BENZ ON THE GREEN - Tell us your thoughts.

[BlackC55]

We didn't have an order to leave PCS, in fact some people didn't know we were leaving I don't think. Also we were so far split up that recognising the car behind wouldn't work, you'd just have a queue of irate drivers beeping you from behind because you're sat at an empty junction not moving! The route needs to be almost entirely right of way for us, so avoid roundabouts and right turns, throwing in some dual carriageway allows a slow lane 1 crawl to allow for catching up too. When I've done them before we made sure those with 2-way radios were mixed into the pack so they could call up and ask the group to stop if they got held up - also much hilarity with trucker slang

I did come out and shout rather loudly that the drive out was leaving and spoke to as many people as I could about who were the lead cars. Thankyou to Andy and Ian by the way for stepping in last minute to do that!
the leaving time was quite well published in my email...so people should have been keeping a look out, if they werent then I'm afraid that is their own fault! Myself and a guy whos name I sadly dont know, stopped the traffic on the the road so you could all get out, the rest is up to you guys I'm afraid! Markers etc is a good idea and I will have re-think for next year.

 

[BlackC55]

^^ What they said ^^

PLUS





It would have been helpful if name badges were worn by everyone. I thought we all got name tags on lanyards, but very few were actually wearing them. I don't know but maybe that's because most established members felt that 'everyone knows me, I don't need to advertise who I am' but obviously that's not the case.
As a new member it was the first time that I had met anyone from the forum. I did manage to identify a few people but that was only by asking them while speaking to them. And I know I can hear some of you saying 'that is how adults communicate' but for me it's not always the easiest of things to ask without sounding like a rookie stalker.
I met numerous friendly people, but I still don't know who they were
Maybe that is just my issue/problem for not being an outgoing person, but a little help would have been appreciated.

Just my £0.02 worth.

Great day out, thank you all.


EDIT: I'm Richy by the way

hi Richy, thanks for your comments. Were you pre-registered? I dont recognise your forum name but huge apologies if you were and didnt get a lanyard. Everyone pre-registered and prepaid to park on the field as per the original post in the event thread, had a lanyard.

Really pleased you had a good day overall and hope to see you back next year

 

[BlackC55]

I wore my lanyard with pride, but whether or not others wore them, the chances of me remembering their names are close to zero. Not just age, I can always remember dogs' names, but not humans. Sublimated misanthropy I suspect.

Echo food and drink comments - apart from a tea and coffee stall how about adding soft drinks to that list - they could come from the pub, but it would ease off queue pressure in the pub. Ice creams / lollys too.

hi Charles,

So pleased you had a good day. Soft drinks from the pub is a very good idea! Maybe they could supply cans/bottles and we could sell them on the table with tea and coffee. Tea&coffee from us so money to charity from those and soft drinks separate pot to go to the pub.
See, comments = plans for improvement!

We had an ice cream van last year and it didnt go that well, I ended up with lots in my freezer which was a shame...
Typically it was baking this year so probably would have gone down well!

 

[st13phil]

I said the same. I said it first nur nur

Being pedantic, you described the "Ambulance Escort" system, which is not appropriate for civilian use; I described a marker system that doesn't rely upon blocking non-participant traffic at junctions

 

[BlackC55]

Had a great day last time and I was really impressed with the organisation that must have gone into the event. We all know these things don't go smoothly without a lot of effort being put-in.

The big thing that was awkward for me was the parking. When my back was turned, I got trapped-in and couldn't go home when I planned to. Two hours of asking around and eventually giving up and having another pint!

I can think of worse places to be "trapped" but next time, some thought to marking-out the parking spaces, rather than the semi-random approach, would be really useful.

I am so sorry this happened. The parking is very carefully planned out although I know it doesnt look like it (organised chaos is the look we go for) and has been tweaked from last year to prevent that from happening, but you should not have been blocked in so apologies. If there is ever an issue again at BOTG then please do ask a member of staff/helper and we will try to get it resolved. We had a microphone and big speakers so could have asked the vehicles to be moved.
Hopefully we will see you again nexy year

 

[23 Romeo Tango]

hi Richy, thanks for your comments. Were you pre-registered? I dont recognise your forum name but huge apologies if you were and didnt get a lanyard. Everyone pre-registered and prepaid to park on the field as per the original post in the event thread, had a lanyard.

Really pleased you had a good day overall and hope to see you back next year

Natacha,

Sorry if I wasn't too clear. I had a name tag and lanyard and wore it all day. I guess you never recognised the forum name because at the time of the meet my handle was 7oddy, I've since changed my user name to what I have now and before anyone asks, no I didn't have the operation to go with it.

Again, a great day out and I'm getting better at the board game 'guess who'

 

[Doodle]

The big thing that was awkward for me was the parking. When my back was turned, I got trapped-in and couldn't go home when I planned to. Two hours of asking around and eventually giving up and having another pint!

I can think of worse places to be "trapped" but next time, some thought to marking-out the parking spaces, rather than the semi-random approach, would be really useful.

Were you down towards the bottom corner too? I had to try and 17-point-turn my way past an errant E-class that had "appeared" in front of us towards the latter stages of the day.

 

[BlackC55]

Natacha,

Sorry if I wasn't too clear. I had a name tag and lanyard and wore it all day. I guess you never recognised the forum name because at the time of the meet my handle was 7oddy, I've since changed my user name to what I have now and before anyone asks, no I didn't have the operation to go with it.

Again, a great day out and I'm getting better at the board game 'guess who'

Ah! That makes sense and yes I do remember the forum name 7oddy!

 

[brucemillar]

So my suggestion of everybody changing their name by 'Deed Poll' to Bruce could be a winner. Takes me back to those early Monty Python sketches - Bruce - Rule 1.

