Kentish Hop Rally

9th August 1991 - Burnt Ash MCC

This one wasn't at the old hillside site, which made a nice change, as it was just behind a pub on a main road, where there was plenty of flat field to camp on. Perhaps to acknowledge this fact, the badge had gone through a significant re-design involving a motorbike while still retaining the rabbit/hare motif. There was a quite tall aerial by the entrance which was tall enough to require lights on it at night. This was quite handy as the food van was not far from it, and the lights helped us locate it.

I knew several people there, and more than one young lady greeted me in the usual fashion. In the evening my erstwhile club, Telstar BC, seemed to spend a lot of time attacking each other, while another club were playing with their pet rat. Well, I hope it was theirs, rather than just one they found in the field!

The marquee was much larger than in previous years, and included seating and tables, which, on reflection, may just have been the pub's garden furniture. This made for quite a comfortable evening, (for most).

The games on Saturday were well contested, I seem to recall the welly whanging was won by Pete from Telstar, who was a renowned tosser(!) The dizzy sticks had quite a long run from start line to poles, which enabled some people to get their sense of direction back before getting lost on the return trip. The sack/obstacle/three-legged race was quite fun, if a little protracted, especially when a young lady fell out of her top without her noticing until after crossing the finish line. I sent the footage of that to the 'You've Been Framed' TV programme, but they weren't interested. There was a bit of a game involving balancing on beer cans, but I'm not sure that was an official, (ie an award-winning), one.

The party proceeded not long after people had recovered from the games, and went on for quite a while, but not too long as there were nearby houses. I am sure I sure I remember a couple of Swiss cyclists, who were touring the area and chanced upon us late in the afternoon. They were allowed to stay, and seemed to enjoy the evening as well, but went to bed long before the rest of us.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley