We arrived at Ripon to dry, calm but not quite sunny weather. Our hosts this weekend were Carol & Malc Core and Gill & Steve Aggett who were very quick to book everyone in and park all the vans up around the site. There was a total of 30 visitors; 21 from Yorkshire, including 1 new member, 4 from Northern Counties, 4 from Lancashire including a first time visitor to this side of the Pennines and 1 from East Midlands The weather on Saturday was pleasant enough for a walk along the canal to Ripon town, with its impressive cathedral, independent shops, some lovely places to eat and drink and an amazing pie shop. We were all treated to an amazing display of flying skills of the local starlings who gave us a spectacular murmuration on both evenings, unfortunately this also gave every van owner another reason to wash their vans as the fallout from said birds sounded like heavy rainfall on the motorhome roof and definitely a dangerous time to go for a walk! Dean from “The Dark Side” (Lancashire) provided our music/karaoke on both evenings, Friday involved a couple of quizzes, Bingo, called by Elaine, Karaoke and Dancing. Saturday evening saw the return of the Potato Game that was eventually won by John Young, and more anagram/quiz/puzzles to keep the tables busy. A coffee morning was held on Sunday, a chance for everyone to have one final natter, including a chance to chat to our Rally Officer Christina about future hosting and shadowing opportunities and what this entails. Thanks to everyone who attended and of course, our hosts, Carol, Malc, Steve and Gill.
