​2025 Rally Reports​

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Holme Hale May Day Weekend, 2nd. - 12th. May

 

I was “lucky” enough to win the arrival prize for the second rally on the trot so here is the rally report for the May Day weekend.

 

I arrived on the sunny Friday to find many units already set up as they had arrived on Thursday.

The rest of us continued to arrive to make a grand total of 16 units.

The first drama of the weekend happened on Friday afternoon when Maria & Phil’s dog Marley managed to get locked in the car with the keys inside.

A few members tried to get in with wire coat hangers and similar without success so the RAC was called.

Fortunately the sun had moved round so the car was in the shade of the caravan although the windows were all shut and the RAC did come fairly promptly.

Marley was rescued and didn’t seem to know what all the fuss was about, he hadn’t even drank all his water!

At 8.30 we went to the hall to pay our dues, collect our itineraries and the weekend quiz and have a chat and a drink.

Shortly after we’d all gone back to our caravans Steve was taken ill.

As usual in these cases the members rallied round, did what they could and an ambulance was called.

 

Steve spent a night in hospital, but fortunately was well enough to be picked up and brought back to site by Saturday evening.

 

Saturday dawned warm and sunny, in the morning there was crafting in the hall for the children and in the afternoon there was another round of the annual boules tournament and a game of Kubb.

Unfortunately a chill wind got up at the same time so once the game was complete everyone went back to their vans.

At 7.00 it was over to the hall for our VE Day party complete with Pulled Pork Rolls and Halloumi Kebabs.

The evening finished with horse racing with the clubs pull along horses and then a game of Barry’s roll the disk to continue the years Man vs Women theme.

 

Sunday started dry and sunny but quite breezy. The Maypole was set up and the usual Maypole dancing took place shortly after 11.00.

After a couple of dances, unfortunately the rain arrived so it was decided that two were enough and everyone scurried back to their caravans to keep dry.

It did dry up and the sun came out but it was very cold in the strong wind so people stayed in their units through the afternoon.

Once evening arrived it was back to the hall for a game of Deal Or No Deal which most of us took part in over a few rounds, it was a great laugh.

The evening ended up with game of Roll The Bottle which Ron won so he ended up with the whisky.

 

Monday was nice and sunny again, although there was still a cool breeze.

At 11.00 it was in the hall for coffee and prize giving.

The table with Diane, Roland, Ron, Doreen and others won the best decorated table for the VE Day party, Elaine & Chris won the weekend VE Day quiz, Ian won the bonus ball, Emelia won the children crafting for ages up to 5, Lily won it for ages 6 and over.

Doreen won the raffle and, of course, I won the arrival prize.

A couple of bits of drama aside, another great rally, well done committee who organised it all.

 

Peter.

 

Easter Rally, Crowfield 17th-21st. April

I arrived shortly after 12.00 on Thursday to find several members already setting up in the sunshine.

Several others arrived and we all got set up to make a grand total of 17 units for that night.

At 8.30 it was over to the hall to pay our dues, pick up our itinerary and the weekend quiz, which was picture containing many (50 it turns out) film titles, Another difficult one that was set by Becky.

A question for those that did the quiz, what is the gladiator at the bottom doing, is that an elsan below his kilt? Just a thought.

Friday dawned warm and sunny and two more units arrived including Giuseppe, Kate and their two young daughters who came to try out a club rally, making a grand total of 19 units.

The great news is, they enjoyed it so much they joined!

At 11.00 many of us went on the, now traditional, Crowfield club walk to the little church and then back to the hall for tea, coffee and hot cross buns.

At 7.30 the kids had a film night in the back room of the hall, and at 8.00 us adults had a game of family fortunes, hosted by Janine & Adrian in the main hall, followed by Barrys famous game with the discs, this time it was added to the annual men vs women tournament.

As far as I can tell the men are still well ahead, although I’m sure some members will dispute it…..

Saturday, another day of great weather, the morning was free and people either relaxed in the sun or nipped out for a bit of shopping.

At 2.00 there was a petting zoo in the hall for the children with rabbits, guinea pigs etc, for them to pet or even feed.

8.00 it was back to the hall for the 77 Club “Professional” Line Dancing.

