Monday 10th May saw the arrival of 26 units at the Camping and Caravanning Club site adjacent to the Kingsbury Water Park – the commencement of the Lunarticks Rally organised by Len & Deidre Aldridge ably assisted by Maurice & Dorothy Craft. The theme of the Rally was the Lunar Society, a remarkable group of prominent and talented individuals including industrialists,  philosophers and intellectuals who met every month in  Birmingham  between 1765 and 1813 on a Monday nearest the full  moon – this explains why they first called themselves “The Lunar Circle” later “The Lunar Society”: the extra light from the moon made the journey home easier and safer in the absence of street lighting.  These men were not interested merely in science but especially in the application of science to manufacturing, mining, transportation, education, medicine and much else. They are considered to be the foundation stones of the Industrial Revolution as we know it.
 The Lunar men enjoyed themselves and it is clear from their correspondence that their meetings were fun as well as being intellectually stimulating - a very apt description of this ICA “Lunarticks Rally”.
The Kingsbury Water Park provided a wonderful location with its 15 lakes in 620 acres of parkland and on free days we were able to walk, cycle and explore this lovely area.  We were introduced to orienteering and had good fun at trying our skills in an archery competition.

Our first visit was to Soho House the home of Matthew Boulton, an industrialist and one of the prime movers of the Lunar Society. This house was where they held their meetings and is now a museum. Later on we embarked on a canal trip which we found most enlightening in contrasting the new re-developed area of Birmingham with the old decaying industrial areas.
Our next trip out was to the city of Lichfield where we were able to explore museums depicting the lives of  Samuel Johnson and Erasmus Darwin. In the afternoon we had an excellent guide to take us around the cathedral which is the only medieval cathedral in Britain with three spires.

Another visit was to the Wedgwood museum at Stoke on Trent and we were treated to a well informed and interesting talk by the Director of the museum who has a special interest in the Lunar Society.  She described this period as the age of enlightenment and it was interesting to note that when the Lunar Society met they never took minutes because Industrial Espionage was common and they protected their ideas by writing in code. The remainder of our visit was taken up with a tour of the museum which included demonstrations by some of the craftsmen – it is sad to note that compared with a workforce of some five thousand thirty years ago, the factory now supports some 150 workers with the bulk of production undertaken overseas
Having had two fun-packed  “free days” over the weekend we were picked up again by our coach on the Monday morning – our destination Ironbridge. This provided us with a plethero of museums and monuments such as the famous ironbridge itself.  The day was full of discovery and we were challenged to demonstrate our skills – some with tile painting and others with pottery. Much fun was had by all.

A visit to the famous Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham was on our agenda. Of particular interest was a visit to the museum where we were taken back into the past and had excellent guides to demonstrate the various crafts, techniques of which have not changed for hundreds of years.
Our final trip was to Shugborough, the seat of the Earls of Lichfield.  This visit provided a journey through time back to the early 1800’s where we were shown a working mill, a brewery and a dairy of the period where butter and cheese were produced. We experienced a school lesson as in Victorian times with arithmetic and spelling tests stretching some of us!  The very strict teacher had some of us quaking in our shoes!

As we have already said we can liken ourselves to the Lunar Men with the fun and enjoyment which we experienced throughout the rally but this was of course organised by ICA members and between our excursions we were treated to a very full programme of entertainment including a Fish & Chip supper, an Oriental Evening with a professional belly dancer, a barbeque and an American supper – not to mention our many Happy Hours. Our thanks go out to our hard working rally leaders Len, Deidre, Maurice & Dorothy who did so much to make our stay so memorable.