Melbury Osmund, Halloween Oct 27th – 29th 2006

We had a good number of vans and motor vans turn up for a really good weekend. Unfortunately we never had time to make the ghoul-stew this year so had a peeling and cooking party on Friday night. With everyone’s help we got through an amazing amount of veg and got most of the cooking on the go, thanks for everyone’s help, Mick also did a quiz that night, to rack everyone’s brains.

Saturday we finished off the cooking and Jayne decorated the hall, ready for the evening’s Party. A good night was had, thanks to Shaun for the disco, there were some very good costumes, somewhat ugly mind! Jim’s mulled wine helped to make the evening go with a swing.

Kate and the children made the eyeballs for the stew (dumplings) we did have to organised by Di and helpers and some fine carving of Pumpkins and pictures decorated the hall.

The supper witches fingers, snakes and (potato things what were they called Jane?) went down a treat, with the kids, plus our ghoulash, thanks to Di again for the buying and work she did.

On Sunday a good clear up of the hall thanks for the helpers. Coffee morning and presenting the prizes, a lovely Sunny day so we finished off the rest of the stew outside on the picnic tables, think that was the last of summer with the icy weather we’ve had this week.

There were no problems getting on and off site, we were told how beautifully we’d all parked our van’s by the Chairman of the Parish council!!!!
Sam

Barn Dance, Birchwood Touring Park, Wareham 20-22nd October 2006

Made sure that this report doesn’t "go on a bit" this time so I have made it "short and quick".

We had a good show of units at the Barn Dance meet, 56 vans in all, but only 15 of these were Dorsets (including several from the Dorset Motor Van section). The weather was very kind to us on both Friday and Saturday so the walk up the field to the barn was comfortable. With a caller that wore a rainbow coloured waistcoat plus a top-hat---all very powsh--& who gave very good tuition, the barn dance was good fun & a great success, enjoyed by all. As usual our supper, along with a glass of wine, was excellent. Once again we would like to say a big thank you to Dianne & her gang.

Sunday morning was very stormy so we were unable to have Flagpole.

Ray and Myra

Butlins October 2006

Everyone had arrived by 8pm Friday night so we had time to enjoy the various entertainment on site. It rained as per usual for Butlins this time of year, although we did have some day times too and a few BBQs came out for use.

There’s always plenty to do on site and lots going on in the surrounding area. A medieval Fair and market day at Dunster the weekend was very good.

The children had a great time in the swimming pool and the Pantomime was excellent so enough diversions to keep everyone happy and rebook again for next year.

Sam

Wilksworth Farm Caravan Park - October 13th – 15th 2006

Having agreed to steward this meet whilst at the Country & Western weekend we began to wonder what we may have let ourselves in for and, in recent weeks just why there were no previous stewards reports from this site.

A visit prior to the meet and a chat with the friendly and helpful owners put our minds to rest. The site itself is very well planned and laid out with electric hook ups for every pitch, some hard standing and some fully serviced pitches also being made available to us, all for the princely sum of £8 per night. The pitches are mostly level, give plenty of room for all and lots of water and waste points meant nobody would have a long walk for any of these services. The site also has recycling bins for glass and aluminium.

As our visit was out of season, the outdoor heated swimming pool, tennis court and take away/restaurant were closed. However the excellent play area for the children, games room and dog walk was available. The recently refurbished toilet and shower block were immaculate with the option of the use of a family bathroom for a modest £1 fee.

Having both secured Friday off from work Dawn and I decided to set up on Thursday night, not really knowing what to expect the following morning. The site owners readily agreed that the same fees would apply for anyone else wishing to do the same or even stay on the Sunday night as well.

Telephone calls in the week prior to the meet gave us an idea that we may get double figures for the weekend if we were lucky. How wrong we were … a total of 32 units made their way to the site during Friday and Saturday morning. I’m sure they came following the forecast of a dry weekend and not as a result of a desire to see the ‘newbies’ have a go at stewarding! Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end for your first time as stewards! 13 Dorset, 11 New Forest, 4 Waterside and one each from Somerset, Solent, Hampshire and Cornwall made the trip.

