July 2021

Hello campers, by now we’re all hoefully used to getting out in our units and embracing the new way of camping; sorry there hasn’t been a newsletter for some time; that thing called life has tended to get in the way- you know, work , sleep, work, sleep, gin etc,etc!!

We do have some very sad news; we recently lost two of our valued members. Early this month Maureen Catlow passed away after illness. Mo (as we called her) and her husband Phil camped for many years along with their daughter Gillian and later their granddaughter Lauren and then their great grandchildren. Although Mo stopped caravanning after the death of Phil some years ago, she still kept in touch with friends and members and also the goings on at the club via friends visiting her and also through facebook, if there was a post on announcing your birthday you would always find a congratulations message from her, and comments on various pictures. Mo was always ready for a laugh and there was always a spare chair for you to join in, or you were urged to go and bring back your own! Along with your drink of course! At the time of Mo’s funeral covid restrictions were still in force; nevertheless it was very well attended, the sun shone and she left us to the appropriate song Simply the Best; she will be very sadly missed.

On another sad note we have also just lost another member. Jim “the person” Spilman was a regular camper with his ever present friend Gordon by his side; he ( Jim not Gordon!) helped to marshall many of our larger meets and was a familiar sight riding round on his bike and helping with the auctions at Clapham. He was actually at Clapham when he passed away peacefully, a shock to lots of us as he had spent the evening enjoying the company of his many friends up there. At least he passed away doing something that he loved; our condolences go to both Jim and Mo’s families. We will post details of Jim’s funeral as soon as we get them.

As this is written CCC guidelines are still in place; just a big thank you to all the stewards and helpers who have had extra work and responsibilities during this trying time; thanks also to our members who have, sometimes reluctantly, adhered to these rules, we ask that members be patient while we wait for any changes to be announced, and to remember that the stewards are only doing their job – they are all volunteers and deserve our co-operation and respect; if there were no stewards there would be no camping, so think on, as my dear mum used to say! (don’t know if it’s true, but the members that make the most complaints don’t seem to do much stewarding!!) There was a fantastic turnout at our first meet at Southport, everyone was eager to get out again, so many that even though we knew some were there, we never got to see them!! The weather was not too good at the beginning of the Langcliffe meet but did improve ; it was very different to our normal meet, with no marquee or any of the usual stuff, but it is what you make it and some of us do remember what it was like to make our own entertainment! Our other meets have also been very well attended, particularly the 5 day one at Connonley where we had 60 units! Clapham is currently in full swing, unfortunately there is no marquee but I’m sure we’ll make the best of it!

All our meets are on our website and in Out and About but as always in these times it is always advisable to contact the named stewards to make sure there is room or to put your name down for a pitch, the stewards are the best people with the up to date information as of course they are actually there. Hopefully we will be getting back to something like normal in the future!

See you on the field,

Karen B.

March 2021

Hello campers!

Well it seems that we’re finally going to be allowed out!! Yippee!! Get the bedding back in and the fridge filled, can’t wait!

We have just held our very first virtual AGM, very different to the usual event with limited numbers attending. Thankfully everyone managed to log on successfully and there were no blips. It was lovely to see people who we hadn’t seen for almost twelve months, nobody had changed very much, including the amount of glasses being raised!!

As I’m sure you are all aware, there has been very little opportunity for any significant fundraising over the past year, so it has been decided that the North West Air Ambulance will continue to be our charity for 2021.

As it was my third year as chairman this was the time to step down as is traditional at our club, so we now have a new committee (well, new ish!!)

The committee is as follows;

Sites officer – Steve Raistrick

Chairman – Debbie Hinds

Vice Chairman – Mick Corey

Treasurer – Carole Johnson

Secretary – Mick Kibble

Equipment Officer – Kevin Barwick

Regalia Officer – Jimmy Sutcliffe

Catering Officer – Claire Pallister

Webmaster – Hannah Kibble

You may be wondering why I put the sites officer at the top of the list – well, after allocating the committee positions, the chairman accidentally omitted to read out his name so I thought I’d just give him his “fifteen minutes of fame” after all his job is fairly important, if he didn’t book any sites we would all be in a mess!!

After probably the shortest AGM in Ribblesdale history we all had a bit of a catch up while waiting patiently for the buffet to be delivered; unfortunately Claire seemed to have lost our addresses (mind you, I just thought, some of us were considerably further away than what constituted local travel, so go on then Claire we’ll let you off!!) so we had to make do with pizza and gin!! Not too difficult!! I’d like to thank the committee and Ribblesdale members for all their support during my tenure as chairman, which has been enjoyable and at times unusual, and I wish Debbie all the best for her time as the new chairman.

