The key to the gate was already booked out to the parachute club at 8am when some of us started to arrive, Laura in the catering bus had already seen the last of them leave and lock the gate, so quite how we were going to get in to the site was the first challenge of the day, you may have noticed that we only managed to open the side gate and thats how it stayed.
With the usual car club weather setting in for the day, the grass was wet, very wet and long so it was decided to keep the briefing and the catering van on the tarmac. 9.30 came and it was time to welcome another dozen or so new members, you may remember that we are starting the new members off a bit earlier at the moment, a quick briefing and then its up to the ungraded area for about 10am and this gives them at least an extra hours driving in the morning session and by lunchtime all but a few had been given a grade 5, the remaining ones soon after lunch, a really good day for the new joiners, we all hope you had a great first day in the club.
It looks like we had 86 members on Sunday and with over 20 instructors its not surprising the car park was a very long line of cars, we even struggled for find room for Mick and his ice cream van (we should cone a bit off for him next time).
I dont think there were any real dramas during the day, as far as I know it all went quite smoothly, that changed when no sooner had we had made a cup of tea back at home that there was a big thud, I assumed wrongly that a bird had hit a window somewhere in the house, but it was soon clear that a young driver had lost control of her car and landed up pretty much in our neighbours garden, the little Fiat 500 had bounced back off the garden wall and was now sticking out in to main road behind our house, within moments 3 car club cars had turned up on their way back home, everyone hoped out, controlled the traffic and pushed the little fiat out of harm’s way, Thank you to Ivan, Kim, Henry Warren, Liam and Ella for helping. The poor driver was pretty shaken and when her Dad turned up he had the biggest hug I have seen in sometime, a proper Fathers day gift for him. I checked in on her a bit later that evening and she was recovering from the shock and not quite so tearful.
Picture, a Bee Orchid found in the long grass at South Cerney.