2011 the highs and lows

Well as i sit here in front of the tv in my pi's on new years eve i was thinking back over what 2011 had to offer so i thought i would blog for the final time this year.

2011 has seen some real highs and some real lows. The year started off pretty normally there  wasn't a lot to be said for January other than going to Camber sands at 4am on new years day!

There we are 4am! 

February saw us travel to Portsmouth for Robyns 21st a couple of days of fun and mainly drinking! A trip like a tourist up the Spinker Tower to stand on the glass floor and a lovely lunch at Pizza Express! The evening consisted of Vodka jelly shots, cake and £5 rounds of drinks! February also saw Lorna's birthday..... An interesting night with a round of golf thrown in! 

Then it was my birthday! A girls day out to Chislehurst caves and a dinner at my FAV restaurant the Smith and Western to celebrate. At least it wasn't a repeat of the previous year where i didn't even get to eat my dinner!

Next in the line of birthday celebrations were the twins and we hit the big smoke for the evening..... Funniest memory from the evening writing love notes to people on the train on the back of McDonalds wrappers! 

Work was just beginning to get interesting, we were open again and i had a new team in place ready to rock and roll and that we certainly did. 

April bought Easter along with it and in the usual fashion work took over my life... we saw 11,000 visitors in 4 days and somehow i managed to chuck myself head first into the wooden fence at work! A lovely trip to a&e to get the splinters removed and a few days off work to get right again, i still can't walk throughout hat archway without feeling a little bit sick to my stomach.....The night before has seen a first, the Scotney social BBQ it was good fun and i of course made the traditional corn on the cobs! But this occasion triggered a new friendship, first time in the 4 walls of Tappings towers and many a story about that particular place to come. I seem to remember i wrote my number on a paper plate, how romantic! :) 

Closely followed by the event of the year the Royal Wedding, big thanks go to the Tappings for the use of their living room to watch certain parts of it! A strange day to be working from memory we didn't see a lot of people that day. Highlight for me.... David Beckham of Course ;) 

In-between the two May bank holidays i managed some R&R from work in the lovely Tenerife, a nice week away chilling out, a fish pedicure, drinking, sun etc the usual! It also contained the first Edwards family golf tournament, i hasten to add that Dad won! 

Unfortunately May also saw one major loss, I sadly lost my Godmother Di as she lost her battle to cancer. I have to say that i couldn't have asked for a more hilarious Godmother she was guaranteed to get a laugh in any situation and she will be greatly missed as a part of my life.  Her funeral and Tea party were touching and moving and it was lovely to see how much she meant to everyone that she had met, i was honoured to be one her godchildren :) 

There we are on my 21st! 

The last Bank Holiday weekend saw the Scotney curse strike down another member of the team when Josie slipped and dislocated her knee, i don't think i've run as fast as i did that ay closely followed by Tapping in hot pursuit. Unfortunately of us it was the worst scenario as neither of us like bones, but Tapping got through it thinking of Kylie, glitter and shoes whilst i managed to keep everyone out of the way and got an Ambulance to us. Next thing i knew i was on my way to a&e in the back on an ambulance...... That saw Josie out of action for a LONG time. 

JUNE- the invention of WET weekends, den building, morris men, Christmas in June..... 

Tori's 21st themed Christmas in June...... 

Major occasion we paid for Ibiza 11. I went out for the first time with a few members of the now named Scotney Massive, we got drunk (standard) and the next day we had a brass band WRONG. Second night out was the Scotney girls..... Tapping squeezing her cabbage comes to mind.... that and pissing twice in about a 2 minute time frame! 

The girls (note Hels in the background) 

July was in one word EPIC. The Scotney Massive did the Hop Farm Festival, we saw Prince who was amazing! I drunk a lot in a stupid attempt to keep up with Mansell, the next day was not pretty! I saw Take That twice

Prince live on stage  

Take That- Wembly Stadium, the first time 

Us girls at Wembly! 

