The XR4Register at Stoneleigh Country Festival - Sat 29th/Sun 30th/Mon 31st August 2009

Friday:
Stand setup; Bob and Kirsten set the caravan up at the back of the stand as usual and the marquee went up next to it. It wouldn't be T&C without the inflatable cone which was positioned in the middle of the stand and given a bit of a spring clean. The PA system was put in the marquee and as ever Bhav supplied the 'interesting' array of music and all the other stuff was unloaded ready for Saturday morning.

Saturday:
We got the cars lined up nice and early. We had Bhav's 5.0 XR8 and 2.0 XR4i, Gengis's 2.9 XR4x4 Twin Turbo and 4.0 XR4i 4x4, Bob's 2.9 XR4x4, Dave's 3.7 supercharged XR4x4, John's 3.0 XR4x4 Twin Turbo, Pete Hallam's 2.8 XR4x4, Pete Doyle's 5.0 XR4i, Ross's 2.8 supercharged XR4x4 and Ralph's Fiesta ST, we were also joined later in the weekend with Richard's 2.9 Twin Turbo XR4x4. As usual there was a flurry of sponges and polishing cloths as the cars were made to sparkle.

As is customary, we had the traditional Saturday evening barbecue, driven this year by the return of Roscoe. Plenty of sausages, burgers as well as chicken wings, drumsticks and Chinese spare ribs were enjoyed by all. These were accompanied by corn on the cob and some lovely red onions, baked in balsamic vinegar and honey, courtesy of Rachel. We certainly are becoming gourmets when it comes to the old Barbie. This was all assisted down the hatch with a vast supply of selection of beers, wines and spirits. To which Bob & Dave sampled the usual Southern Comfort and once again were sloshed and as ever Bob 'bless him' had to retire early to sleep it off!!. Although they were accompanied this year by Roscoe who with help from Pikey found the cider stall all too quickly and were on the Suicider, which proved interesting to say the least when they attempted to put their tents up at 1pm in the morning by car headlights!.

Sunday:
Most of us went for a mooch around the rest of the show, unfortunately this show seems to be getting smaller each year which is a shame. There was the usual range of car clubs, with the Land Rover owners featuring a Land Rover which had sunk into the ground. This was animated as well, with cries for help from a man also sunk into the mud with bubbles coming up from the exhaust. The main arena was hosting various events, a motorcycle display team and the Big Foot monster trucks crushing cars.

A change of venue was in order for our after show meal out, we ventured slightly further afield this year, going to Taybarns in Coventry. This is another all you can eat restaurant. There was Italian and Mexican as well as a carvery and a large selection of desserts which Pete D sampled as many as he could, although he had no more room for the chocolate fudge cake with hot choc fudge sauce which Caz & Bhav found later mmmm.

Monday
More of the same roaming around the stalls, sampling more suicider. Richard arrived with his 2.9 XR4x4 Twin Turbo which we slotted onto the stand. We also had a visit from Kev, Claire, Paris and Joel. Some of us went on the 4x4 experience course, this year, there was a mini bus to ferry us up to the course and back. Unfortunately we had to go past the cider stall on the way back to the stand and couldn't resist the temptation for pints of Suicider, Perry-litic and Diesel. At 3pm we all walked up to the main arena to watch the vehicle parade and Concours presentations. Gengis did us proud, by winning 1st place in the Modified class. The best stand award went to the Land Rover Owners.

After the show ended, our crew started to leave in dribs and drabs with the die hards staying til the bitter end. We had another barbie to use up the left over food and then wrapped everything up and packed it all back into the cars.

Another great show for us this year, there were still less traders than in previous years but there did seem to be a lot of people there, especially on the Monday.

Once again, many thanks to all who displayed their cars on our stand. Also to those members who took part and helped with the shifting of all the equipment and cars and thanks to the public for coming to share in our appreciation of our cars.