On Sunday August 29th eleven SWOC members visited Avonvale Sun Club near Ringwood. This was the Bank Holiday weekend, and out of the three days of that weekend we chose the coolest day, As a consequence only a few intrepid SWOC members took a quick dip in the swimming pool. The rest of us were involved in or engrossed by the SWOC versus Avonvale petanque ‘challenge’. You couldn’t call it a ‘competition’ since none of the SWOC pairings made it to the final! However, it was enjoyable, and there was much ribaldry in evidence. The number of times the measures came out suggests that it was a closer competition than the scorelines would have us believe.
A few other SWOC members availed themselves of the chance of a sauna – a luxury that SWOC members can only dream of!
Some brave, or should that be “mad”, SWOC members even had a go on the trampoline.
We were handsomely fed at lunchtime, including the celebrated Avonvale 50p ice creams, which is something it would be difficult to provide at SWOC. The day was rounded off by a Bring & Share barbecue.
On Saturday September 4th it was the turn of Avonvale members to make a reciprocal visit to SWOC. Six Avonvale members managed to find their way to SWOC. This was no mean achievement on a weekend which conflicted with the Great Dorset Steam Fair at Blandford and the Dorchester Show! As a result they chose alternative cross country routes to avoid traffic jams, and at least one member decided to rely on his sat nav rather than the printed travel directions, which proved to be a big mistake unless you like driving along the narrowest of country lanes and up one in three gradients! Nevertheless they all arrived in time for lunch, with apple pie and custard or bread and butter pudding instead of ice creams for dessert. As it was the first time four of our guests had visited SWOC a couple of our members took them on a walk through our adjacent nature reserve, arriving back just in time for tea on the lawn and a small raffle.
Avonvale and SWOC have many similarities. The acreage of the respective sites is about the same, and both are in areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Both are areas of Ancient Broadleaved Woodland. Where we differ is in our topography. Whereas SWOC is a more or less level site, albeit at the top of the second highest hill in Dorset, Avonvale is on a steeply sloping terraced site just inside the New Forest. The other differences are largely due to the geographical situation of Avonvale, reasonably close to large centres of population, such as Southampton and Portsmouth, and enjoying the benefit of mains water and electricity which facilitates the provision of facilities such as the swimming pool. Avonvale has fewer camping pitches than SWOC, but it has twice the number of adult members. Like SWOC, Avonvale was formed in the early 1960’s. But what both clubs have most in common is the friendliness of their members.
