Camperjam of fail

At the end of last year I bought our Camperjam tickets, for the last few years we've really enjoyed this chilled show at Weston Park. In May the parcel with the goodies in arrived and we were all set. Surely this rubbish weather we'd had for a few weeks would clear by then.



Fast forward to July and with the camper packed we set off in convoy with Malcs and family, the rain lightly spitting down, sadly it got heavier and heavier. To be fair, its rain pretty much every day since Easter, we had a couple of days of sunshine but mostly its been shit! And mid way up the M40 it was looking bleak.



By the time we got to Warwick services for lunch, Kim had been reading the various weather reports and comments on FB about the show, talk of camping areas being shut and moved to club camping where we were supposed to be, traders being towed onto pitches and inches of mud to wallow through.



A group vote deemed it a wise move to head home, the journey was not very nice to that point and the thought of the same again in either direction wasn't much better but with three young children to think about we aborted and headed south. We gorged on BK before returning, comfort eating!



I really hope we can get a break this year, the weathermen are saying that its set like this until at least September. Fingers crossed they are wrong. The first dry and sunny weekend we have free the Campers will be loaded and the nearest campsite invaded for a bit!

Steve.

Surprise classics

Occasionally with work I get the joy of staying away overnight, normally theres two of us and after a hard day its a few pints and some grub before bed. This time it was just me and I haven't had the hardest of days to be honest. A natter on FB revealed there was a monthly classic car meet only five miles from my hotel so after food I headed over.



The field out the back of the Griffin Pub in Papplewick was heaving with dozens of cars, the Packard and Metro 6R4 at either end of the spectrum. The sun was shining and the grass wasn't too wet so I had a wander, armed only with my mobile to take photos.







This microcar had a German badge on the front, even after reading it I'm still none the wiser!







More polar opposites, a Bay Camper alongside a Hawk 3000 with a Delorean behind them.





There was a big turnout of VWs, air and water-cooled. This Golf must be owned by the smelliest person around!







The last two vehicles to arrive were some of the most unusual of the evening, the first was a matt black Austin Super 7, apparently based on a Lotus 7 alike chassis. The second a Maserati Tipo GP road replica.









And that was it, I hung around for an hour and half looking round before heading back to the dullness of the hotel. A nice distraction. More photos can be found here

Steve.

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Big bus meet

With a nice free Sunday for once (didn't fancy the local VW meet, very long story!) We decided to go out for a picnic with some friends and then head back to Reading for the bus depot open day. With an ominous black cloud looming large we decided against the tour of the depot and instead had a quick wander round the old buses parked out the back.Kim remembered the Alder Valley line from various school outings.







I don't know what the collective noun for bus spotters is, but there were a fair few sat on this ride.



A pair of the old Mainline Routemasters that ran round the town in the late 1990s







An old Bristol bus. This along with others were doing tours of the town.



As well as the classics, Reading Buses also had its shiny new fleet on display, circling the yard.



I've not turned into a bus spotter, but they are pretty cool old rides.

Steve.


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The last Big Wally Camp ever

Its now seven years since a few of us decided to camp in Wallingford the night before Stonor VW show, we found a site that would have us and have stuck with it, people have come and people have gone but a hardcore of us carried on. This year was the same as the last, in February March time I called the man on site and booked some pitches. 14 of them to be precise such was the response of everyone. £100 secured the area nearest the gate as usual.



Fastforward to today and we are all home and unpacked. Sadly the massive group started to dwindle, work, life, club politics and the weather getting in the way for over half the group. So on Friday in rain I set off North to the site, the Camper loaded and Kim and Lily coming later in the Passat. The rain eased as I approached the site and sun even tried to come out as I drove in. Gren and Jan were already parked up so I joined them for a natter, by the time I was ready to start pitching the awning the sky was blue and the sun was beating down, sadness turned to a little bit of smugness!



With Phil arriving we set about tents and awning for a bit, supping some potent homebrew cider as we went!



Lily carried out an inspection to make sure all was well and we had the ok to relax for a while.







As the afternoon went on we drank more homebrew, had a kick about and generally arsed about.





With Alan and Co and Pabs & Babs set up we were nearly all in.



With a Fiona made chilli in our bellies it was time to get Lily to bed and then talk twaddle. I decided to was time to break out the onesie that I got for Fathers Day, once paraded I put my jeans over the top and forgot about it until bedtime, it was so toasty warm wrapped in the finest nylon!



Lily was spoilt with an outdoors story time with Babs, they got through several books before she yawned and was out like a light in the buggy.



The rest of the evening was spent chatting and drinking till midnight.



Saturday dawned bright and as sunny as the previous afternoon, the effects of the homebrew took a while to shake off so I was glad of Pabs help entertaining Lily. This tractor was a big hit and we made several trips to see it and had to say goodbye to it twice.



We had an impromptu fashion show from Gren, modelling the latest in designer windbreak ware!



Then it was time for a walk into town, BBQ meat was top of the list and a nose round the shows. On our return Frank and Sammy we there, our camp was complete with just six pitches. Small but perfectly formed.



With Kim and Fiona heading back to town for more shopping in the craft and quilt shops, Phil and I headed up to the castle with Lily for a walk round. Its been there since the 11th century, but this is the first year I've noticed it!





The walk back put Lily to sleep so we grabbed a cold pint and chatted until the girls got back and Malcs and family arrived for a few hours in the afternoon.





We fired up a selection of BBQs and heaved 5kgs of meat from the butcher on to them, there was more than we could all manage but it was so nice, the meat sweats set in!



As the last sausage was eaten the rain started the spit down, we'd been so lucky with the weather there was only one last thing to get out of the way before the predicted storm arrived, the traditional group photo.



We retired to various awnings, a few drinks were had and some footy watched as we struggled to get Lily to sleep, finally around 10pm most people had decided that it was best to batten down the hatches for the night. Around 3am there was some milling around as gathered rain water was pushed off awnings and shades were packed away. Come the morning the sun was back out and the skies blue once more. We opted for a full English in town before the final pack up and goodbyes.

I have decided that its the last year for a Big Wally Campout, the site owner wasn't too chuffed that we took the huge area for so few of us. The rest of the camp was pretty empty so I'm not taking him too seriously, but he has asked for a full deposit for every pitch next year which is more than I'm willing to pay out on my own, I don't know what will happen in 2013, but it will be on a much smaller scale.

I still had an amazing time, with less people it felt much closer and was easier to get round everyone to natter. The people that came made it a wonderful weekend with some great memories.

Steve.

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