A Midsummer 1940s Weekend Afternoon

Its this time of year again, the Harrowbeer 1940s weekend. Now normally i would work for this but since work had nothing to do with it this year, it was a day off. This was somewhat a still feel to the end of a busy week for me but an even more vlogging style busy week next week.

A leaving for a meal

So, it was 11:35 and me and my parents were off to pick up grandparents since we wanted ot have them tag along with us and since a friend of my nan was in a care home near harrowbeer, it was a good idea to do both in one go. We were not sure on what pub to have lunch in but in the end we decided on The Burrator Inn. So we drove to pick them up. 

Once we were there, we greeted and then helped Nan get into the car then once we were all in. It was a scenic drive with Denham and passing crapstone while listening in about gossip and "the good ole days" with memories my Nan and granddad had. It was OK. But it was coming up to 1pm by the time we reached burrator inn.

The Burrator Inn

I walked in there and a waitress greeted me and asked "how many high chairs" and i said non  and she joked "all adults then" but was good as gold and got table 2 (the corner by the toilets) laid out for us and I went toilet and by the time I was out, the rest were there and drinks were on its way. From Wines to Limeade, it was nice and refreshing. Then we all ordered Roasts. 3 of us went for roast beef and 2 of us went for Pork. Both of which were good. with lots of potatoes, vegetables and a yorkshire pudding. £7.90 each as well.

The Roast Dinner for £7.90

AS the succulent meat was nice and thin and juicy, the horseradish slightly burning my nose but the taste was top notch, the gravy and potatoes were mmm and just a general nice sunday roast, it was more conversation and family members giving me more of their leftovers. The chatting and eating continues which by 2ish, We were all full and the plates were cleared and 2 of us had lattes to finsih the meal off which was nice. The bill for us 5 in total came to £58 and there was £7 tip that happened (£5 from nan and £2 from dad). Then we left and headed for the Ravencroft home. 

Leaving Burrator

The 1940s hot afternoon

As we were driving there, it was hot and the cars were getting busier and busier nearby. Finally we got to the nursing home. We parked up and decided on what was going to happen, My mum, Nana and grandad went into the home to visit nan's friend. Me and dad waited outside and it was a chat about people dying and how life is unpredictable which was 15 minutes then they arrived back and it was back in the car to cross the road. 

As we drove into the rep guided us right but dad had a chat with him and we went left instead and got a very close parking space. Which once we got out and some chairs, people were already chatting to nan and after greeting them, I left and browsed. 

When i was about to wander around. 

There were different stalls and vans compared to last year,  From dog food stalls as well as a 1960s US trailer baded food van as well as a focus on Remote Control planes and Cars from some place in Torquay. Chatting with people i know from work (other tennants such as 2 cake stalls and one of the janitors had some part in the old fashioned lawnmowers and contraptions. But the crowds were busier by far.

Posh nostalgic cars

the crowds and cars

Model Planes in the sky

The radio play along with more crowds

A retro diner 

A landing of RC Planes

Armoured Vehicles

The model spitfire every year, dragging crowds in.

Then i was passing more memorabilia and RSGB stations and i come across the Homeland Army who were doing their own made chutney's. Sadly on piccalilli and cucumber pickle were there, it intrigued me so the lady did put some pickle on a cracker and my my there was a nice gherkin taste to it, she said "well cucumber is also part of the Gherkin family). So i bought a jar for £1.5, which was a bit of an impulse due to bus tickets i've got to spend next week. But it will be nice for some meals to come.

Nostalgic war memorabilia

The chutney and their stand sign

Then I walked my way back to the car and my nan was with a friend of theirs. I greeted them, then sat down and relaxed while putting the cucumber chutney down in a bag (the jar). Then it was more exploring and seeing others around.

More crowds

The radio station and wartime farming machinery 

Then I headed back to  the car and saw the family back there and chatting away about things like getting nan out more and the weather and pub food. But then the announcement for the Spitfire draw was coming up and Grandad thought it was a run of the engine, but that was 4pm. I walked over to it, trying Pokemon Go and that was failing on my GPS. But as I walking by, I saw Lauren, she said hi while with her boyfriend, looking her usual nice self. I said hi back but well thats was it then it made me think of last year which was the last time i saw her on that night out of charley's 21st. I kept saying to myself its in the past and moving on by ghosting (cutting someone off in your life it apparently means now) her when she got that ring on her finger just before my birthday was the right idea but something feels like it was the bad thing, but we can't change the past. But Lauren looked happy anyway :).

Then it was the 30 minute wait and attempting of a raffle announcing to happen, which was not well done since people didn't really get to the booth for the prizes and it was 3 minutes until the winner of one of the prizes got to use the spitfire for the 4pm go. But that was all done anyway..

The pilot in the seat but not the winner

insert video here

Then it was soon to get an ice cream then go home. So we went to one of the willy's vans, ordered our ice creams and for 5 people it came to £10.10. A bit shocking. I had the refresher Orange for a change, I Usually go for the apple flavour. 

The orange ice lolly 

Then it was back to the car to eat and chat with the family. It was talk about nan's friend and also the day we've had. But it was then 16:15 and it was time to go home. So i went to put the wrappings and tissues in the bin before leaving, it was some last performances and also last pics of the crowds which were less and less. 

A view to the main event which crowds were less

The final performance of a respectful song to remember those who had fallen in the second world war. 

Then it was in the car and on the way home. 

and that concludes the afternoon of family, food and nostalgia in remembrance. A classic blogpost which actually, was pushed earlier compared to last year, but then again this event is always the week before the Bank Holiday in August, the final one of those in the year. 

