WHITE RODING
19th/21st April 2024

Friday ....Had a nice drive here not much traffic. Phil welcomed us onto the field and gave us a couple of places to park. It wasn’t long before our caravan was nice and warm. I fed the dogs while Kev popped out to get our dinner. The fish n chips was beautiful.

Phil came to let us know that some members were going over to the hall at 7.30 pm as the bar was opened for us to use. We got over there at 8pm, paid our dues to Phil and Diane and done the raffle n bonus ball, 12 vans here in total. Kev had a Guinness that he said went down like water, it was lovely to have a catch up with everyone. The children went into the hall as a kind lady put a film on for them to watch (Sing). We went back to our warm caravan at 10,30pm as we are up early in the morning to go to Colchester dog training.

Saturday ... we were up at 6.30am to go dog training, we got there for 8.15am and were greeted with sausage muffins and tea/coffee. It was so cold to start with. We moved around the field where our Son-in-Law Jon took the classes. It started to rain which I was pissed off with as I had left my umbrella in our car! Thankfully it soon stopped and the sun came out. The training ran over so we didn’t get back to camp until 3.30pm. There was football on and cars everywhere, a few members were watching the men play and I must say the swearing was a bit much. Some members had a drive into Bishop Stortfor , others went into the hall to watch Colchester United play football. Becky and Pete invited us into their new caravan this afternoon, I must say it is beautiful and it’s made me fancy a new one now! I didn’t have to cook again tonight Kev went out and got up dinner. 8pm was over the hall for Barry and Kathy’s games. What a brilliant evening, I ached where I laughed so much (see the web for photos!). I really don’t know how he thinks of these fantastic games. The evening came to a end far too quickly. Thanks so much to you both for a excellent evening. I hope I sleep well tonight after all the walking we done this morning.

Sunday ... nice and sunny this morning , but very cold. Over to the hall for teas/coffee and the normal prize giving. Thanks to Barry and Kathy for last nights entertainment and to Doreen for the weekend quizzes. We won the arrival prize so I’ll get our rally report to Catherine later today, Janine and Adrian won the Bonus ball and Pete and Becky won the weekend quiz. Spencer, Harley and Lily all had joint first in the children’s quiz. No one rushed off we sat around the hall chatting, some had a cook up before heading home. Thanks for a fantastic weekend looking forward to seeing everyone at the May Day for more fun and laughter. 
Love Karla Kevin n dogs xx
Ps thank you so very much Kathy for repairing my coat that Fat Luey decided to eat !!! I’m so grateful xx

 

 

 

Easter Rally 2024

Hollesley Bay

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As it was Phil’s first stint as rally officer we decided to set off really early to get set up. Disaster hit, we hadn’t hitched up properly and the caravan came off the car, damaging the electric cable in the process! Four hour later we eventually set off. It was a very windy trip, especially over the Orwell Bridge, but we got there safely.

By the time we got to Hollesley Village Hall there were already quite a few vans there before us but hopefully we will be on time on the next rally. Thank you to Ian for standing in. That evening we went over to the hall to pay our dues and have a catch up. A few extra people turned up on Friday, there were 19 vans in total. Welcome to Helen and Phil who were attending their first rally, I hope you had a great time and look forward to seeing you again.

On Friday quite a few of us set off on the traditional Good Friday walk which was very enjoyable and blew the cobwebs away. When we got back we were treated to hot cross buns and hot drinks, just what the doctor ordered.

That evening we all went over to the hall for a very exciting race night. I think a few people left a bit richer than when they arrived and there was a lot of cheering on of horses and much laughter.

Saturday morning the children went over to the hall for easter nest making with Catherine and Becky.

Saturday evening we were treated to swing, jazz and soul with the amazing Jack “Jazzman” Clark. Lots of people got up and danced the night away and we all sang along with some of our favourite tunes.

