Thanks!

[retromk11]

I would like to say a massive thanks on behalf of me and my dad whom I bought a ticket for the show for his birthday like I do every year, to all the RRG15 staff and organizers, again you have put on an amazing show full of epic people and an ace variety of retro waggons.

I would like to say a massive thanks to Ian (bstardchild?) the chap who ran the hill, like every year your dedication to the task and making sure everyone else is having an amazing time is second to none and despite it curse word it down you kept smiling and kept the hill moving. Thank you, you are a legend!

Dad was very pleased to have his car (silver Audi Coupe) picked for the hill for the first session and was very grateful to complete all 3 runs which he credits the staff and hill organizers for.

thanks to all, without your hard work we (RRG15 goers) wouldn't have good memories and retro mogos up to 11.

[bstardchild]

Aug 25, 2015 7:41:19 GMT retromk11 said:

I would like to say a massive thanks to Ian (bstardchild?) the chap who ran the hill, like every year your dedication to the task and making sure everyone else is having an amazing time is second to none and despite it curse word it down you kept smiling and kept the hill moving. Thank you, you are a legend!

Thanks for that but I'm never happy to be singled out as it was a team of people that made the "Hill" and the "Gathering" work and it wouldn't happen without all of them working bloody hard. So whilst it's nice to be mentioned it's much fairer for people to thank the whole team rather than individuals

Aug 25, 2015 7:41:19 GMT retromk11 said:

Dad was very pleased to have his car (silver Audi Coupe) picked for the hill for the first session and was very grateful to complete all 3 runs which he credits the staff and hill organizers for.

Last year same arrangement one group got two runs the other got 3 - Telling the group that only got 2 runs that I couldn't get them another was one of the worst things I have had to do.

This year we lost 45 mins in total time in the morning and yet we finished 15 mins earlier than planned and both groups got the full 3 runs.

Looks like we learnt a few lessons and made some improvements and we will do that again for the next one.

[kevfromwales]

It was, quite simply fantastic

Every single bit of it - thanks to david, si, ian, keefy, tash, the utterly helpful lady with tash in the sign on booth, erm, the chap who sheltered in the sentry box on saturday night with dave, si and me, the SUPER helpful and friendly security blokes, the guy in the purple shirt (track owner?) And the guys with the jamaican food stall witb the awesome burgers

Everybody who donated tat, and everyone who bid, if you missed it we nailed 1300 quid, which is frankly amazing

And thanks to everyone who turned up and made the show

Same again next year?

Although, david, if you can make it not clash with the green man festival, so I don't get in trouble next year, that'd be great!

[deaddave72]

I have to put in my thanks here as well. Especially to MonzaPhil and the others who helped me getting back in the hearse when i was retarded enough to lock the keys in it on a supply run to tescos.... yeah breaking into a hearse in tescos car park was a sight I'm curse word with names but you all know who you are and i doff my cap to your assistance. I'm hiding a key on the car soon to stop a repeat experience)

[MrSpeedy]

It was superb. That's all there is too it really.

Excellent organisation, security was a far superior team to last year, toilets were pretty good for a campsite too tbf.

The paddock and hillclimb organisation was very slick, so massive thanks to bstardchild and team for that, although I couldn't understand why the cars that were running the hill were made to queue all the way around to the main entrance instead of using the service road which we used last year?!?!
(I made myself look a bit of a cock when I drove past the queue to get to the service road, only to be told we weren't using that and had to reverse back!)

First time I've done the Friday through to Sunday. Frankly, I can't see any other way to do it now!

Just a shame it washed out on the Afternoon and I was stuck on the campsite waiting for the RAC, so couldn't even mooch about in the rain

[penski]

Glad to see you made it home - did the Merc make it back?

*n

[LowStandards]

[bstardchild]

Aug 25, 2015 9:31:58 GMT MrSpeedy said:

The paddock and hillclimb organisation was very slick, so massive thanks to bstardchild and team for that, although I couldn't understand why the cars that were running the hill were made to queue all the way around to the main entrance instead of using the service road which we used last year?!?!
(I made myself look a bit of a cock when I drove past the queue to get to the service road, only to be told we weren't using that and had to reverse back!)

I'll give it a week and then I'll do a thread for Hill Climb feedback and please can you can chuck that into the mix - what I would say is the Paddock was open on the Sunday morning from 7.15 - 45 mins before the main show field was open to help get people in before the queues started.

I had planned to see if those morning session people (who were camping) wanted to get their cars in on Saturday late afternoon in "pole position" because I was aware that just maybe people moving cars in the campsite before 8am might upset a few people but other activities "broke me" on Saturday and I was in no fit state to do that.

