Big Andys Scootering Site

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Having arranged with a few of my fellow Brewers to meet up for our journey to Lincolnshire at about 4pm, i got home from work about 2pm and got myself ready to depart. As is always the case, my plan didn't quite come off and was a little bit late. So with a heavy heart i kissed Dawn goodbye and waved to her as i pulled out of my drive. Dawn had to work that night and the next day so was following on when she had finished. Instead of pulling into the services on the A50 near the M1 at 4pm i arrived at 4:20pm expecting my fellow Brewers to give me some grief for being late, but as i pulled into the services i saw them in front of me, only just arriving themselves. After Dumping my gear in Bevs car, Myself, Ian, Steve C and Andy W set off in the slight drizzle in the direction of Nottingham and then on to Tattershall Park which is near Horncastle in Lincolnshire.

    We stopped for a short break in Newark where Ian asked me if i had a spare clutch cable as he was sure his was about to snap. Luckily i had so if it did snap i had one we could put in. We were about 10 miles from Tattershall when Ian pulled up alongside me as we drove along to show me his cable had gone but as were so close and on an open road he continued to our destination without the use of a clutch.

    We pulled into Tattershall Park where we were greeted by Baz, Paul and the Twins Danny & Steve all from Lincoln SC who removed our money from us. My Fellow Brewers went to reception to book in, Andy & Karen hoping there was a caravan cancellation but weren't in luck so they went off to the camp site to erect their tent. I stayed with Ian & Bev as my stuff was in their car. Steve & Cath were in a caravan close to Ian & Bev. We soon found their 'Caravans' which were in truth rusty skips with roofs on. It was wipe your feet on the way out. As if that wasn't bad enough Ian was worried to find his neighbours for the weekend were Tracy & Ferdy with 'Pheonix' Jill and her fella, so it was no sleep for Ian & Bev and the kids all weekend as that lot are renowned for partying through the night. The previous week at the Droop i had upset them cos i told them to lose the loud music but this week i told them they could party as much as they wanted to, only for Ian to protest. Anyway as it happened i believe they weren't to bad over the weekend. Must of Partied at someone else's place.

    I shot of to find Lincoln SC's Nigel to see where i was stopping. Although i was enjoying a weekend off, Nigel had arranged for me to stop in one off the Staff caravans which was extremely kind of him. (`A Weekend off', who am i kidding as you will read later on). Having seen the state of Ian & Bevs, Steve & Cathys caravans as paying guests i was dreading seeing the state of the staff caravans. Nigel and Kaz (also from Lincoln SC) showed me where i was staying and i was pleasantly surprised to find i was staying in a really nice caravan. My fellow tenants for the weekend were the 2 lads from Panda Hire who do all the P.A. sound system in the main room. I knew one of them from previous rallies but was introduced to the other one who showed me which room i had got. First thing on the agenda was a beer which the `Panda' lads kindly donated as i attended to the second thing on the agenda which was to ring Dawn and let her know i had arrived safely. I then rang Ian to rub in the fact i was in a nice clean caravan.

    Nicely refreshed, i wandered down to the Main hall to see who was about. The DJ's for the weekend were Disco Daz and Big Andy(the other one) from SWS. I found some of my ii buddies who where gathered in the marquee at the side of the room. The ii had decided that Lincoln was to be our big gathering for this year so were many in number, too many to name individually. I settled down with my `family' and continued on the drinking theme. I also bumped into Baggs from Kings Lynns Blue & Gold SC as well the lad from Newark SC who i had spoken to last weekend at the Droop who i think was called Dobbo. At one stage i had a wander upstairs to the northern room. Although i'm not a big northern fan i wandered up to have a look around and see who was in there. I discovered some of my fellow V.F.M. roadcrew up there, so sat down for a while and chatted about how some Ba****ds were now spoiling things by thieving, as in the bouncy castle at the Droop. We agreed that it won't be long before we will be checking vehicles as they leave for stolen items. I might be wrong but didn't things get that bad before, back in the late 80's. Still i suppose when you put 2000 people together from all over Britain and Europe there will always be one or two scum bags.

    I returned downstairs just in time to see `Setting Sons' take the stage. These in my opinion are not the best Jam cover band on the scene, but they are ok. They seemed to have plenty of fans anyway judging by the amount dancing on the floor. I also saw the Brewers girls who had left the lads baby-sitting, as it was their turn on saturday to party. Richard & Kerry had also arrived but Richard had stopped in with the other men and Kerry partied with the gals.

    The lightweight that i am i retired to my bed at about midnight. it properly was from watching Mike (I-Spy) fast asleep in his chair and slowly sinking further and further down. We all watched and laughed and waited for his head to fall out of his hands and crack on the table but alas he didn't. Having been up since 02:30 i was asleep as soon as i hit the pillow despite being on a tiny single bed, that deep in sleep in fact that when Dawn rang me (and rang me) i never heard the phone, placing me in deep trouble with my beloved. I found out later that she had rang just about everyone else to see if i was ok. She worries about me, bless her.