Now to the important bit!! Southport!! All being well, we will be allowed back out on the road in April; the guidelines will be the same as last year when the lockdown was lifted, plenty of sanitisation, social distancing, no socials etc etc. The pop up at Southport begins on April 14th, please could you all make sure that fees are placed in a plastic bag, the exact money, with names and membership numbers, and car registration number. As there are expected to be plenty of people wanting to come it is advisable to phone the stewards to ascertain the availability of spaces and also the state of the ground, hopefully there will be no problems but with the great British weather you never know!! This procedure will be adhered to at all pop ups until guidelines change. Please take note that the stewards will have extra work and appreciate members following these guidelines to make the running of these pop ups as smooth as possible; and the stewards are in charge of the pop up, so what they say goes!!

All our pop ups for 2021 are available on the website and there will also be meet cards available at Southport so you can plan your year, hopefully with no interruptions, although we don’t know how things will evolve, we have to be ready for any changes, but for now hope to see you all at Southport, happy camping!!

See you on the socially distanced field, Karen B.

Invitation to AGM.

Dear Ribblesdale members,

As you are aware, our AGM for 2021 must be held as a virtual meeting in accordance with government and CCC guidelines.
The Ribblesdale BCC AGM 2021 will be held on Saturday March 6th 2021 at 6pm prompt. Unfortunately due to practicalities the attendance numbers will be limited; to request attendance members must email the club secretary Mick Kibble at mickkibble@btinternet.com including their name and membership number. Applications must be in by Saturday 20th February 2021, applications after this date can not be accepted. Applications must be by email only. Further information will be forwarded after the deadline date. Please be aware that members are responsible for ensuring their own successful connectivity; the committee can not accept responsibility for failure to attend the meeting through technical issues. We look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Ribblesdale BCC committee.

January 2021

Hello campers

I hope you are all keeping safe; unfortunately instead of wishing everyone a happy new year I must start with some extremely sad news. This viscous nasty disease has tragically taken one of our members at a frighteningly young age. Arran Newton was well known to Ribblesdale and also a former chairman of NELDA. He worked his way up through the youth section while camping with his parents Bob and the late Julia, and made many friends who he was still in contact with, as they all came back to camping and caravanning in their adulthood. With his first wife Leanne he introduced their children Jess and Tom to caravanning, teaching them the important things like filling the water barrels and picking up after the dog! When he met his current partner Sam they found they already knew each other from their earlier years through, yes, you guessed it, camping! Together with Sam’s daughter Kaia they formed a happy family unit, Arran and Sam were always willing to offer help in such things as running stalls and organising games, and often had a friendly hug and maybe a beer when things got a bit frazzled! He also, if reluctantly, “enjoyed” learning new things like the barn dance rock, much to the amusement of his kids! Very rarely without a smile on his face, he will be very sadly missed by all his friends in the club; our condolences go to Bob, Sam, Leanne, Jess, Tom, and Kaia.

As you all know it will be a while before we will be able to get out in our vans; instructions from CCC are that the AGM must be held as a virtual meeting which we are finalising the details of and we will be informing members in due course. In the meantime please take care, keep safe and have the jab when you’re offered!

That’s all for now, Karen B.

October 2020
Hello campers!
Ho hum!! As you all probably know by now, our camping season has unfortunately come to an abrupt end. As a result of Lancashire being placed in Tier 3, we were instructed by the CCC to cancel any meets planned in the county; this was on top of some venues who had already informed us that they were cancelling on us. As all of our remaining meets are in Lancashire and after further consultation with CCC, all our meets have had to be cancelled. It is a great shame as we have held two successful holiday meets and several five day and weekend pop ups where everyone managed to adapt to the changed circumstances. It has been challenging for our stewards who as well as their normal duties have been expected to maintain all government and CCC guidelines; maybe with a gentle nudge here and there as reminders. I’d like to extend a massive thank you to all our stewards and helpers for all their hard work, everyone is doing their bit voluntarily and some have even taken time off work. When we do get back to camping it is almost certain that guidelines will still be in place; we ask that campers adhere to any current guidelines and respect stewards and fellow campers. A big thanks also to our sites officer Stephen ( and Lesley) who is in his first year in this position. It has so far been a steep learning curve, starting with negotiating the laptop, the database, contacting venues with sometimes a very long wait for replies, and then to cap it all we have covid. No wonder he’s become a gin connoisseur! And he is rapidly learning that you can’t please everybody ( I could have told him that!); so far he’s doing a cracking job – keep up the good work!
Happily our treasurer Carole has had her eye operation and is recovering well-if you wave at her she will see you now; I’d better be careful not to pull any faces at her!!
Unfortunately we do have some sad news. Molly Jacques sadly passed away after a short illness .Molly was a long standing member of Ribblesdale with her late husband Barry and recent late partner Keith, she was always ready to join in and have a natter; Kevin fondly remembers her cooking “proper” chips in beef dripping at Clapham – he only gets oven chips at home!!
We also have to tell you of the sad passing of Shirley Thompson after a brave fight against illness. She is fondly remembered when she camped with her ex husband “Mike the Bike” and family, always ready for a laugh and lots of fun. We were often taken for sisters, much to the chagrin of her late father Jim who “already had enough daughters”! A lovely lady who was taken far too soon; our condolences go to their families and friends.
That’s about all for now, just to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year and hope everybody keeps safe and well
See you on the field,
Karen B.

October Update

All meets have been cancelled until further notice due to the latest Covid restrictions.

October Update

Hello campers,

We are still looking for stewards for 2021 meets. Please see the list of sites and call Stephen Raistrick if you can help with any of the meets. 07949 073657

Thank you

September/ October 2020

Hello socially distanced campers!

Hope you are all getting used to this different way of camping; at least we are able to get out.
Our programme of pop –ups is under way with our first one after lockdown seeing around 60 units at Langcliffe, a bit of a muddy field at Bay View and two very successful holiday pop – ups at Duddon and Dinarth Hall; we managed a long weekend at Duddon ( that thing called work does get in the way!!) where we sat and watched a fabulous sunset over the bay. A big thanks to all our stewards who have coped brilliantly with all the extra work entailed, hopefully if everyone adheres to the guidelines everybody should be able to enjoy their stays. Please remember that the various and often changing guidelines are put in place by the government and the Camping and Caravanning Club; stewards are there to ensure that they are adhered to and the pop – ups run smoothly, so campers’ cooperation is appreciated.
There are some changes to our pop –ups which are unfortunately inevitable;
All social events have been cancelled; this includes our FOL, our Hallow’een and bonfire socials, our children’s Christmas party, our Christmas dinner and rally, and our ever popular New Year meet. The pop-ups will still take place to enable camping apart from the Christmas dinner and the New Year, everyone is always welcome; our website will inform you of any future changes (and I’m sure there will be some, dear old Boris!!)
There are also some other changes;

2 – 4 October – there is no meal at Stainforth

8 – 13 October – new venue – Lodge Barn Langcliffe; stewards Mick and Jeanne 07919184948

22 – 27 October King Edward School, Lytham – new stewards Steve and Lesley 07949073657

20 -22 November – Astley Green Colliery Museum – new stewards David and Claire 07873723667

It is always advisible to contact the stewards of the pop –ups before arriving so that they know to expect you and in case there are any last minute changes; also we ask that all campers respect stewards and adhere to guidelines ensuring an enjoyable stay.
See you on the socially distanced field,
Karen B.

August 2020

Hello campers!

Woo hoo! Yippee! At last!! Yes, we’re back, finally. It’s seemed an awful long time (well it is really!); it’ll be interesting to see how many campers turn up with a new unit or car; I know at least two who are in the process of changing, me , I just stuck to knitting and gin (making as well as drinking!). Hopefully it won’t take too long before we’re back in the swing of things, even though it will be very different for a while. All we ask is that campers are responsible and follow the guidelines laid down – these are the Camping and Caravanning Club guidelines so must be followed on any club meet, not just Ribblesdale, and of course these are adhering to government guidelines, so they may be subject to change. There will be plenty of signs to help and also the stewards will be on hand to explain things – even though you may not like what you are being told sometimes we ask that stewards and their helpers are treated with respect at all times; their jobs have been made harder by such events; any abuse of them will result in the campers being asked to leave the site. We also ask that wherever possible campers bring the correct site fees which will minimise the need to handle a lot of cash. It would also be a good idea to contact the stewards to make sure that the meets are going ahead just to avoid disappointment. All these changes will be strange at first, but if everyone pulls together I’m sure that we can all enjoy ourselves like we used to.