The instructor was a great entertainer who has worked at Pontins and great fun was had, both by all of us taking part, and by those just watching.

The evening ended with a few party dances, a really excellent evening.

Sunday at 11.00 it was back to the Hall for the Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Bonnet competition followed by the presentation for 2024 Boy & Girl the year.

The Girl was Lily Chittick and the Boy was Spencer Dunmore.

In the afternoon many of us took part in the first round of the annual boules competition.

At 8.00 it wayback in the hall for bit of gambling with Ian’s race night game.

As usual fortunes were made and lost (ha ha ha) and another good night was had by all.

It rained in the night and Monday morning it was a bit grey and cool.

At 11.00 it was coffee morning and prize giving.

The children quiz was decorate a butterfly which were won by Harley for up to 6 years and Spencer for 7-12 years  although they all got a prize.

The Easter Bonnet winners were announced, up to 6 years was won by Harley, 7-12 years was won by Harper, 13-16 years was won by Tegan, the ladies winner was Becky and the mens winner was John.

Catharine won the raffle, Richard the bonus ball, myself the arrival prize (hence this report), the adults weekend quiz was won by Elaine & Chris.

All in all and excellent weekend.

Peter.

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LEADEN RODING 4th-6th April

 

Arrived on Friday and several units already on site. We soon set up and then sat outside to enjoy the sunshine. It was nice to all sit together outside Phil and Maria's caravan catching up with old and new members. By the evening a total of 14 units had arrived. 8.00pm we all went into the hall to join the locals at their bar, pay our dues and collect the weekend quiz.

 

Saturday was another warm and sunny day. As it is Grand National day Simon and Catherine went round with the names of all the horses in a pot and we all paid £1 to choose a horse. Another lazy afternoon sitting outside enjoying the warm sunny weather. At 8.00pm we all gathered in the hall for an evening of fun playing higher or lower which the ladies won. Then it was a game called Cornhole where we had to try to score the most points. The men won this game.

 

Sunday 11.00 am for the coffee and prize giving. The children had to decorate a cardboard egg and this was won by Lily but Spencer and Harley got a prize too so I think they all won. The raffle was won by Doreen and Ron, Bonus Ball by Diane. The sweep stake for the Grand National was won by Peter, second was Joan and third was Roland although Diane claimed this. Thanks to Simon for sorting this out. Karla (and Kevin) won the weekend quiz and Chris and I won the arrival prize.

 

Thank you for a great weekend and we hope to see you all at Easter. Elaine and Chris

 

 

Hollesley 21 - 23rd March 2025

 

This was the first rally of 2025 and we were all very excited to be out again. We left as soon as we could after school/work and the new car towed the caravan comfortably - nice for Red to have a boot to lie in as opposed to the floor of the van!! We were the last to arrive just after dark - 13 units in total so a very good turn out. We were pleased to be greeted by so many familiar faces as well as two of our new members Jo and Simon (and cockapoo Teddi!) who we parked alongside. We were right by the corner of the football pitch so kept our fingers crossed there were no games this weekend.

 

Of course, things couldn’t continue to go smoothly - this is us we’re talking about!!  Within minutes of setting up we had no power in the caravan. How could this be? It was a brand new battery!! Having enlisted a few torches and Ian’s help it was about 20 minutes or so before it was realised that we hadn’t turned the new battery on using the app! (Doh) finally there was light!! However not so fast - then we had no gas. And yes, full bottle so what on earth was going on? Turns out the system had not been reset since the van was serviced. In the meantime my mum, Helen, kindly offered to heat our dinner up in her oven!

 

We managed to set up and eat fairly quickly and get to the hall just before 8:30pm. Was good to have a chat with friends and family and realise we’re not the only ones to have experienced these issues. We went back to the van for an early night and slept soundly.

 

Despite the forecast of rain the weather on Saturday was fairly dry. Janine and Adrian hosted a full itinerary for us including a walk around the local area at 11am where we spotted a few deer and the children found some bones! After a cup of tea and some of Karla’s Christmas Pannetone we had some lunch - much to the envy of others, we had fish finger sandwiches, and yes they were lovely!!! Janine then hosted some crafts for the children at 2pm which served as their weekend quiz. They made some beautiful plastic butterflies that looked like stained glass windows. After this a few of us took a trip into Woodbridge town for a Costa and cake and to get some dinner supplies.

