Bumpy Green were invited along to the Carpenters Arms for thier first Christmas Dinner by The Buzzards Model Flying Club annual do.

The Carpenters arms is a pub in Slapton, Buckinghamshire that is the local watering hole of the Buzzards flying club and is only a few miles from thier primary flying site (lucky so & so's)



A 14th Century Thatched Inn with a fantastic reputation for home cooked food.
Vale Brewery Ales along with guest beers from independant U.K. breweries always available, plus scrumpy cider and a comphrehensive range of Malt Whisky.

This gathering of the flyers & partners happens each year and was organised by Bob Coot for 2001. John, Tony & Daren (aka - Chinman, Choddy & Grot) were invited along to enjoy the festivities and take part in the lively evening.



As you can see there was quite a gathering, with 10 people per table and 2 tables we were by far the largest group in the pub that evening.

After we had all got drinks and sat down at the tables (after a certain amount of dubious wheeling & dealing concerning the seating arrangements & name slips) and the christmas crackers were set about. A few misfires took place but they were soon dealt with & the usual playing with the cracker gifts began in earnest. Among the prizes were ~ the fortune telling fish (which was fickle so judged everyone else to be ~ except Bob who managed to get the tail swinging for an indication of 'passionate'), a steel yo-yo (which Kirsty almost knocked herself out with trying to perform tricks), a nail brush (great for getting fuel goo out of silencer & engine fins), a deck of cards (not suitable for building houses with unfortunately), some very groovy pink neck string for glasses & an assortment of magic tricks, keyrings & jewelery etc.

Next came the game. Basically Bob handed out 2 packs of 'Do-It-Yerself' paper chains, one for each table and the competition was to see who could make their chain and get it pinned up fastest.

The contestants ~ Table 1 Vs Table 2
The prize ~ The glory of being the winners of the race, there wasno second prize in this event. Winner takes all.
GO!!!

Table 1 stormed into a commanding lead with everyone licking madly at the gooey side of the chain links.

Table 2 were catching up fast tho ~ what a fiddle they have sticky bits already, no licking for them. Bob kept order and was making sure enough links were left to join it all together.
Pretty soon Table 2 announced they were finished (??) What the .... ! The pack of links they had made a chain about 8ft long and they had it proudly hanging from the wall above their table spanning half the room.

Table 1 were only half finished. Janet made a fantasticly long chain but had only made one 3ft link which had to be grafted into the main chain but did give a considerable boost to the overall length. Scot being a perfectionist at heart made many links of exactly the same dimensions, Tony & Kirsty made lots of individual links and we only just had enough spare links to join them all together.

Results ~ Table 2 won by a fair margin but you can see (not too clearly) in the picture above Table 1's paper chain stretched the entire width of the room with yet more links hanging down.
Conclusion ~ Mis-match. It was compared to a 'build the plane race' with Table 1 taking on a 1/4 scale Flair Stearman whilst Table 2 tackled a Pico-Jet ............. decide for yourself.
Good fun had by all tho and to commiserate Table 1 launch an aggressive party popper & streamer attack on the still celebrating Table 2.

Ha Ha Revenge ~ it's better than Christmas

With a variety of dishes on the menu & 3 full courses there was something for everyone.

Smoked fish, lettuce wraps with fried pork rice or prawn cocktail for starters. Red snapper, home made steak & kidney pie or full on roast turkey with cranberry sauce for main courses - served with pigs in blankets, stuffing and bowl after bowl of leeks, cabbage, sprouts & roast potatoes. Christams pud, treacle tart, profiterols or ice cream made up the dessert course. All followed by coffee & chocolates.



People don't usually like to be photographed while eating so here are a couple of the desserts on offer. Ice cream and beer ~ superb.

Opinion all round: - The food was blooming marvelous. Compliments to the chefs.

Partys are good for you, here we show some before and after shots of the revellers.


Bob & his new lady on only their second date. The application of some drink & a silly hat soon changed the mood of the evening.


Here we see a startling transformation in Kirsty. Again with that old hat & alcohol routine. As you can see from the clock behind, the transormation is almost instantanious. (Ok ok so the clock doesn't actually work but it was still quick)

As the evening wore on there was much drinking, joke telling & throwing of streamers. Everyone had a great time, the atmosphere was brilliant and the food & drink were superb.


Table 1. Plenty of drinks, loads of streamers and cracker toys, loud people having a good laugh and getting covered in decorations themselves.


Table 2. Lots of coffee, very neat & tidy with only Daren keeping the Bumpy Green traditional hat on. A much more sensible group.........
('Boring!' ~ from Table 1 ~ who soon launched another assault of streamer left overs & empty party popper tubes.)


Every time Daren stood up to take a picture of Table 1, John was ready to counter attack with a much more powereful flash photo. Even trying to cleverly disguise himself among the wall lights didn't do the trick.

For some reason Bob decided it was time for everyone to see his belly button .... Don't ask, we didn't!



Not to be outdone the girls soon put paid to Bobs delusion of grandure.


We think contestant 2 wins with the most elaborate belly button adornment.

Here are a selection of pictures from throughout the evening, some are a little foggy as the strange room lighting & effects of fermented vegetable drinks made digital flash photography haphazard at best.


Scot began with his famous Xmas tree impression. Tony wasn't that impressed as he'd forgotten his Father Christmas hat so couldn't compete..


Janet tried desperately not to encourage him by laughing, Kirsty burst into a fit of giggles over a joke about Scots tree not needing another fairy.


Mick smiled politely and moved away, John made for the exit as quickly as politeness allowed.


JohnK looks like he enjoyed the decoration games. Daren just had to stand up to have a look at what we were all laughing at on Table 1.

Everyone had a great time, there were no fights, (that we know of) the food was great, the drink flowed freely, the people were full of festive spirit (as well as real ale)

Thank you to everyone from Buzzards Flying Club & All the staff at the Carpenters Arms.

Article by John from Bumpy Green Model Aerodrome
27th December 2001

Comment by Mark on 00000000000000. Rating 5

Looks like you had a great time, good bunch I bet.

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