For Fox Sake Foxes MCC
For Fox Sake
7th - 9th September. 2001.
September sneaks upon us again, and, if the
weather forecast was to be believed the world was due to
end. Rain and more rain was the order for the weekend -
shows how much they know !
I foolishly set off at around five o clock,
just in time to catch all the rush hour traffic. Just over
an hour to cover 22 miles - traffic doesn't usually bother me,
but for some reason it just got right up my nose this
Friday. Just to make things even more interesting my
ignition light came on, which luckily turned out to be worn
dynamo brushes - well, they have done over 50 000 miles and the
dynamo wasn't new when I fitted it.
The site was the same place, Catton Hall,
on the banks of the river Trent. Quite a few folks had
already set up camp by the time I arrived, so without further ado
I joined 'em. The one thing the weather forecast had got
right was the wind, a good strong blast was ripping across the
field and threatening to turn the red and white striped marquee
into a red and white striped kite.
As ever, most of the Moonshiners headed for
the local pub for a quick slurp before the 'serious' drinking
back at the site.
Some
of the drinking must have been very serious judging by the
hangovers next morning.
Certain people were involved in a 'tent
moving' exercise, why they were doing this is best left to the
imagination.
I must confess to not spending very much
time in the marquee, so I can't comment on the bands or the silly
games, but knowing the Foxes I dare say they were " all in
the best possible taste. "
Saturday
morning ( just about ) and folks started emerging from their
tents. Breakfast time and Roy decided to boil the eggs six
at a time. Much egg juggling followed as people realized
just how hot a boiled egg can be.
I happened to notice a sign sticking out of
the grass in front of Roy's trailer tent, " Home sweet
home " it read. Have the Moonshiners really descended
to this level ?
Following breakfast we took a trip into
Burton for a nose at Springfields army surplus store. This
seems to be an annual Moonshiners outing with most of us buying
something or other. This year I grabbed a Gore-Tex jacket
to go with the trousers I bought last year - OK, so
they're camouflage but I've not found anything as waterproof for
the price.
The next stop was Sainsburys, mainly for
the in shop cafe and the luxury of a toilet that didn't sway in
the wind ;-)
Back on site, I managed to eat dinner and
then fall asleep, thus missing the silly games. I'm an
expert at sleeping, mainly due to all the practice I have.
Saturday night saw most of us heading down
the pub again. The gaffer of the pub has offered to cut the
grass in his garden so we can camp there anytime. Sounds
like we may have found another place to spend the odd weekend
away. Due to us getting ' locked in ' we didn't get back to
the marquee until after midnight - what a shame ! I don't
know what time the disco finished, but at four thirty in the
morning it was still going strong, which is more than I was.
Sunday morning and that hangover monster had claimed even more
victims. The weather was still kind if a little windy and
folks were wrestling with flysheets and the like. "Our
lot" sat around cooking breakfast and waiting for the
paracetamol to kick in before packing up.
I wandered around the site looking at the
different bikes / trikes that were there. Was it my
imagination or are trikes getting more popular ? It seems
that Kath, from our club, had taken root on my trike . . . . is
the Ducati really that uncomfortable ?
So another Foxes rally ends. I didn't
actually spend that much time in the marquee this year, but I
enjoyed the rally non the less. Once again, the lads and
lasses from the Foxes MCC did us proud, how they managed to
outwit the weather forecasters is beyond me, but I'm glad they
did. Until the next one :---> Thanks - we had a
great time.
Cheers.
^..^
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