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For the third year running we joined several other members of our club at Michelham Priory.

We were in our usual corner of the field for camping, really secluded with plenty of shade on such a hot weekend for the old dog. No, not Colin, Prudy, the other hairy one.

This is a Country and Game Fair, not a rally, so different things to see and do. On both days the car parks were filled to overflowing and the queues to get in were very, very long, considering that this year they made an extra entrance for cash customers only, where we go through to get tot the ‘engine’ field and the children’s play area and also to the shooting close by.

Plenty of stalls on the lawns, and demonstrations of country pursuits in the arena. A lovely old barn houses crafts along with wine tasting and ‘eats’. Colin and I went in on the first morning and we were admiring the barn, so a lady with the glass engraving said it looked as if we were more interested in the barn than the crafts. We had a long chat with her and it got back to things that happened in the war and finally she said ‘would that have been the first world war?’ Obviously a sense of humour to match Colin’s.

On Saturday evening our usual crowd decided to go for a walk, finishing up with a drink and a game of darts. We were later than usual so we decided to go up the road instead of across the fields. Simon had broken his CD player so he wasn’t ready. Brian went back to let him know we were going the road way and we kept looking round but he was nowhere in sight so we thought he’d changed his mind. Just as we got inside the pub and Lynne was ordering the drinks Simon bustled in, sweating hot – his Mum hadn’t given him the message so he’d run across the fields!!!

However, great disappointment – we couldn’t play darts, there were people sitting eating right where we wanted to throw the said darts. We had to complain tot the management that our annual match had to be cancelled, so we all took our drinks outside and enjoyed the evening air with plenty of laughs.

Alan says we’ve been invited back to the priory next year, so we’re planning on a barbecue and social get-together in our little corner of the camping field on the Saturday evening. Let’s hope the weather matches this year’s, and Alan and Lynne would love to see some more of you joining us for another super weekend – they don’t come any better!

Report by Joan Boyer, Pictures by Alan Cullen

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