Sunday started off at 11am with the children’s Easter Egg Hunt (the Easter Bunny kept peeping out from behind the curtain but we didn’t get to see all of him (her?), just the head. Then followed the Easter Bonnet competition with the most amazing bonnets I have ever seen and a selection of great bonnet names. Well done to the winners who were:

Under 5 year olds – Joanie

5-10 years – Harper

11 + years- Abi

Ladies – Becky

Men – John

 

At 7pm the children went over to the hall again, this time for party games which I heard were great fun. At 8pm we had a very enjoyable quiz which brought out the competitive side of quite a few of us, thankfully no punch ups! It was a close run thing but the winners were “The Young Ones and Kev”, congratulations. Thank you to Becky Pete for organising the quiz.

The Children’s decorated eggs were really artistic with the winners being:

Under 5 year olds– Joanie

5-10 years - Emily

11+ years Charlie

The weekend quiz was a picture with the challenge to name as many songs as you could find, Elaine and Chris found the most, well done to them. The raffle was won by Carla, the bonus ball by Becky and the arrival prize was mine! There was also an Easter Raffle with a lovely hamper, courtesy of Catherine and Becky, which was won by Richard.

Thank you to the organisers and everyone involved for a great weekend.

Maria & Phil

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HOLLESLEY EASTER RALLY
28th March/1st April 2024

Thursday... my god have we been looking forward to this weekend! We hope that everyone has had a good winter break and are ready for another fun filled caravan year. We didn’t arrive until later as we had a BIG VAN outside our house and couldn’t get our caravan off our drive, so we called all our son-in-laws to come and help give us a hand to move it.  James followed us in his van with 4 of the children and the Thurlows came in with us. Thank you to our new rally officer for coming out in the blistering wind to park us up and a massive thank you to Ian for getting our kebabs for dinner, it was much welcomed that I didn’t have to cook! 8.30pm everyone went over to the hall, it was lovely to see everyone, it’s been far to long! 10pm we made our way back to our caravan, the wind was very strong. It was a bit crazy getting the beds put up so Kev took the dogs out while me and Gracie got them ready for bed. We must apologise to Kathy and Barry if we were to noisy, blame Kevin for telling them scary stories!

Friday ...my god the wind was bad through the night, I do hope everyone’s awnings have stayed up! The sun is shining, hopefully it stays dry while we go for our walk. Kev done the children’s breakfast while I got the caravan in a better shape. 11am everyone met around the 77 Club flag, thanks to the committee for arrange a very nice and flat walk. Back to the camp and over to the hall for a much enjoyed hot cross nun and drinks. The children’s weekend competition is decorating an egg so I took some decorating things over the hall so our grandchildren can get theirs done. Back to our caravan and the children went straight over to the park. There’s 2 new parks here and the children had great fun playing. I called them for lunch and then they went straight back over there. Thank god the weather has been good today! The fish n chip man came to set up and it will be open at 4pm, so another night I’m not cooking!!!! While I got the caravan sorted the children had another play over the park before I got them washed and changed and then over to the hall at 8pm for our traditional 77 Club horse racing. We saved our 20p’s for the betting. There were lots of shouting for our horses to win, a few got very excited!

Catherine and Becky made up a beautiful Easter Hamper which was £1 a ticket, and the lucky winner was Richard. Thanks to the committee for another great night, the children were so happy with there winnings! I had to do a little cheating and shared my winnings with Monty and Joanie as they were the only ones that didn’t win. Arnie and Joanie fell asleep so had to be carried back to our caravan and by 10.30pm we were all sound asleep .

