BARN DANCE, BIRCHWOOD 7th –9th October 2005

The weather forecast was not very promising for the weekend but it didn’t deter the 42 units that rolled in to "take a chance". Of the 42 units, 27 were Dorsets, so we had a good gathering of the Clan.

Although it wasn’t what you would call a summers evening on the Friday several groups managed to sit outside to have a few bevies. On Saturday it was a fine day & for a lot of the folk either walking or cycling was on the agenda-------until, just after lunch when it suddenly tipped down with rain & a few wet shirts returned. Fortunately this was short lived & the skies cleared, leaving us a perfect evening to walk up to the barn.

The Barn Dance was a great success & I think all but a few (mainly us oldies with a bone in our leg) got up & had a dance. Dave & Jan Foreman from the Avon DA gave us a wonderful insight into Barn Dancing. It was most enjoyable, so much so that everyone kept going all evening. It was exhausting just to watch them.

There was cider, red & white wine on flow throughout the evening. We also had a lovely supper of bread, cheese & assorted nibbles. It was a good "spread" & appreciated by all. Well done Dianne & thank you, for once again satisfying our appetites to perfection.

On Sunday morning we were able to have Flag Pole out on the field, a bit breezy, but at least the sun was in the sky.

This was our first Barn Dance but I think we can safely say that it's definitely a YES for a future venue.

Myra & Ray


Click here for photos

BLACKMOOR VALE, SHAFTESBURY 30th –2nd October 2005

We had a steady flow of units during Friday.

The rain held off for most of the weekend in daylight hours but poured at night. The carnival was very good.

We had 19 units on site 12 of which were Dorsets and the rest made up from 6 other DAs.

A nice weekend, be it only 2 miles from home.

Thanks to all.

Jerry and Val.

FROGHAM, DAFOL 23th –25th September 2005

Another good weekend of weather and a good turnout of vans. We all made the most of the forest and some of us went to Linford for a BBQ picnic and walk, Kit and Brian walked there, a good 5 miles (although Kit thought it 10). They didn’t decline a lift back to site though. Ann and Norman who weren’t camping came too although they partook of G&T’s whilst we were on the tea and coffee’s.

Many vans lit up for the FOL with a lot of hard work going into some of them. John and Lyn won 1st prize, the first time he’s taken part, so you’ll have to try and better it for next year John! Marianne was 1st for the Youth, with her circus ring with a wild and vicious Rabbit, sorry Lion. Well done to everyone who took the time and effort.

The Fancy Dress in the village hall was won by Kit, as the Circus master and Lion tamer, it was a hard choice by the judges as Brian came as a human cannibal. This was his placard: “I am the Handsome Heroic Horace, the Homicidal Highlight of this ‘ere Circus and will Horrify you, when Hereafter I will Hurtle Headlong like a Huge Hurricane, as the Hazardous Human Cannon Ball”.

Well done to you both you looked brilliant. Marianne 1st again for the children’s fancy dress, as a jester juggler. Riley came as a clown and did a few party tricks, so we made him 1st for the pets, he had cherry sticks and treats, we thought he might have a problem spending the cash prize.

We had a good Fish and Chip supper, a game of celebrity taboo, a quiz from Nikki to get the brain cells working and the music and dancing was supplied by Shaun, thanks again Shaun.

A last walk in the forest, after flagpole a late BBQ lunch and home after another gook weekend.

Sam


Click here for photos

TERRY'S 60th BIRTHDAY 16th-18th September 2005

What a weekend, hot weather during the day to top up our suntans, although cold at night, we had a good turn out for Terry’s party. Mustang Sally and her band entertained us well. Dianne over-fed us as usual, with a beautiful hot and cold buffet and plenty of wine. Terry enjoyed his Kissogram, with a sexily clad and wigged old/young lady, dancing for him, well done Cliff, nice pair of legs!!!

Coffee and BBQ lunch in the sunshine finished off a really good weekend.

Thanks Di and Terry.

Sam



Click here for photos

HIGHLANDS END, EYPE, BRIDPORT 9th-11th September 2005

A busy weekend for the site all the good weather had brought lots of people out camping, it soon changed though. Friday, during the night we had torrential rain, the ground was so dry it all flooded, until it eventually soaked away.

It didn’t stop us from getting out and about Saturday, enjoying the usual sights. A few of us went to Budleigh Salterton to look at the new site and carried on into Exmouth for a cream tea and walk along the beach, the sun did come out.

It was nice to see John Castro looking so well, he, Bob and Betty Talbot stopped off for the weekend on their way home from the NFOL.

