Welcome to the

SOUTH SUFFOLK DISTRICT ASSOCIATION

of the

CAMPING AND CARAVANNING CLUB

The Camping and Caravanning Club,

Greenfields House,

Westwood Way,

Coventry.

CV4 8JH

Tel: 0845 130 7632 or 024 7647 5442

© South Suffolk D.A.

As Valentines got closer, we wondered where to go.

We need to shake off the winter blues and forget the ice and snow. We opened up the camping mag. and it jumped out of the page Of course we'll go with the S.S.D.A. we haven't seen them in quite an

age.

A friendly welcome was awaiting when we arrived at the Sutton hall.

The stewards of course were David and Lynda who we are sure are known by all.

Friday night was a funtime quiz,but we didn't get many right.

Then Saturday a meal at the pub before sprucing up ready for the

night.

Of course we mustn't  forget the Bingo,the caller she was fun

I couldn't quite believe it when first time ever I actually won.

Saturdays entertainment  really was sublime and we danced the night  

Away.

Our grateful thanks to Hazel and Steve,a great night to end the day.

There were hot-dogs to be eaten,  a raffle and whisky to be won

It was an evening full of laughter with everyone having fun.

We know these meets don't just happen, much hard work goes into them all but thank you so much for making us welcome, we'll always remember this weekend and Valentines at Sutton Memorial Hall.

Thanks for a fantastic weekend and brilliant start to 2011.

Best Wishes Lynn and Rod Mills.

VALENTINES MEET

11th - 13th Feb 2011 SUTTON MEMORIAL HALL

Hosted by Linda and David Murton we had a very good turn out, 31 units, mostly South Suffolk but one unit from Sheffield and a few from more local DAs

A very pleasant weekend, Friday night was guiz night and socializing in the hall, Saturday afternoon was bingo and Saturday night singing and dancing to Im-n-Er alias Steve and Hazel Thompson (Ay Oh). Anyone at bingo Saturday afternoon will understand where the Ay Oh came from!

A splendid evening, at one point nearly everyone was up and dancing, Great entertainment. The male population left the hall with great anticipation of a good night after Steve's advice for Valentines day

Hot dogs were served at half-time followed by roll a pound for a bottle (kindly donated by Ian Roberts) for the charity won by Andrew Dance who graciously returned it to be rolled for again at a later date. Thanks Andrew. We also had a very good raffle with prizes donated by members.

Coffee morning was held at llo'clock Sunday, where bonus ball prizes and pitch prizes were given after which one by one we all disappeared, an enjoyable weekend had come to an end.

Once again thanks to Steve and Hazel, Linda and David and all friends old and new for just being there.

Jim and Linda Firman

On the 11th -13th of February we had the pleasure of being the stewards for the Valentine meet at Sutton village hall. We would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who turned out and made it such a fun weekend. There were 31 units.  In all WOW! what a turn out for a damp February weekend.  We had wonderful music on Saturday night courtesy of "im and er", hot dogs, YUM YUM and a raffle.  Also a big thank you to Hazel for the Bingo calling with a difference on Saturday afternoon.  We would also like to take time to say a big thank you to all the children who were on site for behaving so well. Hope to see you out in the field soon.

 David and Lynda Murton 

CHAIRMANS BLOG

As some SSDA members will be aware Lois and I are off camping in Spain for 6 weeks and I thought we should share some of our experiences with you all.

We set of from home in early February and drove down across France to Benidorm in Spain to join a Camping and Caravanning Club rally at Camping Almafra near Benidorm – the total journey miles was 1365, with three overnight stops, two in France and one in Spain.

The campsite was very large with about 300 pitches including chalets, the CCC rally was about 130 units when we were there, each pitch had water, waste, electricity & piped UK TV!.

There was something on everyday on site, organised by club members for us ralliers and our appreciation goes to them all. We unfortunately missed the DA valentines party which I understand was well attended with a good act on the Saturday night – thanks to “Im & Er”.

We have only experienced one day of rain in our three weeks there and have now moved on to a Friendship Rally, which is not organised by the club but only club members are here – 28 units in all. This rally is in a site near Valencia at a place called Puzol; the site opened specially for us so not all its facilities are available - the swimming pool is still green and the shop is shut! When we arrived here the electrical system was for ever tripping out, but has now been sorted and the sun has come out again.