Now that we’re all geared up, where can we go? Well our first rally is at Lodge Barn Langcliffe, 13 -18 August, unfortunately there will be no social gatherings, no marquee, but plenty of opportunity to catch up with everyone. Following this is Bay View 20-25 August with lovely views over Morecambe Bay. There is no meet on the August bank holiday weekend, as is usual for a BCC club but happily both our THSs are going ahead at Dinarth Hall and also at Duddon sports and social club which takes care of September, and the rest of the year is as to plan, hopefully there will not be any changes but the website will be kept up to date and the stewards will also have any relevant information. Unfortunately as the year progresses, if the situation does not change, there will be no socials or coffee mornings etc but we will just have to wait and see – so,

See you on the socially distanced field,

Karen B.

May/June 2020

Hello campers!

Hope you’ve all enjoyed your painting, decorating, gardening, knitting and gin making ( that’ll be me!! ) during this enforced and seemingly never ending lockdown, but most of all we hope you are all keeping safe. Typical that the weather has been almost perfect! Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can all meet up, keep smiling!!

On a sad note I have to let you know that one of our former chairmen has passed away. Alan Moore along with his wife Peggy and family were long standing popular members of Ribblesdale, ready to join in all our activities. Alan passed away peacefully after a long illness; our condolences go to Peggy and family.

Sadly another of our members also passed away last month. Wally Setterfield was another long standing member who liked nothing better than to sit outside watching the world go by, with a cheery word for anyone who wanted to stop for a chat; our condolences go to Marian and family.

Obviously there is not a lot to add here; best to keep your eyes and ears open for any updates from the club and prepare to get ready to hit the road again once we are allowed out; goodness knows how thick the dust will be!!! But the most important thing is to keep safe!

Hopefully we’ll see you on the field fairly soon,

Karen B.

March 2020

Hello campers!

Welcome to our new website! Yes, that’s why it’s been unavailable recently – it’s been revamped. Thanks to Kevin for getting the ball rolling – and we now have a new webmaster, Hannah Kibble has agreed to take over the running of the site from the previous webmaster Steph. Welcome aboard Hannah!!

After a brilliant new year meet the season swung into action in late January at Rolls Royce then we had a new venue at the Canberra Club Salmesbury which was quite well attended despite atrocious weather; this caused the following weekend’s rally to be cancelled but we were back on track at Dale Hey. Our AGM was held at Langho, we had quite a disappointing turnout, only about half of our usual numbers, one of the longest things to read out was the apologies for absence!! Those who didn’t manage to make it missed out on the usual fabulous buffet and the excellent live entertainment in the form of a Cilla tribute act. Thanks to everyone who helped at the venue. After raising over £3,800 last year for prostate cancer our new charity was chosen as North West Air Ambulance for 2020. As always, a big thank you to everyone who donates raffle prizes, and those who organise all the different things we do to raise money, it is greatly appreciated; any donations for prizes are always greatfully received. The committee for this year is mainly unchanged with just a couple of new members – our new sites officer is Stephen Raistrick, and as already mentioned our new webmaster is Hannah Kibble.

I’m writing this sat at home ( yes, I did say at home!) as Kevin as been ill for most of this year with a couple of stays in hospital, it seems that it may be a long job, hopefully we will be out when he is more mobile, thank you for all your good wishes.

Unfortunately we have had to cancel our rally at West Bradford 13 -15 March; this is not due to the weather but we do not have a steward – we do say that no steward, no meet, and in this case it has proved to be true. I hope this is a one off as it would be a shame to have to cancel meets because of this – all stewards of Ribblesdale meets get free camping, that’s worth something! Lancaster Auction Mart starts at 2pm and Skipton Auction Mart at 12 pm; both venues are hard standing so even if the weather is rubbish nobody’s going to get stuck! Skipton has a change of steward, the new steward is Dorothea 07717177463.

3 – 15 April we are once again at Lytham for Easter at our very popular meet with all the usual events ; hope to see you there. This year the school does not end until lunchtime so there are STRICTLY NO ARRIVALS BEFORE 3PM PLEASE DO NOT ABUSE THIS, IF YOU DO TURN UP EARLY YOU WILL NOT BE ADMITTED.

For those of you who are lucky enough not to have to go back to work you can move straight from Lytham to Victoria Park, Southport where there is always plenty to do and you are assured of a warm welcome.

Moving on to the Spring Bank Holiday we are at Langcliffe where we hope to repeat last year’s brilliant success; we are looking for people to help run various things, if you can help please contact the committee. Finally for now a big thank you to all the members who are keeping the club running while we are out of action.

See you on the field soon(ish)

Karen B.

September/October 2019

Hello campers!