Saturday evening at the club house a wedding reception was in progress to the delight of the men, who wished they were all young, free and single with all the scantily clad young ladies. In your dreams boys!!!

It was nice to see Rachael out on her own with the children. Well done Rachael.

Sam

Temporary Holiday Site August 2005

Monday 8th August went well, the Committee (or A Team as I call them) came out and helped mark out the pitches, put up the admin tent, show me the ropes.

There were originally 100 pitches allowed on the site but as we only had one football pitch we could only get 60 pitches. The site was cut down because the other field had just been grassed by RFU. Mick had taken bookings during the weeks prior to camping and also told people to come on down as he thought there was plenty of space, so we were a bit short on pitches. However we were allowed to pitch some people on the first Rugby pitch outside the Hall.

I also had some help from DA members that came down, I would like to say thanks to Brian for the help he done, Geoff and Lyn, Brian and Kit and to Chris and Lyn who stayed with me for two weeks of their holiday. Most of the people liked the way we ran the site, good feed back, kids loved the sound of the whistle, when they heard it they had to find where it was coming from then get a little prize.

Sold my trailer tent off the second week of the site being open. Bit cold sleeping under the stars, then a Dandy came along, took me under its wing. Not quite a tin tent, halfway there.

I had to go to hospital on the first weekend, as my bellows started to play up. The hospital kick started them all OK. Thanks to Mick Cooper for taking me.

Out of the 21 days we had three days of rain. 191 units, not bad since we only had 60 pitches. We have got the site for another two years before the contractors come in to use the field as a compound, which is good news for the DA.

I like to say thanks to the Committee and DA for giving me the confidence to run the THS site; if it is okay with the DA I would like to run it again next year 2006.

I see the DAFOL is Circus, no need to have any clowns the DA have the Committee.

Baz Hick

STEWARD’S REPORT 8th -10th JULY 2005 CHETTLE HOUSE, BLANDFORD

Another hot and sunny weekend. This is a lovely quiet Greenfield site, in North Dorset, and popular with most DA members.

Our thanks go to Anne & Gordon for seeing everyone in and collecting the fees, as we couldn’t get there until 8.30pm. We had 20 units on site; it was really good to see old Youth members, now with their own families & units enjoying the joys of camping once again.

Saturday afternoon saw a few wet & bedraggled campers (big & small) as the water pistols and paddling pools proved to be a great way of cooling down!! In the evening we had a lovely sing song, thanks to Gordon & Phil, with their guitars, around a large supper table, filled with bread & cheese, (thanks Myra for organising).

We were able to sit out until quite late, due to the good weather and Jean’s light was very useful for illuminating the supper when it got too dark to see.

Coffee time was held under the very welcome shade of a large tree on Sunday.

Anne & John

Stourhead – June 24th – 26th 2005

Being only a few miles east of Glastonbury Festival, you will not be surprised to read that early arrivals at Stourhead experienced torrential rain, thunder and lightening.

This appears to have deterred some from attending, which was unfortunate, because the weather improved throughout the weekend, to a hot sunny Sunday.

13 pitched alongside the 5 “caravan club site” and enjoyed the National Trust house, gardens and Spread Eagle.

This first visit to Stourhead was successful, and “yes” Shirley did catch 6 fish up to 3lb in weight on Sunday morning.

Kit and Brian

Teddy Bears picnic 17th – 19th June 2005 – Witherington Farm

We arrived on Thursday evening to find a nice new bridge had been installed for us to get across to the field. Members will be pleased to know that it's wider & straight, with no bend at the end, unlike the old one.

50 units & 52 children came along to enjoy the beautiful weather & a great weekend.

Saturday morning kicked off with the workshop for the children in the gazebo. This soon became a hive of industry with colouring, sticking, painting & gluing & continued after lunch with the boat-making in readiness for the race. There was a good variety of boats made, all shapes & sizes, & when they were all lined up for the start of the race they made a spectacular picture.

Of course the "Big Kids" (adults) had to have their "go" at it as well, but to keep it fair they had to have their race later. For all the competitions & races there were lots of prizes, even the "Big Kids" weren’t left out.

The second highlight of the day was the Teddy Bears Picnic. This year the children were able to sit out on the grass & tuck into their picnic & make as much mess as they liked, especially with the favourite - jelly & ice-cream.

We thought that we would try something new this year to see what the response would be, we had a "Teddy Bears Disco". Shaun kindly offered to take on being the D.J. & the session went well, the children really enjoyed it, I didn't realise children could have so much energy left at the end of the day, so I think we can call it a success & tell Shaun to keep next June 16-18 free.

