Organised by the chaps behind RetroRides, The Gathering is a long weekend of camping fun adjacent to the Haynes motor museum with a massive show’n’shine/rust/slam/modify (*delete as applicable) and track attack sessions to round it all off. Rolling in on Friday lunchtime I was first in the field by several hours.
Cracking open a cold one and parking the camper on the far side of the field I whiled away the time helping the guys with a few last minute bits of set up.
Before the site began to fill up with the wide and varied selection of machinery associated with the crazy world of RR.
Some grub and a natter filled the evening as we awaited the arrival of the Area52 guys, scheduled to leave at lunchtime it was very dark when they finally roared in with a very random convey including the much anticipated “Project X” a recreation of the old Tamiya RC car “Wild Willy”
With a damp night anticipated the beast was unloaded and wheeled under the nearest gazebo for shelter, more drinking and chat led to a late night. The following morning I awoke to a vastly reduced cooking area by the Camper!
After filling a few RRers faces with bacon goodness it was time to sit back and watch the world go by and get round the campsite to chat to as many old friends and make some new ones. This years unofficially theme seemed to be “crazy campsite transport” gone are the days when walking to the portaloos is done, now you need something welded together from scrap.
The other theme was “test driving as many cars as possible” DrSexys Midget was a firm favourite as was a certain Zodiac and KFW crusty truck, all three and many other cars were seen lapping the site with a variety of different drivers and passengers.
Shortly after lunch the heavens opened and the twin gazebos covering the A52 sofas were suddenly home to a crowd.
As the rain eased off the sun came out and it was time to do a lap of the campsite again, luckily Kevs truck and an A52 sofa fitted together perfectly, so at brake neck speed we set off, the elevated position was perfect to get a first glimpse of Mr Damaged and Katys 17th birthday present.
Back on solid ground the spannering continued as cars were lowered and projects tinkered with.
After an injection of BBQ meat I took a wander over to the show site to help set things up, the mighty truck was pressed into service again as a barrier lugger.
Sadly on the drive back the clutch rods cried enough following a battering during the afternoon and it was left to me to sheer the welds jamming the beast in third gear! A trip to a nearby workshop soon brought the system back to life.
As the evening wore on the drink flowed and the party was in full swing.
Into the night RRers chatted before hitting the hay ready for the show the next day.
Up with the larks I headed over to the show site early to help hang a few more signs for the punters before parking up on the RR South East stand, Mr Bogner was next in and began setting up his tat stand under the gazebo. After a quick drink it was time to check out the other cars on display and there were loads, these are just brief highlights from the day.
I bumped into the Lawsys on my travels.
The ratlook line up was amazing, some many little details to take in and with the added backdrop of the Haynes scrapyard it was difficult to see where one stopped and the other started!
Adams Locost was finally up and running, the bike engined 7-alike sounded sweet during the lunchbreak.
Over on the track, the sprint laps were under way, some serious tyre smoking and tail wagging was going on.
Back in the show, birthday girl Katy was enjoying her surprise, an 80s Nova with under 9000 miles on the clock as her first car, unveiled outside the museum, she drove into the show herself, lucky lady. Oh and the cake was lovely Mmmm
Back on the track, things came to a sudden halt as an Escort rolled heavily, the driver escaped through the missing front screen and the cage and other safety features worked well, sadly the car is beyond repair for its owner, but will live on as parts for the next track warrior.
With the track reopened, the mayhem continued with trucks, racers and drifters as well as dailys being hurled round.
The final act of the day was to award the prizes for car of the year, best club display, hardslam and a few others. Well done to all the worthy winners.
By now I was getting tired, my mojo that was low before the weekend had disappeared and it was time to head for home, so saying a few goodbyes I slipped away and headed East up the A303 once more. For many it was the show of the year, for me something was lacking, I’m not sure what it was, my mind was elsewhere thinking of the speedbump most of the time and I never really got into the swing of things, but I came home with a feeling of “meh!” (what ever that is?) It was good to catch up with a few friends I hadn’t seen in a while though and The Gathering 2011 is only 12 months away…which end of the field was family friendly?
Thanks for reading this twaddle, theres a few more photos
here Steve.
