Well the dust has settled after the Geordie Chapter Heart and Soul rally 2023 and what a rally it was!!
Lots of volunteers turned up from the Chapter on the Wednesday to set up the event, the registration tent, party tent, all the banners and the bars – thank you to everyone that helped and we had a brilliant little party in the party tent hosted by Michael Watson and Paul Pouton with a guest appearance of our Director Allen Glasper on the decks!
The weather wasn’t great, but we didn’t let that stop us from having fun and welcoming our guests who were arriving from the Thursday morning. From grabbing their welcome packs to be ushered into the swally tent for a quick refreshment served by the glamorous Michael and Vicki Watson along with Paul and Kay Pouton in their gorgeous outfits. The evening we had live music in the rugby club bar by Kings Ransom and Bob Bates in the Cricket club which went down fantastic, gave everyone a chance to let their hair down and relax after their long rides to the venue.
Friday we had our first ride out. A nice relaxing ride through Northumberland with a stop off at Gateshead Harley Davidson for our visitors to have a look around, grab a coffee and snacks provided by the dealership.
Friday afternoon saw the Mad Hatters tea party, everyone was dressed up as Hillbillies and we had the infamous punchbag machine competition. Well done Jonnie Smith on pipping me to the post by 12 points, but was so much fun – highlight for me was Elliot “miss the bag completely” Bailey haha the only man to have 2 attempts!
Friday evening we had more music from Gyroscope in the Rugby club and Mick Cantwell in the cricket club they were both excellent.
Saturday saw another ride out, this time we went up the scenic costal route to Seahouses to sample their delicious fish and chips and then up through Bamburgh past the iconic castle and loop round through Wooler and back down to Percy park. Weather was great for this one once we got out of Tynemouth.
Then there was the Ladies of Harley party in the cricket club, which was a lot of fun, even I got involved with the entertainment! By all accounts the Ladies had a fantastic time with lots of jelly shots, bingo and out and out partying!
Then came the main event, Qween in the rugby club on Saturday night – these were absolutely fantastic and had everyone up dancing! we even had a cameo from our own ranks, a Freddy Mercury stage costume (Paul Pouton) and a Freddy Mercury I want to Break Free costume (Andy Hogg) which had people in stitches, well done both of you, brilliant outfits.
And this picture has to be posted – Well done Andy Hogg – awesome costume!
All in all, a brilliant rally once again – this has been the best Heart and Soul rally I have attended, I have no idea how we are going to top this one!
Finally, a message from our Geordie Chapter Director – Allen Glasper.
Take care everyone, we will see you again soon.