Margate - May 4th - 6th 2007
AKA : What a kerfuffle....
I decided to drive Lee's van to Margate, just in case anyone broke down, rather than take a risk and ride. Rhona joined me for company and we set off eastwards, Thelma & Louise style, following Lee and Lofty on the scoots. Gary had left half an hour before us, the theory being that we'd catch him up somewhere and join him for lunch.
We'd barely left West Sussex when, at a set of traffic lights, Lofty pushed his bike onto the kerb. He'd tried to pull away but his gear cable had gone all floppy - a simple job to fix you'd think. So they got the pliers out and tightened it up and we prepared to set off again. But the scooter then failed to start, so the boys pushed it up and down the road trying to bump it, but to no avail. So they got the plug out, checking for a spark, but there was nothing. The 1970's wiring didn't help, so we gave up and put it in the back of the van, and Lofty hopped on the back of Lee.
We texted Gary and he was already at Rye so we put our foot down and raced after him. By the time we got there he was nearly at Canterbury and the weather wasn't as warm as he'd expected so he decided to carry on to Margate and eat there. Not a problem, we thought, we'll just stop at a pub and grab something on our own. Well, have you ever tried to find a pub on the Rye to Ashford road? Or the Ashford to Canterbury road? Or the Canterbury to bloomin' Margate road? It's like a desert! Or a business opportunity, waiting to happen.... Anyway, finally, around 7 miles from our destination we found somewhere, with a nice big car park for me to park the van and a 'food all day' sign. And it was very nice too - the biggest Ham, Egg and Chips in the world enjoyed by the carnivores amongst us, and a nice pasta bake for Lee...
Back in the van and on the road, we were in Margate half an hour later, the Promenade pub to be precise, where Gary was waiting for us. Joined by then by the other Thelma & Louise in the club, Stacey and Linda. Gary had just about thawed out and was moaning about a dodgy fish pie he'd eaten, but he was his usual entertaining self. I was a bit chilly by then, so went to try to get my fleece out of my bag which was in the back of the van. There was a slight problem though, because Lee's dodgy lock was playing up and had stuck on. Not a problem, I thought - Lee will know all the tricks to get it open - so I went and got Lee and he disappeard to try to release it. In the meantime Gary lent me his flight jacket to keep the frostbite at bay.
While Lee was faffing with the van door, the Choirboys turned up having spent 7 hours on the road to get there, no doubt guided by the availability of super-unleaded-stocked garages on their route. Campbell decided to give all the girls a kiss, so first went for Linda, then Stacey and then Rhona. And completely ignored me! Was it the flight jacket that made me look like a boy? Whatever, he eventually recognised me and gave me a smacker on the cheek....
I checked on Lee outside as he tried to open the back door of the van, initially with patience and then with karate kicks, but it failed to budge. I was unusually calm (for me) about it and rationalised that the worst that could happen was that we'd have to wear the same clothes out in the evening and would have to take it to a garage the next day. For Lee though, it was a Major Personal Disaster, so Rhona and I left him to pop up to Sainsbury's for clean pants and socks, and some emergency toiletries. We rejoined them at our hotel, the Glenwood, in Cliftonville.
It was actually hard to get in the door as there were crowds of pensioners flooding out, all heading for the Winter Gardens to see Joe Longthorne (or somebody like that). Once I'd fought my way through the masses, I got our key and went to the room. My first impressions of the hotel weren't great. It didn't look like it had been decorated since the mid-70's, and our room was a bit mucky and had an odd smell. Oh well, it was the least of my problems really, given that I had no bag, so I had a quick wash and joined Gary, Lin and Stacey in the bar. When Lee joined us he accused me of making the smell in the room with some bodily functions, which I obviously denied, so I bought him a beer to try to calm him down. He forced a smile and we headed out to avoid the bingo which Stacey was desperate to join in with.
