Punch Bowl Rally

1st February 1985 - Haslemere MCC

This was a quite small, strictly invite only, rally that I somehow managed to get on the list for. I know very little of the history, but this year it was held in a Sport/Social club, with the tents out of sight from the road, behind the building.

In common with rallies of this size, not a great deal happened on the Friday night, but we made our own entertainment.

On Saturday it was a fair, February day and we just meandered about, maybe walking into town to investigate the pubs, which were not interested with us, or our money. Later on, the games were well attended, the main ones being a barrel-rolling, with two large items filled with something so heavy it took two people had to push it and it took about four to lift it.

This was followed by a push-of-war, using a scaffolding pole that eventually broke under the strain. I think pieces of it may have been used in an impromptu throwing contest.

After a while, the cold weather got to us and we retreated to the hall. A few indoor games had been planned, one of which may have included stuffing balls down pants, (memory has faded and the pictures don’t help), and eating crisps off your partner.

The "entertainment" consisted of a woman operating a tape recorder and a man singing along to it, but this was not amazingly well received. After a while a group from the Woking Mojos MCC took over the mike and performed a few of their club songs, which seemed to go better.

I think there was some film or other later on, but it was of little interest to me, so can’t have been the same films that have been reported before. I found other things to do for the rest of the evening.

The Sunday ride home was cold but relatively short, for me anyway.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley