By BrianC
July 6 2004

I decided to wait a while before putting together my thoughts on Henley 2003. Mrs Goz has covered much of the meat and bones of the day I'll try not to overlap her coverage too much.

The eve of Henley Gathering

Saturday afternoon & evening saw all sorts of deliveries taking place, A-J with tables, chairs, booze, etc. Rob with BBQ's and family Bisach with amongst other things the big white marquee that was to prove so useful on Sunday. This marquee provided us with quite a challenge as we tried to put it together, it was only after about half an hour of faffing around that we realised many of our difficulties were due to trying to put the roof assembly together on uneven ground.

Deliveries done and tents erected a group of a dozen or so of us settled down for a barbeque that evening. Those who were there do not need me to tell them just how genial a gathering this was. The company was good, the wine and conversation flowed, the rowing club on the other side of the river put on a fireworks display for us, as did some arsonists in Henley. Add to this the fact that the riverside takes on a certain charm as dusk falls and the fact that we were all looking forward to the following day, it made for one of those special gatherings.

The Day

It seemed like we had hardly got up before people started arriving in their droves. Longsuffering, Baz and myself had gone off on a shopping and ice run at 10.00. You don't half get strange looks in Waitrose when you fill up a trolley with twenty bags of ice (as I did twice that day). By the time we returned at about 10.30 there were cars and people everywhere. The rest of my morning was spent issuing bbq tickets, running back and forth to the gate to let cars in and out.

In my case I had managed to avoid alcohol until about noon when Reading_Glasses turned up with a couple of gallons of one of the nicest Pimms mixes it has ever been my pleasure to taste, nicely chilled. A number of us decided that it would be a shame to let it go warm so we set about seeing how much of it we could consume whilst it was still chilled. As with Mrs Goz and no doubt a few others I had to sympathize with those hardy souls who had chosen to run around the rugby pitches during the hottest day on record. Then came lunch, what can one say about the barbeque, it was superb. In my case it was washed down with even more Pimms, this time courtesy of Glen and Mary.

Lunch and another ice run over I headed over to the main Henley tournament. This is such a genial way to spend time. In some ways it is a bit of  a shame that there was so much happening on the riverside, I could certainly have spent longer here. A group of us perched at the bottom corner of the field, the Pimms flowed yet again, the sun shone, the craic was ninety. We watched the Marauders team getting narrowly beaten in the semi-finals of the main competition by the British Army whilst we waited for the main event of the afternoon, the exhibition match between The Blobarians and the Old Fat Bastards. To be honest I can't remember much of what happened on the field as I was doubled up with laughter for most of the match. The commentators rounded in on Eek who seemed for all the world to be pretty static on the pitch whilst the other players ran around him. At the end of the game the sponsors presented him with a case of IPA, this was shared out in can and spray form with the other players.

By the training pitches, Mr Goz led a posse of us tidying up the debris that had been left by the visiting supporters. In general people had tidied up after themselves very well. One party however had decided to use their area as a waste tip, this took quite some clearing up, what a shame when everyone else had kept to the spirit of things.

Back at the riverside the booze flowed, the bbq was superb and the songs started, a wonderful end to a wonderful day. At ten, in deference to those sleeping in boats nearby I had to ask that the music was switched off. A quite remarkable clear up operation then swung into process. Within an hour everything was cleared save for a pile of rubbish bags, the bbq's and some tables and chairs.

Last thing in the evening a few of us sat round a table chewing the cud. It was at that stage that JoeV reminded me that it was only at the previous years Henley that we had first met. It seems strange as we since seem to know each other so well. It struck me that next year I may well be saying the same of those I met for the first time this year, A-J, AG_Apprentice, 'Dave' & Peezee to name but a few.

The Morning After

This could hardly have gone better. Mary arrived to help us get the rubbish up to the Rugby Club, we loaded what was to be the first of about ten loads into the boot of her car then made it up to HRFC. As we returned a pickup truck with two strapping lads pulled up. They said, 'We're here for the rubbish' and proceeded to load it all onto the back of the truck. Five minutes later it was gone, result! A-J called me to let me know he was having van problems, with the rubbish gone this was not a problem. He arrived in his car and somehow managed to get all the tables and chairs into it. This left us with only the bbqs on the meadow, we strolled up to Henley RFC, they gladly drove over to the meadow with tractor and trailer, picked them up and brought them into their car park for Rob to collect that evening. By noon the meadow looked as if nobody had ever been on it, indeed it was probably cleaner than when we had arrived there.

Another Year Over

Henley 2003 was a great success. There are so many people to thank that I'm wary of doing so at risk of leaving anyone out but I'll have a go anyway.

Henley RFC - Unstinting in their support of us and the help they have proffered, not just for the Fat Bloke Sevens but also in helping make so many other things run smoothly.

The Caterers - Rob, Marie, Claire, Mel, Kevin and Glen. Superb job in testing conditions.

Eek, ConfusedID, Ma Weeble, Clare, Bisach & Sarah - What can I say about the Fat Bloke Sevens that hasn't already been said, great job by all of you.

Mr Goz - Your help in clearing up was greatly appreciated.

A-J - The van runs, the tables, chairs thank you.

Longsufferingkevin - for your help with the ice runs, you helped keep us cool in the hottest of times.

Reading_Glasses - Wicked Pimms!!

Glen & Mary - As above, plus your help with clearing up.

Family Bisach - The marquee was an inspired idea, saved our bacon on the day.

I've probably missed some people out here, to all those of you who contributed to making it such a special day, thank you.

Here's to next year.