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After attending nine of the eighteen
Farmyard Parties what more is there really left to say. So I had to ask a few first timers what they thought. The general consensus of opinion was, a) the site, b) the campfires. Of course no mention of the hard work and grief the organisers have in putting it on. That's taken for granted, but then that's the nature of Human Nature innit. |
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I did have a job finding 'Farmyard Virgins', (well they had moved the
sheep out of the field). Most folk like ourselves are regulars. We keep
coming back for more, no matter how much the heavens piss on us. I knew on friday morning it was going to be one of those Farmyards, i.e. wet & muddy. It hosed down on us every inch of the 240 mile journey. What with Jay's chop in tow which refused to pull more than 65 and the lorries and cars throwing spray up like a flume we did get that familiar cold woggy feeling in our crotches, but hey, this is Britain in summer. |
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Arriving at midday the entrance was already resembling runny chocolate
custard. Unlike a fair few I managed not to taste it. Most folk simply dropped the bike and were picked up by the helpful onlookers no the worse, bar some slight indentations in their pride. but poor guy who dropped his very new sportster, which due to quality Harley design, the footpeg not only folded up but smashed it's mounting off the right hand case at which time it promptly shat itself to produce oily chocolate custard,. ouch, expensive. Having camped up we made for Helmsley for supplies. Big mistake !. Coming back to the site we turned in through the arch only to be met with the back of a very long queue. It took us the best part of an hour to get back into the site. The marshalls on the gate were quite simply overwhelmed. The rally was advertised to open at midday and the request not to turn up before that was made, this resulted in thousands turning up at midday. Difficult challenge for the organisers and a lot of grumpy people in the queue (or was that just the bloke on the Beemer?). Later the queue became so bad that the 'out' road had to be opened to relieve the congestion on the main road. |
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Can't quite see what the answer would be,
perhaps opening a bigger gate with lanes?. Or letting folk returning to
the site use the 'out' road, dunno. But my sympathies go to the marshalls and organisers. Victim of the success of the Farmyard that so many folk a desperate to get there. Tent up, fire lit, time to party. There was no lack of things to do, The Blues Tent, BSH Tent, main stage and the very very welcome beer tents spread down the field. This did make getting up the site take a little longer than usual as I kept bumping ito mates and of vourse, just had to stop, park me arse for a bit, and have a beer (or two). |
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The rain certainly didn't dampen anyones
spirits, or did the eaxtra beer tents help lift them?. Sampling thhe blues
tent and the BSH tent on Friday afternoon they were already in full swing. I managed to stay upright to watch "Shine On" a Floyd tribute band headline the main stage. Personally I was really into Floyd in the DSOM, Wish you were Here era but didn't really listen to any later stuff. I thought 'Shine On' did a stand up job, I really enjoyed them, something a bit different, the crowd seemed pretty pleased too what with the light show and the flourescent folk on stilts. |
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The obligatory Saturday morning run into
Helmsley for breakfast er lunch ugh, what time IS it? The square was more subdued than usual when the rain chased most folk into the pubs. But the atmosphere of fuzzy headed folk having a good time remained. |
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Right, mump, bump,groan, moan moment ! (Nothing to do with the Farmyard) Somehow the organisers of the Custom Builder's Show at Doncaster decided to hold it this weekend. Waaaaaaaaaa, I really wanted to go, and no, I was way to hungover to ride down there on Saturday. Change the dates man ! even if it's just for me ;-) Perhaps it was due to this that there seemed to be fewer entries in the custom show this year, could've been the rain too. |
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Maybe someone can answer me a question, should
I have put me missus's bog standard dragstar in the custom show? It's
a factory custom, She could have entered it, after all there were several
Boom trikes in the show, eh! In my opinion they don't count unless the owner built it or has radically customised a 'stock' one. Maybe they were, I'm sure someone will correct me. Moan over, 'stop with those negative waves man' |
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There were some very nice bikes in the show, the wee triumph in particular. We spent a quiet Saturday evening getting drunk around the fire, missed most of the bands, then we usually do ;-) |
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Another Farmyard another year older, will
I still be doing them when I'm eighty five, I hope so. No quips about
that being next year either. It has taken me until tuesday to recover so it must have been good. |
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Cheers to Yorkshire MAG and all their mates who had their work cut out , well organised, lots of beer, bogs and folk to bump into. Look forward to next year. Hopefully the queue will be shorter ;-) Words &Pic By Al |
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