Minis Tour - Ladram Bay 2007 -

Photos - Click on the fat man for Dads Match photos

If anyone has more photos they want added, send them to kellymonteith@blueyonder.co.uk

Report below from the miserable old sod aka the jaundiced old git (Alan Kelly).

Well what can you say but what a fantastic tour this year. Hats off to the tour organisers they did a wonderful job and many thanks to the volunteers who helped out in the BBQ and the Saturday morning breakfast. I thought the venue was very good and my family and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves to the point where we might even go back there again.

The BBQ, on the Friday night, was a lively affair where both parents and coach(s) stayed up to the early hours drinking tea and discussing the finer points of macrame whilst the flames roared from the small brazier that had been set up. I still haven'y forgoten that Steve, Rob and Andy still owe me £4 for their contribution to the beer fund.

There was talk about going for a swim on the Saturday morning, around the "island and back" which I thought was madness considering how cold the sea was. Fortunately for me I went to bed early on the Friday night with a cup of Horlicks and was able to get down to the beach to witness any nutters going for a morning dip. I managed to capture on camera the first man entering the water albeit he cheated by wearing a wet suit. He was soon to be followed by a young lad who also braved the icy waters.

Then I was shocked to see three ladies (under 10 parents) bodly striding into the water. One was my wife who I had left in bed complaining of a hangover. They managed to do the swim around the island and feel chuffed having done so. Photos

The walk on the Saturday was pleasant albeit that we had a an old fool reading the map which meant we had to walk 2 miles less than was planned. The pub served some good food and according to some of the girlies (Alison and Gill) the wine wasn't bad too. The village itself was also very picturesque with some lovely Wisteria growing on some of the cottages.

The evenings entertainment was OK but I think that the kangaroo court was a bit too long. Also it is worthwile them doing their research more throughly before they try their suspects. The miserable old sod is actually the jaundiced old git and his surname is Kelly and not Gill which happens to be the name of his wife. Photos

The food in the upper bar was very good and the views from the balcony reminded me of the events earlier on that morning.

The kids match on the Sunday got off to a slow start, not suprising considering the lack of sleep that they had over the last two nights, they came back valiantly in the second half. Despite this, they lost the match 3 tries to two. The second match started off where they left the first match. There were some excellent tackles, good support play and powerful rucking. they deservedly won the match. Photos

The dads match was a wonderful game and was exciting to watch. My hats off to all of them for playing on such a hard surface. Considering it was a friendly match there was a lot of commitment in the tackles and the support play was very good.

The under ten dads did extremely well considering some haven't played for years. I think Steve was being tought the basics rudiments of scrumaging 5 minutes prior to the game. Keiron scored a cracking try which made up for the one he fumbled later. I now see who taught Mitch how to tackle the way he does so effectively, his dad. The photo of the dads clearly shows how much they enjoyed the experience. Photos