Roma Club
Romahome - Award Winning Motorhomes

The National AGM Rally. Rippon 2th – 23rd May 2022.

On behalf of the committee I would like to thank you all for supporting the National Rally at Ripon. I know some of you drove considerable distances to attend, so hope you had as much fun as we did.
The highlights for Dave and I were firstly the coach trip round the Yorkshire Dales. I don’t think our driver left any part of the Dales off his itinerary as he twisted his new coach round the narrow country lanes. Grassington, where they were filming All Creatures Great and Small, was our coffee stop then on to Hawes for lunch. Accompanied by his wife our driver regaled us with some humorous stories about the places we passed. The boss was delighted with the drivers comment that the dogs were so well behaved and had regaled him with the story of how he tried the new wheelchair hoist out on a beautiful dog with a poorly leg.

The three-piece Ceilidh band the Fiddlers Wreck were excellent. First up for dancing was Peter Graystone, followed by Dave and I we made an attempt to encourage the rest of the dancers up. Eventually we had enough for a couple of sets and from that moment on couldn’t stop laughing along with our audience. Dave soon realised that none of us could keep the pace up for three hours so suggested to the caller that we had a rest between each dance, which worked. The lady fiddler sang a few songs she had a beautiful voice, Tamara Goulding who has worked with country music groups commented that she thought their standard was very high.

Next, the Sunday afternoon three rivers walk, these are the Skell, Laver and Ure. We had a good turnout with Allan Raymond and Peter Graystone opting to do the full walk of seven miles plus. Our party of a dozen or so plus our dogs waved them goodbye at the bridge where the river Laver meets the River Skell. We continued to the Spa Gardens where there was much relief on seeing a cafe with plenty of outdoor seating. Coffee, tea and cakes were ordered and fully recuperated we set off to walk to the cathedral. Eventually arriving back at the campsite for a rest before the buffet.

Sunday evenings finale started with a splendid buffet and ended with Sheldon’s big fat quiz. The barn was left open every evening for members to just enjoy socialising. It was a warm hub with the raffle table overflowing, excellent photographs on the wall and some really good craftwork displayed by members. We collected £216 for our charity this year which was The Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund. Thank you to everyone who bought raffle tickets.

Although this AGM/ rally was slightly different from previous ones, we hope everyone enjoyed it. Dave and I certainly did !!!

Sue Johnson.  Romaclub Rally Officer.

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It would appear that we had another successful event, judging by some of the comments from members.

Perhaps we slipped up on some things – the main one being not asking anyone to send me a report on the event.

Not to worry, I will try to sum it up.

Learning from members’ suggestions from the Ripon rally, we had a team waiting to welcome Romahomers as they arrived, and guide them to their pitch.

Emma and Brenda awaited them in the marquee with a choice of tea or coffee, and a biscuit, supplied by members. (They had to supply their own cups or mugs though.)
Then they were free to set up their various styles of awnings, tidy their Romahomes and roam around the site, getting ideas and tips from fellow members.

With some long journeys completed, an early night’s sleep seemed to be in order.

Saturday found us having the Roma club’s traditional coffee morning in the marquee. The marquee proved to be `cosy’, unlike the vast ones we hired, when they were paid for by Romahome Ltd, and dealers. The large `beer garden’ tables made it even cosier. Lickhill Manor’s stewards were more than helpful to us throughout the weekend, and more tables were set up adjacent to the coffee extravaganza. The table top sale saw a new, unused Porta Potty sell for an unbelievable £10.00 !!

In the afternoon, the riverside walk to the inland port of Stourport on Severn proved popular.
The evening saw us gathering with our drinks and nibbles for the `Home Grown Entertainment’.
Aly and Derek did a little playlet on the subject of veganism, Derek did a monologue / duet about Adam and Eve, we had Limericks, Peter on his Melodeon and Gerry on his various wind instruments
Having run out of entertainers. Sheldon and Emma started the Karaoke.

Sunday morning found many members at Kath’s `Songs of Praise’ gathering. Members seemed pleased to have this item back on the programme, together with the traditional coffee morning.

More walks to Stourport, with Sunday Roasts being on some schedules.
The marquee found a table top cornucopia of food being shared by us all, and this tasty delight was followed by an enjoyable quiz, produced and presented by Peter, ably assisted by his lady wife, Anne.

Lots of raffle prizes were distributed with all the usual groans about `near misses’. Then, a bit more music to see us to our mobile homes and a night’s rest, ready for the journeys home.

Lots of farewells, a bit of clearing up, and that was it, until the next one.

Thanks to the committee members for the organising, and special thanks to Lickhill Manor stewards, Andy and Jennie who were at our beck and call all weekend, so pleasant, and they couldn’t do enough for us.

Allan.