Janner Week
Saturday 27th May - Saturday 3rd June 2006
The usual mixture of sunshine and showers the Devon climate has to offer makes the scenery greener than some parts of the country, but this year Devon and Cornwall Centre of the MG Car Club had booked 'Rain first, sunshine later'.
All arrived on Saturday 27th May in driving rain with wind to match. It didn't look good on the weather forcast so thoughts of riding the bikes available to hire at Tarka Holiday Park were firmly put to the backs of our minds. Saturday was the day to unpack the MGs, settle into the caravans, have a well-deserved meal and a few beers with MG friends in the Club House.
Sunday saw us driving north for lunch and watching the alpacas in the field next to the pub at Black Moor Gate, before visiting the Lynton and Barnstaple miniature railway for a ride on the train and a tour of the engine sheds. Some of us even managed a cream tea in the station house.
Monday's weather was warm but extremely windy. Not the ideal day to visit an airfield, but some members of the local centre had arranged a trip in an aircraft. The rest of us enjoyed looking around and partook, you've guessed it, of tea and cake in the cafe!
The week continued with a mixture of visits out to local towns and National Trust properties and some members playing rather a lot of golf at local courses. A meal at the King William was a special treat with everyone travelling to and from the pub by local bus.
On Thursday our fitness was tested with a large crowd booking cycles to ride the Tarka Trail. John & Sheila were seen negotiating the narrow gates on a Tandem and everyone attempted to ride the bikes on the beach - not as successfully as they might have hoped. The week had got hotter by the day and this was the one where high factor sunscreen was the order of the day.
Thursday evening saw the Annual Challenge between 'Devon and Cornwall' and the 'Rest of the World'. As 'D & C' had won the event in 2005, they chose 'Skittles' at a local hostelry. Tactics were set in place and both teams were bowling well. As 'D & C' had a smaller team than the 'Rest of the World', it was decided to divide the scores by the amount in each team to compare the scores more fairly. It was a close battle to the final throw by R of W's Jane Hermite, but we triumphed by 2 points so the choice of challenge will be ours in 2007...
A fantastic week was rounded off with a Barbeque and drinks in the camping field next to Paul's camper van. A fitting end to a wonderful week of renewed friendships and promises of many more years of MG fun. Our thanks to everyone in Devon and Cornwall Centre who helps towards this superb event.
