Warmwell    17th - 19th November 2006

Photos are here

Lee was going to ride down to Dorset on the GT but the trip to the petrol station was enough for him, with the high winds and forecast of rain putting paid to any thoughts of going on two wheels.   By the time we got onto the M27 the rain was torrential and visibility extremely poor, validating the decision completely.   We'd always prefer to go by scooter but sometimes it's just not worth the risk. 

We were the first to arrive, so collected the keys, quickly unpacked and headed for the bar which was already busier than last year.  There were many more familiar faces too, obviously as keen as us to stretch out the rally season for another month.  Lofty and Rhona were the first to arrive, followed closely by Champion and Denise and then the Talismen.   We found a nice corner by the stage and set up camp, while DJ Rich played some top tunes.   The band were called Rat Race (I think!) and they played loads of Ska covers very energetically.    We nipped to the cafe for some food and found Sticky and Chris from Nuneaton, so Lee had a catch-up while I munched on a burger.   The Northern room wasn't very busy and was freezing cold so we didn't stay long and headed back to the main room.   The bar was really busy by now and getting a drink was difficult.   There don't seem to be many venues that can cope with the volume of alcohol consumed by scooterists!

By now I was rather tipsy and dancing loads, and Lee was tipsier and being really funny.   He kept buying me drinks even though I'd stopped drinking and I had to drag him home at the end of the night even though the music had stopped and everyone else had gone!  

On Saturday more people arrived, including Gary, Lin and Steve on his GP.   After a quick look round the stalls I left the others to go and watch Pompey play Watford.   I'm glad I did, because we won, although it was a dull match.   Back at Warmwell by 7.30 I did a quick change and went back to the bar.  The others had spent the day in Weymouth, ending up at a tapas bar which made Steve very happy.   They seemed to have drunk loads because everyone was quite merry and Gary had decided to shave off his 20 year old hairdo in aid of charity.   One of our club members has a daughter with diabetes and she desperately needs a special machine to help her, so at our Xmas do someone will win a raffle to get the pleasure of shaving Gary's hair off.  (Anyone who wants to sponsor him can email me using the 'Contact Me' link at the top of the page).

A karaoke was in full swing in the main room and it was very entertaining.   Afterwards, we were treated to another helping of Basket Case.   I love them, and love the fact that they make an effort every time to dress up, with a relevant theme.  At Brid they'd dressed as skeletons as it was Halloween.   Here, we were treated to the James Bond theme and the guys all had bowties on, with the singer in full dinner suit.  Brilliant!   They've added Stand And Deliver to their set so we all did Adam Ant dances, much to Lee's embarrassment.  After the band had whipped everyone into a frenzy the DJ took over and kept everyone dancing with some great songs, and I was joined by my dancing partner Joy for 'our record', I Predict A Riot.   Tiredness kicked in, however, and we went to bed at about 1 o'clock (me and Lee, not me and Joy!!).

On Sunday we were woken by chattering from the next room, and it turned out Gary had had a sleepless night, traumatised by the thought of losing his hair and it not growing back.  He was trying to think of a get-out clause, and was planning a 'Deal Or No Deal' style gamble for the winning punter - but I put a stop to that idea.   If people are sponsoring him to have his hair cut then that's what will happen - and it will all be captured on camera for the world to see!

After a nice cup of tea he calmed down and after breakfast we headed home.  The rally was carrying on for another day, but we wanted to get back to watch Sam play football and we both have to work tomorrow.   It had been a fantastic weekend - a great finale to the year.  Well done to Andy and his team from the SWSC for a well run event and a great venue.