Rushden Photo Gallery

An audience with Tour de Lard 2 - 13 August 2015

with thanks to John Dingemans 

(Click on photo for larger image)

Approximately 40 people came to listen to the inside stories of the Tour de Lard 2 trip, enjoy a glass of wine, and the barbecue (in the rain).

Alan Clarke, the CEO of Jubilee House gave a brief history of the charity and its work helping children and young adults with severe learning difficulties and providing respite care. He surprised everyone, including the Tour de Lard team members by giving the up-to-date collection total – slightly over £25,600. It will go higher, because the Reliant Robins are being sold and the proceeds paid to the charity. The money raised is approximately equal to the annual net income ofJubilee House and will mainly be used to provide a high tech bathroom /washroom. If anything is left over, perhaps some tablet computers, equipment,  for the sensory room and garden.

The village hall had been prepared by Steve Pettyfer and Elspeth Gutterridge with a route map, many photographs and extracts from the messages sent home during the trip. John Dingemans had made an excellent PowerPoint presentation of photographs and there were separate smaller slideshows for people.

The Lardies each gave some of their recollections of the trip – in no particular order, the frightening of Charles Gutterridge, the escapades of mad boys 1 and 2, Chris Hill being held over a river to fill yet another bottle of cooling water for the car. The demon bumblebee, how Nigel Darken came to love his poorly handling motorcycle again after one day in a Reliant, Brian Littlechild’s exploding rear tyre – replaced very quickly in France on a Saturday afternoon, finding a local newspaper reporter in the middle of France and then being recognised as being in the newspaper on the way back. Charles and Chris, having told everyone they would limp back from Col de la Bonette with an overheating engine and not need help, were then unable to flag down Steve Pettyfer and Dave Manchester in order to get some more water, having used all available supplies! The wooden suspension modification to Thunderpig2, telephoning the wives on the day we succeeded, on a spectacular moonlit night in the French Alps.

It was an accident of omission that the brake failures were not mentioned!

A very enjoyable evening, with people not rushing away and we raised another £70 for Jubilee House.

Thanks to all those who helped set up, provide parts of the display, prepare the salads, obtain the wine, clean up and came to listen.

Thanks, above all, for all the donations from the village and turning out to give us a great send off and welcome return.

The Lardies.

Alan Clarke from Jubilee house thanked the Lardies for their magnificent contribution to Jubilee House and presented them with a special card.

Thank you Lardies and we look forward to your next adventure.

with thanks to John Dingemans