Next came the lighting up of the boats & floating them down the river followed by the communal BBQ at the gazebo. Towards the end of the evening an impromptu line-dancing session started up in the gazebo, with Shaun once again being the DJ & caller. With the large number of members coming along for the BBQ, & the music playing it gave a lovely atmosphere on which to end a perfect day.

The weekend ended with a grand gathering at flag-pole on Sunday morning. Nikki announced the winners of the quiz she ran over the week-end (& gave us the answers) & raised £6.50 for Chairman’s Charity. Marianne & Karina organised "Guess the name of the Bear" competition & they raised £14.60 also for Chairman’s Charity. Well-done girls & thank you.

As stewards we would like to say a big thank-you to all who made this special w/e for the children a great success, especially to Diane for organising & running the workshop Shaun for being our DJ, Kate, Jane & Kit for helping prepare the picnic see you all out on the field very soon from

Three Old, Tired, Grizzley Bears (aka Ray, Myra and Sandra)

Click here for photos

Kings Stag – Skittles – 10-12th June 2005

Hi

Well what another eventful meet.

Val and myself went to site on Thursday night, got set up, we spent the night and I went to work on Friday, leaving Val to run the show.

We had 14 Dorsets and 1 Somerset on site.

The sun shone all weekend. On Saturday Sandra was having trouble with her brakes on the car. She went off to get brake pads from a garage. She arrived back on site and called in the Dorset D A Quick fit team, myself with the tools and Mike (ginger) with the know-how. Job soon done. We then had skittles in the pub with 26 people playing.

Winner of the wine for highest score Ladies was Betty from Somerset D.A with 48 pins, highest score for the mens’ was Derek with 45 pins. Derek then kindly gave the wine to my daughter Nisa for lowest score.

Many thanks to Alan and Andrew for sticking the pins up for the whole game. Sadly Baz was taken ill part way through and we decided to call an ambulance and get him to hospital. The good news was that Baz was let home on Sunday morning and was feeling better.

Many thanks must go to Gordon and Anne for picking Baz up from the hospital and taking him home with his tent and car, before coming back to collect their own unit.

Also thanks to Mike and Mike for helping Gordon pack up all of Baz's unit.

Sunday morning coffee was followed by Sunday roast in the pub, then home.

Thanks to everyone for their offers of help when Baz was ill. Just what friends and D.A are for.

Thanks Jerry & Val

Click here for photos

Bashley Trophy Weekend 6-8th May 2005

22 units including 2 stewards, arrived on Friday, the last unit to arrive just after 7pm.

After all had set up, people made their way, in their own time, to the main bar area for the first of the scheduled events THE QUIZ. We had a few teams entered, but had a hard time hearing the music for the second half, so we didn’t really do that well. But as the night progressed and the beer started to flow, I think a good time was probably had by all.

An early start for our golfers on Saturday morning. The rest making their way to the various sporting events taking place. There was golf, welly throwing, basketball, tennis, penalty shoot out, speed pool, snooker, table tennis, darts and Karaoke for adults and children alike.

We had people participating in nearly all events, some doing better than others. Marianne did well in the Ladies Tennis, coming in 4th. We were all very proud of her.

We also did well in some of the other events:-

Mick won the table tennis for Men, followed by Diane who came joint 1st in the Ladies event.

Steve, Ray and myself came first in the Men’s darts.

On Sunday morning we went to the Clubhouse for the results and presentation of trophies whilst being entertained by the Bashley Entertainments Team.

The Dorset DA finished Third overall out of Ten Teams. A good achievement from everybody who took part, from the oldest to the youngest members.

So all told we had a great weekend, so thank you Mick for organising the teams etc, and to everyone else for taking part.

We just have to come back next year to defend out title.

Also a thank you to Sandra for helping me Steward.

Thanks again

Allen and Brenda

Longleat – April 29th – May 2nd May Bank Holiday 2005

Due to heavy storms before our meet, Longleat moved our site to the other side of the road. It was still muddy on the Thursday when I arrived, but the tractor soon sorted me out. Dry weather and sunshine helped to dry it out a bit by Friday. Thanks to Bob and Ian for towing people on site.

Everyone enjoyed the good weather and all the attractions, walks and views that only Longleat can provide.

Saturday night the Dorset DA, at great expense and planning, (bit later than planned) put on the best electric show, with thunder rolling around the hills, with Fork and Flash lightening, it was certainly spectacular, we had to sit holding down the gazebo until the wind eased off a bit (we had to finish off the alcohol anyway).

Unfortunately, one motorvan left his bikes on the back of the van to go through the Safari Park!! The lions thought they were fair game (not too tasty though) luckily the lions survived.

120 vans turned up with the good weather and all enjoyed a wonderful weekend.

