By Mrs Goz
August 18 2003

In amongst all the other sterling administration and catering work Mrs Goz put in at Henley last weekend, she penned for us an article on the day itself.

   

After a busy week, MrG and I set off on Lubbly Lady early on Saturday for ‘Henley II, Bigger and Better’.

Arriving at Fawley meadow we were rather put out to discover that the moorings were all taken and another event was being planned.  However, we settled nearby and enjoyed the sunshine while waiting for folk to appear.

It wasn’t a long wait.  Before evening we had four drum BBQs, a ‘No Bill, don’t buy it’ marquee, smaller food preparation tent (doubling as Eek the Weebles bedroom) and a large number of tables and chairs.  The scene was set.

Last year, four of us (him and me with Brian C and Dutch_Bird) had a pre-Henley barbecue on the riverbank.  This year there were up to 15 of us enjoying the balmy summer weather, barmy company and beautiful fireworks.  I should also mention we spent a considerable time speculating on the vast plums of smoke wafting up over the town center which was the result of three shops going up in smoke (one of which belonged to a family friend!).  Wine was drunk, quite a lot actually, and then we all retired for the evening.

Sunday morning dawned hot and sunny and before long Sachbi, Bisach and Charles arrived bringing enhanced bacon supplies.  I provided the early arrivals with bacon sandwiches and coffee and then we were off.

By 10.30 there were people everywhere, BBQs were lit, teams for the Fat Bloke 7’s had arrived and were being organised and Eek paraded around trying to persuade the rest of the Flatulent Fairies to learn a sort of alternative haka.  None of them seemed that keen…!

I have to say at this point that it was scorching and all those who put themselves through the repeated hell of 7’s rugby have my undying respect – or do I mean pity?

Sadly the teams playing didn’t have a midday break for lunch so had to grab it between matches.  The rest of us had a succulent choice of lamb leg steaks, spare ribs, sausages, chicken (I really love that chicken Rob!), and the multitude of salads produced by the Six Tits Catering co.  MulledWineMarie also produced a selection of boozy melons which were very, very gorgeous and Reading Glasses kept spirits high with a very choice Pimms, I’d also like to thank him for keeping those of us in the tournament admin tent well lubricated.

Around this time one of the boats moored on the meadow left so Aphrodite and Lubbly Lady quickly moved in to make the staggering distance at the end of the night a little more manageable!

Sadly there were a few injured souls from the Fatbloke 7’s with a dislocated shoulder, a nasty concussion, a bloody nose and some painful ribs.  However, the medical assistance sought was very quick and effective and the air ambulance in addition to bringing a very impressive response to the concusion, also provided a very welcome breeze!  On a serious note we have to thank Cath from Henley, the St Johns Ambulance Staff and the Air Ambulance; They were all fantastic and stopped unpleasant situations becoming unbearable.

The competition did suffer a few time delays due to referee shortages and the few injuries but the teams were very understanding, and actually really, really lovely.  Although – and I’m not an expert or anything – but I don’t think they were all fat, unfit people.  Some of them looked fit and very nicely toned, I noted this in a totally appropriate and objective way!!

I never made it to the ‘real’ 7’s as our tournament was over-running so I can’t tell you anything about the challenge match between the Blobarians and the Old Fat B’s.  Although I hear Eek played well to his public!

The tournament was on the whole a great success and Eek and Bisach must be congratulated on the amount of time and effort they put in to the organisation.  I’ll provide a detailed analysis of the results separately, suffice it to say, Wobblers & Co from Durham won the Championship (and had their trophy presented by Nick ‘the ball’ Kennedy who dropped into say ‘Hi’.  It was lovely to see him!  Henley Hippos won the plate competition and the team from Leeds won the wooden spoon competition, the most coveted of all the awards.

Once the competition was over, it was time to get the party really going.  The BBQs were once again in full production mode with TheLongSufferingKevin assisting OxonRob with the evenings fare; Marinated boned legs of lamb, rib of beef and marinated tuna steaks.  Again the salads were in force and by now I had added three Pina Colada filled pineapples, which were actually very nice!

 

The eating commenced!

Candles were lit, the amplifier was connected, The Dublinners had a couple of airings with a fair amount of assistance from the crowd.  Groups were formed and everyone pleased themselves.

As the night wore on JoeV gave in to his desire to share the works of WestLoiffe with us and was joined by one or two other like-minded folk.  Griff and Andrea via telephone informed us the weather was rubbish in Fiji (so they’ll learn for next year then!) and a message was left for Mutts and Fran on their mobile phone.

The clearing up operation started (properly) at around 9.30pm and by 10.30 there were mountains of black bags, stacks of chairs, a very full van, no gazebos/tents and a small group consisiting of JoeV’s choral society sat in the middle of the field.

As himself and I made off to bed JoeV was still singing…