I ended up walking the length of the longest queue on Sunday morning pulling out any cars that were clearly displaying their "Paddock Pass" and getting them to jump the queue so we could start on time which we did "just"

The other issue is we were a man down - yes we can run it with two - and we had offers of help as always but we can't be as flexible or clever with two as we can with three

Lessons to be learned - yes we have some of those and most of them you won't have spotted (I hope) but we have them noted down and hope to have constructive feedback so we can improve the "hill element" of the show for the next one.

1st year is always difficult/frustrating and we make lots of mistakes
2nd year always much better (with lessons from the first year learned)
3rd year that's when it's proper slick and it runs like clockwork

Going away from the hill bit as someone mentioned security - it was the same team as last year - They had the same lessons learned and adapted and it's great to see they are also getting positive feedback too - I think they did a great job

[bnptrs]

Thanks Ian and crew as well - first time I've done the hill and didn't feel lost as to what I was doing throughout. Had hell of a laugh.

The Marshall's were nice guys too, I've been to some track/drag events and they've come across as very strict whereas it seemed at RRG everyone respected them and were sensible enough and got it back in return.

Now to do more work to the car, more power and try get onto the hill next year with even more confidence.

[Speedman]

Aug 25, 2015 9:09:31 GMT kevfromwales said:

Everybody who donated tat, and everyone who bid, if you missed it we nailed 1300 quid, which is frankly amazing

Excellent work as ever Kev and the team. I've hooked up with James from Autosport and looking forward to their show in January.

[sowen]

A big thanks from me for making another memorable show

Campsite was fantastic, all staff (security and RR) were fantastic, show was fantastic, weather was less than fantastic on the day but Friday/Saturday were fantastic!

And most of all the people were fantastic, great to bump into old friends, make new friends and have random chats with all manner of strangers!

All in all it was fantastic

Already can't wait for RRG'16

[espritv8]

Yeah a big thanks to all the guys and gals that made it happen! and also a big thanks to everyone who came and showed their cars, vans, pickups and bikes! and to everyone who uploaded and shared the pics and videos. Second year for me and its always nice to see new stuff, chat to old and new friends. Hope to do it again next year and bring my next project along too.

[Maxxxer]

I can only echo what everyone else has said - a great time had by myself and fellow RR'ers!

Typically for me i built myself up to it all year, enjoy it, then am on a downer afterwards (still am) that it's all over for another year.
Granted the weather wasn't great, but at least it was warm all weekend; I recall last year after nightfall it got pretty chilly, so it was a bonus to still be sitting around in shorts at midnight.
(And to be fair, i don't think anyone could have predicted 'that' storm on Saturday night, particularly with a mini twister coming down two fields away...!)

The security was much improved over last year (although I didn't have any issues with them previously, they did seem much more friendly this year), and although we didn't get bin bags on entry, we still managed to clear everything away into a (huge) bag we bought or firewood in, which got towed to the skip on Sunday.

The cars were awesome as usual, and it is still the friendliest event I know. Next year I really must make more of an effort to get around the show field and speak to folk; i always end up being too introvert with people i don't know (and yet probably chat with regularly on here!).

Thinking back it was a right laugh all weekend, and thanks to Nomad for selling me the scooter- i did have a little ride down the hill climb on the Saturday, and i confirm the brakes do need a little adjustment   Still, I made it down in one piece, and it also helped me to scoot back to the campsite to get our sofa's under the tarp before the storm came...

Also, apologies to anyone who was stood in my vicinity at the Tat Auction - I was the chump who was unable to stand up straight...and not because I was drunk either, just couldn't keep my balance!  I blame the scooter ride earlier in the day...

So lessons for me for next year?

1. Bring a tent with vents in, as i was cooking in my huge but old canvas tent.
2. Breakfast wraps - bought instead of baps for Sunday morning - fit more in with less bread. Brilliant.
3. Meet more people.
4. Take more photo's.
5. Get up early enough on Sunday to avoid the queue when driving to the show field.
7. Not throw plastic wrapping on the firepit - it melts, and when removed (and flung carelessly) it sticks to skin and can hurt apparently (sorry again LowStandards!)


So - here's to next year; roll on RRG16 

[rustempire]

Many thanks.

Since first coming 3 years ago RR Gathering has been the only show of the year I feel I must attend and nothing changed this year.

I love the combination of an eclectic mix of cars plus all the sight, sounds and smells that make the dynamic element of the hill.

Thanks to all that arranged and made the event. Special mention to the marshall with the start line chock who stood there in constant rain completely unphased by any kind of tyre warming madness going on behind him.

Oh and the stand ladies who rescued my RR by selling me a 2 quid plastic poncho, thereby facilitating my climb up the hill in the rain to spectate without getting ill afterwards.

Roll on RR 2016, I might actually have a note worthy car to take but I won't be holding my breath...............

Rob