Wow, just wow. From start to finish the Gathering was amazing. Rolling along the country lanes and into the campsite the field was all but empty, save for The Keefys on organiser duty and a lone Fiat. Needing some kind of focal point for the weekend I picked the furthest corner of the site at the bottom of the bumpy hill by a tree (you’ve gotta have a tree when you camp, it’s the law!) Within a few minutes I was pitched and kicked back for a cold one and a read before the masses arrived.
After a couple of hours the RRers started to filter in, once I’d woken from a deserved afternoon nap (I’m getting old!) I headed back to the gate to chat to Mr & Mrs Seth, passing Ben and Bec and Mr BD and The Grunty Jnrs heading down the hill, our little camp was growing nicely.
As is the way at the Gathering random contraptions make frequent appearances on the field and this year was no exception, first up was the crazy mobile bathroom, followed shortly after by the Bozo mobility car. Both brilliant and a testament to the constructors fabbing skills.
As evening came the camp was still growing and a sea of tents and cool cars was littered about the place. We cooked, we ate, we drank, we nattered. Its somewhere around now that the greatest super hero/product group ever was invented, “SPACE PANTHER” It’s the bit of The Gathering I love the most. I had a good wander round the site bumping into old faces and meeting some new ones too. Then at many hours past a newish dads bedtime I hit the rock’n’roll bed for some Zzzzz.
Saturday dawned bright and sunny and with a rumbling stomach and a fuzzy head, black pudding and bacon rolls were the order of the day for Brian and me. All round the site people were stepping bleary eyed from tents and munching on bacon.
Taking another wander up the field I came across a couple of giggling school boys messing around with pink stickers! A big round trip of the site revealed yet more cool stuff and plenty of friends.
Just before lunch the heavens opened, some people had left to go scrapyard hunting, others to Shelsey Walsh. Those of us left in the tree camp quickly moved to the Speedy Gazebo for shelter and to chew the fat for a few hours, SPACE PANTHER was expanded to include his arch nemesis “Lazer Cow” and a new crazy (so far limited to just the one car) for strapping an 80s Ghetto Blaster to the bonnet was invented. Tunes on the move for nearby pedestrians!
The sun came out, the wanderers returned and a gimp arrived!
Another site wander was called for so with cider in hand we set off, first stop Jon’s awesome rod, a mixture of parts from the 30s and 40s make for an interesting beast and with no persuasion Jon let me loose around the field, driven from the floor with a flathead V8 it’s a little unwieldy but a great experience, pretty much exactly the same can be said of Jon’s homebrew cider.
As the day wore on I did plenty of walking, some sitting, loads of chatting and a fair amount of eating and drinking.
My last walk before dark resulted in another amazing first, a ride round the field in the mighty Nightmares Cortina wagon, brutal despite its engine woes.
The sun went down, the cider flowed, the talk got very random and the tripods came out, the best of a drunken bad job was this effort. Again the talk went on for hours and feeling knackered again I left the rabble gassing and went to bed with a nice camper wardrobe to keep the noise out and a locked door to keep The Pollit out.
Sunday and the day of the actual show, with a bite to eat and a quick pack up I headed across the road and into the orchard where a few of the local area stands were grouped, with the day already roasting hot it provided welcome shelter and a nice backdrop.
Prescott was a brilliant setting for the show, with the hill climb in the middle and the displays either side, armed with a camera, chocolate and caffeine I was off to explore.
Chris humps his car!
Space Panther or Vektar?
The late HKP’s Toyota 2000, great to see it in the metal
Crossing behind the start line I was in the paddock amongst the RRers going up the hill. Also the home of the guest cars from the Berg Cup, VWDRC and many more.
In the lunch break the awards for the day were announced, with Bryn on the mic the worthy winners came up to receive the trophies and the applause. I’d say they got them spot on again in every category.
With the gongs given out it was hill time again, I headed up to the top and the hairpin for a good view over everything and snapped away for an hour or more. Skill levels and speed varied, but the enjoyment of all was clear to see whether tootling up in a daily or blasting up in a purpose built track weapon.
Whoops!
Feeling properly cream crackered now and wanting to get home to Kim and Lily I set off on a marathon goodbye session which lasted over an hour and probably only got round a fraction of the people I should of. Then it was aboard the comfiest bed on site and away home.
Massive thanks to Hotwire, Keefy, Tash, Rob, Polly and the rest of the orange t-shirted crew, once again you have put on a fantastic weekend from the lazy arrival on Friday to the hill climb action of Sunday. I honestly can’t fault a thing and am really looking forward to 2012 and being back at Prescott.
A big pat on the back, manly hug, cuddle etc to the whole “Under Speedys Gazebo” gang, it always the people that make a show weekend for me and you guys and gals were great, we laughed, we cried, we drank, we ate, we had a little bit of sick in our mouths after the some of the tales told, but it was (and I hate using the words normally) AWESOMELYEPIC
The rest of the photos are
here.
Steve.
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