes with less than a week’s notice in one case.
I was delighted that so many of our members came to the Members Meeting and made your views on the club known. You will recall that the decision was taken to continue with the four founder members running the Club for this year. We are very happy to do this given the amount of support that we have had running rallies. A very big thank you to all of you who have marshalled rallies or assisted in many other ways.
The relocated early May bank holiday rally at Dog Lane Fisheries finally gave us an opportunity to have our first communal BBQ of the season. There have not been many more as I recall! The Spring Bank Holiday found us at Moreton in Marsh huddled up in the party tent before it blew down on the Monday morning!
It was then off to Port Eynon for our first holiday rally. It would not have been a Heart of England rally if there had not been wind and rain, we were not disappointed on either score. There were, however, a few nice sunny days too. Not that Heart Where do I start? So much has happened since the last edition of Hearty Happenings. We have not had the best of luck with the weather again this year, although we did strike it very lucky at Kimbolton. We have also been unlucky with a couple of the sites booked for this year. Both our Annual Members Meeting rally and the early May rally had to be re-located at short notice. We were very pleased that we have a small group of members, most of whom are on e-mail when we had to effect these changes with less than a week’s notice in one case.
I was delighted that so many of our members came to the Members Meeting and made your views on the club known. You will recall that the decision was taken to continue with the four founder members running the Club for this year. We are very happy to do this given the amount of support that we have had running rallies. A very big thank you to all of you who have marshalled rallies or assisted in many other ways.
The relocated early May bank holiday rally at Dog Lane Fisheries finally gave us an opportunity to have our first communal BBQ of the season. There have not been many more as I recall! The Spring Bank Holiday found us at Moreton in Marsh huddled up in the party tent before it blew down on the Monday morning!
It was then off to Port Eynon for our first holiday rally. It would not have been a Heart of England rally if there had not been wind and rain, we were not disappointed on either score. There were, however, a few nice sunny days too. Not that Heart
Steve
Rally Happenings - Shardlow Marina by Sue Stephenson
The weather men had originally said it was going to be a washed out bank holiday. How wrong they were. We arrived on Thursday afternoon in scorching sunshine. There were a few dark clouds around but the awning was put up before we had a rain shower. Most units arrived on Friday amid cloud and sunshine and the weekend began in earnest. Beverages and nibbles were consumed in the marshal’s awning until bedtime. With Dave supplying us with his generator we had heat & lighting.
Saturday started cloudy but the sun soon burnt away the cloud leaving another scorching day, so much so that shirts had to be put on to protect the body. But by evening the communal BBQ was abandoned outside as it went quite cold. The caravan racing course had been set up (a much shortened version) to planned, but just at the time when everyone should have been out it started to rain and it set in for the night. The marshal’s awnings came into use again until way past bedtime.
Sunday dawned cloudy but again the sun came out. Tea and cakes were put on around 3.30pm and believe it or not it was too hot to sit outside so the awnings were in use again as we could get a breeze through them. Caravan racing was on again that evening and the fun started with some being very competitive but all taken as good fun. The first rounds were over and we had two races of 3 people which saw Molly Keay & Sue Louch winning through to the final. After a close race Sue won the prize of a caravan & car.
Monday at coffee morning, which was held outside, Sue was presented with a framed certificate for her efforts of the night before. We hope she will defend her title next year.
The only glitch of the weekend was when Merv managed to drop the bag of raffle tickets all over the grass and a mad scrabble ensued before the wind could hold of them. Those that left us today even left in sunshine. 3 units stayed to enjoy more of the warmer weather on Tuesday morning before the rally finished. Thanks must go to Dave & Linda for the use of their awning, generator and of course their gas fridge as we had a poorly fridge in the caravan. (Now been mended hopefully)
Can I also please say thank you to everyone, as when paying the site Shardlow Marina actually praised the rally and said that we had been the best rally that had rallied there this year. Thank-you all.
