Nob Rot Rally

Held again, in the same rather large field as the last two years, just outside Stratford-upon-Avon. Most of us camped at the top of the slight gradient, to be near both the entrance and the marquee, but quite a few went down to the lower end, where the whole thing had been a few years back.

It didn't take too long for the party to get going, and several girls were rather desperate to get their picture taken, so I obliged, (well, rude not to).

On Saturday morning it was apparent that, either there had been a bid of a high wind overnight, or some people had put their tents up after a few hours at the bar. Judging by tyre tracks in the area, a third possibility of having been molested by vehicles manifested itself. A few rallyists that had not made it back to their tents were also in evidence.

After a trip into Stratford, mostly to baffle American tourists and acquire fireworks, it was back to the field for games and such.

It appears that a few more women wished their photos taken, even though it was a bit chilly.

There were, as usual, a number of bonfires around the site and these had, also as usual, been added to by tyres taken from the Banger race track next door, producing masses of black sooty smoke that covered people, vehicle and tents in equal measure. This was even evident on the faces of the girls who took their tops off on stage, although not many people were looking at the faces, apparently.

The party went on into the small hours as usual, but those wishing for sleep and hadn't drunk enough to ignore it, had to wait for people to use up all the fireworks they had bought in town, most of which seem to have been aimed at other groups of tents around the field.

Sunday morning, black sooty people crawled out of black sooty tents, packed everything up onto black sooty bikes and made their way home. Well, we were near the Black country! (I'll get my coat...) Soot from tyre smoke may be difficult to remove from bikes, but it does improve the waterproofing of tents and clothing. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it - like the soot does to the bike.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley