At eight o'clock the outlook was grim. Rain had been falling most of the night and it was still falling. Should I ring the organisers of the annual FolkMog Gymkhana to see if it was cancelled or not. It then occurred to me that Morganeers are made of sterner stuff than most and a little rain would not deter them.
Consequently we raised ourselves from our warm pit and got ready to go. By the time readiness had been achieved there was a slight lightening in the sky so in typically optimistic we started off without the roof. This turned out to be a good move as we did not need it all day.
By the time we arrived at Combs there were already several cars there. Ian
was busy completing the course and Dylis was welcoming everyone with coffee
or tea. Maurice and Eileen were busy with the signing in. All those already
there were pitching in with help as and where they could. With brilliant
timing I offered my help just as everything was complete.
At the appropriate time, around 11:30 Maurice called us all around for a
briefing on the tests before us.There would be five tests but because of
the size of the garden we would complete the first three and then learn about
the last two. The first test consisted of a pole a long rope, attached to
the pole, and a ball, attached to the centre of the rope. The idea was drive
in a circle with your passenger holding the rope without pulling their arm
out of its socket or allowing the ball to touch the ground either of these
misdemeanours would result in a yellow card and two yellow cards meant disqualification.
As many circuits of the pole in two minutes as was possible was the aim.
I managed zero. 
Others did much better.
The second test was a test of brinkmanship and reversing. From a start position
the driver had to look back and tell the judge how far apart to put two poles.
Then reverse between the two poles without touching them. The distances from
the car to the poles on either side were measured. The driver had to reverse
further and get as close to another pole without touching it. The third measurement,
from the back of the car to the pole was then taken and the three were added.
Lowest total won. There was of course a fifty centimetre penalty for touching
a pole.
The third test was to be a cross country drive, well cross garden drive
really while the passenger carried a bucket of water. Does it need saying
that the bucket had holes in the bottom and the passenger had to fill it
and run to the car before the driving could commence. Perhaps not but I have
said it anyway. The winner was the person to bring back most water.
The fourth test was to be mainly concerned with car control and the ability of the passenger to reach as far as possible out of the car while keeping their seat belt on. A zig zag course in and out of the apple trees had been described and on the way were a series of tubs in which floated some apples. As many apples as possible were to be collected without going the wrong way through the trees or stopping the car.
The final test was a simple (I would like to add a hollow laugh here) of reversing into three ‘garages’ in the shapes of cones and tape and depositing a tennis ball into a bucket. All this without touching cones or tape. The fastest to complete the course won.
Once everyone had completed the tests the scoring could begin. Clearly at
least a degree in difficult sums was going to be required so I kept a low
profile.
The calculations seemed to go on for a long time but nobody minded as we
stood in the sunshine sipping wine and talking to old and new friends and
time slipped by gently after the afternoon’s exertions. Finally the
mathematics were complete and the results announced. The lady runner up was
Liz Prentice ably assisted by her passenger Ken Prentice.
What a cracking day this was. Everyone enjoyed themselves, passengers often found themselves being passenger for several cars and some drivers who had not come in a Morgan even found themselves with a car loaned to them so that they could compete. For me this was the true spirit of FolkMog and many thanks should go to all concerned not least to Ian and Dylis for providing an idyllic setting and Maurice and Eilleen for all their hard work.