But expect blogposts of hopefully BOTH Fireworks nights next week...

omracer

A warm 1940s Sunday at Harrowbeer

With the middle of August upon us, its the Annual 1940s weekend at RAF harrowbeer, Working the 2nd year in a row and things were going smoothly on the Saturday, but today was my turn to join in and it was warm and pretty good. Lets start

I woke up and got out of bed about the 9ish mark and got prepared, especially since i bought a bike case from lidl a few weeks back which was £4 and actually fitted my phone and the nokia as well. But after getting that on, i left about 9:30 to get to Yelverton.

The bike with the case on

The route to get there

Nearing the event and a part of it was sealed 

It was good to see that actually the GPS was working amazingly well, as you see from the smooth lines, it was calibrated so it was good to see where the signal lies, the gap was the tunnel i slowed down to let the GPS get a fix and then when getting just past the steep hill near Yelverton, the chain locked :@. But i made it by 10:15 and it was getting a bit busy, the food stall was piling but the names of the burgers were really WWII based.  and it was slow to start, explored and saw various pin badges, charity stalls and a space set for RC Flying as well as the Birmingham Uni showing off 3d imagry made solely with drone footage, also Alienware and dell laptops.

An interesting Menu

A view of what is around

Another view of what is around

Also we were selling raffle tickets for £1 or 5 tickets for £4 and that was really popular, £200 of airfix kit (which i had to order a week or more before on the phone was a nightmare). That and also i spoke to a friend of my nans and my mum introduced (reintroduced) to him then he embarrassed me infront of my boss which was funny. But after i saw my parents, i was covering the place. Also a can of tango for £1 was ok.

The can of Tango for £1

Throughout the day there was something nearby with 1940s entertainment with a really loud but happy and vibrant, with a slightly famous singer couple who showed off the current dance moves but some frank Sinatra style to other classic songs and even singing like Marilyn Monroe was cute and made me think of kaylee. But that eventually finished at 4:30. I got hungry so i bought a coffee and walnut slice for £1.50. That was tasty then it caused nice conversation about #GBBO. Exploring was still nice :)

The coffee and walnut cake

Another view

But by 4pm, it was time for contests to end and we announced our raffle (there was a joke about the announcer cheating tickets to win a prize but it was just a joke and light banter things). Packing up too about 45 minutes, loading into cars, folding tables, stacking chairs and by 5:05 i was ready to leave, the clouds were greying and there was a final spitfire test as well as RC model spitfire going off. But after letting my phone reboot and my 80 seconds of getting the GPS to fix with no EPO data. I left and the rush home was smooth and going over 10kmh at one point was wow.

A photo of the spitfire before i left

Just about to leave

A RC plane flying high above me

Cycling back was fun 

I got home about 5:45 and it was relaxing to eat a nice roast spicy chicken when watching Ted 2. And that was another day done.


I'll have some more blog posts up soon, since its been a year since i finally checked my health for romance and also since the RAF event last year. But then we have Fireworks to repeat and i might be doing both nights (at least Wednesday night is one of them).


Until Then
omracer

100th post - The Spitfire Sunday of selling kits

Well, today has partly been a day i've been not doing much prep except work, but this weekend has been an event which is technically the 2nd time we have been outside for an event this big.
This is also my 100th blogpost, thats crazy, well actually its not as quick as i would of hoped but this is a good milestone for me.


So, i woke up this morning, about 7:30am and then checked the internetz, then it was a case of a nice romantic dream from 8 but by 8:40 i had to get up and get the bike out, by about 9am, i was packed and ready to go, wearing jeans, a blue shirt and my leather jacket.

Leaving for Harrowbeer

So it was a wet cycle and after diverting myself to the bowling green in yelverton to check if the carboot sale was on, sadly it wasnt but the weather was so poor and wet there that it was sensible to cancel that, but i ended up cycling over to the event, it was near 10:00am by that time



View Larger Map

I got there and eventually after looking for somewhere to park my bike, i ended up tying it to the back of the tent work was borrowing, then it was just killing time to wait for customers to arrive, when i got there, it was pretty empty.

Getting to the event, it was empty

Then it was time to kill, with various events going on, me serving customers and then i bought some brunch, bolieve it or not, which was the best 10 pence i ever spent, yes £0.10 for a SCONE.It was a fresh one too.

The Scone for £0.10

Then it was more of a case of it becoming busy and with the rain pouring down, more people were visiting our tent and even though there was alot of kits we could of sold, people weren't as interested as we hoped it to be. 

Pretty much what my work was selling on that daym Airfix kits.

The weather started to clear up then it was more killing time and selling kits and touring the place. But it made the event better than what i thought it would turn out to be this year. Some pics of the event i've taken are below, including a decent lunch for £3.25.

A lush bacon and egg bap with BBQ , ketchup and burger sauce for £2.75 and then blackcurrent squash for £0.50

The event gets busier

A working replica (well the motor runs) of a Spitfire

After the hours had passed, the sun was coming out and it was time to pack up, from putting all the kits in the boxes we had left then having to unload them at the shop at 5:20 then coming back for the final packing and the cleaning of the tables, now that was annoyingly tricky, espcially when surgical spirit was slowly doing the trick and some kids went ott with paint.

Nearly done with clearing the tables 

But that was more wiping gently and using water and kitchen towel, but as with the chances in life, things have to come to an end, it was about 6:55 and me and my managers left and part our ways, both of them drove back to the shop and i cycled back home. it was a not too bad journey but there was some bumpy bits and my sister called to ask where i was when i was by gem bridge.

The view as i was leaving for home

View Larger Map

Well its time to say goodbye for another week and with this event over, its back to normal for me i think. But with this week being a busy one when i made sure i found out what i did and made sure i was clean and even enjoyed fireworks i've actually never seen before. But i've been told that i might be out for the final bank holiday in 2014. But i still don't know my plans for that yet.

See you soon
omracer