I set off for Harmer Green late morning and decided as it was a nice day to go via Cromer Windmill. Well, not the Cromer you might be thinking of by the coast but Cromer on the B1037 near Ardeley. http://www.hertfordshirebpt.org/Cromer%20Windmill.htm
Being a Friday it wasn’t open so I could only have a look around the outside. From there I travelled via single track roads to the site.
I was the fourth to arrive and the fallen leaves did a good job hiding the track in the woods, while I didn’t have a problem finding the usual camping area, some arrivals after me did and were to be heard riding all around the woods a little bit lost.
Once pitched up, I cooked a late lunch and had a pint. Jim and George along with Dave and Dave took the trailer to get some wood for the bonfire. No problem this year with loads of logs all cut and stacked in piles. The last to arrive, just as it was getting dark, were Jim and Wendy with their bungalow. Only 9 or 10 units had arrived on the Friday, but it was a most pleasant evening around the bonfire. Jim and George did a fish and chip run and while they had gone I got the bonfire into shape. All the logs stood to look like a tepee and the smoke going straight up.
For some reason a whole bottle of rum was consumed, I did offer Jim and George a drink, I then tried to blame them for drinking it all, but I guess I must have drunk over three-quarters of the bottle. With no more rum, Jim and George still drinking, I thought I best go to bed as most had gone to their various pits by now. But Jim and George kept me supplied with beer until Jim (I think, or was it George) at about 2am to 2:30am gave in and went to bed. Thank god, cos I swear if I had pissed on the fire it would have resembled a flame thrower.
Lesley arrived Saturday morning, sorted her stuff out had some breakfast and then we went to St Albans in the drizzling rain. We visited the Verulamium Museum which is a new building housing an excellent roman archaeology collection
Lead coffin complete with the deceased.
http://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/Sites/Verulamium-Museum
The Roman City of Verulamium was one of the largest Roman towns in Roman Britain http://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/Sites/Roman-Town/Roman-Town-Plan and a short walk away is the roman theatre http://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/Sites/Roman-Town/Roman-Theatre and a running video show within the museum gives you an insight as to what happened there. http://www.romantheatre.co.uk
St Albans cathedral
We then ambled through the park to the cathedral and abbey http://www.stalbanscathedral.org.uk/index1.htm which is impressive. A quick look around the market and it was back to the bikes to visit the Mosquito Museum.
Lesley thought it strange that there should be an insect museum so close, then when she saw these Mossies were made of wood with two Merlin engines attached to their wings she thought a big fly swat would be needed to stop these from biting.
The de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre (DHAHC), so they say, is the best kept secret in Hertfordshire. Basically In September 1939 the de Havilland Aircraft Company established the Mosquito design team in the Hall, the Prototype Mosquito, E0234/W4050, subsequently being built in the adjacent buildings.
A Dove 8 witha couple of 250's
With no runway and not looking like a factory it meant it wasn’t a target for the Luftwaffe.
http://www.mossie.org/Mosquito.html gives you loads of info on the Mosquito but the DHAHC is all about the aircraft and engines produced by the de Havilland Company. http://www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk/index.html
The name carries on today http://www.dehavillandaviation.com/DHA/Home.html but only in the restoration field not the building and designing of new planes. The museum let us park our bikes on the pad displaying one of the aircraft, a Dove8 (G-AREA). The staff are very helpful and friendly and the museum is well worth a look.
More pictures of what is at the museum at link below http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mus/uk/dehav/mosqmus.htm
Chipmunk T1
Volunteers working on an airframe.
Sea Vixen FAW2
We then headed back to the site, calling in for petrol at Nodeway BP filling station on the Welwyn By-Pass. I filled the bikes and Lesley went in to pay, unrecognising the person in front of her. She did her usual smile and polite bit. When she came out she started pretending to do her mascara and lippy, sort of taking the mickey out of a bird sitting in the bright yellow Lamborghini. It was then I told her the person in front of her in the queue was Lewis Hamilton and the bird in the Lambo was, I guess, his girlfriend. The thing is was she the new girlfriend as he has supposedly split from Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussy Cat Dolls. Well, Lesley doesn’t like the Pussy Cat Dolls music away, so it didn’t matter much if it was her any way.
So after a bit of a laugh about it and looking at the rest of the queue who were waiting to pay gorping at him leaving the forecourt, I can’t see why he didn’t tell her to get out and go and pay, then again, after getting out of a car that low, she would have spent the next 20 miles straightening her knickers.
Back on site a few more had turned up, although the numbers were down on last year. But again a pleasant evening was spent around the bonfire, with Foz, Toni and co arriving back from the pub. Toni had a pie and mushy peas. Opening the mushy peas, it appeared they had used a runny variety as it resembled pea soup.
At various points during the evening Lesley and I were in the land of nod. All this rallying and camping lark, it’s a hard life, I will be glad to get back to work for a rest.
Sunday morning arrived and it was pack up time. With the sun shining through the trees and the wind blowing things dried out quickly. This meant it was a bit of a windy ride home on the little solos, with some tricky side winds on the open roads. But then with all that beer, food and chestnuts what else would you expect.
It was a right good weekend and thank you Jim and George of LSC for organising it.
Around the camp fire.
Foz colour matched to Bob's Outfit.