Sam, Dianne and Terry

Click here for photos

Woolsbridge Manor Farm, Three Legged Cross April 15th – 17th 2005

After a rainy start the weather turned out OK. Shirley managed a lounge in the sun between vans arriving.

There were 27 vans at the meet. It was good to see Anne looking much better. I noticed a lot of bargains from the boot sale on Sunday morning. We were sorry to have had to rush off on Sunday but we were travelling to Sevenoaks straight from the meet. Thanks to Terry for doing the speech at flagpole and taking the stewards kit on to the next steward.

Welcome to new members Jim & Valerie they were spending their first outing with the Dorsets.

Dave & Shirley

OKEHAMPTON, EASTER MEET 25th –28th March 2005

Despite Easter being early and the weather not exactly A1, we had 33 units on site (25 Dorsets) and had a great weekend. The only heavy shower came on Sunday afternoon, the rest of the weekend was most favourable. During the day the site was rarely occupied as we all went off in different directions, visiting all the places of interest on and around Dartmoor. Several families were a bit more energetic and went for bike-ride.

Each evening we had our usual “get-together” in the skittle alley. Each game of skittles was, of course, played seriously, especially the game of “killer”. By the amount of noise and bantering that’s what was going on! I think a good time was had by all (including the children).

The children had their egg decorating and colouring competition which produced some lovely Easter hats. The adults battled with a couple of quiz papers. On Monday morning, as the weather was still good, we had coffee out on the field before making our way home.

It was nice to see Anne and Gordon out camping with us. Let’s hope all goes well for you Anne so that you can continue to join us at weekends.

Dorset DA extends a warm welcome to new members
Bob and Elaine
Lee and Kate and family
We hope you will enjoy camping with us.

Sandra was the main steward for this weekend but unfortunately she was rather unwell and would like to give her apologies for not taking amore active part in the meet.

I am sure you will understand and join me in wishing her a speedy recovery.

Ray and Myra, Assistant Stewards

Click here for photos

Merley Court 18th – 20th March 2005

What a glorious weekend! The sun shone the whole time. Unfortunately Anne had gone down with a nasty virus and spent most of the weekend in the van under a sleeping bag. We had come straight from a week’s holiday so had no Steward’s kit, so thank you to Jim and Pauline for bringing it out.

It was lovely to see campers sitting outside in the sun relaxing.

We had 17 units out including one from Wilts, they were on holiday and called in two days before the meet began! There was also a family visiting John and Lyn, they liked it so much they went back home, got their tent and came back to stay, they also filled out DDA opting forms!! So welcome to Vaughan and Hayley and their children.

There was also a get together in the Bar on the Saturday.

Anne and John.

(Mick and Jayne would like to say a very big Thank You to Anne and John for taking over the Stewarding of this meet. We were down to Steward but due to moving house it became impossible and Anne and John very kindly stepped in).

Valentines Meet - 10th - 12th February 2005

First of all Terry and I would like to thank Jeff and Lyn for stewarding for us ‘til we arrived. They did a great job. I think we are going to have to get a truck to tow our caravan if Valentine's gets anymore popular, poor Karina was surrounded with pots and pans etc. Thank you Rita and Cliff for helping us out by filling their car as well.

Our preparation starts a couple of weeks before when about 10 of us have a Beef Bourguignon Party/Chinese Takeaway at Sandra's house. Have you ever seen grown men crying over peeling onions? I won't name names. A good evening was had by all and thanks to Sandra for letting us use her house. The smell must remain for days.

I hope everyone enjoyed the meal and the ambiance. The ladies being greeted by the two hunky men in their tuxedos, (I think you will agree ladies, they scrub up well). Also the two girls, Marianne and Karina who did a grand job looking after everyone, dressed in their pink and black outfits. It is lovely to see the youth wanting to join in. So many people helped to make it so successful. That is what is so great about our D.A., you only have to ask for help and everyone is there, all ages, it made it so easy for me to organise. The decorating of the room, the laying of the tables, the preparation and serving of the food, the washing up and clearing up. Thank you to everyone who helped, you know who you are, it is very difficult to name names, as there were so many of you.

The room looked so romantic with the red candles, red tablecloths, good wine and food, great music provided by 'This and That' (they don't even know who is this and who is that), and of course 'Yourselves' without whom we wouldn't have had such a good time. We hope to see you all next year.

Sunday morning dawned, rather cold and windy but nearly everyone gathered for Flagpole. Jayne and Mick arrived from the Royal Bath Hotel (Jayne had her firm's doo there the night before). Managed to get rid of some of the food left over from the night before.

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. Terry and I went home for a rest.

Dianne & Terry

Click here for photos