July was then all about the Lesbian break, me and Robyn headed for a fun filled four days, we visited Cadbury World, National Trust properties and Alton Towers. We stayed in some quite frankly dodgy hotels and the Alton Towers hotel. We did the rides, played crazy golf, ate too much, soaked people with buckets of water in Splash Landings and had a good laugh along the way! Heres to next year Rob Rob i think we will struggle to top that AWESOME experience! 

Once i was back it was back out on the town with the Scotney Massive, this time with Tanya as well. Things started so well and ended up with us in a bus stop after everyone else had gone home with Helen still in P&P! A good night again i was quite ill after this night, i blame the long island ice tea in TN4- dangerous stuff! 

 A few members of the SM

Tapping learns to fly! (after one of MANY piss stops) 

July ended on a high river festival, kits, sushi, first Tapping sleepover, Facebook comment of the month Holly Johnson "i didn't expect to end work with Laura Edwards and Mike Lynch trying to cling film me to a chair"! 

August another good month.

It was the month this happened:

A few of you will know what this was about ;)

We had more random evenings at Tapping Towers as the bromance fight on the floor and we venture out to get Kebab to end up in town and then have random conversations with people in sunglasses on the roads! The countdown to Ibiza was on..............

 We get glammed up to go out...

 We drank a LOT 

 We ate a LOT

We took in the view....

We partied hard! 

We Lolled a LOT 

IT also saw a first for the Scotney Castle garden, 600 people, 1 night, some jazz..... 

September was slightly less mental...... 

3 nights of cinema, drunk people hitting on my boss, drunk people eating my McDonalds, dinner at the Tappings, collapsing screens, cold weather, late nights, long days and a lot of laughs! September also saw the creation of Random Fridays. While Andrew was bowling me and Chloe had the most amusing night out EVER! We intended to go to Tamworth but we didn't so we went to Gatwick airport and Brighton! 

Another first the art demo, one Thursday morning, the discovery room, an iron and away we went.... this was the results...... 

What was that i said about less mental, that was until the invite for centre parcs occurred........ 

What can i say about that weekend.... well i only spent one night there but in that time i laughed a lot and drank a lot. We went line dancing that was quite tame but hilarious with Mansell trying to dance in a straight line. Then we went to Hucks for dinner, lovely food. Then we headed off to the forum for some well earned refreshment then it was back to the villa for the 952 villa party of the year! 

Man down! In his own clothes this time though....

"What just happened.........Tappings down" 

"Marilyn what is Mansell wearing....... Thats my jumper" 

The next day i took the Scotney Tearoom staff to Thorpe Park, good day and i was one of the hardcore three, me Truman and Lynch even in the Saw maze :) 

The Noddy arrived!!!!!!

October saw a LOT of dusting in the Scotney house as various people were on holiday, sheepdog trials, BBQ's at the Wingers house, Chocolate Cheesecake made by Wingers himself....... 

Bags packed Spain here we come for a very different holiday, me and my dad set sail on the Pont Avon headed for Santander. 5 days of driving through the mountains, enjoying the scenery and generally having a good time :) 

My fav bike of the whole rally! 

Next was an interesting experience, i decided to organise the Scotney Massive going to Tulleys farm halloween experience...... I was she scared for the whole thing and i don't think i actually looked in any of the experiences...... 

That was it the Tappings, Wingers and Mansell were off to America and that meant i was taking up residency at Tapping Towers to look after the babies....

:) :) :) :) :) 

A very uneventful two weeks other than Xena and Sparkle cuddles, eating, tv, the sofa, more cuddles sleep...... 

In other news Katey and Grant had their little girl Freya she was perfect :) and i carved an awesome pumpkin. 

November excellent TV X factor, Strictly....... 

The only reason to watch X factor! 

Lamberhurst fireworks, nandos, mcdonalds, day trips to London, day trips to France, the start of christmas....... 

It also saw my first trip to the famous Charrington Bowl! 

December was the time we went to central London to pick the chimp up! 

Unfortunately December marked the other massive low of the year which was Xena. Thats enough before i get upset! 

December has seen christmas meals, Tappings birthday celebrations, Christmas with the Tappings, Mandarin, cider, beer, snoring and the comedy duo! 

Thats it 2011 in a nutshell all be it quite a big nutshell. 2012 what does it hold who knows lets find out! I'm hoping fun times, Broomhouses, Moomins and LOL's 

Happy New Year Everyone :) 

El Sardinero

It all began when this time last year dad went off to Spain on the bike, when he came back he was saying how good it was and i decided that i wanted to go the following year. Well that came round quicker than i thought and i finished the work on the Sunday ready for a week and a half off. On the Tuesday morning we were up and getting ready having packed our belongings into boxes that are smaller than the bag i take to work everyday and off we went. The first trip was to Portsmouth, we arrived in good time i have to admit that my bum was some what numb by now, and we went out for lunch with Robyn after the viewing of her lovely new flat which i intend to visit again in the very near future. Unfortunately the boat was delayed for 2 hours due a medical emergency turns out that someone needed to be airlifted off the boat and it had delayed it for 2 hours. We boarded the boat after a long wait to get into the vehicle hold. We found our room which was lovely and i took residence on a top bunk with a view out to sea.

So we were on the boat for 24 hours, we went to the cinema to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean, we ate (a lot), slept, ate and then it was time to get off the boat in Santander. The directions to the hotel were some what limited luckily there was 250 other bikes going to the same hotel! After a small detour we arrived at the hotel, parked in something similar to a military bunker and then made our way to check in. You can imagine what the reception looked like with 500 people trying to check in at once! Our room was lovely and apparently was nicer than the hotel last year. After a quick walk down to the beach that was it bed for the night before the early start the next morning.

Breakfast every day was lovely and consisted of full english, continental, doughnuts, cereal and fresh orange juice. So we ventured out into the mountains every day and drove through some stunning scenery. The roads were awesome, the people were lovely and the bikes were very interesting. We had two formal dinners one was quite uneventful and the other was lets just say interesting... We sat on a table of spanish people who it turns out were with the VIP for the evening and only 1 spoke basic english. It made me realise how bad my spanish is!!!!

The journey home was good, the crossing was smooth and we watched Bridesmaids on the boat, i had forgotten how funny that film was! I'll definitely be going next year and hopefully riding on my own!

Ibiza and the meaning beihnd "952 parties"

I remembered that i hadn't blogged in a long time so here I am in a Spanish hotel with a few hours to kill so what better way to spend them!

So since my last blog there has been Ibiza, it was amazing lots of LOL's, sun and double rings! Most of the days were spent on the beach outside our hotel either lying on the beach or laying in a double inflatable ring just floating out in the sea! One tip wear shoes if you are going swimming in the sea....the rocks are bloody sharp i still have evidence to prove that now! The evenings were spent in various establishments including the famous Mari Pins, BN3,club tropicana, soul city etc. Drinks were ludicrously cheap with a pint of vodka and orange being 6 euros!! Some of the best nights were spent in various 90's bars dancing the night away to lots of songs that you haven't heard in years but can remember the words (and dance routines) to! However the best night by far was Ushuia, Swedish House Mafia, a massive hotel, dancing round the pool, awesome music just plain amazing!  Defiantly somewhere that i want to go again next year!


So I came back from Ibiza nice and brown and dived straight back into work for a busy few weeks....... I then had a random weekend off after having worked some closed days during the week. Chloe and Andrew asked me if i would like to join them, Mansell and their other friends at Center Parcs. So i travelled up on Saturday morning, arrived at Center Parcs mid afternoon, to be questioned like i was going on to a military base! Off i go into the car park to try and find a space, epic fail so i just dumped it on a corner somewhere! I unloaded my bike and waited for the Tappings to come and find me. The afternoon saw us going line dancing, now bear in mind i was sober at this point! It was very amusing and actually good fun, Mansell being the most amusing one to watch as her nearly bundled into one of the speakers! In the evening we got dressed up and headed to hucks for dinner, it was yum! We then went up to the bar and "the forum" drinks were flowing and in the end we were on the dance floor with Jamdrew showing us their moves. Then came the cycle ride home, in the dark with no lights and 12 pissed people wearing inappropriate cycling clothing......*BANG* "What just happened......HA HA HA Tappings down" i turn round to find Tapping (mrs) with her legs in the air rolling round in the dirt! Back to Villa 952 and the party really got started... Mansell in the shower, Chloe stung all over and lost in the woods wearing Masell's shoes, Mansell in a selection of Maz's clothes, Chloe in Maz's pants, Mansell naked in Chloe's PJ's, Mansell naked in general, Dancing on the furniture, John Smiths, line dancing, more john smiths till the early hours of the morning.....The next day in the words of Mick "I'm really going for it tonight!" The term "952 Villa Party" will go down in history!

Since then again been really busy at work with the nice weather causing everyone to want to go out and visit places. We had the cinema which was good fun and also the Jazz in the garden,again really good but hard work.

Thats all for now, the blog about this weeks holiday will be drafted on my 24 hour ferry crossing back to Portsmouth!

GILF's, Drunks, Castle's and Penguins......

Just a quick update tonight to enlighten you all as to the antics of last night. What should have been a simple outing to the cinema (to see a kids film) turned out to be a hilarious evening (as always!).

So we arrived at the cinema to see Mr Popper's Penguins, a nice sweet film. After James nearly fainted at the price and after the first priceless Chloe moment "Would you like Standard or Premier seats?" "Standing???" No Chloe you don't have to stand!! We head for snacks and toilet stops, Chloe buys about 3 bits of pick and mix and i buy the biggest box of popcorn ever......... Cue the next Chloe tapping gem, "i don't think i've ever had popcorn before..." *Pause* "is it just popped corn"....... Mansell is at the counter ordering Cheesy nachos and trying to work out when he can get his next beer fix and is there any way that could be while we were in the cinema.... After a 10 minute wait the boy behind the counter comes back to tell James that there is no cheese........ *Chloe and Me turn and walk away*

We take our seats just behind the empty premier seats, i say we all take our seats, Chloe missed hers and nearly ended up sitting on the floor! A laughing fit ensued. This is an appropriate time to introduce Andrew's arse to the story.... I have NEVER smelt anything like it, and he kept occasionally dropping one in the cinema causing all of us to cover our faces and the people in the row behind to start fanning the air struggling to breathe! Once Mansell finally returns with the cheesy nacho's which by the way were apparently shit! The bromance moved to the row in front (premier seats) Chloe was reluctant incase the seat police came round. The smell continued for the whole of the film, which was actually quite sad, Chloe definitely thought so as she was nearly in tears by the end!

After a beer stop in the Hop House, which was as we described it was "banging" on a Saturday night we headed for Tapping Towers! After compulsory fuss making of Xena and Sparkle we decided we were hungry and that a kebab was a good idea. As the designated driver we piled back into the car, and headed for Wadhurst. We had the Tapping tour on the way pointing out various land marks and houses, one of which was a volunteer from work who shortly after passing her house was described as a GILF.......One stumbling point with this plan, it was late and the kebab shop was shut...... Oh well into Tunbridge Wells we go then. On route we all decided apart from Andrew that we needed a wee, so i dumped the car outside the barn and we strolled in to use their toilets... All i can say is WOW is that what you sound like when you have had a drink, lots of people shouting "i feel really drunk".

A strange experience being in the kebab shop sober and with no stolen/found clothing from the night out!

Back to Tapping Towers we go one hour after we set out in search of food... As we drive past Frant Station a car in front just stops... We beep, they indicate, we pull alongside, "you alright Mate" "yes Why" "Just asking as you have pulled over" "i'm fine fuck off" even stranger he was old and in sunglasses.....Surely nothing else can happen on a journey that lasts 10 minutes..... As we pull into Scotney there is a car pulled up on the side of the road, as we pull alongside (like security guards) someone gets out and flags us down "can you help me i'm lost, i'm looking for Castle Street Tonbridge" All of us in unison "Well thats not here", confusing directions were given and the poor guy left in search of Tonbridge... Very odd. Andrew tried to get his laptop to work for AGES and then we had the photo humiliation for Jamie, Bless him! After being fascinated by the riots in London, and with the alternative commentary from Chloe. Who in her own words "Can read it better than her on the TV". At 2:30 i thought i should probably make a move as i was working today :( Another hilarious and full of utter randomness evening with the Scotney Massive!

