Once on site Ian retrieved the keys and let ourselves into the building. Soon John & Anne arrived and between us all, we soon had the equipment in the hall. Shortly afterwards our
friends Phil Joanne and their two charming children Luke & Jack arrived. They had travelled all the way from Kent. I started the decorating of the hall whilst Ian gave out the
welcome packs, Jean, our daughter was coming on Friday so was Geoff. Roy whom we were expecting was too poorly to come so we only had four units on site. That’s the lowest Christmas dinner rally turnout we have ever had. Glen came on the Saturday but only for dinner with his friend John. They left shortly after dinner. Thursday evening we had Port or Sherry accompanied with Mince Pies. We had a practice gane of “Play Your Cards Right” a game that Ian had quickly erected at home but found it was too large to fit in the camper van for transportation and it had to travel in the caravan. The evening went well and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Friday was John Haynes Birthday and we had a small Birthday tea for him. Jean got stuck in traffic because the AIM Motorway was closed and she had to divert along with
hundreds of others. She arrived late Friday but in time for some Birthday tea.

On Saturday Ian & I went to Acomb to get in the provisions for the Christmas Dinner. That evening we all settled down to a lovely three course meal followed by games and a raffle. The whole evening was a success and everyone went back to their vans feeling quite full of food and happiness.

Sunday morning was quite busy for us. Whilst Ian was cooking breakfast I was taking down the decorations and cleaning up the hall before handing back the keys to Peter. The whole weekend was a huge success and hopefully we will do it again this coming Christmas.

Thank you to those who came and supported the rally. Without you it wouldn’t have worked.

Linda

Once we signed in and paid the deposit for the keys to the gates and toilets we drove on to the designated site and set up camp. We had brought the trailer tent as we were only
expecting four units with us making five in all. We had our welcome cup of tea from Anne as she and John had soon set up camp long before us. Well, they only had their camper
whilst we struggled with the trailer tent erection. It was getting late when we received a phone call from Tom to say he wouldn’t be coming as his caravan was still in the
repairers. He was having repairs done to his caravan after it was damaged by gale force winds whilst on the Durham rally last year. Ian was concerned over Roy not arriving and
phoned him to see why he hadn’t come. He wasn’t feeling too well and decided to stay at home. Barry had just been released from hospital after having a heart problem and
Derek was in hospital having an operation on his leg. That just left the two of us on the rally. We held the coffee evening in the awning of the trailer tent but soon called it a
night once it got dark and the evening became rather cold.

On Friday we toured around the museum site with John & Anne taking in the all the attractions. It was rather cold and the best attraction for us was the cafe where we had coffee and teacake. We had a change of routine this weekend. Because John & Anne had to return back home on Saturday it was decided to have our social evening on the Friday. Ian made a mouth watering stew with dinner buns. As there were only four of us there was plenty to go round.

Saturday morning was wet and damp. John & Anne left were soon packed up and left for home. We had to wait for the tent to dry before we could pack up. It was a nice weekend.
It was a shame that there were only two of us on the rally. The Museum people weren’t too pleased. They were expecting five units. Hopefully we can return back to this
interesting venue.

Linda

We had been on the road for four weeks and this rally gives me and Ian the chance to rest up and recharge our batteries. Before we could go on this rally we had to stay on a
small CL site in Thorpe Basset just four miles from Malton.

The rally is run by the East Yorks DA of the Camping & Caravanning Club. The rally opened at 12 noon and it was just tumed 12 when we arrived along with John
& Anne who were also booked in. The stewards sited us together and we soon were set up and the kettle was on.

The war weekend at Pickering starts on the Friday so we had a day to our selves to get organized. Ian & I dress in 1940s clothes. I have an A.T.S Uniform plus a couple of 1940s civilian clothes. A couple of dresses and coats along with the 1940s accessories Ian has a
Dad’s Army uniform which he gets mistaking for Captain Mainwaring. John dressed himself in 1940s clothes which made him look quite attractive.

On Friday we walked into Pickering dressed in our 1940s attire. There were hundreds of
people in the town dressed in a range of 1940s clothes. You do see some wonderful
costumes. On Saturday morning I dressed in my A.T.S. uniform as I was going in the parade. I got to the parade ground and reported to the Sergeant Major

With the bands playing we set off marching through the streets of Pickering. By the
time we had reached to the town centre the crowds had quadrupled. I noticed that a
man had collapsed in the street and the paramedics had a hard time struggling through the crowds to get to him. We marched past the cenotaph and along the railway station. The railway was playing a major part by evacuating hundreds of children and their parent on to the trains and getting them away from any danger and into the country side. The march took an hour and half to complete and I was totally exhausted.

My feet were killing me and we had to walk the mile back to the campsite. When we did return, I rested up whilst Ian made the tea after which we got ready for the evening social in the DA’s marquee. An entertainer was booked where he played 1940s music cracked some corny jokes and organized a couple of party games. He
wasn’t too bad.

On Sunday we watched an enactment group doing a scene. It lasted about an hour. The special effects were brilliant. Some explosions made me jump rvith fright. The group were re enacting a German and British conflict. There were World War 2 tanks and troop
carriers. The whole perfonnance was brilliant. It was well acted out. When it was over we walked over to browse over the trade stands. There were lots of items to choose from though some were quite expensive.

Monday finally arrived and it was time to pack up and return home. We had been out camping for just over four weeks and we have thoroughly enjoyed them. We had visited places that we hadn’t been to before. We had met some wonderful and interesting people on our travels.