Rally Happenings – Holiday Rally to Port Eynon 20 - 29 June 2008 by Margaret Williams
What a fantastic turnout for our first holiday rally to the beautiful area of the Gower Peninsula. Although the weather wasn’t too bad being right on the coast meant we did suffer the coastal winds but I think the view over the beach and headland at Port Eynon made up for it.
We had five children on the rally ranging in age from 5 months to 12 years old, a record for us! We gave the older girls fishing nets and buckets and the younger ones buckets and spades in the hope it would keep them amused while on the beach. This seemed to work.
So what did we do for amusement? We actually managed a barbeque get-together on one evening and had a drink to celebrate Gareth and Amanda’s Engagement. On the same evening we celebrated Molly’s special birthday, with balloons, a sash and a beautiful cake made by Joan. Molly, 50 is not so bad from where I am standing!! Molly and Allun also provided us with drinks to celebrate. A crowd also went one evening to the local fish and chip café which was very nice.
We all went to Worms Head for a walk, with some being educated by Amanda who told us all about the flora and fauna in the area, also identifying the birds that were brave enough to fly in the gale force winds. Thank you, Amanda, it was really informative and I learned a lot. It was also OK once we got behind the hedge on the way around. Some of us had lunch afterwards in the pub and others went off to do water sports and walking.
Steve led a convoy to Langland Bay, the place of his childhood home, where he took some rock-pooling. This is a lovely bay and the weather was lovely. Some enjoyed the cafes instead of venturing on to the beach. Afterwards we went to the top of Mumbles Hill with the most glorious views right across Swansea Bay. This used to be a WW2 observation point so was really interesting with being able to see where the guns had been. Some said this was the best bit of the holiday. Well if that was the best then an ice cream at Verdi’s must be a good second!! It just had to be tasted.
With body-boarding, surfing, kite-flying, walking, exploring the beautiful villages and local museums, everybody had a good time and found something to do that was entertaining and interesting.
My holiday in Wales by Rochelle
Me, Mum and Buster went to the seaside and stayed with Grandma and Granddad in the caravan. I was allowed to sleep in the awning with Mum for the first time.
We all had a lovely time together at the beach. We all walked every night to walk Buster and most nights we went rock-pooling with Chanel, sometimes even Molly and Tia came along with us. We found all kind of things. We found crabs outer shells they had grown out of that was sharp and spiky, star fish, fish, jelly-fish, crabs, shrimps, pretty rocks. We also found a bouncy-ball, golf-ball, toy car, toy motorbike, f Frisbee, ancient and normal keys. We also went to fly our kites with Steve on the beach but Margaret stayed at their caravan so Gareth came along instead so Amanda stayed with Margaret.
We went to Worms head with everybody and the wind hurt your ears. It had some lovely sand but was a long way down to get to it.
Me, Granddad and Mum went to see how much the pony trekking was but I could not go because they don’t do half a days for £20 very often, so we would have to do the full day which was to expensive for me and my Mum to do because it was £40 each.
The next day Mum took me, Chanel and Leah, with her Mum Marie, to the working farm and mill. We had a lesson on how the water wheel worked and other interesting things. Buster stayed with Grandma, Grandad & Dave and Linda. They went a walk with Alun & Molly.
We went to Mumbles Pier and had hot coffee but I had an ice blast tango and had a blue tongue. We had a bbq and everybody was there for Molly’s birthday and Amanda had picked some strawberries which were yummy. We went and picked some to bring home with us. I ate as many as I picked for the basket.
Rally Happenings - Charity Rally at Sywell 8 -10 August 2008 by Margaret Williams
Margaret and Ken Cantle were the marshals for our first charity rally at this lovely site in Northamptonshire. They made us welcome and entertained us with drinks and nibbles on Friday night. The weather wasn’t very good but we are used to that by now.
This site was wonderful for watching the aircraft from Sywell Aerodrome and with a competition taking place on Sunday it was great for the enthusiasts (like Graham and Steve) who were enjoying every minute of it.
