In the summer of 2011, just before I began phased retirement from the University of Greenwich, Lesley and I joined a Camping and Caravan Club escorted tour to Switzerland. We had never done anything like this before and had no idea what to expect. We had not met any of the folk with whom we spent 16 nights at a number of campsites around Switzerland. There were two Club appointed escorts and 16 units in total of about half caravans and the rest motorhomes.
Some folk had not travelled abroad very much and others were seasoned travellers. The draw of going on an organised and escorted tour was that someone else had done all the organising and, as we later found out, we ended up paying much less for the campsites, lake steamers, rack railways and tours than if we had travelled independently.
We had a great time, made some new friends and a few months after we returned one couple approached Lesley and I with the idea of organising a reunion of the group within the UK at some point in the Spring of 2012. Just over half of the group indicated a willingness to meet up which included the tour escorts and we had a long weekend, blessed with some amazing sunshine in April near the Malvern Hills. We walked the hills and had a picnic, met up for tea between our vans, had a meal together in a local pub and generally hung out and had fun.
During that first reunion several folk said they would like to meet again so another couple and I organised one in Oxfordshire later in April 2013. The weather was not so kind; we camped in mud but still enjoyed the company, celebrated one of the couple's significant wedding anniversaries with a cheese and wine evening in the on site barn, were led on a walk along the canal and across pretty countryside, had a meal together in a local pub and pitted our wits against each other in a quiz night. It was fun and everyone wanted to meet up again so we agreed dates there and then during the second reunion.
So, here we are in 2014 at our third reunion meeting, camped at the Caravan and Camping Club Site at Wolverley near the Staffs & Worcs Canal. We all arrived during Thursday and met up that evening in the club room with drinks and nibbles. I won a game of darts finishing with a double two! Everyone was pleased to see each other and there was a lot of chatter. Some folk had new vans and tow cars, some had new knees, others were just a bit older but we were all cheerful and the sun shone on our first day.
On Friday, it was grey and overcast but most of the group went on a walk across country, through woods carpeted in bluebells and back along the canal. It is very pretty in Worcestershire and even though it rained on us we were all suitably equipped and there was a break for coffee and cake in the village of Cookley.
We arrived back a bit damp and ready for an afternoon rest and lots more chat then we met together again in the club house but this time for an American Supper where everyone brought something they like to eat and shared it with everyone else. We had a feast, everyone had brought something different. There were two chicken dishes, wraps, pizzas, cheeses, ham, tomatoes and radish and some tasty individual trifles, an apple tart and chocolates. All was consumed with much laughter and chatter and a few folk, including myself, managed some games of table tennis, but I lost them all!
Hopefully it will rain less over the next couple of days as many of us plan to walk along the canal to Kidderminster on Saturday to visit both the city and market and on Sunday we plan to spend the day on the Severn Valley Railway.
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