Mushy Pee Rally

I was the organiser of the Mushy Pee, as the chairman of the Four Seasons MCC Northern. The concept of the rally was to have the most basic rally we could organise at the most inhospitable site we could find and in the most atrocious weather.

The idea was to have it on the same weekend as the Dragon rally and to invite riders not lucky enough to get tickets for that event.

The first year's rally (1982 green badge) was held on the Cat and Fiddle road near Macclesfield and attracted riders from Hartlepool (Monkeyhangers), Wolverhampton (Golden Eagle), Newark (Roundheads), whilst Ron Rutherford and Haydn Wyatt represented the Leicester Phoenix.

Sue Harris, Ron Rutherford, myself and the rally secretary of the Golden Eagles MCC.

The second rally (1983 white badge) attracted more loony riders prepared to brave the elements at The Kirkstone Inn on the Kirkstone pass, the third highest pub in England. We got snowed in, but not before the Blackpool and District MCC left in disgust, evidently not grasping the concept of a very basic rally. However they did take their Rally Badges with them. What a party they missed.

Deciding the Cat and Fiddle was too easy, I moved the whole show into the Lake District.

The rally ran for three more years up at the Kirkstone. The landlord, Bill George, was always happy to welcome us back, but sadly politics got in the way, with Cumbria Council banning camping on unlicensed sites.

We were in the planning stages of the 6th rally when we got the news. I still have the proof of that year's badge which would have been brown, the proof for the following year would have been purple.

Unable to find a site to match our mountain top watering hole we decided to call it a day. We had run five successful winter rallies. I am proud of that and my fellow club members who made it all work. Steve Potts, Dave Winrow, Chris Wainwright and Keith Charnock.

- Russell Pearson