On arrival each unit was provided with welcome notes and ‘The Great Dorset Quiz’. Amongst the usual questions this also contained 20 anagrams of Dorset place names….. keeping a large number of folk busy staring at any maps they had of the County.

Excellent local pubs a short distance away and the 3 day market in Wimborne proved good attractions. Some were even brave enough to walk into Wimborne via the paths and droves across the fields taking about ½ an hour. Sightings of deer and pheasant made for a pleasant walk. The dry weather also meant an opportunity for us to light the BBQ on Saturday afternoon and listen to Chelsea win on the radio.

As can be expected from responsible C&CC members, the only noises to be heard at night were from the local owls despite a birthday celebration being held during the weekend.

With such a number on site the issue of where to hold flagpole on Sunday morning could have been a problem. However the site owners agreed to open the take away/restaurant for us and also allow us the use of their water boiler for teas and coffees. I’ve always thought that flagpole was something of a hit and miss affair as not everyone turns up … wrong again! I think the site must have emptied that morning as there was standing room only for those at the back of the queue.

After thanking those present for attending and making the weekend such a success, the quiz results were announced. 1st place in the Great Dorset Quiz went to Graham and Lorna Cox (Dorset) and 2nd place went to Gordon and Anne Coleman (Dorset). Gordon and Anne swept the board on the Football Quiz and 2nd place went to Beryl and Gordon (Waterside)…and yes they are related to me…. also known as Mum & Dad.

All in all a great weekend helped enormously by the good weather and those willing to support our DA meet on this excellent site. Dawn and I would like to thank Anne & Gordon as we were able to learn a lot from their experience as stewards at other meets.

At such a good site with the advantage of low nightly costs, a number of requests were made for the meet to be extended next year, maybe starting on Thursday afternoon instead of Friday. This would allow those attending from any great distance the chance to get to the Farmers Market on Friday. Who knows, given the chance Dawn and I may even run the risk of stewarding this met again next year!

Dave & Dawn

Blackmore Vale, Shaftesbury

17 vans on site, good weather, BBQs, still going. Carnival at Gillingham, brilliant. Lots big floats, steam engines big and small, plenty single entrants, sorry, Sandra, can’t make out the rest, some sort of shorthand is it? Picked sloes, to make the Xmas Vodka and Gin. (at least I think that’s what it said).

Great weekend had by all.

Sandra (I think Ed had been on the Vodka and Gin!)

Temporary Holiday Site Aug 2006

I would like to give Jerry and Val a special thank you for their help on Tuesday the 8th August 2006, without their help the site would not have opened.

Thank you to Arthur and Bren for what they did for the 10 days they was here and to Ken and Mo for what they done when here.

Thanks to Keith and Pam for stepping in when I was not here.

Baz

Berwick St John Meet
September 15 – 17th 2006

For those of you who didn’t camp at Berwick St John, you missed a gem, (thanks to Jerry). The site was a 10 acre field set in lovely Dorset rolling hills, with plenty of walks from the site, close to the village, which has an excellent pub.

OK the site entrance looked like a Service Station, but that was because we were sharing this with the lorries that brought the exhibits. However, this provided us with a fascinating view, watching them unloading traction engines, ancient tractors, even older caravans and farm equipment off low loaders, and then loading them back on again afterwards. I will never see pitching and packing up as a chore again. The Country Fayre was close by, and started with entertainment in the Marquee Bar on Friday (and Saturday) evenings, and this was magical, sitting alongside showman engines, all lit up, with the smell of oil and coal, with your favourite drink and friends for conversation.

The Country Fayre was huge, with everything from heavy horses ploughing, steam driven tree sawing, cider pressing, hurdle making, to tea shop and tractor pulling, but still with a cosy local village feel, for those interested in traditional country ways long past. All of this was free to enter and was spread over Saturday and Sunday.

