Sword and the Stoned Rally

18th October 1991 - Excalibur MCC

The Ostrich in Longford, Derbyshire, was used for quite a few rallies in the 90s, including the Sword & the Stoned, but this was my first trip to that pub. I had seen a report in Rally Review, apparently written by someone in desperate need of a visit to Specsavers, that reported the site difficult to see from the road, but I had no difficulty noticing a pub with a field full of tents as I was bimbling along a twisty country road, which I would have thought would have been blazingly obvious, even at night.

Friday night was unremarkable, so I won't bother detailing it here. (This is obviously a get-out for my failing memory regarding the event.)

On Saturday, following a trip into the nearest large town for supplies with friends I discovered were at the rally, we got back to the field in time for the games. There were a lot of them. Dizzy sticks, combined with kicking a rugby ball, picking rings from poles with a stick while riding pillion was quite popular and I think there may even have been piggy-back jousting. The eponymous game was pulling the sword from the stone, where the winner was whoever pulled a spring loaded 'sword' furthest out of its containing box.

Some eating contests were held during the bands of the evening, as were the partial disrobing contests. The girls didn't go as far as they would normally, as there were only two contestants and it was very cold that night. Several guys, though, took delight in baring their backsides.

There were the usual hijinks around the site all evening, such as throwing friends into the bonfire, dancing on the not-too-stable makeshift bar and the ever-popular straw fights.

Sunday was still a bit on the nippy side of things, but the trip home wasn't too arduous, once you got to a main road.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley