Cofton Winter Gathering 2014

The location, the enthusiasm and friendliness of forty four owners and the weather all helped to make this year’s Winter Gathering an enjoyable success. The on -site facilities at Cofton Country Park were excellent, we were all on hard standing pitches in a spot adjacent to the fishing lakes. The cafe, Amelia’s Pantry, enabled the group to meet together in comfort during the weekend and several members enjoyed using the indoor swimming pool and sauna.

The bus stop at the site entrance ensured everyone was able to explore the local area easily. Trips were made into Exeter for the Christmas Market and to see Exeter’s many other tourist attractions. Dawlish, Teignmouth and Torquay were all visited during the weekend using public transport.

It was easy to explore the local area and a large group gathered on the Sunday to enjoy a walk on local footpaths through woods to Dawlish Warren. Another day a gentle walk was arranged to Powderham castle to view the Exe estuary and the deer park.

Cyclists in the group were able to enjoy using the newly opened cycle path following the estuary and canal to Exeter which had only been completed the previous week.

On the Sunday evening we all gathered together for a meal in Amelia’s pantry and chatted to each other about our vans and our various adventures during the year. (Whilst some kept their eye on the Strictly Come Dancing results.) It was also an opportunity to admire the creations produced for our “Pipe Cleaner Challenge” and hear the results of the quiz. The Challenge was to use a bundle of 19 pipe cleaners to create “something”. The results were amazing; we have such talent within our group.  

The waitresses helped to make the final choice of the winners, not an easy one. There should have been more but we didn’t have enough prizes.

Pamela Maltby won the Challenge with her creation of a camper clutching his glass of red wine BBQing sausages. Jane Kenworthy created a beautiful bouquet of flowers and Lance Conlon a menacing spider.

Colin Maltby won the quiz.

Thank you for your kind comments on the IHOC forum we are very pleased to hear that the gathering was enjoyed so much. We were delighted to welcome several new members to Cofton and we look forward to meeting everyone again in 2015.

Mary & Tony Sutton