The snacks :)

Xena and Sparkle waiting for kebab :)

Most used word of the night- Bellend

In other news, work was dull, it rained (I hate the rain!), I had pasta for dinner and i go to Ibiza in 5 DAYS :)

Alloy wheels............What wheels with no rubber?

So two days off and what did i do with them......

Monday involved crazy golf and visiting Pickle and Tuesday was just a whole load of fun :) We packed a picnic loaded the car with everything you could think of including a Winnie the Pooh football and headed to Camber. The journey was amusing as i wasn't really sure on where i was going and managed to somehow stumble into Rye and then find signs for Camber! Bear in mind the last time i went it was pitch black and it was 4am on new years day, i was drunk and drinking champagne on the beach! We couldn't see where we were going and just ran until we hit water... Good times. Anyway back to Tuesday we parked in the Donkey car park and proceeded to walk up the steepest hill in the world, i thought my calves were going to... well i don't know but they bloody hurt. Ben was carrying the picnic that turned out to be really heavy due to the amount of diet coke i had stuffed in the bottom...... I didn't want to get dehydrated!

we pitched up once getting everything out and sorted we paddled in the sea to cool down and then started tucking into the food and listening to the radio when we turned round to see that the tide was coming in at a rapid rate and was about to get us soaking wet.... We picked everything up including the sunshelter tent and moved camp.... again we set up sat down and got ready to catch some rays, when again the tide came in this time that was it i was moving a long way back so third time lucky we had our space and we weren't moving Ben however decided that he was staying where he was and built himself a sand wall to stop the water...... he did manage to stay dry but looked like he had no friends as we all sat  behind him......

The day turned into football, volleyball (we weren't very good), swimming, sunbathing, digging holes, burying Ben, making castles, Frisbee, perving over over topless men and watching the DILF. The drive home was much less stressful following the signs and with my interesting national trust property commentary all the way back!

The snacks

The camp!

Wheres Ben!

Today however back to reality and back to a lonely office which looked like a bomb had hit whilst i hadn't been there! 

It was strangely busy and too hot at one point i thought i was about to burst into flames from the heat. It didn't help having to move the shop delivery....... but thats another story! We had bets on code 2's and other amusing scenarios managed to appear throughout the day. Cups of tea were drunk, cans of diet coke were opened and lots of banter was exchanged obviously because we all hate each others guts....... 

The most amusing conversation being had between Tel, Tapping Tanya and me regarding Tappings new car...... Amongst the conversations was the alloy wheel debate in which Tapping admitted that she wasn't really sure on what they were and i tried my hardest to explain that it's a metal wheel etc etc for her to say what a metal wheel with no rubber...... What can i say about that! She will also be the next F1 driver because clearly they are really easy to drive and exactly the same as her Corsa...... 

I would also love to see Tapping try and change the wheel on her car with a screwdriver in her own words "just a flat head screwdriver you know just unscrew the wheels and take them off"

The evening ended in a nice leisurely walk around the garden with the Tapping Trio, Xena panting like a small dog at the back having walked the longest distance ever in the heat, me and Andrew talking about Fiat 500's and Chloe just being Chloe! 

The Tapping's 

Oh and 9 days till Ibiza!

Jager Bomb, Jager Bomb, Jager Bomb

Jager bombs very dangerous things!

So it's Friday night you are going in town with friends from work whats the worst that could happen..............

I arrive by Porsche courtesy of Helen Smith, by the way i will only now travel by Porsche! Good start to the evening we meet Ross and Nicola and my downward spiral starts...... TN4- Long Island Ice Tea (containing 5 shots) Champagne Mojitos.......... Led down a dark Alley that actually turned out to be a very steep slope by Andrew Tapping...... The Other Tapping (mrs) appear making some very odd noises after nearly stacking it on several occasions due to her selection of footwear! We arrive at the last post just about in one piece... the sign on the door read "over 30's" it's been a while since i've worried about not being able to get into places.... it turns out that our party nearly doubled the amount of people in the place so i think they were happy for the custom...... Double Vodka's....... The staggering continues to P&P whilst screaming at James Mansell as he ran down the road to rekindle the Bromance.