Saturday ... it’s beautiful this morning and nice and sunny. The children went back over the park until 11am, then it was over to the hall for the children to make Easter nests cakes. Thank you so very much to Catherine, Becky and helpers, the children loved it. I cut some hair while that was going on and after that a few of us had a drive into Woodbridge. Thanks to Adrian and Janine for taking some of our children in their car. We had a coffee break before looking round the shops and a lovely walk around the harbour then went back to camp for a nice rest before I cooked a early dinner, as we are over the hall tonight at 7.30pm for live music by Jack “Jazzman “ Clarke. It wasn’t long before we were all up dancing, our children loved it. Once Jack had finished his singing, Barry got another amazing game out that he has designed, it was very hard but was great fun! We sat around to finish the evening listening to music. Thanks to Pete for helping Kev take the sleeping children back to our caravan .

Sunday .... well I didn’t see anything of Sunday as I’ve been sick through the night and during the day, so Kev done the children’s breakfast while I stayed in bed. 11am everyone went over to the hall for the Easter Bonnet parade and Easter Egg Hunt. I’m gutted I missed it but thanks to Adrian and Janine for taking lots of photos for me. I was going to cook a roast dinner but Kev ended up making the children pot noodles and hot dogs in rolls for dinner so they didn’t starve. Thanks to Gracie for helping him, you were a super star! Over to the hall at 7pm for the party games for the children and then Pete and Becky’s quiz. The children told me how they had another brilliant night and said how lucky they are having friends like you. Thanks to everyone that offered Kev some help, sorry I wasn’t there as I still felt rubbish but had a great sleep. Just hope I’m feeling better tomorrow! 

Monday .... I had a full night sleep, Kev done the children breakfast while I sorted out their clothes so at least they got dressed today as I hear they had a PJ day yesterday. Over to the hall for 11am for tea, coffee and prize giving. Well done to everyone that won best Easter Bonnet and decorating the best egg, more Easter eggs! Kev was happy to win the raffle, Maria won the Arrival Prize and Becky won the Bonus Ball. What a lovely start to 2024 caravanning, thank you to everyone for supporting the rally and we must welcome our new members Helen and Phil.  We hoped you enjoyed your first 77 Club rally and will continue to do so! This certainly is a great venue. We hope you all had a safe journey home and hopefully see you all at the next rally .

PS The Grandchildren asked me to say a BIG THANK YOU for all there Easter Eggs and for giving them a fantastic rally, and they will see you at the next rally (i’ve not told them me and poppa are having a weekend on our own lol!!!)

Love Kev Karla Gracie Dottie Monty Arnie Joanie Winnie Nelly Ronnie n Fat Luey

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New Year's Eve Rally- Venture Centre 2000, Lawford

29th December - 1st January 2024

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FRIDAY- We arrived on the Friday and not far behind us came mum and dad. A total of 6 units turned up on Friday. At 7:30 we decided to go over to the hall early and everyone had a catch up and paid their dues. At 10:30 I decided to take the children back to the caravan while Ian stayed with the others to finish off their drinks.

SATURDAY- After a very wet and windy night Saturday started off a bit brighter, however continued to rain on and off most of the day. Another 4 units turned up today making the total of units 10.  A chilled day was had playing games in the caravan and when we wasn’t raining the children were playing outside on their skateboards and scooters. It was lovely to see Natalie with her little baby bump! We all decided to get fish and chips for dinner, which was picked up by the men at 5 o’clock, while the ladies got the hall ready for us all to eat together. Once we had finished eating, it was time to clear up and wash up and get ready for the past caravanning year quiz, which was hosted by Becky and was all about The 77 Club caravanning year in 2023. Well done to our team, the “Jamie Dodgers” for winning! After the quiz Ian and Peter set up the projector so that we could watch the darts. Once this had finished I took the chicken back to the caravan again while Ian and a few others chatted and finished their drinks.