 

[23 Romeo Tango]

Then we wouldn't need name tags or 200 tags with Bruce on.

 

[BlackC55]

Then we wouldn't need name tags or 200 tags with Bruce on.

that would make my life a lot easier...lets do it!!!

 

[BIG UN]

As per usual, great day & once again Olly got the weather. Food? Well what can I say? For that price, as a Northerner id expect a 3 course meal. So I went for a curry with Ringway & Charles on the way home. I did have my name tag on But i'm guessing it was quite obvious who I was? Like Dave I didn't go on the drive out as the 400+ round trip on the day is enough for me.

 

[MD5]

This was my second BOTG day, and it's not as popular as it is for no reason, so thanks again to all involved for an enjoyable day.

Most of the comments citing improvements relate to the pub management itself, and it's up to the Landlord to maximise his potential from the increased footfall, although I've always thought that cars and pub meets are a conflict of interest. Setting up a secondary outdoor kitchen can't be easy, unless they give it regular use throughout the summer.

One thing I do wonder is how the pub would cope if we didn't have the weather we've enjoyed when I've been? If the heavens opened up, I think the bar would quickly fill up with and be overwhelmed by non drinkers! Is there a wet weather contingency plan?

I know organised convoys are illegal, but the actual run I thought could have been better announced from the start. I was unable to print my map on the day, and only realised after I'd missed the start that I'd missed the start!!! I ended up just heading to Goodwood to catch up, but it was all good fun anyway.

Given the intentions behind the day and the spirit of everyone organising and attending, none of the above is intended as criticism, more of a reflection on some of the quirks of a very pleasant day.

 

[SL300-24]

I thought the day went very well. I did not eat from the burger van because for a few quid more you could eat a proper lunch in the pub. However....after talking to Pauline and Natacha at 1pm regarding me getting on the microphone after the auction had finished to remember Derek, at around 2.15, I thought great time for lunch beforehand.
Went up to the bar with Bear to order lunch and was told an hour and a quarter wait for food....bang on my 2.15 time slot!
So alas I starved that day as it fell at completely the wrong time.

An hour and a quarter wait for pub food is unacceptable in my view, but it did not spoil the day in any way but I suggest it needs addressing.
Overall it was a fantastic, well organised day by everyone at PCS, just the pub staffing to sort out to make perfect. I would like to keep the current venue in the future.

 

[developer]

The veggie skewer was the only veggie choice - it was a skewer with some sliced vegetable chunks and a small Pitta bread - £7.50

A standard veggie burger would have been a better option IMO.

 

[leef44]

This is my second one. The feel and atmosphere of the event and location is spot on. I agree it is the perfect venue so don't need to find a new one, especially since they are willing to offer it up for free and like you say Tacha, it will risk becoming commercialised if you change to an expensive location.

I'm happy to pay those prices for the bbq since it takes them a bit of effort to set this up as a one-off plus they need to make some margin to recover the fact that they are offering up this venue. Last year Goodwood Festival I remember paying twice the price for half the quantity of food (so this was four times better value!)

I think last year they used a hot-pan range rather than a gas bbq grill. It was twice the size and can cook twice the speed so hence the queues this year (if I remember correctly, although this could have been my imagination ) . And also as mentioned by others, the chef looked too stressed to handle that role.

I did the drive last year and although it does get split up I thought it was fun and I wouldn't change the route. It's informal, relaxed and takes in the lovely country lanes offered in the area. You just need your wits about you and study the map beforehand.

Again, the weather was perfect. Very cosy, great organisation from PCS team and co for the whole event and charity.

 

[leef44]

Can't comment on the run out as I don't do it, a 520 mile round trip is enough driving for both me and the car, though all the above points on it seem valid and logical.

As for the queues for food and drink I'd agree that they were excessive and more staff may help to alleviate these.



After reading this, I've realised that I fell into the category of not wearing a lanyard. I picked it up in the morning and threw it over the indicator stalk in the car, intending to throw it on at the George. Unfortunately it remained in the car all day so I'll apologise for that. I don't think it was a case of assuming that "everyone knows me", just that their flapping about annoys me irrationally for some reason, so I'll apologise for that as they are a sensible idea and should save unnecessary introductions.




Hi Richy, I'm Dave, I was talking to you for a while.

In fairness Dave, dare I say, you and your car are one of the many highlights of this event. I apologise for not saying hello this year when I saw you, I went all quiet when my hayfever caught up with me and I had to sit down and rest.

 

[prop135]

This was my first BOTG and I really enjoyed it. The drive out was good and I didn't mind being the last car in the convoy I was in but I suspect thats because these are local roads to me and the route I use to avoid going down the Chi bypass. Food was pricy but that has been said but it was very tasty. I enjoyed the workshop visit and really enjoyed the cars on display both in Horndean and at the pub.

 

[Silestanix]

As mentioned to you on the phone Natacha, I had a great time, from the start of the day at PCS, the drive out, the Pub and Green itself. I didn't eat at the pub as I'd had way too many cereal bars, sausage rolls and junk earlier (I'd finished work at 2300hrs the day before and then woken up at 5am lol).

Was good to meet members and put names to faces too. Daveenty's W201 was superb, thanks to Andy for his assistance, and to everyone else who said hi hello! AMGeed, Rockits, et al. Was good meeting you all.

Thanks for your hard work Natacha, and to Olly & everyone else involved. I'll definitely be coming again next year... Hopefully with a properly painted W202.

- Harry.

 

[d w124]

- Harry.

Sorry as I never got to chat with you as there just isn't enough time but I wanted to thank you for the pictures
Catch up next year