We look forward to doing it again next year.

Linda.

I have been out recruiting for new members. I am hoping
that two couples will come to the Easter rally. I have
invited them to come along to see for themselves what a
great bunch we are in the hope that they will agree and
join us as members.

If you can do the same by bringing a friend or relation to
a rally you will get a £5 rally voucher if they join the
club. Come and talk with me for details.

Linda

There are some new venues to go to this year as well as a
couple of celebration rallies, One is in May for a 60th
Birthday and the other is in July for a 50th Wedding
Anniversary. Please note the special rally booking form for
these rallies and the folllow on rallies that are booked. it
would be appreciated if you would book in for the rally as
soon as you know you want to go on, especially where we
have to inform site owners and caterers on how many are
people and units will be coming,

The holiday rally for this year is only for two weeks. It looks
as if it is for three weeks but the rally at Belmont Hall in
Cheshire is an ordinary extended rally for the Queen’s
Jubilee and the meeting up for those who wish to go on the
holiday.

As I said at the beginning of my report my camper van has
had a couple more breakdowns during the winter months. It
may come to the fact that it will eventually have to be laid up
for major repairs. If that does happen I hope I can rely on you
to still go on the rallies and enjoy yourself whether I am there
or not, It would be a great shame if a rally has to be cancelled
because of lack of interest due to my absence.

Lastly, can I remind you to book in early for the rally you
intend to go to. You can phone or post your booking to me.
More important, if after you have booked in for a rally then
find you can’t go please let me know.

Rally Secretary

There were only Ian & Linda along with John & I on this rally. We did have a good time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope the club can go to this venue again. The other one was the Christmas dinner rally at Rufforth. There were nine members on this rally including Phil Joanne and their two children who had travelled up from Kent.

On Saturday Glen came with his friend John which made a total of eleven people sitting down to a wonderful Christmas dinner followed by games and a visit from
Santa Clause who gave each of us a present. It is a shame that other members couldn’t make it to this rally. They missed out on all the fun.

We have had some good rallies throughout the year with lots of fun. I hope to see more members out on future rallies this coming year as I can assure you of good times
ahead.

This is my first Chairman’s report and I hope you like it.

Thank you, and Happy Camping.

Best regards
Anne

Rally Camping Vouchers

Rally Camping Vouchers must be sent to the rally secretary in advance with the rally booking form. They cannot be accepted on the rally field. Electric hook ups are on a first come basis. They cannot be reserved.

Friday morning Ian & I took Geoff & Roy to Morrisons in Acomb for some provisions. It was pie pea & Chip night and some King Edwards were needed. We returned to the campsite had lunch and prepared for the evening social. Derek from Leeds, and Phil with son Jack arrived in time for evening supper. They had come up from Kent. After we had eaten our pie peas & Chips there was Port, Sherry, with mince pies to start on. Needless to say not much Port, Sherry or mince pies were taken as we were all stuffed to the gills with the meal we had earlier. We finished the evening off with a game of cards before retiring to bed.

Saturday morning was very cold. Roy had to go home as he just couldn’t get warm. Phil took son Jack to the York Railway Museum whilst we took John & Anne to Acomb for shopping. There were enough charity shops to keep Anne interested. Ian finished off the shopping for the dinner and the Sunday breakfast. We got back to the site, had some lunch the set about preparing the vegetables for the evening dinner. At 6pm we gathered into the hall and sat down to a three course dinner. It was quite nice though some vegetables were slightly under cooked. Better luck next time Ian, though he did apologies. Once the dinner was over every helped with the washing up and clearing away from the tables. Whilst this was going on, we had a visit from Father Christmas’s misses. Apparently Father Christmas was busy putting the lottery on and hadn’t time to make the visit so he sent his little helper. Everyone put their hand into the Christmas sack and lifted out a present for themselves. We finished off the night playing dominoes and eating after eight mints and drinking Irish coffee. We were soon feeling slightly tired as it had been quite a busy day so by 11pm we went to bed. Sunday morning arrived. It was an early breakfast for Phil & son Jack as they wanted to get away early. Others had their breakfast by 10am then we finished off tidying up the hall and got ready for home. Peter came for his money and the hall keys then we all went our separate ways home.

Thank you to the members who supported the rally. We had a good time and I presume so did the others. We are doing it again next year and hopefully more ralliers will come along for a good time.

Linda.

On Friday Derek arrived and later that day Phil came with his son Jack. They had travelled up from Kent. Linda put on pie pea & chips for evening supper which was very nice. Ian had brought a box of dominos which started off with double nine. He had bought it at a charity shop in Ripon and thought it would be something different. Because of this we all managed to get in on the game. We were seeing spots before our eyes by the time we had finished playing. On Saturday morning Roy went home. He just couldn’t keep warm even though he had his gas heater on and a warm air blower. Saturday evening we settled down to our Christmas dinner, after which Santa called in to give us our presents. It was a most memorable night. After one of Ian’s breakfast on Sunday morning we all helped to clear the hall, and then we packed up our vans and set off home. Geoff had to have a jump to get started. We all left for home together as the weather forecast wasn’t too good with snow on its way. We got home okay before the snow came down. We just hope that Phil and son Jack made it home alright?

Anne and I would just like to say we have had a brilliant year with the club we’ve made new friends and had lovely rallies to go to. We’re looking forward to doing it all again in 2011.

John & Anne

Long Eaton