And now from the first-timers... On each camp I attend, I always wonder what ‘first-timers’ think of it all, so this time I asked them. Here are some of their comments...

Site “They’re obviously not going to repair that, are they?” “Wow! This needs pulling down and starting again” “It looks like someone has sliced the wall with a Samuria sword” “Knock it down before it falls down!” “I’ll get my new boots muddy!” “Mud everywhere”

Alan Lines

Accommodation “This is different!” “It’s nicer than the website picture” “It’s kind of what I expected” “What have I let myself in for?” “It’s a hall!”

Casting the first ‘step’ of the bywash weir

Catering possibly want (they probably had ‘4ork candles’ had we asked) and knowledgeable staffbut would they have the sort of peeler Linda wanted? Yes they would. In fact, they had a display of 6 (SIX) ranging from £1.79 to £4.99 with fancy names of Julienne Peeler, French Peeler, 2 in 1 peeler, Speed Peeler, and Professional Peeler. Linda settled for a £1.99 job, and what’s more it was called ‘The Lancashire Peeler’. We hadn’t realised peelers had names, and whilst Linda is a Yorkshire Lass she does have affiliations with that area the other side of the Pennines, and besides, it was exactly the type she was looking for. Sorted! You now know where to go for a potato peeler! Friday was my ‘demob’ day as I had to be elsewhere on Saturday, but I’m sure that it would have followed a familiar pattern. No doubt that diggers would have dug, rollers rolled, mixers mixed, dumpers dumped and barrowers barrowed. Thank Kirsty for guiding me in my tasks, and for wanting for everyone to be happy and safe. It was an unusual camp in that free alcohol was available early in the week including whisky,

“Amazing!” “Better than I expected”

WRGies “Very friendly” “Such a variety of different stories” “I was amazed by the trust they had in me to operate equipment after training” Archers schnapps and a motley collection of bottled beers – some were date expired but all went down well enough, though the Wheatsheaf pub in the village still benefited from numerous visits. The future of ‘The Wall’ was not known at this camp end, and this is not a technical report. I certainly realise that to say something like ‘they built a new spill weir’ is very much simplifying things and not acknowledging the tremendous effort which goes into restoration. Well done campers, even if you haven’t had a mention above! Richard Tyler

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