With 33 units from as far afield as Devon, Kent and Yorkshire, and the weather being better than forecast, some people even extended their stay and stayed on for another night.

If I have wetted your appetite, I’m sorry, but you will have to wait another two years for the next one.

Kit and Brian

Furzebrook
6 - 9th September 2006

What a lovely weekend!

When we arrived we weren’t expecting more than three units. To our surprise we ended up with nine including ourselves. Second to arrive on Friday morning was young couple (everyone’s young to us) that turned out to be S.W.R. Councilor Colin and his wife Angela from Devon D.A.

It was a very expensive weekend for us as we ended up buying a motorized caravan mover from Pete and Marion of the DDA. It was my sister (Cliffs) and her husband’s first time out with the DDA. They weren’t put off by the choc biscuits that melted in the sun or the supply of sun hats at coffee morning, because they are coming out again next weekend!

Cheers

The Beehive, Bradford-on-Avon
August 25th- 28th 2006

As Beehive was a new site for our DA we weren’t quite sure what to expect in the way of support, so 37 units we felt was a very good result----and 20 of those were Dorsets. We live just a few miles from Bradford-on-Avon (B-o-A) therefore we knew that all who came to the meet would appreciate the area. The site emptied out daily as every one found lots to do and see. B-o-A is a beautiful little historic town with lots of sightseeing, interesting walks and cycle rides . The area at the lock-gates is a great tourist attraction with it's eating and drinking places. The canal users stop off at this spot for a break, so, with the canal boats parked up it makes quite a picturesque site-----and all within walking distance of The Beehive.

18 members of the DA hired 2 canal boats (self-drive) and took themselves off up the canal , stopped at a pub. for a "break!!!!!" and then returned. We stood on a bridge near to their destination to take some photo's and gave a big sigh of relief for the fact that we pulled out of the trip at the last minute. And the reason for that big sigh -------those boats were unaware of what a straight line was, even the ducks stayed on dry land.

Jayne and Mick hired bikes, joined Anne and John and cycled along the towpath to Bath and back with Mick towing Poppy (dog) in a baby buggy. The mind boggles, I just hope that when people stopped and stared in disbelief at what they saw, Mick did'nt tell them that he was with the Dorsets. There was a bus stop at the entrance to our field, which was quite handy. Several groups went off to Bath for the day on the bus.

David has been rather poorly and not able to tow. Both he and Maureen felt a bit depressed at having to stay at home so Peter,Val and Elaine put them on board and brought them along for the w/e. We wish you a speedy recovery David and look forward to seeing you out on the field very soon.

The weather was great, in fact it was hot and this continued for the 7 units that stayed on until the Thursday morning when we all went down to Dorchester to join Anne and Gordon for the Kingston Maurward meet.

Ray and Myra

Giants Head, Cerne Abbas
August 4 – 6th 2006

How many units will be coming? asked Roy (site owner), we were to hear this question many times during Friday and Saturday morning. Of course we kept explaining we didn’t know, which was no help to him, who was inundated with tenters ‘phoning for pitches. All was sorted out eventually, we hope to everyone’s satisfaction. However anyone arriving with a dog had to be allocated into a separate area, which caused a little confusion.

We had 10 units on site, 8 Dorsets, 1 Wilts and 1 Devon.

We enjoyed a get-together outside our van on Friday night and Saturday some of us enjoyed the many walks in the surrounding countryside and the facilities of the excellent Pubs in Cerne Abbas. The famous Giant was definitely showing signs of wear as some of his parts were missing (however not the vital ones!).

Our site continued to fill up mainly with families and their modern tents of all shapes and sizes. We didn’t realise so many people were now camping. Hopefully some will join the C& C Club.

Saturday night we had drinks and nibbles again and lots of friendly banter.

