Detling - April 2004
Being the ever dedicated bunch the DOC arrived on Friday evening to set up for the show, well Mike and Nick anyway. Despite the adverts for camping at this show very few others had made an appearance. So with the showground somewhat deserted they set to and erected the club tent and settled down for the evening.
The following morning the weather was cloudy with some quite persistent rain showers which we can only assume was the reason that kept a lot of people away. Still we had a reasonable turnout with most of those who had said they were coming turning up and putting on a good display around the club tent. The show itself had the usual array of manufactures and bits a pieces stands. Not as many as Bingley but a reasonable turnout non the less. As the day wore on the weather worsened until by mid afternoon you could count the kit cars left without taking your socks off! They must have known what was in store for the evening...
We all decided to take a mystery tour of the Isle of Sheppy as with nobody else camping over there was not a lot happening. Later sat in the tent sipping on beer letting tea settle we became increasingly aware of the wind and horizontal rain until about 10:30 one gust ripped a guy rope out of the ground and tried to lift up one corner of the club tent. With the wind increasing we set to and cleared the tent and took down the canvas in a bid to save it from certain destruction. After an hour of getting battered and soaked we had cleared out and safely stashed all the canvas in Mike's van leaving the frame pinned to the ground. After moving the cars around to shield the tents we turned in to try and dry out. The winds peaked at about 2:00am and had subsided by about 4:00am enough to allow sleep until about 8:00 when the show ground began to stir.
On peering out of the tent the true extent of the winds was there for all to see. The Robin Hood Owners tent was strewn across the roadway. The rolling road mans canopy had collapsed onto his car. The bike stunt teams canopy to their mobile home was upside down on the roof and most other tents had suffered from some form of damage. The security fencing around the building works was on the floor and the RAC tent was no where to be seen!! Fortunately we were able to re-erect the club tent and flags for the Sunday to allow things to dry before being properly packed away.
Sunday was a much better day with a far higher turnout of both Duttons and members of the public. It was so busy I only managed to watch the last seventeen laps of the Grand Prix! The rest of the time being taken up with selling the new items of regalia and discussing Duttons with new an old members alike.
All in all it was a good show marred only by the bad weather, still next in line is Stoneleigh where the sun always shines. Doesn't it????