 

After dinner it was over to the hall for Janine and Adrian’s “what came first” quiz which Peter went onto win. This was followed by a new men v women game popping balloons which was most entertaining and bought out the competitive spirits. Some of us were then enticed to have a go on a VR headset belonging to one of the children - this was most entertaining (even if it did make some of us a bit travel sick!)

 

Sunday morning came around all too quickly. Adrian announced the answers of his fantastic film quotes quiz which Jo and Simon won. They also judged the children’s butterflies which Spencer went onto win. We were the lucky winners of the arrival prize, with Phil and Maria taking home the raffle prize. The bonus ball was number 26 which none of us had. After many attempts to draw an alternative, Eric was the lucky winner. We finished our teas and coffees (and the last of the pannetone) and sang a happy birthday to Ian and his birthday is tomorrow (24th) although he didn’t tell us how old he would be.

 

It was such a fantastic start to the year and we can’t wait to be out again in 2 weeks time.

 

Pete & Becky

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​HOLLESLEY BAY VILLAGE HALL
21st- 23rd March 2025
 
Friday .... we have been looking forward to this weekend for such a long time we have been getting our caravan ready for the past couple of weeks , I got the Thurlow children from school ,Kev was already home and eager to hook up the caravan , we finally set off just before 4 pm , the traffic was slow it ended up taking us just under 2 hours , there was lots of vans already here ( 13 all together ) we soon set up I cooked dinner as the fish n chip van doesn’t come here anymore , the children played in the park while I tided up , 8 pm it was over to the hall for paying our dues and collect our Itinerary Adrian and Janine are Hosting this weekend  , it was lovely seeing new and old members Gracie took her Meta Quest Goggles it was so funny watching some of the adults doing it , 10 pm we went back to our caravan to snuggle down , it was lovely lying there listening to the rain, it wasn’t long before everyone was asleep.

Saturday .... we all had a great sleep and didn’t wake up until 9 am , Kev took the dogs out while I cooked breakfast , the children went over to the park with the other children , 11 am we had a nice walk arranged by Adrian and Janine  through the forest we saw lost of rain dear that ran off as soon as they saw us , it was lovely seeing all the dogs having a run around together , back to  our caravan and over to the hall for tea coffee and a chat , I went back to make lunch then back over to the hall at 2pm for Arts/crafts which was brilliant even some of us Adults made some SUN CATCHERS , they really did look pretty hanging up .3 pm we had a drive into Woodbridge and brought a few things we had a stop off at Costa thank you Becky and Pete for treating Kevin and the children for there drinks , and Pete’s massive jam donut , got back to camp the children went straight over to the park while I started dinner ,8 pm we all met over the hall for Adrian’s and Janine’s Men V Woman compaction  , it was great fun we had a baton with “A” n “B” on Adrian asked us questions that we had to hold up the right side it was drizzled down to Joanne and Peter E which Peter won , we then had a game for couples that we had to burst each other’s balloons , I found it very dangerous as Kevin stabbed me in the finger and brought blood !!!! It sure did bring lots of laughs , we sat around chatting before everyone headed back to there vans , once again we snuggled up before it started to rain which got louder as we fell asleep , Kevin woke up early hours of the morning and needed to empty the toilet , hopefully no one saw him in his pants and trainers .

Sunday.... we didn’t wake up until 9.30 am we had breakfast then over to the hall for 11am for coffee morning and prize giving well done to Spencer for winning the children’s competition he made a beautiful butterfly window glass catcher , the weekend has come to a end far to quick the children played in the park while we packed away , we were the last ones to leave , Dottie had the right hump about going home and asked why do the caravan weekends have to go so quick , it’s great knowing that they have all had so much fun thank you Adrian and Janine for a first fantastic rally roll on two weeks time hope everyone had a safe journey home and see you again soon .

        Love Karla Kevin Gracie Dottie Monty Ronnie n Fat Luey xx