Saturday was the day we had elected to be the Charity Day. Everybody that took part should be seriously proud of themselves. We had a mega raffle run by Ken and Margaret, Cream Teas run by Sue and Merv, A Silent Auction run by Nigel and Zoe (Lisa was poorly), Cakes and Books by Judith and Ken, Crafts by Barbara and Terry, Crafts by Molly and Allun, Cards by Margaret and Wally, Quoits competition by Steve and Homemade and Lavender by Me. I’ll let you know the results later on.
Nearly everybody took part in the Sponsored Walk around Sywell Reservoir. It started out fine (we have a picture to prove it) but it soon became wet and miserable. Stalwarts that we are, we continued, some doing more than one lap. Most of us, however, retired to the tea room for a well earned cuppa after one lap of two and a half miles. Well done everybody and a huge amount was raised for MacMillan Cancer Support. Congratulations to Margaret Keay, who despite having a problem with mobility, completed a lap of the Reservoir.
As the weather was pretty awful on Saturday night some of us went out for dinner to the Worlds End at Ecton. A somewhat revamped pub that was which is now a hotel too. We had an amusing time trying to get a table in the restaurant with a waitress with less than perfect English. It went something like this;-
Me. “Have you a table?”
Waitress. “You have booked?”
Me. “No, have you room?”
Waitress. “You want room or table?”
We went upstairs to the bar where we had a very enjoyable meal and natter!
This was a very enjoyable site and many thanks to Margaret and Ken for a great rally
MacMillan Cancer Support
Thank you to everybody that contributed towards our Charity Appeal. From contributing to the raffle, to buying items and raffle tickets and doing the sponsored walk, you helped us raise £1341.36. Please give a massive thank you to all of your friends that sponsored you for the walk. I am delighted that, despite being a small club, we raised so much. Well done to everybody that took part, you should be very proud of yourselves. Margaret Williams.
Rally Happenings - Fillongley in the Spring - A.M.M. by Sue Stephenson
After quickly having to find a change of venue and notifying all the membership of the change all within 10 days of the rally, we arrived on Thursday evening ready to relax until Friday lunchtime and thought nothing else could be as big an obstacle as what we had been challenged with. Paperwork all changed, extra things put in and some taken out because we had a hall instead of a marquee. The weather men said it was going to be sunshine and showers. Nothing new there then! Our rallies just wouldn’t be the same without rain & mud! Then the water tap stopped working! Just another hurdle to overcome. Maybe it will be alright tomorrow.
7.45am Friday morning we are suddenly woken by an army of builders. They were rebuilding a new kitchen in the hall. I was warned about it but nothing quite prepares you for builders dust, no cooker, fridge not working, a sink with no waste only a bucket, the kitchen put into a square in the hall for us to use, but on the bright side we had cold water and some hot water. During the course of the morning the water kept going off for 30 minutes at a time and we just kept thinking “hope no-one arrives yet”; a rally with no water does not bear thinking about.
The weather then turned windy and the rain came down; what was a lovely piece of grass surrounding the caravan soon became a sea of mud with all the coming and going.
The members started to arrive and thank goodness the water stayed on. Second hurdle got over without too many hitches. Builders left and armed with bowls and cleaning stuff began to clean up the dust again and again. The fridge now works, box of wine in first. You have to get you priorities right don’t you! Tables & chairs were quickly put around the room, gaily coloured cloths on the tables and the boiler was on to boil, some competitions on the walls will get folks talking to each other. We were at last ready for the members to enter the hall right, on time. Now where did I put that box of wine? Third hurdle got over.
Saturday the sun was shining first thing and things always look better in the sunshine, don’t they? That’s not the birds singing! Noisy cars. Oh no, the builders had arrived again! Quickly throwing some clothes on I leapt across the car park to see them. ‘Not making a mess today are you’ I asked hopefully.’ Oh we need to knock some bricks out; we can’t do it during the week because of the playschool that occupies the hall everyday.’ Oh oh! Suddenly I was wide awake and jumped into action to clear the hall before the dust began to settle again.
