Scenic Car Run, BBQ and Jazz 24 June 2021 by Bill Phillips

SCENIC CAR RUN BBQ AND JAZZ 24th JUNE 2021

As a fund raising event for our newly re-branded Club, the idea was to bring members away from their self-imprisonment into the country, be fed country style, have some quality entertainment and enjoy a get-together with friends. The start of the routed drive, not an Oily Feather event but open to all, was at Woodford Lodge, on the west side of Chew Valley Lake, where some of us enjoyed a very pleasant (light) lunch - overlooking the lake and fishing boats coming and going.

The drive itself was thirty miles of little used lanes, many with grass growing up the middle, but with glorious views. We passed by a ford at Chew Stoke, the Church at Nempnet Thrubwell (of Alan Shellard fame), Stowey Court, through Chew Magna, passing farms and through small hamlets, with expansive and more intimate English country views. We did not expect anyone to average better that ten mph; no-one did worse than that!

The final destination was a gently undulating good sized grass field well off the main road. Apart from the discreetly sited facilities, there was not another building in sight – or sound! We saw a buzzard being seen off by a couple of crows. It was country indeed, Including the band and catering team there were forty souls pleased to be there, being entertained, fed and social distancing, socially! The Band was Stuart Potter’s 1904 Strollers, comprising Stuart Potter, Andy Leggett, Cass Caswell, James Heming and Robert Bartlett. The jazz they provided was great, and their programme included Stranger on the Shore by Acker Bilk, whose memorial bench in Pensford was passed by those on the planned car run. During the interval Steve Price entertained us with his guitar and deep voice.

The sun came out to brighten us as we enjoyed our BBQs prepared by Bob and Sherry Gray, helped by Maurice and Bridget Hewlett. And yes of course we brought our own wine (some of us forgot) and departed the field at about 8.00pm, happy with the reminders we had given ourselves of what life can be like as members of a club, a group of people with similar likes and dislikes with whom we have, and will, enjoy gatherings in and out of doors much more again as we return to ‘normality’.

Bill Phillips