Sunday flagpole was interrupted by one of our party having to take their spaniel dog to the vet in Dorchester for emergency treatment, for an allergic reaction. We carried on and an hour later they returned with their dog looking much better after an injection. We were all off site by 5pm.

Ken and Mo

Golden Fleece, Perry Street nr Chard
21-23rd July 2006

A new site for Dorset DA, but it is a lovely little site, behind the Golden Fleece Public House. We had super weather, with a little light rain overnight on the Saturday.

There were 9 units out, good to see Frank & Sheila still enjoying camping. We also had several visitors, some had been into Chard looking for Perry St!! but luckily only with small motor homes and the tourist info people were able to point them in the right direction.

Some of us gathered in the Golden Fleece Saturday evening for a meal which was very pleasant, the landlord is very jolly. There are some nice walks from the site with a footpath to a stream right next door.

It was a very quiet and enjoyable weekend. We had a very leisurely flagpole catching up with old friends for a couple of hours. Thanks to Pete & Liz from Wilts who donated some biscuits to Coffee morning, chocolate ones no less!! And also cooked us a BBQ lunch.

Anne & John

STOURHEAD
7 JULY 2006

The weather is wet and windy, but we are going anyway; the forecast is better. We arrive at the site, set up, and meet the Warden on his rounds. The next day the weather improves, and it is time to raise the flag, and put up the signs. We know people are coming, because they have been ‘phoning us, and sure enough three arrive at once, getting us both excited and anxious.

Well the final total was 6 New Forest, 4 Dorset and 1 Devon.

They enjoyed a lovely peaceful site, wonderful grounds, house, and spreadeagle pub as well as farm produce from the shop. Yes this is Stourhead. Overnight Saturday the wind returned and made for a challenging flagpole Sunday morning, but it cleared away afterwards to allow a pleasant packing up in the sun; another enjoyable weekend.

Kit and Brian

Teddy Bears Picnic
16-18 June 2006

This was a weekend, which was a pleasure to steward. We had a combination of fantastic weather, fun for the children, a picnic, an anniversary and birthday celebration and father's day. We mixed them altogether and ended up with a wonderful family w/e. 73 units came along and 48 of those were the "Glorious Dorsets" well done.

On Friday we had an early start, Sandra and I set off for Tesco at 8am, Ray and Alan made a start on preparing the field and Lynn and Geoff arrived early to help erect the gazebo. The gazebo was, as usual, a "pain" to put up especially as it was rather hot anyway. So it's a big thank you to Lynn, Geoff and Alan for their help. An area was cordoned off at the far end of the field for Nikki to hold the Youth Lines. 15 youth came along to enjoy the w/e and test their skills at camping. This was a good "turn-out" and most encouraging for this section of our DA. By early evening the field was beginning to fill up rather quickly and by 8.30 we were full.

Saturday got off to a good start with the children playing around in the water until the workshop opened up in the gazebo. Dianne was assisted by Jayne, Hazel and Alan (Avon DA) in organising the gluing, sticking, colouring, painting etc. At 1pm the children returned to make their boats in readiness for the boat-race.------- For those of you that don't know, the workshops Dianne sets up for the children, creates a hive of industry and produces some wonderful exhibits. The children enjoy and appreciate these activities and I am sure would like to join me in saying, "Thank you very much Dianne for your patience and all your hard work". Also many thanks go to her band of helpers.

The boat race for the under 14yr. olds produced a good variety of boats of all shapes and sizes and when they were all lined up for the start they made a spectacular sight. (Mind you I don't think I would risk going on board) The river is not fast flowing so a few little nudges here and there were needed. A lot of fun and a lot of shouting and no tears as there was no "sinkings"

Next came the Teddy Bears Picnic. All 69 (under 18's) came along with spoon, dish, cup and plate in hand. They were able to sit out on the grass and tuck into their picnic and make as much mess as they liked especially with the jelly and ice cream. After the picnic a bit of gambling came into play with the duck racing. All good fun but not enough ducks to satisfy the punters--will get some more for next year.