    Saturday morning i was awoken by some errrr noises coming from the double room at the end, so i made myself a cup of tea and sat by the lake watching the ducks for a while. I returned into the caravan to get another cup of tea only to bump into my new fellow tenants who had arrived just after i went to bed. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was Rick from Modrapheniacs and his `bride to be' Emma. They originally had only come for the night as they were off to Cardiff about midday but later changed their minds and stopped for the weekend.

    I needed food so i wandered down to the `cafe' for brekkie. I then strolled around the trade stalls saying my hellos. Mark from Ital Scooters and Daz were setting up Itals stall as Nick apparently was still sparked out in his caravan. I then strolled over to the ii camp and spend a bit of time relaxing with them. Myself and Dean went to the front of their acquired `beach hut, where his daughter and Daveys daughter were sitting because some bloke was pestering them. After talking `politely' to this chap and persuading him it was in his best interests to go away, we came to the conclusion he wasn't a full picnic hamper but we still didn't want him hanging around. This same chap almost caused a big riot later when after skinny dipping he decided to run around starkers, upsetting quite a few families who quite rightly didn't want their kids seeing a fully grown man running around naked.

    The Banana Boat challenge started on the lake with the VFM team going first doing a pathetic whole 1 minute on it. The challenge was eventually won by a group of kids called `The Lincoln Rejects' although i suspect the boat driver went easy on them as they were kids.

    The time had arrived for me to go and find the ii who were having a big ii v's the little ii `football match over in the far corner although Jimmy Jazz was a very big little ii who was playing in goal. The little ii goals were tiny and the big ii goals were massive. A bit unfair i thought. It was a bit like watching a game from `its a knockout' as there was so much water everywhere, either on the ground or being thrown over people usually by Davey, but in the heat i don't think any one minded, indeed the puddle in the far corner was quite deep and wide. In fact later on, just as Steve Foster was walking past, one of the bigger little ii team kicked the ball out of the puddle splashing Mr Foster. Steve, if you read this, i didn't laugh at all honest, but if you're not reading it, i was in hysterics. Along the touch line the female ii's had decked themselves out as pom pom cheerleaders and were very enthusiastically going about their part in the fun. The game ended 4-4 and was given to the little ii's on default but the important bit was the `sossijers and beer' at half time. Next up we had a Angel delight contest where 3 little female ii went against 3 big female ii to see who could eat their delight the quickest without using their hands. Sharon from the Sid James SC won it, apparently sucking it up in one go. These southern gals have strange talents.

    My phone rang with Dawn asking me where i was as she had just arrived, so i shot off to meet her and after a big kiss & cuddle we returned to the ii jollity's. Dawn said her hellos and seated herself on the grass. Big mistake. Jimmy Jazz came up behind her and emptied a full bucket of water over her. Welcome to Tattershall Park.

    We met up with the ii peeps and with the lads from the Brewers in the main room. Us Brewers had grown as we were now joined by Andy Delee and Roger & Steph, although Steph had stopped in with the girls. First band up were Ska'd for life who were pretty good but seemed a bit squashed on the tiny stage. Next up were League of Mentalmen who had been billed to play Friday but were playing tonight instead. The dance floor was extremely busy and got very boisterous, so boisterous that the off duty vfm roadcrewhovered about in case we had to help out a little bit. As i said earlier `never off duty'. One lad got too boisterous and despite a few warnings was taken out round the back which caused a bit off a mad moment but was soon calmed down. There was though, a group of women on the dance floor who seemed determined to cause trouble and were being watched. One of them had had a go at big Steve which got Dawns back up. When this girl stood at the back of the dance floor Dawn went over to speak to her. I got there just in time to carry Dawn away as they were just starting to kick off. I was supposed to be on a weekend with no work and i still end up splitting up a fight, although i didn't expect it to be Dawn involved.

    We saw out the rest of the night as the DJ's had a few equipment problems but battled on. We then said our goodbyes and retired back to the caravan where Rick & Emma were making toast and tea. Well, Emma was, Rick had collapsed on the bed. Jack had decided to try sleeping on the outside steps but gave up and retired to his bed. After tea & toast with Emma we all retired to our beds.

    I was awake too early on sunday morning so cleaned up while i waited for everyone to get up. Eventually i was joined by Rick & Emma and Dawn as we sat outside drinking tea by the lake. Too civilised for my liking so i got ready too leave.  At about 10:00am i got the call to say the other Brewers were ready so we said our goodbyes and set off. The journey home was as uneventful as the journey up except Ian decided his Lammy wasn't running too well so did a quick alteration. I also stopped once cos Jimmy Jazz was at the roadside having a few problems with his Lammy but was going again before i stopped completely. I lost Jimmy a bit further on so i assumed he had broke down again and infact i have been told since i got home his clutch went.

    So another brilliant weekend was over but i always enjoy the Lincoln do as i can unwind from our do the previous week. Tattershall Park is also a far better venue than their last place, just with more wasps. So its big Thanks to Nigel and the Lincoln SC  lot for putting the rally on and big Thanks to the ii and the other Brewers for putting up with me all weekend, especially before Dawn arrived when i was moping about, waiting for her arrive.

    Its the Isle-Of-Wight next, in two weeks so until then

SAFE SCOOTERING

ANDY

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