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Venue: Radnor Bank Farm
My apologies for the missing coverage of recent meets, as due to other pressures we have not been out for a while. If anyone wishes to pass on details of other sites please mail me.
This weekend was a blast! Although from all accounts it did not start that way.
When we arrived Friday evening, there were already plenty of units on site. I must admit to being glad that we arrived when we did, as earlier on in the week there had been a few downpours that lead to people being towed onto the field by the tractor. Suffice to say that we made it through the morass by the gate and were soon set up.
The site is a goodly size, flat (which is always a bonus!) and offers some protection from the elements in the form of surrounding trees. I was also impressed at the stewarding of the venue, especially as there was someone on the gate to stop the oncoming traffic whilst we turned in. The Elsan was a bit of a treck and more than one of us ended up driving there Im sure ;D.
Water points were clearly marked and there were onsite toilets in the form of portaloos and even a shower(for those stoic enough to face freezing water,) although many of the youth didnt seem to mind at all!
The grass had been cut and the loose removed. This was good news for the hay-fever sufferers.
I think that the weekend was even better as having two glorious days of sunshine (as my rather tender sunburn will attest) spoiled us!
For those of you who have not attended a volleyball meet in the past I can only say that you have no idea what you are missing! I must admit to being slightly dubious myself at the outset as this was my first and being disabled I am unable to play the game. This feeling soon passed however as there was a heck of a lot more than volleyball going on.
There were several good trade stalls in a separate arena and a marquee for the evening entertainment and of course to house the all-important bar. I of course had to sample the wares of the bar for my report  ;) and can say they were up to their usual high standard.
Friday night there was a disco hosted by those talented boys from your favourite D.A and Saturday there was entertainment in the form of a singer/comedian and another disco provided by NECDA in the form of Andy Toogood. Andy put on a great show and really got folks up and enjoying themselves. Andy is also our newest member as he and his family signed up with us at the meet on Sunday morning. Welcome to the D.A Andy!
Now to the games! I will not give a blow by blow report on these as it would take too long. Suffice to say that whilst some folk had entered for the fun of it, a few points into the games soon changed that and the overall playing was (in this mans view) excellent. I can only point at my rather red legs to prove how involved I became with the watching and cheering and found myself wishing I had more than one pair of eyes! To everyone who played in that heat I take my hat off to you, it must have been exhausting.
Overall a thoroughly enjoyable weekend, where were you??? I give thanks to NECDA for a warm welcome and a very well laid on event. I guess that after 25 years it can become second nature, but I feel it is still worth noting that these events go so smoothly with everyones co-operation and many people putting the work in behind the scenes. Let us hope that next years will be just as good and that we can somehow pursuade the sun to come back for then ::)..hey I can hope!
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