At 5.30 it was time to round off the day for the children with a disco. I'm not sure where all their energy comes from but Shaun was DJ and he did try to tire them out, but to no avail

At 7.30 we all joined in for a celebration BBQ to mark Jim and Mavis's Diamond Wedding Anniversary and Mick's 60th birthday. Jim and Mavis and Mick and Jayne provided all the food and drink for the evening and Mavis made and decorated the dual celebration cake. Thank you for inviting us all to join in your celebrations. Shaun was once again our DJ for the evening, giving us a different tone in music to his earlier session. Thank-you Shaun for providing a lovely background to the ongoing celebrations and also for being DJ at the T.B Picnic. It was a lovely evening , enjoyed by everyone. CHEERS

Our last event of the day was the motor propelled and the wind assisted boats for the adults (yes we did have a race for the Big Kids) and then to illuminate all the boats and send them off down the river. All that was left now was to say, "Good night Teddy Bears, we hope you had a lovely day" and I'm sure they did. The weekend ended with a grand gathering at Flagpole on Sunday morning when all the prizes were given out to the winners of the various competitions. Also as it was Father's Day the children were given a nice beer glass as a present for their Dad. This was a nice gesture prompted by Dianne

It was a very busy, fun packed w/e for us all and we would like to thank everyone that helped. We look forward to a repeat of the same again next year

From the Three Old, Tired Grizzly Bears

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Carringtons, Milford on Sea
28 Apr - 1st May 2006

A dazzled steward turned up on site. The field was covered in daisies, it looked like a snow field, apparently a flock (gaggle) of geese had spent the Winter on the field and well fertilized it, hope we don’t get goose flu!

42 vans on site so a good turn out, it was sunny at times but with a very cold wind. Sunday night we had gale force winds and heavy rain, they didn’t forecast the windy bit, it even blew the fridge out! Graham and Julie from Bridport abandoned site at 7am their tent was fixed onto the back of their pick up and they nearly parted company, packed up wet sleeping bags etc and went home. He’s now thinking of purchasing a trailer tent.

A crowd went off with Nikki (Adult Youth) Saturday morning, for the walk to Hurst Castle and back. The children didn’t have much luck catching crabs, bit too early in the season I expect, but it kept them occupied. The BBQ came into good use and the windbreaks, to keep out the wind were a must. Think we all had a good weekend, plenty of exercise, a few stiff joints and thighs and certainly the cobwebs blown out of our hair.

See you soon in the field.

Sandra



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Martinique Farm, 21-23rd April 2006

This is the first time the Dorsets have camped at Martinique Farm & we were not disappointed with what we found. It is a lovely quiet spot with nice views. In the next field was a herd of young al-pacas (llama type animals) with which the farmer was starting up a breeding programme, so this made for a good topic of conversation & it was also very interesting.

The weather on Saturday morning was glorious so we all went off doing our own things & arrived back on site during the afternoon. As the good weather was still hanging around we decided to make the most of it------------we all got together, sat out basking in the sunshine & had afternoon tea, it was great. Mike went for a walk across the fields & brought me back a pheasant (dead of course) so now he's my best friend.

It rained during Saturday night so to be on the safe side we had coffee morning in Peter & Val's awning, for which we thank them.

We extend a warm welcome into our DA to
Peter & Valerie
Elaine
& hope they will enjoy camping with us.

We all liked this site & agreed that it would be nice to have it added to our list of venues for next year.

Shirley & Dave were booked to steward this meet, but unfortunately Shirley was unwell. Thankfully she is "back on track" & we look forward to seeing them out at Bashley

Ray & Myra

Pooh Cottage Budleigh Salterton
Easter April 13-17 2006

We had planned to get to Pooh Cottage in the daylight, but after a wrong turning and a scenic trip to Sidmouth (nearly to the Seafront) it was dark when we eventually found the site. (It’s not difficult)

The site is an L shaped field with a slope in the middle, but we still managed to get 32 units on site and an area for Nikki’s first youth lines, which proved very popular with 7 tents set up. Walks and map reading and cooking were put on for them and they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Well done Nikki and your helpers Stewart, Margaret, Mike & Dawn.