Very nicely I also asked if they could put some dustsheets in between the two kitchens or we were going to have to put all the furniture away as well as move everything from the kitchen. They kindly obliged and really pushing it, very, very nicely asked them not to start banging before 9.00am. After all, this was supposed to be a relaxing weekend! Another hurdle cleared. Time for a well earned cuppa.
The holes they were knocking out in the kitchen just happened to be over the outside tap used for water. If we had had hard hats I would have recommended those filling aqua- rolls wore them. Instead warnings had to suffice. It will look very nice when it is finished I’m sure.
By Saturday afternoon they had finished knocking out bricks and off we went again to clean up and get the hall ready for our first Annual Members Meeting. Flowers to sort, cloths to lay, sandwiches and cakes to get ready. Thankfully Margaret had taken over the role of sorting afternoon tea which left me free to sort the hall. Merv, Steve & Rochelle were with me to fetch and carry, and between us all it was finally ready just in time too. Time for a quick change of clothes if I can run and if I’m lucky, I won’t fall in the mud. Next hurdle surmounted. At this rate I will be able to enter the Olympics.
The meeting went without a hitch. Jean & Gordon were presented with a present each for all their help as founder members as they were standing down. 6 now became 4. The sandwiches and cake had disappeared the hall was going to be free for an hour, so we maybe could sit down and chill. No such luck the caravan looked as if a bomb had dropped and the cooker top looked like a potato field. No cooker in the hall, don’t forget. We were doing various hot new potatoes for the American supper that evening. The hot plates were on in the hall to keep the potatoes warm. Two tables were put out for the food but we soon had to add another table as they were groaning beneath the weight of all the excellent food everyone had contributed. Those that could manage seconds did. There was so much left I think Tia had a good meal that night. You can all give yourselves a big round of applause, you did us proud. Then came Steve’s quiz. I thought I knew ABBA songs reasonably well until you have to name them from just a snatch of the tunes. We fared a little better with the Beatle numbers but not much. There was almost another hurdle as the CD’s started to jump on the CD player. Thankfully it didn’t ruin it too much. Builders dust? Who knows? Now where did I put that box of wine? Keith & Diane won this competition, Surprise, surprise! For those that don’t know, Keith used to do a lot of Disco's in his spare time. I wanted to be his partner for the night but Diane won.
All too soon it was time to start clearing up as the hands were creeping towards midnight, many hands make light work is certainly true tonight.
Sunday I wake early and lay listening it seems quiet something must be amiss, what is it? The builders have decided to have a day off. Hurray! Trouble is I am now wide awake again, so might as well have a cuppa, before starting to tackle the hall, mark the competitions, and get the boiler and biscuits ready for flag. For once there were no more hurdles to climb. Jean had spotted me and quickly came over to lend a hand. Between us we washed up and tidied the room in double quick time. Rochelle wrapped the prizes. Soon everything was ready. Congratulations to Graham & Sheila who won the Cryptic Confectionary quiz, to Miss Molly who won the famous landmarks & places also the other competition on the wall, with I am convinced, a little help from her ‘friend.’
The raffle was drawn and most folks went home with something. All too soon it is time to clear up and before I could blink the tables & chairs were all being put away. Thank- you all. Thanks must also go to Steve & Margaret for their help, Jean for her help and everyone else who offered and helped over the weekend. Of course I had better thank Merv and Rochelle.
Caravans were soon leaving us, and typically out came the sun, and with it my chair, sandwich and a cuppa before tackling the mud around the caravan. Shoes to wash, did we really bring this much stuff? Where is it all going to go? Finally everything is packed away. Time to head for home. We have had a hectic and enjoyable weekend, would we do it again, ‘Of course we would’ with such good company who wouldn’t.
‘Now what year are the Olympics?
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