SUNDAY IN SKEGNESS
Having left Kelso swathed in brilliant sunshine i knew i wouldn't have that type of weather with me all the way to Skegness but i didn't realise it was going to bad as it was. The rain i didnt mind so much as i was well protected but the wind was terrible. At times i was struggling along at a top speed of 40mph hence the reason it took me the best part of 9 hours before i landed in Skegness. I had been in touch a few times with Dawn and had arranged to meet her at the campsite. As i pulled onto the campsite i thought i'd got the wrong place. Infact if it wasn't for the rusty old Lammy at the entrance i would have rode off again. There was at best about 30 tents left on the open windswept field. I had been told by Dawn about the campsite but it looked worse than i had envisioned, even the catering company had packed up and gone home. Dawn had already taken down our tent as it was starting to get damaged and we had planned on sleeping in the van that night. I rang Dawn to see where she was and to tell her to find a B&B in town as i really didn't fancy stopping on the campsite, especially as the guy at the gate was trying to charge me the full cost, "its the same price whether you stop 1 night or 3". Dawn arrived back at the campsite and drove the van into town to find a B&B and i followed on my scooter. We soon found one that looked quite nice and i also bumped into 'Top Banana' who had also ridden down from Kelso.
After what seemed like the best shower i'd ever had (well it had been a long day) we set off for the Litten Tree to get something to eat. My phone went off several times with friends checking if i had landed in Skeggy yet so i arranged to meet up later in Whiskey-A-Go-Go as Dawn assured me that place had been the best over the weekend. We had a couple in there with Dean & Ann and Dunny but i found it a bit strange in there as it seemed there was more young locals in there than scooterist. Apparently it kicked off in there later on between locals and scooterists so my hunch had been correct. We walked down to the Barfly with Macca & Fran and was amazed to find it almost deserted. Still, at least it was no problem getting a drink. I know the weather was crap but in all the times i've been to Skeggy i've never known it to be so quiet. We then made our way over to the do at the Embassy. This was the new venue for the rally and i had heard of the problems they had had there on Friday but it seemed like a good venue. We were greeted at the door by Paul, one of the organisers of the rally who joked that i should have to pay the cost of 3 nights entrance as i had turned my back on my mates and gone to Kelso. Once inside, I said a few hellos including to a bunch who all had black Kelso T-shirts on. I was going to buy a T-shirt up at Kelso but they were only in white so i was intrigued as to how they had all got black ones untill i realised they were the ones the stewards had been wearing. Apparently they had managed to buy a load to show off when they got to Skeggy.
The first band took to the stage. Pretty Vacant had played last year but, as i thought they were good, i enjoyed them again. Dave Porter, Wigan Tim and one half of Chilli & Garlic (i'm not sure which) span the cd's, then The Jam'd took to the stage. These seemed ok but to be honest one Jam tribute band is much the same as the others. As The Jam'd were coming to a finish we said our goodbyes and went back to our B&B.
I couldn't comment on what went off before i got there but i do know a lot of people i spoke to complained about the campsite being so far out of town as well as the conditions. The field is so open but the organisers can do nothing about the weather. The new venue seemed better than The Street and more central but on the whole i'm glad i decided to go to Kelso even if it was because the weather had been much better
See you all in Whitby
SAFE SCOOTERING