We arrived at the Birchwood Touring Park near Wareham in Dorset to be greeted by our Rally Officers, Brian & Freda Maton and Ivor & Shirley Passmore with a very welcome cup of tea served in the double gazebo hired from John Richards.  This was a most useful piece of equipment because although we had reasonable weather throughout the rally a cold wind blew for much of the time so we were very cosy during our get-togethers on site.

When we were all settled in we had a superb buffet supper together provided by the rally team, including wine.  There was lots of chat as we all greeted old friends and introduced ourselves to members as yet unknown to us.

We had four free days to explore the beautiful Dorset countryside and it’s many little towns with interesting architecture and markets.  One couple struck gold when they came across a Folk Festival.  On each of these days there was always something happening in the evening with two ‘Happy Hours’, a Fish & Chip supper of excellent quality supplied by the site owners, a morning walk with Shirley (to the nearest hostelry of course) and a communal BBQ.

One day we took the steam train to Swanage where we had the choice of exploring on our own or following one of our members, who is a member of the Swanage Steam Railway Society, to the restoration workshop where we were given a most informative guided tour by one of the volunteers.  The afternoon ended with a cream tea supplied in a restored Buffet Car at the station in Swanage.  This was beautifully presented in the old fashioned way.

At this point we are sure we speak for all the motorhomers who were grateful for a lift in caravanner’s cars to the railway station where parking was limited.

Sunday wouldn’t be Sunday without Sunday Lunch.  This was taken at the Kings Arms in Wareham where we had previously ordered our two courses.  The service went a little hay wire at one point but it was an excellent meal and we were all too busy chatting to worry about the hiccough.

Our coach outing was to Forde Abbey near Chard.  This was a Cistercian Abbey founded over 800 years ago, but which stood empty for more than 100 years after the dissolution in 1539.  In 1640 it was bought by Sir Edmund Prideaux who was Oliver Cromwell’s Attorney General.  He restored it and today it is the home of the Roper family, who open it to the public on specified days.  It has not been greatly altered since it’s Abbey days and still has most of it’s original features including it’s great hall and cloisters.
We were given a guided tour by a lady who really made the place come to life, then, after a ploughman’s lunch in the 12th Century Undercroft we took a very pleasing stroll in the 30 acres of gardens and lakes one of which boasted  a 160ft Centenary Fountain which was quite spectacular.  The bog garden was perhaps the most colourful and unusual display.

On Wednesday we had a Mad Hatters Tea Party.  Many of us made hats out of anything available in our vans.  There were some fantastic creations, from the couple who wore sponge dish scourers held in place by their ICA name necklaces, and entitled ‘A Pair of Old Spongers’ to the couple each wearing an empty wine box, their drink had ‘Gone to Their Heads’  The winner, however, was an absolutely fabulous creation looking rather like the bride’s mother’s hat, but was in fact a collection of plastic carrier bags curled and wound, a real sight to behold, and a worthy winner.

On one occasion we witnessed an unexpected fishing expedition by one of our fellow ralliers when his caravan door accidentally became locked when he and his wife were outside their van but the keys were inside.  Undaunted, our intrepid caravanner
climbed onto his roof, detached his TV aerial, then, after removing his hatch, which was fortunately open managed to successfully retrieve his keys from a hook inside the van - well done that man!

All too soon it was our last free day with our final dinner in the evening.  This was held at the Dorset Golf & Country Club, where we ate another excellent meal while looking out on a beautiful sunny evening across the Golf Course to the Dorset hills on the skyline. Our thanks to Brian & Freda and Ivor & Shirley for a most memorable and successful rally were given by our Chairrman Doris Pritchard, and, judging by the applause, thoroughly endorsed by all the members present.