We found the Talismen and Choirboys in Bar 26 which had its Happy Hour, serving 'buy one get one free' drinks from 8pm - 9pm. After that we went next door to Wetherspoons and then Lee and I went up to the do. We'd not heard good things about the venue, hearing that it was in a tent next to the Lido, but decided to check it out for ourselves. I'm glad we did because there were two rooms, and although both were busy they weren't packed and it wasn't hard to get served at the bar. We shared our good news with Ferdy and Tracey, who were both very excited for us. Caught up with Shady and Lobby, and then had a wander. The band were Skaville UK, with Rhoda Dakar on vocals too. After their set they milled around and Rhoda had a string of admirers waiting to have their photo taken with her and bend her ear. I think Lee would have joined him if he'd been a bit drunker, but luckily for me he didn't.
We didn't stay out late, as I was rather tired, so headed back to the hotel. There was some loud music in the bar but it finished about 12.30am so wasn't too bad. We hit the sack, thinking that the next day couldn't possibly be any worse than Friday had been....
Lee got up at the crack of dawn (or so it seemed, it was actually about 7.30) to try to open the van again. I dozed for a bit and then when he came back in, carrying our bags, it was the best sight in the world, ever! New clothes! Shampoo! Shoes!! Things were on the up - what could possibly go wrong now?!
And off to breakfast. We were put in the middle of the pensioners, which wasn't a problem for me but Lee refused to sit with them. Grrrr... So I went off in a huff up to Sainsbury's for my breakfast instead. And was joined in the queue by the Choirboys who'd been staying at the Travel Lodge which was in the middle of the out-of-town shopping centre - quite a bizarre location, but handy too as Phil had bought a lovely Bench jacket from TK Maxx! So I had the pleasure of the company of Campbell and Phil while I munched on my cereal and toast, with them recounting stories of their travelling exploits and scooter breakdowns. After breakfast I did some window shopping and then headed back into town, to the stalls and custom show. Lee had bought me a patch to try to butter me up, and it worked, so we had a look round but didn't buy anything. Saw Tori and Rich's cute baby Charlie briefly, and had a bit of baby chat before Tori took him away for his lunch.
Stacey, Gary and Lin had decided to cut their losses and go home. We chilled out for a bit and then had lunch at the Toby Carvery near my favourite shopping centre (which, by now, I was very familiar with!). Then we had a bit of a siesta before meeting Lofty and Rhona for a drink in their hotel's bar. Their hotel was only a few streets away but was miles better than our's - not a bit of peeling wallpaper in sight! We then went down town to meet the Talismen in Wetherspoons, followed by a trip up to Barnacles to meet the Salisbury lot again, and then back to Wetherspoons again.
By 10.30 I was knackered so we returned to the hotel to watch Match Of The Day and get an early night. We had a slight disaster when we realised the keys were locked in the room, but the manager eventually tracked down a spare and we were finally able to go to bed. I dozed off for a bit but woke up at midnight to the awful sounds of a pub singer and band in the bar, belting out Amarillo. Oh well, I thought, it'll be over by 12.30.... But 12.30 came and went, and 1am came and went and it was still going on. At 1.30 we were climbing the walls - we were so tired but couldn't possibly sleep so I put some clothes on and went off to complain. The night porter was about 80 years old and didn't seem to give a damn, but the manager was still up so I asked him when the racket was going to stop. He apologised and said he'd have a word with the band. 20 minutes later and it still hadn't finished so I tried to track him down again but he'd disappeared. That was it - we'd had enough - so we got dressed, packed and rang Lofty. He and Rhona were at a Northern do on the seafront so we picked them up and then they got their bags from their hotel and we went home. We left Margate at 2.30 and got back to Bognor at 5am, which was really good going. For the first time I was grateful that Lee had the GTS, as we were able to fly down the motorway, although I did feel sorry for him as it was freezing cold!
I rang the hotel the following day to settle up for the Friday night, but the manager was most apologetic and waived the whole bill - and even offered us a free night the next time we're up there! Nice of him, but I don't think we'll be in a hurry to return to Margate again....
I'd like to thank Rhona for the Saturday photos; for some reason I forgot to take any!