Now into the year with sites and meets, feeling astounded that this blurb will appear in the first newsletter of the second half of the year! However on we plod making sure we enjoy ourselves at the meets.

Our meet at Awbridge when we held our AGM was well attended. The site itself is a lovely restful place with the countryside around. The AGM was well attended and we got through the AGM and members’ meeting fairly smoothly. Three new committee members were elected on, Anna Mullens, Patrick Kiddle and David Mason. The other members were those already serving, some that were willing to be re-elected. We have no Chairman, but we can manage as a committee. We have a person looking after the money, one writing the minutes and one finding the sites. We’re set for another year. Richard came off the committee this year and he was thanked for the hard work he had put in on the committee, especially as Chairman. Also leaving the committee was Caroline who has been an active committee member for a good time now. We will miss her input but thank her for her hard work.

The next meet was at Wildhern over the May Day bank holiday. The weather was kind to us for our Penny Fair and several villagers came to watch the Maypole dancing although we couldn’t get them to join in. We did have a good wellie wanger in one of the local people. He certainly frightened our members into beating his throw. All the games went well – peg gathering, marble putting, horseshoes to name a few. The ducks did find it a bit hard going I’m led to believe – their feet were too small for the terrain. We made a collection by donations for the games and this was passed on to the local Parkinson’s charity. We had several visitors staying for the weekend and they all enjoyed themselves I think. I know they all said they’d join us again and some did at the next meet,at Alton Barnes.

We came back from that yesterday and I think we had a really good weekend. The site was one we hadn’t used before and it was lovely to have the hall on site. The field took a bit of getting used to, it was a bit up and down and horsey but it sorted out and everyone seemed happy with it. The hall was just the right size except for those serving tea/coffee from the kitchen as this was 2 steps lower than the main hall but the counter was the right height for the main hall. (Chins on the counter if you were in the kitchen!) We had to decamp to what we think was the old kitchen. There is a lovely cafe about 400 yards along the road that did lovely cream teas and the Kennet and Avon canal runs alongside. We also had a flypast of bi-planes and the sighting of a red kite. Again a good number of visitors camping besides the regulars so we enjoyed good varied ceilidhs plus other get-togethers.

Our next meet is at Stuckton in June near Fordingbridge, another new site for us so I’ll tell you about that next time. Then there is a bit of a gap for Wessex as the FDSG AGM and follow-on meet are scheduled. Following this in July we are back at Awbridge where the Beggars’ Fair is taking place in Romsey. The site is next to the hall and around the field is a wild wood which you can walk through and enjoy. We might even see a few RAF planes moving on from flying displays as an RAF flight path goes over the site.

Towards the end of July it’s back to Wildhern for our field games weekend. Please remember to bring any games with you that you feel would work well on grass. It’s good fun and the competitive streak creeps in with people coming back to retry when they realise someone has managed a higher score. Don’t forget the Enham Alamein charity shop/cafe as well. Well worth a visit and the income goes locally to support the Enham Trust charity that supports disabled people.

August sees us at Breamore estate near Fordingbridge. Again a lovely site with Breamore house and museum nearby and lovely walks around. The church is worth looking at too. I also think there is a car boot sale adjacent on the Sunday. It’s on the Breamore website so hopefully it will be happening. August bank holiday sees us at Titchfield – Drove Lea Farm near to Titchfield Abbey with dances in the parish rooms in the village.

Pam (Secretary)