Event Reports » Marlins in the Marches - June 2009
This was a new June weekend offered by Rob and Terresa Aubrey in Norton Canon, Herefordshire just 10 miles northwest of Hereford and a couple of miles away from Kinnersley castle.I had planned to leave on the Friday by 2.00 pm to get to the campsite but I was all ready by 1.30 so I skipped out and shut the front door, jumped in the car and went to turn the key in the ignition and it wasn’t there. I had been in and out of the house and garage collecting all my camping gear and the keys had been in the ignition at one point as I’d had to back the car out of the garage. But somewhere along the line I had taken them back in doors and then of course, I had locked myself out. Not a problem, I’ll use my spare key I keep in my purse. Nope. I forgot that I had lent that to my brother. OK, I’ll go round to my neighbour and get her spare key and get in. Nope. My spare front door key was not in the hiding place in her conservatory. Doh! She has a habit of keeping it indoors because I go away quite a lot and she looks after my menagerie. Thoughts of breaking glass came to mind but luckily another neighbour was outside and offered to drive me to where she thought Dotty would be doing the hair of a little old lady. Great! Into the car I jumped and there followed a farcical search for Dotty in the wrong location, knocking on doors of little old ladies asking where another little old lady lived. Eventually we found the right road, I found Dotty, grabbed her keys, drove back to the house, got in, grabbed my keys, hid hers and I was ready to go! It was 2.00 pm when I set off... On the way I stopped for fuel and had to wait an age while the slowest cashier in the world changed the till roll then a learner nearly hit my car as I manoeuvred out of the garage. Then the journey was dogged by horrendous storms and hailstones resulting in the traffic being reduced to crawling along at 5 mph on the motorway. There was thunder and fork lightening and I was subjected to Chinese water torture with drips on the back of my neck from the hood stitching. It was with some relief that I arrived at the Three Horse Shoes in Norton Canon some hours later.
Pitching my tent, the rain decided to throw itself down again so I pitched a very wet tent in knee high grass with lurking sheep poo. My shoes and trousers were soaking so I changed into dry ones and the wet ones stayed damp for the while weekend hanging in the tent. But, hey, it was all part of the fun!!
That night, those who had arrived piled off to the pub for dinner where we met the infamous Dave who makes the most lethal homemade wine. I know from experience. So do a few others I know. Anyway, we returned to the Three Horse Shoes where we (I) sampled their local ale, Farriers. It’s 14% you know. They sell it by the wine glass it’s so strong! Well, I had 2 glasses and some normal wine and thought I was OK but I’m not sure. I can’t remember!
So, Saturday dawned and others arrived on the campsite or for the B&B next door. A few of us were off to the nearby Garden Centre when Doug and Liz Billings arrived in separate cars. Liz was determined that they would not be camping given that she had arrived in a leaking boat and had a wellie full of water. They booked into the comfort of the B&B and dried off while the rest of us went in search of own own wellies! I now own 4 levels of wellies, a slip on backless number for the garden, an ankle length pair for those damp camping days, a new calf length pair for the longer grass and the tuck-in trouser look and a fetching pair of red Paddington-Bear-look wellies that I haven’t worn yet but might throw in for the Lakes weekend if the same weather is to be experienced next week!
We spent a pleasant visit in the Garden Centre then wandered back to the campsite to muster with the full complement of arrivals and then we set off for a little trip round the lanes with Rob and Terresa leading us out of their first hosted weekend. We passed through some pretty villages and good old Marlin roads before arriving at the Queenswood Aboretum and Country park for a photo, ice cream and loo stop. Then we wended our way back to prepare for a BBQ at the Three Horse Shoes.
We were treated to a lavish spread for about 100 people! The food just kept on coming. It was lovely and I ate far more than I usually would but BBQ’s do that to you don’t they?! As it was such a wet weekend we had the BBQ undercover and took over the pub for the evening. It was amusing to see the faces of the locals when they walked in and saw the place full of wellie wearing Marlin owners sprawled in every corner! Later we had some fun with tricks dreamt up by Keith Howell and Hugh Connell and that kept some of us quiet for a while! It was a late night by the time we retired to bed.
Sunday morning woke us with torrential rain! Hugh Connell and his son Alistair decided to abort and leave for home while there was a break in the clouds. But not before they cannibalised their tent and made a hood for their topless Roadster. It was, um, basic, but it got them home undercover and Hugh is now fashioning his own, proper hood that will no doubt be as slick as the rest of his Best in Show 2009 Roadster.
We were due at the SoapBox Derby but when we arrived, armed with wellies and brollies, we were told the show had been cancelled. Boo hoo! However we were let in anyway as the SoapBox riding had to go ahead, given that many of the entrants were students and their soapboxes were coursework projects. So we waited for the running to start and eventually the sun came out and the brollies could go away. It’s such a shame the organisers cancelled the show as it would have turned out OK in the end. But they weren’t to know. We hope to go back and do it all again next year only not in rain! Despite the weather, I enjoyed the weekend and am very glad to have been there for the first of what I hope will be many June weekends in Herefordshire. There’s loads to see round there so we have years before we run out of
places to go!!
Thank you for all your organising Rob and Terresa, you made it look easy!
De-camping, I took my tent down to find two squashed mice underneath the ground sheet. Aaaargh! And I ran one of my tent poles right through a soggy sheep poo. That was fun cleaning it off. But it all added to the atmosphere. I didn’t mind and I now own those new wellies……….
A decent line up at the Queenswood Aboretum and Country park
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