We have had so many people organising events that we have not stopped, on Sunday, after coffee morning we had a street BBQ  (see photo) and enjoyed the sunshine. In all our 4 weeks so far we have not had freezing temperatures with daytimes between 10 & 18C

If you have ever thought about Winter Rallying but thought it difficult or expensive then please speak to us and we will be only too pleased to impart our experiences and help.

We are here for another two weeks and will be travelling home in time to meet you all at the SSDA AGM on 26th March at Hallowtree Scout Campsite.

We look forward to seeing you all then

Valentines Meet – 11th – 13th February 2011

When Nan and I arrived on site, Grandad had not arrived with the caravan so we had to wait for him.

I said hello to Bradley, Harry and co., but it was a bit wet so I went back to the car.

After tea, which Alan made and was delicious, we went over to the hall where I met lots of people I hadn’t seen for ages, plus I had a nice talk to Mary (I love Mary) she’s my special friend. There was a quiz on the table but I wasn’t very good at it.

Nan had quite a lot to drink and when we went back to the caravan she fell into bed and went straight to sleep Ha! Ha!

On Saturday, Nan & Grandad went to Mackro so I stayed in the van and did my homework. In the afternoon I went outside with all the others and we had a great time but when the Bingo started I went in to play but I didn’t win anything. (Nan paid anyway, so it wasn’t so bad!) She was also the Bingo Caller, how embarrassing was that?

In the evening we went over to the hall again and my Nan and Grandad (Im & Er) did the entertainment, it sounded good but I was playing snooker with Olly and Aaron and enjoyed the evening very much. I did see them roll money for the Whisky, it was funny and Harriet’s Dad won, but gave it back to do again somewhere else. Isn’t he nice?

Next day we had Coffee Morning and although I didn’t win on the Bonus Ball, I did win the Pitch Prize so that’s why I am writing this. I love my weekends camping with Nan & Grandad and will be out again at Easter. Thank you to Linda and Dave for putting it on.

Meghan Brannigan (With Hazel & Steve Thompson)

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Nicola Green
To: angie.crawford@southsuffolkda.org.uk
Sent: Wednesday, 13 April, 2011 22:06:43
Subject: Butley Meet Blog

This meet was a great start to the new season. The stewards did a brilliant job as usual, even providing a last minute bingo session on the Saturday evening. With a nice, fairly level site and lots of lovely sunshine, its no wonder 17 units turned out to enjoy the weekend. Thanks again to those behind the scenes who organise these gatherings. Looking forward to Campsea Ashe already!

Nicola & Pippa

From: Pauline Bone

To: angie.crawford@southsuffolkda.org.uk
Sent: Monday, 16 May, 2011 10:07:28
Subject: Easter Meet Blog 22-25 April 2011

We arrived at Crawfield to the usual warm welcome and were pleased to see the number of caravans and motor homes already there and they just kept coming. I think Kevin and Darren were beginning to worry as to where they could get another field!

It was good that members heeded Angie's warning of use or loose the Easter weekend meet. The weather was great and it was nice to catch up with old and new friends.

The entertainment on Saturday evening was good and lots of members enjoyed dancing. On Sunday we were entertained by Steve and his 'This is my Life' through songs that held special meanings to him. Can I please say a special thank you to Steve for the dedication as I know he is not a country music fan but he did Burning Ring of Fire justice.

I was a bit disappointed at the poor turnout for the committee run barbecue, only three of the committee attended. That aside all the committee worked really hard to make sure a good weekend was had by all.

Well done committee

Pauline & Alan

The Royal Wedding Weekend

28th April to 2nd May 2011

The sun shone, the wind blew strong and a good time was had by all thanks to Nina and Mick, Nina and Kevin and family ably encouraged by Hazel with the entertainment programme. A big thank you goes to them for their efforts in organising such a variety of things to do.

Thursday evening started with a get together and lots of chatting.

Friday started by watching the royal wedding on a large screen whilst being served tea, coffee and cakes. There was a Royal Quiz in the evening after the street party with decorated tables and decorated hats.