Sorry if it’s seemed a while since the last newsletter but we’ve been waiting to see if we could get a replacement for our cancelled meet at South Shore. I’m pleased to say that we have found one – it will be at Great Birchwood Warton near Lytham, still close enough to see the Illuminations. The meet starts 15th October; due to the short notice it can only be a five day meet but never fear! Campers will be allowed to stay on until 24th under the management of the site. Many thanks to our secretary Mick Kibble for finding and arranging this meet at such short notice, it is greatly appreciated.

Now, to catch up – our meet at Connonley was quite well attended but the weather was not too good; hence no one felt like dressing up Hawaiian style – we were all gathered together for the communal barbecue when a couple who had come all the way from Scotland arrived in all their finery! Oops! We quickly scurried back to our vans to don grass skirts, Hawaiian shirts and garlands!!

The following weekend was the BCC FOL at Spetchley Park near Worcester. There were 13 units camping with Ribblesdale who all willingly joined in the seaside theme as I am sure you will have seen the pictures. Thank you to Anne and Eric who raised £28 for our charity with their wonderful display of the cartoon where people were encouraged to have their photos taken – the car even had a personalised number plate! There were lots of very favourable comments, thanks to everyone who joined us.

The FOL was a resounding success; as always there was a chance to catch up with old friends, lend a helping hand and most of all enjoying yourselves. There was a vast variety of entertainment, ranging from Gabriella the Story Telling Ukranian Lady, Rich Sheehan, a fantastic comedy vocal impressionist – quite a good singer too!- who kept us all splitting our sides with his superb impressions. We also had over the weekend singer Tony G, the CCC Band with a brilliant Last Night of the Proms, singer “Hump” and an Oompah band from Manchester of all places! And of course the lighting up on Saturday evening an absolutely fabulous display as always .Many thanks to Sylvia, Cliff, Kath, Alan and all their helpers over the meet; another successful FOL under the BCC’s belt. Next year we are at the Turnpike Showground where the theme will be Dad’s Army and Allo Allo – why not make a holiday of it by visiting the pre and post meets!

After the FOL it was off to Dinarth Hall where Julie, Karen, Ian and Hilda were ready to welcome everyone. There was plenty to do – Rhoss, Llandudno, Conway, Colwyn Bay to name but a few places. A bit of advice here –if you donate anything to a charity shop, make sure you go through the pockets first; you never know what you might find, like a condom!! Wrapped, thankfully!! Never find any fivers though! And it put us off purchasing the jeans!! The first Saturday was the famous Goldwing parade in Llandudno – very busy but well worth a visit with a brilliant atmosphere and plenty of noise. Some of the bikers camping on our site gave rides after the coffee morning on Sunday for a donation to our charity, a big thanks. Unfortunately that was our holiday over , so the next weekend we visited our new THS at Askem in Furness. It’s a lovely flat field with good public transport links to Scotland, the Lakes and Lancaster area. Numbers were a little disappointing but everyone who joined us enjoyed themselves, especially as the stewards made bacon butties and cake plates ( not both together!!) There was also entertainment in the clubhouse and lovely walks on the estuary shore. We are running the meet again next year so if your appetite has been whetted come and join us. We’ve just returned from Rufforth sports field, once again bacon butties for breakfast ( I like these stewards!!) and the added attraction of the York balloon fiesta – not only hot air balloons but tribute acts from Freddie Mercury, Abba, Take That, the Beatles, Dolly Parton, stunt riders and a brilliant funfair which when all lit up at night made a fantastic atmosphere. There was a get together in the room where we even got to see the fireworks through the windows!

4th – 6th October we are at Knight Stainforth near Settle; unfortunately the restaurant is not available on Saturday evening but can be booked for Friday. 11th – 13th October we are at Astley Green Colliery near Leigh and then on to our “ emergency venue” at Great Birchwood. Following on from there is our Hallow’een and Bonfire meet at Farmer Parr’s where we will be having a Hallow’een social with fancy dress, decorated awning, and best pumpkin, the following weekend we will be having fireworks and the bonfire followed by a social. Our club FOL is 5th – 10th November at Dale Hey where the theme is Christmas Carols and it is cryptic, should be interesting!

There are still a few places left for our Christmas meal at Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick 23rd November there is camping available 22nd – 25th November for more information contact Pauline 07377531126.

Even though the nights are drawing in and it’s coming up to Christmas ( it must be – we’ve got mince pies and Family Circle biscuits in at work!!) there is still plenty of camping left!

Hope to see you on the field,

Karen B.