Wallowing in the mire at Peterborough

By eleven o'clock on Wednesday 25th the waste tanks had been emptied and all was in readiness to move onto the car park, hitch up the trailer, drive the car onto it and strap it down. The best laid plans and all that, when the van started to move off the pitch it was quickly bogged down and no amount of to-ing and fro-ing was going to budge it. In the end a local farmer helped out with a tractor but the grass of the pitch was pretty ripped up by the time Harvey was off of it. By the time the trailer was hitched and the car was on it it was about 15:00 but we set off regardless.

Our arrival at Greetham in Rutland was going to be a bit later than intended so they were rung to explain and we were told that there was no entry after 20:00. Needless to say we were only as far as St Neots by that time so couldn't get into the camp site. Stopping for gas at Wyboston, the attendant said that if we were stuck we could stop the night on the forecourt but we decided to carry on and look for lay-bys to stop in on the way. At the time we didn't know that some sites had been flooded out so we weren't the only motor-home looking for a parking place. On the road between Wyboston and Peterborough the lay-bys were full of them in both directions so we turned round and headed back to the petrol station forecourt. It being 22:00 by this time we had a MacDonald's for dinner and went to bed.

In the morning it was up at 07:30, a cup of tea from the garage and then on the road to find a lay-by to hang around in until the show-ground opened it's gates at 10:00. One was quickly found with a snack van so we breakfasted on bacon rolls and passed a couple of hours reading. Then it was off to the show-ground, arriving at about 10:30 and joining a fairly short and moving queue we were soon allocated a huge pitch on firm ground near the metalled road. Our friends with the Four Winds Five Thousand weren't so lucky and ended up on a very soggy general area. After sorting the van out and having some lunch we headed into the show in the pouring rain. The exhibitors were still setting up and already it was starting to get muddy. Straw was being spread around in the tents but it did little to stop the conditions worsening. We had a shopping list so it was a case of tracking down the items and comparing prices from one stand to the next. In the main arena there was a display of static caravans and a van selling teas and coffees so we managed to grab a couple of seats at a table occupied by another couple and have a cuppa. Getting talking to the couple that we were sat beside we explained that, because we missed getting into our camp site the previous night we hadn't been able to fill up the fresh water tank. The chap, Malcolm, offered me the use of their 30l water carrier and a 12V submersible pump which I accepted gladly and after four trips to the tap we had a full tank of water. In the evening we headed to the entertainment venue and had a few drinks whilst listening to Keep It Cash, a Johnny Cash tribute band.

On Friday morning it was up with the Lark (09:00 for us) and then into the show to see properly what was on offer. It was a bit disappointing that, although there were more exhibitors than in previous years, there was very little in the way of motor-home parts so our list was not going to be reduced by much and in fact we saw some other things that we decided were bargains and should be purchased. Such things as two new 120Ah leisure batteries at £85 each. We bumped into Malcolm and June, the couple we had met yesterday, and arranged to meet them in the evening at the entertainment venue, which we did at 19:30. The entertainment was the Joe Loss Orchestra with Todd Millar performing hits from the '40's through to the '90's which was very good. Again a few drinks were had and we eventually got to bed about midnight. On Saturday a quick belt round the show in the morning was followed by a run to North Luffenham in the afternoon to visit friends. We went to the pub with them for dinner and had a very nice time, good company, lovely steaks and great beer. Thanks guys, see you again soon.

On Sunday, after days of continual rain, many of the exhibitors and several of the campers, including our friends with the Four Winds 5000, decided they had had enough and were heading home. Our friends had to wait an hour for a tractor to tow them out of the mud and there were hazard lights flashing all over the site indicating that people were stuck and needed a tow. In the afternoon the rain stopped and the sun came out for a while. We decided to stay on until Monday as did Malcolm and June so we met them again at the entertainment venue for another night of revelry this time accompanied by tributes to Gene Pitney (rubbish), Engelbert Humperdink (very good), Elvis Presley (quite good) and finally Buddy Holly (The Counterfeit Crickets, excellent!) Monday morning dawned nice and sunny and we brought in the slide-out, raised the legs and gingerly moved off the grass and onto the road. Once the trailer was hooked up and the car put on it we were off back to sunny Dorset.