Over the weekend there were more quizzes including a music one by Steve, Feely bags, a Chinese raffle with a fast moving rabbit finally caught by Sonia, pub poster competition round the vans, Mr and Mrs Quiz and much more. Of course there was a pub nearby too!

To top it all the children were extremely well behaved enjoying the playground, quick cricket and a unique form of musical chairs with Hazel.

Guess who enjoyed the pitch prize of chocolates.

See you in the field again soon.

Lilian and Dave Nelson

Decided on our way to Devon to take a break at Haughley for the Curry weekend, and very enjoyable it was too, thanks very much Hazel and Steve.

Not so much wind next year please, (I am talking about the weather).

So on the way back seemed only seemed fair to stop off at Cotton for the weekend, what a lovely site, with friendly villagers and a excellent pub, with good food and very well signposted village walks, Harry George and I with Bess of course, did the shorter one of the two.

Last weekend we won the pitch prize, so definitely have to say a bit about Saxstead, we got our usual warm welcome from the landlord and his family, and enjoyed a pleasant weekend, at a cost of three pounds and the hardship of having to have a delicious meal in the restaurant, can’t be beaten.

Nina,  Kevin and the boys were our stewards, and did a good job as usual, We have to say that, she is our daughter.

One other bit of news, the proofs for next years calendars  have arrived, so look forward to seeing all my models in the field soon, so they approve or otherwise their poses !!!!!!!!

See you soon

Nina and Mick

Newbourne to newly reborn to newborn

A nice rally was a desirable objective for the weekend.  From the choices available, we found that our local DA was at Newbourne.  We had been at a rally there before and that made the choice easier.  A nice (if sloping) field with immediate access to early morning walks for the dog (and me - since her indoors doesn’t do early mornings) and longer walks to the river or the Maybush Inn at Waldringfield.  If that was too ambitious, then Newbourne’s The Fox is described as “Imagine a chocolate box style village pub, beaming with pinkness with a rainbow of flowers around the door” and it’s only a few hundred yards away!   Just beyond that is a lovely walk round a nature reserve.

We arrived in glorious sunshine, pitched and had an essential research visit to the Fox for a drink before lunch buying fresh strawberries on the way back.   After lunch, we then took our walk to the river.  Later, there was frantic checking of TV reception since England were playing in the World Cup Rugby early next morning.  Belt and braces applied since I also set up the satellite dish to complement the van’s aerial.

It was my turn to make tea on Saturday and so I struggled out of a very comfortable and warm bed into a cold caravan to turn all the heaters on and make tea ready for the Rugby at 7.00 am.  Unlike previous matches,  England were playing like they meant to win which they did handsomely.  England, when watched in Newbourne, were newly reborn!!    Sorry got all poetic there.

The  reception on our phones was not good but on switching on there was a voice mail.  My son announced that at 2.26am our second great grandson had been born.  In Newbourne, we heard about our newborn Austin Joe at 7lb 2.5oz.

A planned trip to get a paper at the local supermarket turned into a shopping expedition for cards and presents and, after lunch, a trip to Colchester to see our little boy.

Back to the rally and looking forward to an evening of Wacky Races whatever that was.  It turned out to be a wonderful evening’s entertainment where I found myself at one stage wearing a helmet, riding a hobbyhorse, and later trying to persuade a wind up snail to actually move in a forward direction.  Hilarious fun and well done to all the organizers for a wonderful evening.

Sunday dawned and Scotland fared less well in their match. Breaking camp took precedence but with quick dashes into the van to see how Scotland were doing in the second half.  Got everything done in time for the morning coffee meet.  Said a few farewells to new friends and then for us a walk to the pub to have Sunday lunch in the gardens before driving home.

Another lovely rally thanks to the hard work of all those concerned.

