I set off for the Easter Egg Rally early Thursday morning, basically the weather looked good and as rain was forecast for later in the afternoon it seemed a good idea to get there and get the tent up before the rain arrived. As Lesley was heading up straight from work we had packed the sidecars the day before, plenty of food was packed as Andy’s dinner had gone into liquidation.
I met Dave going up the A1 not far from Doncaster; I pulled in to fill up 3 or 4 miles from the site followed closely by Dave. There were two already on site setting up camp, John and Pat Proctor and what I thought was a mirage, in the shape of Ray putting up a tent. How could this be, Ray here, this early, then all was revealed. He was doing the decorating and an important decision had to be made, “The Wallpaper”, “Which One?” So he had stuck one piece of each on each side of the breast (as in chimney) and left Sheila to decide on one while he was away.
Tents up and it was time for coffee and chocolate biscuits, at that point Mick and Pearl arrived and now we had apple pie as well. The burning question was, will Ray’s kettle make an appearance this weekend? I swear the only time it gets wet, is when he unzips the tent on a wet morning and the rain drips onto it.
There were some more arrivals during the afternoon, but not as many as last year. Club / reception tent arrived and was duly erected. Lesley arrived early evening and once we sorted out all her gear we walked up to the pub for a meal which was very good and very good value. Roast dinner with all the trimmings and lashings of gravy followed by apple crumble and custard.
The new club banner
We got back to the site and everyone was in the hall, so armed with a supply of nibbles and booze a pleasant night was spent in the hall with those who had arrived on the Thursday.
No lay in on the Friday morning, as the noise was deafening, I thought the council were trying to repair some of the pot holes, but no, it was a gang of woodpeckers working overtime. I stuck my head out the tent and I saw Friar Tuck, “flippin heck” I said to the misses, what the hell was I drinking last night?
Friar (Two Cakes) Tuck.
As I was a bit desperate for the toilet, even thought I fully believed Robin Hood, Friar Tuck and his merry men were in the woods and would rob me, I just had to risk it. I thought I would just dodge the arrows with my speed and cunning, but with my cheeks nipped tight and walking like a china man with his shoe laces tied together, somehow speed was not an option and believe you me that round piece of porcelain was a welcome site.
The Fed Chairman receives a blessing and it didn't half look painfull.
With all the previous wet weather and the rain during the night, the camping field was churning up a little and this would be a feature for the whole weekend. Lesley and I walked into Skellow and Carcoft in the afternoon to have some chips and mushy peas. We also purchased some jam doughnuts and chocolate cake. When we arrived back there had been some more arrivals.
Don and Morris in the trailer tent coral.
Friday evening there was a Fish and Chip run, but as we already had chips earlier, we opted to have a cheese and cracker evening. We found out that, at short notice, they had arranged to do food, but with a shed load in the tent that we couldn’t take home, it was a case of eat it or bin it.
No need for a side stand, just park it in the mud.
Saturday and it was a slippery start, with people getting their outfits off the field after the rain that had fallen. People headed off in various directions to do some site seeing or just to go for a ride round. Saturday evening Chris sorted the bonfire even though all the wood was well wet, some opted to sit around the fire, while the rest were in the club house.
Sunday and it was run-out day, a 10:30 start to go to Yorkshire (Elvington) Air Museum. As usual no run would be complete without a hic up or two but in the end we all arrived OK, although at one point I thought the Jedi may have been leading. The museum is a great place to visit and what a bargain as South Yorks had arranged a special price in return for displaying the outfits. There were loads to see and really you could spend the best part of a day there.
Mark Fowler met up with us at the museum.
Originally a grass airfield, RAF Elvington was completely rebuilt with three hardened runways in 1942. The first operational aircraft were the Whitley twin-engined bombers, these were soon replaced by Handley Page Halifax four-engined bombers. They took part in the Battle of the Ruhr and in many other operations aimed at the destruction of German industry. In early 1944, Elvington became host to two French Squadrons operating within No.4 Group: No. 346 (Guyenne) and No.347 (Tunisie). Both squadrons played a major part in the bomber offensive.
In March 1945, a Junker JU 88 attacked RAF Elvington when the landing lights were switched on awaiting the French squadrons' return. This aircraft crashed into a farmhouse on the B1228 near the airfield and a memorial to the four German airmen and the two civilians who were killed stands outside the house.
In October 1945, Elvington became part of 40 Group Maintenance Command until 1952 when it became part of the expansion programme for US Strategic Air Command. The runway was lengthened to 1.92 miles, the longest in the north of England. The base never became operational and it was vacated in 1958.
In the early 1960s, the Blackburn Aircraft Company at Brough, near Hull, used the runway for test flying the prototype Buccaneer aircraft. RAF Elvington finally closed in March 1992. http://www.yorkshireairmuseum.co.uk
The return back to site, was a case of leave as and when, some went back via Squires Cafe http://www.squires-cafe.co.uk a popular bikers cafe. We, with a few others, headed straight back to the site. It was time for some snap, while most opted for something standard out of a tin or packet, Ray sampled a culinary special from Trike Paul’s kitchen. A tin of coconut milk with a packet of Angel chocolate delight mixed in, one can only wonder if the next time he visited the toilet he produced a Bounty!
Trike Paul's Kitchen.
The hall was quite full on the Sunday evening, the never ending raffle confused the number caller a couple of times, a dozen packs of ear defenders in the raffle next year wouldn’t go a miss as I think they would be the first off the table.
John takes action to avoid going deaf!
Tri-Anglia Wheels picked up best club turn-out, Norrie from Scotland got long distance and Diesel Dave got best outfit, sort of a Ground Hog Day as it was the same results as last year. The tombola organised by John and Pat raised well over £50 for Barnsley hospice.
Then it was a case of how many burgers, pies and peas you could eat. The mushy peas (Fentons Farters) went down well, a couple of big bowls was all Lesley could manage. But just in case she hadn’t had enough, Jackie offered her a doggy bag of peas to take back to her tent for a midnight supper, thank god she declined.
Mind you this Outfit was a bit noisy as well.
Early morning and we awoke to the dawn chorus of farting. Friar Tuck (Ray / Two Cakes) let out an almighty blast from within his tent, I thought, flippin heck that is going to make his eyes water, but all was OK as he assured us that it was scented with the fragrant aroma of coconut.
The South Yorks team did a grand job and in true South Yorks fashion, it all fell into place to produce another memorable weekend. The children were well looked after with lots to do and eggs to find, good value food from the kitchen, Bonfire, great run out, Quiz which was won by the Jones.
It is a job to name all who worked so hard to produce a cracking weekend but I will mention John Askham who worked his nuts off all weekend, well done mate.
Finally a big thank you to all of the South Yorks Club from all Wheels members.