Our theme for this event was “Eat, Drink and Merryment”. I think we accomplished all bases over the course of the couple of days we were there.
We had our usual pitch, opposite the seminar hall to which we’ve grown to like and base our ‘stuff we need to get to sorted’ for.
Camp construction underway.
We also had a lovely banner this year so passerby’s knew where to find us and pop in for a chat about all manner of things.
We did have lots of visitors this year most of which took advantage of our ‘Free not necessarily good advice’ service; others just popped in to say hello and admire our setup.
Of course, staying classy for the weekend is a good thing – I believe this was Cider but realistically it could have been anything.
We did see a lot of Gin and Tonics being consumed.
Andy took along his truck simulator which we all had a good crack at; some took it less serious than others; here we can see Cameron; checking his text messages whilst driving.
More drinking was had; this I have no idea what it was.
This was cracking stuff and one we’re sure will remain on the standard equipment for trips away.
Our memorial to hearing of the passing of Chas Hodges of Chas and Dave fame.
Lovejoy (no not the antiques dealer from from East Anglia) but Dave, also gave a talk on how ‘Bushcraft can compliment overlanding’ which was well attended and well received. We’re sure the bag of sweets that he was handing out had nothing to do with it.
Is there anything better than a dog, duuuuurty onions and cider ?
Well yes of course there is; having a choice of ciders would be a great start.
Wooluf as always paid a visit and stayed with us.
It’s a dog eat dog world out there.
What goes in, must come out.
We had ham which was lovely.
We had bacon wrapped scallops with black pudding. We also had bacon criossants every morning.
We also had Andy’s legendary stir fry created in the Wok of Plenty which was expertly cooked on Sputnik – our washing machine campfire.
Stir Fry under construction
The gloom from Sputnik.
Camp BOOBS.
Sputnik also doubles nicely as a stand for getting the teas and coffee’s done.
There was merriment; and a lot of it.
The show itself was quite good despite the occasional downpour.
Our major concern and comments throughout the show were the loading weights that people and primarily ‘specialists’ were putting on top of their vehicles. Given that the maximum recommended weight on top of a Defender’s roof is 75Kg, why do we continue to see ‘specialists’ with a roof rack, two roof tents and various other bits and pieces all atop their trucks. The centre of gravity has been seriously modified and the handling must be terrible. From a legal perspective lets just say that if you’re doing that you’re non-compliant with the manufacturers recommended limits.
Port measures were their normal 1/3rd of a pint.
For me out of all the trucks at the show; this was lovely if probably the wrong choice for a long trip let alone the abysmal MPG.
All in all; a cracking weekend, as I write this (the day after) my tents are outside drying out in the sunshine to be packed away ready for their next outing.
I think this quote from Ivor Cutlers beautiful ‘Life in a Scotch sitting room” sums up our weekend. “Although it had a pattern, crumbs on the carpet weren’t wanted. We were obliged to kneel and eat cream crackers with butter and Gouda with a white plate with our heads inside the sideboard. This was a treat because there was room for four, and in the luminous gloom we whispered jokes, so that when laughter rose, showers of buttery spitty crumbs flew from our mouths like starlings and lodged against the aromatic mahogany – second magnitude stars. If somebody choked, you got quite big bits.”
Do pop in and see us.