Skeggy
May 08
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After Skeg last year, we weren't too keen on going again this year, and we did actually quite fancy Kelso - especially as we had heard such good things about it. However, we knew how far it was, and how long it would take us and that I wouldn't be able to get time off work meaning that we wouldn't be able to set off til 3pm at the earliest, therefore not arriving much before 10pm - seriously cutting down my drinking time, and as I don't drink on a Saturday it kind of put a dampener on the whole weekend. This coupled with the fact that Bos's eldest daughter was going to Skeg with her new boyfriend who is into the scene and the promise of "better facilities and a better venue" made the decision for us.
It was actually 4pm before we got set off, so a quick fill up and we were on our way. An uneventful, but enjoyable ride via the scenic route as we were in no rush saw us arriving at Skeg just before 7. We had decided to go straight into town to grab some dinner before making our way to the camp site. Sat in a cafe with our usual seaside treat of chips and curry sauce I asked Bos if he had seen the campsite as we had travelled in on the road it was supposed to be on. He replied that it was opposite where we had seen 3 scoots parked at the side of the road - miles out! Fed and watered, we got on our scoots once more and made our way back to the campsite - which was about 2.5 miles out of town - a good way further than the "normal" campsite.
The site turned out to be just a field, and it was with some difficulty we put our tent up in the howling wind. I was a bit bemused, as the flyer had promised better facilities - and all I could see was a large field, some portaloos and one burger van - nothing to suggest it was any better than the previous site - and definitely nothing to justify the extra distance. We got changed and decided to walk into town - just to see how long it would take, even though the guy from the burger van was running a minibus shuttle service into town for £2 a person. On the way out I spotted the showers (they were actually disguised as portaloos) so was slightly mollified.
The walk in took 35 minutes, so not too bad, but as it was nearly 9.00 and we had agreed to meet Bos's daughter, we made our way straight to the do. She was sitting upstairs with her friends so we joined them for a drink before making our way into the do - they weren't joining us as she wasn't dressed for a night out (bless her, she will learn!)
The hall was pretty empty, but the music was good and we spent an hour and a half dancing before we were threatened by the band. We found time to say hi to Dawn (minus AVT) in between the cartwheels she was doing across the floor (mucho respect!), Dunny (who bought me a drink for the first time ever - he must have been drunk!), Scootergoth, the Rotherham crew as well as a few others.
We escaped the band (luckily by accounts we heard the next day) and made our way to the northern "tent". Although the dance floor was the usual bodged together wooden blocks, it held together pretty well and the DJs kept it filled for the rest of the night. By 1am we were pretty pooped so decided to call it a night. We set off to walk back to the campsite - big mistake as Bos decided to take a short cut! Over an hour later we spotted the campsite in the distance and thankfully dropped into bed shortly before 2.30!
The wind continued to blow all night, and I found it very hard to sleep, so after a bad night we got up at about 7.30 and decided to investigate the showers. Well, it started badly and got worse. None of us could get them to work, so we went over to the main gate and got one of the blokes to investigate. It turned out that the switch had tripped, so once it had been reset the showers started working again. Once inside and working the showers were pretty good, with plenty of hot water - until it tripped out again mid lather! Luckily Bos was quicker than me so was able to get dressed and call the blokes over to reset them again! This time I didn't hang about and got clean as quickly as possible!
We had a quick cup of coffee back at the tent before making our way into town for a proper breakfast at Morrisons. Suitably refreshed we made our way to the parts fair, paid our £3 and made our way inside. To be fair, it was one of the best parts fairs I had been to this year - I suppose the fact that I was actually able to buy something useful made a big difference! The custom show had a few of the old favourites, but it also had some new scoots in the form of a very interesting low rider and a twin auto. We must have been in the parts fair a good 3 hours, mainly because it was out of the wind and warm, but also because we kept running into people we knew and stopping to chat (as we all know Bos can talk for England!)
By now my stomach thought my throat had been cut, so we headed into town where we must have found the slowest service cafe in the world - that made you pay for your food before you got it (must have been in case you died of starvation before it arrived). It was a shame as the food was actually very good when it finally arrived. We had a brief bimble around town before making the trek back to the campsite (Bos is way too tight to pay for a cab!)
I collapsed in a heap when we made it back to the tent, and was more than happy to while away a couple of hours chatting and reading the paper. When we ventured out to attempt a walk around the campsite and see who we knew, we found that Mick and Janine from Royston were camped next door - they had spotted our scoots and decided to be our neighbours. We braved the wind and chatted for a while, before agreeing to share a cab into town.
One taxi ride and £4.70 later (good job we had walked all those other times otherwise it would have cost us nearly £30 in cabs for the weekend!) and we were deposited outside one of the pubs along the seafront. Straight in (it was far too cold and windy to hang about outside!) and a much needed drink was soon in hand before looking around to see who was in. A couple of cheeky buggers from Worksop Lions spotted my emergency rations poking out of my handbag and decided to liberate them - how rude!
Eventually we made our way over to the do, which was deader than a dead thing. We stood around doing nothing much for a while, before the place started filling up. The first band were on, and I can't say I was too fussed about them, so we bimbled about from place to place chatting to people as the soul tent was dead too. We finally gave up and decided to make the best of a bad job and settled in the soul tent, which we had to ourselves for quite a while until we were joined by Hippy and Kay from Rotherham. More people started filtering in - unfortunately so did their cigarettes. One of the only good pieces of legislation passed lately has been the ban on smoking in public places - it means I can go out and dance all night, without being choked and my clothes and hair don't stink! - God, don't you just hate reformed smokers!! ;o) Still, enough preaching!
We went back into the main hall where we found Bos's daughter and her friends, so we stopped with them for a bit (thoroughly cramping their style I am sure!). The second band were on and were going down quite well - not my kind of thing, but it takes all sorts to make our scene, so I won't hold it against them. By midnight the party mood had thoroughly passed over me and I was bored - I'm generally ok if I can keep myself entertained, but once I stop that's it, so it was time to make a move. The long trek back to the camp site saw off any surplus energy I had and I was asleep as soon as I had finished my much needed hot drink! (No, it wasn't Horlicks - not quite that old yet!)
There wasn't too much to do on Sunday except drop the tent and get off - which is what we did, opting for the quick route home (well as quick as it gets on a scoot!) Arriving home at 11am.
So my thoughts on Skeg - it's still one of my least favourite rallies, I won't be in any hurry to go back there next year - if I can swing it to get to Kelso then thats where I will be headed, if not I would rather stop home (and that's saying something for me!) The campsite was not better, nor were the facilities. However, the do venue was much improved - it didn't smell of damp dog and it wasn't like a furnace. Drinks were cheap - so well done to the venue for not trying to make a quick buck off us - unlike some others I can mention!
Taxi xx