SUNDAY- We went over to the hall about 11ish to start preparing the room for our New Year’s Eve celebrations. Unfortunately mum suffered an injury where she fell off a ladder hurting her back, but that didn’t stop her from joining in. At 12 o’clock we went out for a meal to The Crown in Manningtree, it was lovely that so many of us all got together! The food was lovely and so was the company. Back to the hall we went to finish off the balloons and setting out the tables. Then it was all back to our caravans to get dressed up for the evening. At 7 we went back over to the hall for a disco which was kindly done by Peter, thank you very much Peter we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! We had lots of guests arrive for the evening and we partied the night away. I was surprised that all the children managed to stay awake and see in the new year! Once 1 o’clock came it was time to go back to our caravans, the mess could wait until the morning! Well done to Fred and Kerry for winning the weekend quiz!

MONDAY- it was lovely that so many people volunteered to help out tiding up the hall, it was done in no time. People then started to pack up and it was soon time to say our goodbyes. A very big thank you to everyone who came, we had such a lovely weekend and one that we will definitely be doing again in 2024!

Love Ian, Catherine, Lily and Harley xx

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ROOM IN THE RODINGS DINNER DANCE
17th/19th November 2023

Friday ....we left later tonight as I had a Drs appointment. The journey started off great until we hit Ongar High Street, they had shut the road for Father Christmas and the Christmas lights switch on and to give out sweets to the children. As we pulled up Catherine came out to say where to park, Ian and some others had gone out to collect everyone’s dinner. We put the heating on and went straight over to the venue. Thank you so much for getting our dinner it was much appreciated! There’s not much to set up in the caravan so we went back over to hall. Catherine had brought a great game over, some of us played and apparently I won! At 10:30 we went back to our cozy caravan.

 

Saturday .... Kev got up early as he was taking Ronnie to a shoot. I had a lovely lay in and didn’t get up until 11.45, I couldn’t believe it! I’ve had a very lazy morning and enjoyed every moment. I finished my Indian for lunch, wrote out our Christmas cards and watched a bit of TV. Kev got back at 4pm, he had a fantastic day picking up with Ronnie. We started to get ready to go over to the hall for 6 pm. Once in the hall we were greeted by Prosecco, Baileys and orange juice. Everyone looked amazing, I do love our dinner and dance. I took everyone’s photos (see web) and I must say that Pete let the team down by forgetting his cuff links , so ended up using sellotape to keep his cuffs together!! Ian soon pulled back the curtains for us to be seated and WOW !!! the room looked beautiful. Well done to the committee for all your hard work. 7pm our food came out. I had a lovely prawn cocktail it had a little kick to it which was lovely (I’ll definitely be trying it on Christmas Day!). Ian’s soup looked amazing too. Kev done his usual and had seconds. The dinner was amazing nice and HOT, I had beef, some had turkey or nut roast, more roast potatoes and veg were brought out. I had Christmas Pudding and brandy sauce fir dessert, some had fresh fruit salad and some cheese n biscuits. After dinner Catherine and Becky came round selling raffle ticket, then Ian and Pete gave out the fishing trophy, which Kev won. Then the raffle started, there were lots of amazing prizes! Well done to Sue n Steve for winning the recliner chairs , we one 2 prizes some Scentsy wax’s and a lovely 77 club water bottle that I shall use on next years rallies. We soon danced the night away in true 77 club style, 12 o’clock came far too quickly and the night was over and we said our goodbyes to those that came just for the evening. Some of us sat around chatting before going back to our caravans, we finally got to bed at 2.30am, thankfully I slept well.

 

Sunday.... The wind got up but it’s nice and dry. Well done to those that helped tidy and hoover the venue. Members started to pack up and say their goodbyes. We would like to wish everyone a safe journey home , and we will be thinking of you all at Christmas and New Year, enjoy every moment making fantastic memories and here’s to spending 2024 with you all.
Love Kev n Karla xxxx
Ps we would like to wish every member new and old a HAPPY HEALTHY CHRISTMAS pray 2024 will bring you good health happiness and laughter keep safe xxx

 

Hallowtrees 
3rd to 5th November

Chris arrived Friday morning to get set up as I had to wait for Aubree and Emelia to come out of 
School so followed up late afternoon in my car.
When I arrived there were 12 units on site and all had been decorated ready for rick of treat. At 
8.00pm the children and some adults had dressed up in their Halloween costumes and went around 
all the units. A lot of sweets were collected and eaten.
At 9.00 pm it was over to the gazebos to pay dues and collect weekend competition.
Saturday morning was very wet and raining heavily so the building of the bonfire was delayed until 
a little later when the rain had stopped. The children loved riding on the trailer.
At 2.00pm the children gathered outside Karla's caravan to make chocolate apples which were soon 
consumed and there were a few messy faces. Then it was over to the riffle range to have a shooting 
competition. Chris Gristwood won this for the men and Janine Marshall won for the ladies. Sorry 
can't remember who won the children's.
At 5.00pm it was the lighting of bonfire followed by a ghost walk in the woods. There was a lot of 
screaming coming from the woods. Once everyone was back to the bonfire it was time to light the 
first firework of the night. The children loved the loud bangs and pretty effects. We all had burgers
of sausages cooked by Karla and her son-in-law James.
The evening was finished off with a karaoke sing along which concluded at 10.30pm when 
everyone returned to their vans.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny and at 11.00am it was back over to the gazebos for the usual raffle
and competition results.
Kerry and Fred and Chris and I won the adults weekend quiz.
Catherine won the raffle and we won the arrival prize hence this report.
We would like to say a big thank you to Kevin and Karla and all their helpers for another fantastic 
bonfire and Halloween rally. We think personally that this is one of the best rallies of the year.
Hope to see many of you at the Dinner/Dance next weekend.
Chris and Elaine

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Thursday ...we came this evening and had a great drive here, hardly any traffic. I think it’s because the weather has been so bad people haven’t wanted to adventure out. We were the only ones here tonight. We have Joanie with us and Ella will bring the rest of the children up tomorrow after school. We soon set up and Kev popped out to get us a Chinese. It’s so peaceful here and thankfully no rain. We do love snuggling up in our warm caravan before bed.

Friday... got up early as Joanie woke up needing a drink of water. After breakfast we went out for a lovely walk with the dogs in the woods. It’s a beautiful day and I’m praying that it stays this way. As we got back Neal n Tina turned up, then other members started to arrive. We have 12 caravans here in total. Sadly some members are poorly so can’t make the weekend, we wish you all well soon! Thanks to those that helped us put up the gazebos. It didn’t take long to get the gazebos dressed up for Halloween trick or treating. Ella then turned up with the other grandchildren, our peace is now shattered! Thankfully they had already eaten so no cooking for me! It wasn’t long and they were running around playing in the woods. Thanks to Catherine and Ian for bringing us our dinner in (spare ribs and chips) from the Harvester it was lovely. 8pm we started our Trick or Treating, well done to all the children for dressing up. The children were very spoilt with lots of sweets and chocolate, I know our grandchildren was buzzing at bed time. Also a big thank you to everyone for dressing up their caravans, it was very hard to choose a winner so I left that to the children (they chose Tina and Neal’s), the best dressed girl was Winnie and the best dressed boy was Monty. Kevin did frighten the children with his Chucky mask. It was back over to the ghosts castle for paying our fees and having a chat around the fire. 10pm I took our children back to the caravan to get ready for bed and for Poppa to tell them his usual dragon story, they were still buzzing at 11 pm.

Saturday ... it rained so hard through the night that I didn’t get much sleep. 7am Joanie woke up and all the rest followed soon after. It’s still raining. Kev took the dogs out for a walk, it’s manic in our caravan, why do we do this to ourselves (I guess we love it!). Once they all had breakfast we got dressed and they all went outside in the rain, got soaking wet, then came back in the caravan to get dry and more dry clothes. Kevin’s Landy wouldn’t start the past couple of days so he went out to buy a new battery for it. It’s still raining so we haven’t started the bonfire yet, the children are itching to get out there even though it’s still raining! The time was getting on so Kev got the children on the trailer and lots of us went to collect the wood. Thanks to everyone for helping. The children absolutely love building the bonfire. After lunch, I got everything ready for the children to do their chocolate apples, it really does make a mess but it’s great fun watching the children having fun. 2.30pm most members went over to the shooting range. Thanks to John and Joan for setting it up for us. Everyone had great fun. Dottie and Monty won the children’s shooting (thanks to their helpers), and Janine and Chris won the adults. 5pm we went down to the bonfire. Kev got the music started and the children went on their ghost hunt. Hearing their screams I gathered they had a scary time. 6pm Kev lit the bonfire with the 3 guys on top. Spencer and Pete won the best guy. Soon the sky was lit up by the very bright and loud fireworks. Thanks to Ian and Pete for setting them off for us, they were brilliant! While they were going off James (our son-in-law) and I started cooking the burgers and sausages. Thanks to Doreen and Diane for cutting the rolls! We then had giant marshmallows on the BBQ. Kev started the singing off, it was great seeing lots of members singing their hearts out. It’s been a great night, thank goodness the rain kept off. It was lovely seeing Richard, Mark and his partner come this evening. I took the children back to our caravan for bed and we could still hear the singing in full swing.

Sunday ... it was dry this morning. The children had their breakfast and went straight out to play. Kev tried to start his Landry and the alarm wouldn’t stop, it was going on and off for ages. 11am everyone went down to the gazebos for coffee n prizes. Ian said his things and Dave is acting Rally Officer. Well done to Elaine n Chris, Fred n Kerry for joint winning the Adult quiz. After that had finished, Kev popped out to sort the battery (again!). Thanks to everyone for taking down the gazebos! Once Kev got back, I got the children in my car and headed off home as I’ve got a hospital memorial service this afternoon. It’s been another fantastic rally, thanks to everyone that came. We are looking forward to our Dinner and Dance in two weeks! Driving home the children were full of excitement, I asked them their best bits and Arnie said the shooting, Joanie said trick or treating, Monty said I loved everything it was all my best, Gracie said every 77 club rally is the best and Dottie feel asleep!!!!

Love Kev Karla Gracie Dottie Monty , Arnie Joanie Winnie Nellie xx

Sadly Peter had a bad accident on his way home and his car and caravan has been written off but thank goodness he came out with only bad bruising. Wishing you well Peter xx

 

PLESHEY VILLAGE HALL.
20th/22nd 2023

Friday .... we had a good journey here and we soon set up. 9 caravans this weekend for our annual AGM. Kev popped out to get us dinner, then at 8.30pm we went over to the hall for a catch up with friends. I didn’t stay over there long and went back to our lovely warm caravan. I was asleep by the time Kev came back.

Saturday ... Kev got up early as he was going on a shoot with Ronnie, I didn’t wake up until 10.20am. I took the boys out for a long walk to blow away the cobwebs then it started to rain again so I hurried back. It was lovely looking out the window and seeing the rain fall. At 2.30pm everyone went over the hall, it was nice to see those that come for the AGM. Chris told everyone how Clive was doing, we all wish him well soon. The club brought him a hamper as a get well gift and for all his hard work whilst being in the committee. Richard was very brave and came for the AGM with Steve n Sue. The meeting went well and we got a few things sorted. We welcome Phil as our new Rally Officer and Barry is going to be our new Sport Officer, although it was voted on that his title will now be Sports and Games Officer as he has made some amazing games. Well done to Becky for having found out the answers to a few questions. Ian asked us to raise our glasses to our members that have passed away this year, we send our love and condolences to there families. Kev turned up just as the AGM had finished, He was taking me out to dinner so I didn’t have to cook. A few of our members ended up at the same pub, the food was excellent! I had fish pie and Kev had steak pie. Then it was back to the hall for a Ladies vs Men darts competition. Lots of laughs was had by all. I then went back to our warm caravan.