More double vodkas, jager bombs, shots, more double vodkas.............. It's a strange concept when you see people in a completely different light for those of you who attended the evening you will know who i mean..... Helen was enjoying herself on the dance floor and then was joined by Mr T who threw some pretty awesome shapes :) After many toilet stops (for the Tapping), one of which James joined us in the ladies toilets this was shortly before he was asked not to even though in his own words "it's alright mate i know these two"

Helen stayed put we left in search of the kebab shop, Andrew ran ahead to order the food and we staggered (and yes i do mean that) towards the bottom of the hill, with me wearing Helen's cashmere as a headdress and behaving in a very irresponsible manner! Tapping fell to the floor in a very elegant fashion and the street pastors asked us if we were ok, offering flip flops which in hindsight we should have just taken for amusement value more than anything! This led to what shall only be described as a very interesting sit in a bus stop and then journey home!

The next day however was a totally different ball game.......... i now know what the feeling is when you wake up and can't move your head because you think you might just puke everywhere... i very cautiously made it downstairs, showered and into some form of outfit for work. Saw the night befores kebab in reverse and then drove (i actually don't know how) into work. I can safely say i felt grim all day and i'm not sure how i made it to the end of the day!!!! Especially when everyone else was off and recovering.

I think i remember the line "i'm never drinking like that again..." (we all know thats a lie!)

The Saturday night meant i was going out again this time to a festival in a field, strange concept but for a good cause and to support a good friend so all in all good fun :)

The week at work has been odd with bullies and people who we clearly all hate.....

Thursday night saw us descend upon Tunbridge Wells again, this time for Jim Stapely's gig at Trinity. A good fun night was had with The Tapping and Hels, after Kitsu (YUM) we headed for the Trinity to watch Jim. I have to say this because he is a friend but i do genuinely mean it he is a brilliant performer and i enjoyed every part of the evening... i enjoyed it even more once the drunks started falling about and providing the entertainment :)

Friday saw a day of practical jokes on Terry, wheelchairs, Tappings Backdoor trouble, people being sick, people needing help in toilets, prep for theatre productions, last days and lots of laughs.... Canterbury tales were........... interesting shall we say, not my cup of tea but the customers definitely seemed to enjoy it :) the evening was topped off by a trip to Tapping Towers. Which evolved into a late night/early morning looking at pictures and telling tales, i have to say very enjoyable and much needed after the excitement of previous events! Even if it did mean i got three hours sleep before work! (it was worth it for the Xena cuddles :)

My curse of having to attend first aid hasn't ended today saw me attending another one, there is something about Sundays.... This time it was in the house, just as me and George were about to have our compulsory "catch up" tea the radio goes "Chloe to George" odd as Chloe wasn't due to be working "the pager is going for the Red Bedroom" (you can hear the pager going nuts in the background) George disappears off and then comes back for me as it's first aid for a collapsed customer, who then proceeds to tell me that she feels really sick. All i can think is SHIT we are in the house please don't be sick on the carpet, walls, beds, books or ME. Luckily the Gooderson/Edwards combo got her outside before she puked everywhere. I do love dealing with customers sick and then writing pages of boring paperwork because people aren't responsible and sit in the sun and get sunstroke!

Later on i get a call from the car park about a volunteer who has left their dog in the car, i go to visit the car park and the dog i quote "i say dog it was big enough to ride" was going nuts in the back of the car. Off i go to find George to help me track down the ponies owners..... This lead to a casual chat in the corridor by the back door of the house, where we discussed the new Scotney rule...

Any pets big enough to be ridden must not be bought with you to work!

Tapping tries her new party trick!

Xena waiting for bedtime at about 2:30am

Yummy dinner 

Helen and Where's Wally at the gig! 

Days of Peace with a little bit (ok a lot) of war mixed in!

