Letter from Langley Camping 1960 Jean and I had a dormobile 12 seater camper that converted into a double bed in the back,so Jean decided to convince her sister Meme and her husband Doug to come camping with us, a circula r route of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, moving on daily. So we bought a two man tent and sleeping bags for Meme and Doug. , Jean and I were going to sleep in the van. After about four hours driving we arrived at our first camp site,Cheddar,right in the middle of the village a lovely flat field with quite a large river flowing through , so we pitched about fifteen feet from the river it took about an hour to put the tent up having never put it up before ,we never had a clue as to where the poles went or what shape the tent was,anyway it was final yup,by then Meme was gasping for a cup of tea,so I put the kettle on it was a methylated spirit stove (the latest thing) crap it took well over half an hour to boil,by then Meme is clutching her throat and saying she was dying of thirst,so the tea was made and stood brewing,I put the kettle back on to boil for a top up,looked at the stove no flame ,run out of meths so I got the bottle tipped it into the stove(((( BLOODY HELL )))))the bottle caught fire ( the sun shining on the flame made it invisible )by then my hands on fire as well (WOW )so I threw the bottle into the air in sheer panic ,it came down on the tent ( SHIT ) setting it on fire ( OH NO ) Meme calmly picked the tea pot up and poured it on the flames putting them out,(only a small hole )so we had to start again another long half hour with a parched throat. This was Memes and Dougs first holiday ever ,never slept in a tent before so it was quite a new experience for them So off to bed Ding Dong, Ding Dong, the church clock about a hundred yards away ,every quarter of an hour Ding Dong Ding Dong,and on the hour the full works and the time!!!!(. One oclock two oclock then a loud whisper Doug Doug what theres something outside scratching What about it ? Go out and see what it is. oh bloody hell Zip down zip up, another loud whisper Doug what is it ? How the hell do I know its as dark as a hedge out here, Im coming back in zip up zip down ,at least five minutes of swearing and muttering ,then oh Christ Im going for a walk I cant get in my sleeping bag Zip up zip down. Doug is now in the village looking in the shops when two figures appear behind him,Ello Ello Ello what ave we ere ? Sir casing the joint are we ? No Im not I cant get back into my sleeping bag. A likely story sir show us so they escort him back to the tent,and tell him it would be better for everyone if he got in the tent and went to sleep and left the patrolling to them, That was the first day after that there were all sorts of incidents,like going down Porlock Hill a one in four brakes on all the way down drums. Red hot all the HT grease melted and buggered the brakes completely,so it was jack the van up all four wheels and drums off syphon a gallon of petrol and wash the shoes !!! It was a regular occurrence after that every two or three days just like routine maintainence,only draw back was my hands dried out and my finger tips split! The holiday two weeks , was I suppose quite hectic moving on every day was quite a challenge and with all the other things added on I was glad to go back to work and have a rest.. PS Meme and Doug never went camping again ,and I could never figure out why !!!
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:29:36 +0000