The weather was reasonable, dry but a bit windy, and lots of campers walked into Budleigh Salterton (20 mins ) this is a quaint seaside town with very nice cliff top walks.

We had hired the local village hall for the three nights, and various entertainments were provided, with a lovely American supper on the Sat night, thanks everyone for your contributions. John brought along a CD for hazard perception (part of the theory driving test) and was able to use Mick Cooper’s lap top computer, this proved to be very popular and encouraged lots of questions re ‘hazards’ and how to spot them. Thanks John. A light-hearted competition was won by Jayne for the ladies and Mike for the men. Thanks also to Mick Cooper for comparing each evening, and also to our resident DJ Mike , you both did a great job.

The weather held off and we were able to have coffee round the flagpole with delicious hot cross buns, on Easter Monday.

All in all it was a lovely weekend and a good new site and area.

Anne & John

Shrubbery Touring Park, Rousden, Lyme Regis
March 31 – April 2 2006

We couldn’t get to site until tea-time and there were several units set up, thanks Sandra for seeing them in, in awful weather.

We had 7 units for the weekend, which was a good turn out considering the dreadful wind and rain. The site is very pleasant, and very handy for the Dorset Jurassic coast, but as they are building a new reception and toilet block near the entrance it was also very muddy. The staff in reception were very helpful and apologised for the mud etc. and helped choose the driest pitches.

The sun shone on Saturday so everyone was able to get out & about, we had a lovely walk in Lyme Regis along the sea front. More work being done there to improve the beach.

The rain came back again on Sunday morning, so John & I visited everyone and told them flagpole was cancelled. During the lulls in the rain people packed up and left early. It was such a shame, this is a site that I’m sure we will use again; there is also a hall within walking distance which could prove useful another time.

Anne & John

YOUTH MEET at HUISH WOODS,
Nr TAUNTON
10th –12th March 2006

Friday evening my merry band of Dorset DA Youth that I could muster, Karina and Marianne, set off for Taunton. Well we do insist on making an entrance... drove straight onto the scout field, started wheel spinning and had to be pushed back out again! I remember hearing "I think we should have brought our wellies!"... how right they were!

It was really, really cold and on Friday night and Saturday morning when we were being woken up at 8.30 for breakfast we felt it was more of an endurance test but after a couple of bacon rolls things started to look up.

Saturday morning RYLO Larry gave a lesson on how to cook carrots and potatoes covering all the safety aspects needed for the Youth Test. Later modern day Robin Hoods play volleyball in green tights.

The bonfire was started about 5ish. Larry and Mike prepared the BBQ while we cooked jacket potatoes and toasted marshmallows on the bonfire. Someone got their ghetto blaster out so it was singing (modern version) round the camp fire until 11 o'clock.

We had all just got back to our tents when the rain started... and continued... (would have preferred the snow). I think half of the field went home with us in one form or another, mostly caked onto the bottom of our jeans! I don't think we have ever appreciated a nice hot bath more.

Youth from all over the region had come to meet up with old friends and many new friendships were made this weekend too. Sat around the bonfire watching the camaraderie I realised that, no matter how cold we had been over the weekend, it had all been worth it and everyone is looking forward to the Youth Region Summer meet on our own turf at Dudsbury.


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Valentines / AGM Meet 17-19th February 2006

Hi All

Good start to the year - 34 units on site. We had a steady flow of arrivals all day Friday and one on Saturday morning. Weather better than forecasted, until time to pack up, rain and more rain! We all had a good time on Saturday evening thanks to Dianne and everyone who helped. The meal was lovely, unfortunately while everyone was enjoying themselves so much the caretaker had to start clearing up around us. WHO WAS THAT MAN?!

See you all soon,

Dawn and Mike