I felt so strongly about this that i will have blogged twice in one day! Today i went to the War and Peace show at the Hop Farm. As most of you will know from my many stories i worked there for what felt like forever but was in fact 5 years of my life! Therefore working 5 of these "different" events. Going today as a visitor was bringing back so many memories most of which good ones!

I remember in the beginning 2004 little or no knowledge of the event, loads of customers, our own special T-Shirts, litter picking (with Bert who at the time was the scariest man alive but was a big softy once you got to know him!) and generally just feeling really tired.

In 2005 i was part of the "Cru" we were and always will be the best set of staff that the Hop Farm will ever know and it was officially the best place to work. Again T-shirts issued we were poised on our tills in reception waiting to open the automatic doors at opening time! With a queue back down to the car park. 2005, saw the competition begin between two teams, myself and Ellen and Nancy and Amy, the competition was on to collect as many free items as possible from around the show whilst litter picking and trying to avoid Bert who if he caught you slacking would find you some horrible job to do! This was also the year Dieter thought it was hilarious to put me in the NAFFI shop, not so funny for me early starts and late finishes selling fags to people in fake uniforms carrying guns...... I think this may have been the first year that i attended the party on the Sunday evening although we didn't really know a lot of people at this point!

2006 saw the invasion of Simon Hume-Kendall, Debbie and Jan. Not really knowing a lot about these people, i worked in reception again by this point properly knowing what i was talking about, doing the currency exchange in the reception. I remember fondly starting at 7am every day getting set up and getting all the tills out of the safe room and then staying till the end cashing them all up.... I didn't really know a lot about Debbie and Jan at this point apart from they were running around in security uniforms acting like they knew everything and collecting money off us. Debbie had hired a campervan that was parked outside reception on the grass, we sat there and ate noodles one night after we had locked up, i seem to think that was the night that Debbie did her knee in, working the night shift and then couldn't walk the following day! The start of a friendship that would very much have an impact on my life ...... although there have been some rough patches i'm glad i made the choices that i did........

2007 my favourite year by this point i had my SIA license i had the stab vest and i was ready to see a whole other side of the show! I moved in to the caravan on the Saturday before the show and then duty began patrolling, checking on entrances, fences, campers etc. Then the show days began, more patrolling, plenty of eating, lots of cooking, lots of laughter and excellent company in Malcolm's swamp, especially with the pole dancing and radio war and peace the explicit version as well as good time in the Barmy Army encampment. Then the public days began, Red official shirt and the day job to do running the admissions in the day and then the black security uniform in the evening. Working from 6am in the morning when the officials breakfast and briefing began until the bars shut the following morning at 3am for 5 days solid. Sorting out fights in bars, sleeping on loads of money, First aid, getting up in the middle of the night not knowing what the hell is going on, gas and air consumption with the one and only Medix team and lots of funny moments. Best of all quad biking in the arena once everyone else has gone obviously checking all was "safe". The weather was grim the ground was like a mud bath but the spirit of the show remained and all was well at Beltring. The party this year was something else, the best of the best, everyone was there and i had the free drink vouchers always a winner. It was a good night although the drink went straight to my head having had about 15 hours sleep over the past 5 days! Debbie my partner in crime didn't make it to the party, she was too tired but me Katey and Kate stayed in the caravan that night, i seem to remember they all got sent home from work the next day for being too hungover/drunk?!? This was after Kate fell asleep on the grass outside!

2008 was to be my final War and Peace and i only managed the run up security duties and the first public day before i was rushed into hospital direct from the show........ However i could feel it changing it wasn't the same Debbie was about to have Charlie, Reception was being run by others and Jon Rush was after my job! The 5th and final War and Peace actually marked the end of my time there and i have to say there were a lot of other tales of War and Peace that aren't suitable to be told on here!

Fantastic memories and what a show to be a part of you don't realise what goes into it until you get under it's skin and made one of the team!

Booking in, yes it was slightly damp, somebody crashed into someone else because they couldn't stop!

Dinner in the luxury of the freelander aka death trap

The 2007 team :) 

They do take it a bit far sometimes!