Sunday...Kev was up early taking the dogs out, I had another lazy morning. It’s so lovely laying in bed hearing the children laughing. Harley won the decorate the pumpkin competition and even wrote his own name. No one hung around as it came over dark. Hope you all had a safe journey home and hopefully we will see some of you at the bonfire rally for lots of fun! Don’t forget the children will be knocking on your caravan trick or treating you and it would be great if you could make a guy. Looking forward to entertaining you all.

Just to let those that don’t already know, our Mags passed away on Friday after a short illness, she absolutely love caravanning. Thank you for making her so welcome x

Love Karla Kevin and Mr Bourne Ronnie Fat Loui

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Friday - We arrived approx 12.30 in the rain but luckily no wind, to find 4 other units already there.

Shortly after pitching and setting up the rain stopped and it became brighter with some sunshine.

During the afternoon 4 other units arrived making 9 units in total. The evening came all too quick so over to the hall we went to meet everyone and pay our weekend fees.

Saturday.- Unfortunately it was wet again for most of the morning, so a lazy morning was had by us. A few members went out for lunch, while the committee gathered in the hall for a meeting prior to the start of the AGM. Only 13 other non rally members turned up for the meeting!!! (Shame more people couldn't make it)!

Thank you to all the committee members for a great job over the year. Unfortunately Clive had to resign from Rally Officer due to his leg and foot accident. Sorry Clive its taking a long time to heal but know you are making progress and hope you will be able to join us rallying next year. Our new Rally Officer for the coming year is Phil Wright. Barry Barker was nominated for Sports Officer, renamed as Spots and Games Officer as Sarry is the master of making great games. Thank you Phil and Barry, and all other committee members, we all wish you a successful year rallying.

At the close of the meeting we had the usual toast to the 77 Club plus a toast in remembrance to our friends that have passed away this year. Eileen and Jim Hurley, Edna Eusden and Kathy Crossman. RIP You will all definitely be missed and remembered.

Meetings make us hungry so off we went for a meal to a nearby pub, The Rose and Crown, only a few miles away. 2 tables of 8 and 2 tables of 4. (Pre booked of course) Think we would all recommend this pub as the food was delicious and we received good friendly service too. Later we gathered back in the hall for a game of darts and a nice relaxing get together.

Sunday - We woke to gorgeous sunshine just peering over the trees. It felt quite cold but the vans soon warmed up with the sun-shining on them. Unfortunately Tina and Neil had to shoot home first thing in the morning, so hope all is well now. 11 am came it was time for coffee morning in the hall, and the usual prise giving etc, well you know now who won the arrival prize! Tina won the bonus ball, well done. Diane won the raffle well done to you too! Kevin and Karla won the weekend quiz, great job, it was too hard for us! Lol! The children's competition was to decorate a large picture of an orange pumpkin, and Harley did a good job so he won. Great work Harley, and the other children too. I expect to see them displayed in your caravan windows at Firework/ Halloween weekend. Thank you Adrian and Janine for organising the weekend competitions.

I trust and hope everyone arrived home safely, and hope to see as many as possible at the Fireworks/Halloween rally and Dinner/Dance.

Take good care, keep safe Doreen and Ron XX

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Newbourne 77 Club Rally Report

5th – 8th October 2023

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Hi everyone!!! As we slip into Autumn we were treated to a weekend that felt more like Summer in June than October!!!

After successfully negotiating the single track roads into Newbourne we arrived at the Village Hall to find Phil and Maria parked up at the bottom of the field. We duly drove down to ”Mole City’’ where with a lot of ramps, bricks and blocks we managed to level the van. We had arrived - time for a beer. Later in the evening Kath and Barry arrived under cover of darkness making three of us for the night.