Maurice and Joan Hartill

A Recently Received Thank You Letter Received via Headquarters

On a weekend trip to Newbourne with South Suffolk DA Meet, I had a problem with the electrics on my caravan, loosing all power. So I said to the stewards that I will have to go home. He said no we will sort it out and him (Kevin Zizka) and the chairman (Ian Roberts) spent 2 hours and rewired the caravan so we had power to the lights and pump. Thanks to them my wife and myself spent a nice weekend and had fun with the wackey races in the hall. Thanks again to South Suffolk DA

Joan & Roy Welch – Wenhasten – Suffolk

          Christmas Party at Hallowtree 2nd to 4th Dec 2011

After settling in on Friday evening, it was over to the hall to help put up the decorations.  Job done, it was time for a natter and chatter with old and new friends.  This was followed by Steve’s unusual quizzes which were filled with fun and laughter.

Saturday morning, after a quick shopping spree, it was back to camp for a quick lunch. After that it was over to the hall for 2pm for the Tea dance and dancing lessons with a dear friend and long serving member of SSDA, Ken Levett (ever the gentleman).

It was then time to decorate the tables ready for the Christmas Party.

We arrived back in the hall at 6.30pm and were greeted by our chairpersons Ian and Hazel with welcome drinks. We sat down to eat our meal at 7 pm which was prepared by all the committee plus helpers. The way it all came together was definitely a credit to them all.

Later in the evening it was time to relax with a few drinks and with dancing shoes on, we danced the night away with a variety of songs and music by Ray Durrant.

We were very lucky that Father Christmas was passing through Suffolk and made a surprise visit.  The children received presents from him and he took orders for Christmas Eve.

Once again it was a very successful meet.  A big thank you goes to everyone who made it so enjoyable.

Chris and Daph Barber

                              New Year’s Rally

This was our first Winter Rally.  Relatives asked how we would keep warm but they were campers with tents and I had to explain that our caravan would be warmer than we could afford to heat our house.

Friends asked where we were going and my reply was “the far east” which was then more accurately followed by “Ipswich”.  Felixstowe would be the “far east”.

We arrived at just after noon and found ourselves pitching very close to the hall.  Better still, our pitch led straight to open walks down to the Orwell which was great for doggy walks.  Managed to set up the awning, grab a beer and lunch, walk the dog before going to the hall for  our first gathering over tea or coffee.

We found ourselves sitting next to our two nearest neighbours and stayed as a group the whole weekend.  Thanks John, Chris, Cyril and Jane for adding to a great weekend.

The evening entertainment “Now and Then” was great and they played many of the songs from our youth and we managed a couple of good jives.

Saturday found ourselves trying to avoid breakfast so we could save ourselves for the brunch which was magnificent.   Unable to move very far, we did drive out to get our Saturday paper and get back in time for afternoon bingo.  The evening arrived and we turned up with our food for the American Supper.  The spread looked magnificent.  Who said camping was Spartan?

We feared the worse as the only tables were closest to the disco.  However the volume was held at a decent level whilst still encouraging us to get up time and time again.  The choice and variety of music was superb.  All too quickly we arrived at the magic hour and we agreed that we had had one of the best New Years for many a year.

Sunday came and we had an overwhelming desire to emulate the brunch which we did with the aid of eggs, bacon and sausages from our village butcher but we could not match the variety of the Saturday brunch.

We then ventured on a walk through the park down to the river along the beach to the Orwell Bridge.  What a different view it is from underneath.  We then managed to find the route back on the other side of the A14.  Her indoors then reminded me that I had promised a Sunday lunch in a nice pub.  We found a pub had a nice drink but didn’t have the appetite to eat.  I said we could go out later but lethargy took over and we crashed in the van.  We didn’t even have the energy to go across to the hall for the DVD screening.  The papers, a crossword puzzle, Sudoka with a couple of glasses of wine soon made us feel we were in the best place as the rain bucketed down outside.

It was soon time for our last evening.  The pub name competition quickly grabbed our attention. Whoever heard of a pub called the Isaac.  We made a New Year’s resolution to visit more pubs!      

Rapid reading skills were tried out on the newspaper quiz but we still only managed a lowly position.  Compensation came in the form of modest wins on the draw, the ploughman’s plate and dipping into the remains of the American Supper (the marbled cake was lovely).

We had a great time and many many thanks to Melvin and Brenda and their helpers for a really great weekend.   

Maurice Joan and Tess Hartill