Jim
Ringleader
The rally marshals arrived Thursday at about midday. The organisers were frantic as they had worked hard marking out everyones's pitches and as they finished and were ready for campers the racecourse management declared half of the festival rally area out of bounds to vehicles as they were rightly worried about ground damage should vehicles get stuck.
A quick redraw of our contracted area and Funsters started arriving. Using two way radios we started to park vans up one at a time, keeping them moving till they were on their pitch, those that stopped the wheels turning before they reached their pitch were instantly stuck. Early evening, the rain started and things got worse, a few had to be towed on to their pitch by a friendly Polish tractor driver. Despite the damp and slippy arrival in Chester people were in good spirits especially as the forecast for the weekend promised to get better. By 9pm Carol, Eddie Jim and Siân had welcomed and parked up 110 vans, with a further 6 due in the following day.
Weather wise Friday never lived up to its promises and it was grey and wet most of the day, this didn't stop gatherings of Funsters chatting, making new friends meeting old one's and wandering into Chester.
Saturday was a busy day saw the opening of the food festival and the Easter Cake and Bonnet competition in our Marquee.
The sun shone and the ground started to dry out. A few went into the marquee in the evening but most were either eating in town or enjoying a cosy van. At around 11pm Siân was chasing a thief who had attempted to steal a genny from the fun trailer, she never caught him but he dropped genny after a broadside of expletives and a graphic description of what she might do to him if she caught him.
On Sunday morning, the breakfast team Carol, Eddie. Polly, Dave, Sally, Pete Jock and Phil, set about cooking 500 rashers of excellent bacon using five new Cadac Paella pans. The smell of the bacon must have been good because soon the tent was full of breakfasting Funsters. Terry and Stuart tied in the eating contest at 7 bacon rolls each, well I did say the bacon was good! The sun shone and the ground dried out even more.
Sunday evening saw us Royally entertained, first by Gerri with a quiz and then some excellent music, from Janine Barrie and Simon. Midnight saw most people heading back to their vans. Monday dawned and the first Funsters drove off hoping to miss the bank holiday traffic. A steady stream of leavers all day, some driving off no problem, others waiting for a tow from our Polish friend.
Thanks to everyone who turned up, kept smiling and turned this into a memorable event. While at first it was a little muddy, it developed into a very warm and wonderful rally; one that we'll definitely want to do again.
A quick redraw of our contracted area and Funsters started arriving. Using two way radios we started to park vans up one at a time, keeping them moving till they were on their pitch, those that stopped the wheels turning before they reached their pitch were instantly stuck. Early evening, the rain started and things got worse, a few had to be towed on to their pitch by a friendly Polish tractor driver. Despite the damp and slippy arrival in Chester people were in good spirits especially as the forecast for the weekend promised to get better. By 9pm Carol, Eddie Jim and Siân had welcomed and parked up 110 vans, with a further 6 due in the following day.
Weather wise Friday never lived up to its promises and it was grey and wet most of the day, this didn't stop gatherings of Funsters chatting, making new friends meeting old one's and wandering into Chester.
Saturday was a busy day saw the opening of the food festival and the Easter Cake and Bonnet competition in our Marquee.
The sun shone and the ground started to dry out. A few went into the marquee in the evening but most were either eating in town or enjoying a cosy van. At around 11pm Siân was chasing a thief who had attempted to steal a genny from the fun trailer, she never caught him but he dropped genny after a broadside of expletives and a graphic description of what she might do to him if she caught him.
On Sunday morning, the breakfast team Carol, Eddie. Polly, Dave, Sally, Pete Jock and Phil, set about cooking 500 rashers of excellent bacon using five new Cadac Paella pans. The smell of the bacon must have been good because soon the tent was full of breakfasting Funsters. Terry and Stuart tied in the eating contest at 7 bacon rolls each, well I did say the bacon was good! The sun shone and the ground dried out even more.
Sunday evening saw us Royally entertained, first by Gerri with a quiz and then some excellent music, from Janine Barrie and Simon. Midnight saw most people heading back to their vans. Monday dawned and the first Funsters drove off hoping to miss the bank holiday traffic. A steady stream of leavers all day, some driving off no problem, others waiting for a tow from our Polish friend.
Thanks to everyone who turned up, kept smiling and turned this into a memorable event. While at first it was a little muddy, it developed into a very warm and wonderful rally; one that we'll definitely want to do again.
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