On Friday Phil and I went fishing off Felixstowe beach and caught a few small Pouting which would barely fill a sardine tin. Lunch followed with the Girls at The Alex on Felixstowe sea front which was very nice. On our return to Newbourne six more units had arrived making nine in total. In the evening we gathered in the Hall to pay our dues, socialize and get stuck into the weekend quiz organized by Becky which involved identifying band names from pictorial clues. Nice one Becky, it got the old grey matter working for some better than others. Well done to Fred and Kerry who ultimately ran out as worthy winners.

On Saturday I jumped ship to go and watch my team Ipswich Town win again!! For the non-believers there was a free day to do your own thing and enjoy the continuing good weather. In the evening we got together in the hall to socialize and Becky came up trumps again with a Higher or Lower game which was good fun.

On Sunday we had coffee morning as usual with prize giving which ultimately saw chocolate chip cookies finding their way to me in exchange for this Rally Report. Fair trade I think!!!!

Great to see everybody and looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

Cheers

Steve Aylott

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Roding Hall Tea Rooms

22nd - 24th September

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We arrived at the wonderful Tea Rooms Rally on Friday evening and arrived in pure brilliant sunshine, what a welcomed change after all the rain we had a couple of days previously

The entrance to the rally field now has a combination lock on an automatically operated gate which looked rather new and was a welcomed added security to the rally field.

 

Jannine and Adrian were slightly in front of us and very kindly opened the gate to allow us access which was really helpful as we didn't know the combination for the lock Ha Ha ha. Thank you both.

 

We parked up next to Kev and Karla right close to the paddock where there were 2 massive horses grazing all day. With big horses come the inevitable... and believe me they were big horses !!! couple this with the brilliant sunshine and the fact that the horses had been eating the luscious grass all day, I think every fly and bluebottle in Ongar was attracted to the ... Fertilizer. Ah well, that's the countryside for you.

Kdev and Karls have a new Car a lovely black Volvo similar to Catherine and Ian's, it's lovely, well done you two.

 

Off to the Hall, which was down the road from the Tea Rooms to pay our dues after a swift half in the local public house of course, followed by several more beers and glasses of vin blanc sec back at Chateau Mascall.

thank you Bob and Deb for hosting another lovely evening.

 

Saturday morning was beautiful, the weather was superb, and again there was brilliant sunshine. Bob kindly offered to cook the Bacon rolls, horrrrrray, a great start to the day.  As I contemplated a cooked bacon roll and braced myself for the inevitable invasion of those pesky flies, to my surprise, the Horse handlers arrived and cleaned up the entire horse field. Barrow after barrow, they cleaned, scraped and raked through the fertilizer until there was no more, a fantastic job. horrrray.

Lunchtime came, and we headed for Shopping to Bishops Stortford, and that done, we headed back to the ranch for afternoon sippers outside the vans before dinner.

 

Washing up done it was time for fun and frolics at the Hall again, which was hosted by Barry and Cathy, I must say a brilliant night, so entertaining, those who were not there missed a really brilliant evening, next time you are out find out what you missed, a brilliant night where male and female battled against each other where the male population of the evening allowed the female congregation to win the events of the evening, well-done girls and well deserved...

Thank you so much Barry and Cathy for an excellent evening, fantastic as always.

 

Sunday was a little windy, but it was bright as we enjoyed the Coffee morning. results of the weekend quiz were given out thank you, Peter and well done to Becky and Pete who managed to win the Grand Prize. Oh, and Cathy won the Bonus Ball well done Cathy. I will give you one guess as to who won the Raffle, and they even managed to pick out their own ticket........ Have you guessed yet................ You are correct "PETER" again. LOL

well done Peter..

 

All completed, and after saying our goodbyes we packed up and headed for Colchester. This was a wonderful weekend, well organised and great fun with great company. Thank you to everyone who attended and thank you so much for making it a wonderful weekend

 

See you all in a Pair of Weeks

 

Regards

Joe and Julie Hamilton