Skeg Vegas Layby Flyby Baby!

In spite of an exhausting 10-hour return journey from the Scottish Highlands last Sunday, we were excited to be heading back on the road to our first ever Skeg Vegas VW Show just 5 days later.  In that time, we caught up on online orders and enquiries, unpacked the van from holiday and re-packed it for business, caught up with family, made a trophy for the show and shine and generally had a manic few days.

Loughborough Town Centre, Friday

Bright and early (ish) on Friday, we embarked upon what should have been a 3-hour trip to Revesby in Lincolnshire.  Unfortunately, it became apparent when directed to a dead end road in the middle of a wet and windswept Loughborough, that the sat nav needed a map update.  Our tech savvy son took over and allegedly found a much quicker route.  This ended in disaster when we took a short cut down the ominously named “Whale Bone Lane,” officially the most pot holed road in Britain (trust us, we’ve travelled over a fair few of them).  I’ll spare you the details, but the resulting flat tyre meant that we arrived on site at 5.30 pm – two and a half hours later than the set-up deadline.  Thankfully, the staff seemed friendly and laid back and we did not seem to be the only late arrivals.

Revesby Hall, Lincolnshire

Our arrival was equally as dramatic as our journey.  I literally stepped out of the van to stretch my ailing back and was greeted by a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder and it was back in the van to sit out the ensuing torrential downpour.  I must say, I found this all very fitting given our surroundings.  We were in the grounds of Revesby Hall, which was built in the mid nineteenth century in “Jacobethan” style (a fusion of Jacobean and Elizabethan styles of architecture) near the site of an old Cistercian Monastery.  It’s an incredible building and was the childhood home of Sir Joseph Banks, the famous botanist, who travelled with Captain Cook on his famous voyage of discovery to Australia.  It is now in some state of disrepair but is being gradually restored and unsurprisingly, given its long history, plays host to numerous paranormal nights.  The hall was perfectly visible – flanked by trees – in the neighbouring field complete with “Beware of the bull” signs. 

Eventually, the rain (and hail) subsided and we were able to set up without any further drama, unless you count the Monty Python knights, who interrupted their hunt for the Holy Grail to try on our handmade steam punk top hats for size!  

In search of the Holy Grail

Knight on horseback does Steam Punk

Old Ladies

Gumbys

We rarely embrace the fancy dress themes at shows – we’re time poor in the run-up to shows and it’s not really practical to erect gazebos and hang up clothing whilst dressed as a mermaid or Native American Indian.  However, by sheer coincidence, we realised that Caleb had inadvertently embraced the theme and was in fact dressed as a lumberjack!  

I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay

We then headed for the entertainment tent and whiled away a couple of hours listening to the covers band, who had an interesting set list, including Electric Six’s “Gay Bar.” 

Saturday brought it’s own challenge – high winds.  These persisted for much of the day.  By midday, word from the Skeg Vegas merchandise stall was that a hurricane was about to hit Bedfordshire.  This was disconcerting for two reasons.  Firstly, the weather for our location continued to show “light winds” which was clearly nonsense as I spent the best part of 2 hours with one foot on our totem hat stand, arms outstretched, holding onto the gazebos.  Secondly, if the weather was already so far out, was the hurricane heading our way?  

Sidewalk Carve Longboards - made to order

We had agreed to display some beautiful, hand crafted long boards for Sidewalk Carve Longboards on our stand and so Caleb was tasked with ensuring they at least stayed upright and didn’t fly away across the Lincolnshire flat lands, never to be seen again.  We relied on passing trade and other stallholders to retrieve our hats, caps and assorted bits and pieces taken by the wind.

Splitty

Regardless of the adversity, we had a blast.  The relaxed pace of trade meant that we were able to take it in turns to have a wander, check out the stunning vehicle displays... 

Gertie Bob's gorgeous Bedford camper

VW Brazilian

...(including one of my favourites – Hayburner Vic’s Brazilian), chat to old friends and new, witness a modified wheelie bin challenge, listen to music and eat a little more leisurely than the usual bursts of mouth cramming. 

Cool Flo's Ant, struggling to keep control of our rat bike

We even managed to celebrate Cool Flo Ant’s birthday on Saturday night.  In fact Anthony modestly drew our attention to the fact that one of our weekend’s highlights was that we got to see him!  Another unexpected bonus was the night sky; layer upon layer of stars – a scene worthy of dark sky status.

Voodoo Street's winner

Sunday gave us the weather respite we needed - wall-to-wall sunshine, little in the way of breeze and brisk trade.  Gaz awarded our trophy to this ratty T25 and added our own rat bike to an impressive line-up of retro bicycles.  People were still buying off us as we were packing away and just as the last few boxes were being put into the van, we were treated to a Spitfire fly by.

Bicycle show 'n' shine

Lee and his partner in crime - nice cap!

After saying our goodbyes, we headed back towards the village of Old Somerby (the scene of our wheel change) to be reunited with our broken wheel, having now managed to free up space for the damn thing.  Again, a big thank-you to Sally.  If you ever read this blog, we hope that you are met with the same kindness you showed to us, in your hour of need. 

The weather gave us one last kicking and the motorway driving conditions were vile on the way home, so in a repeat of the previous Sunday’s experience, we arrived home late, knackered but buzzing and once again ignored the fatigue, had a couple of drinks and watched the late movie before hitting the sack. 

Blinded by the Light

A weekend in the country, albeit working our arses off at Derbyshire Dubs, was just what I needed to take my mind off some worrying eyesight issues.  I had literally been seeing stars and periodic flashes and shadows in my peripheral vision and the sudden onset of summer; its sunlight, reflections and leaves dancing in the breeze, were playing havoc with my imagination so that I could no longer distinguish reality from tricks of the light.  For the record, I'm now fine and wear and tear is to blame for this thankfully temporary issue (the human body amazingly often heals itself), so nothing to do with too much partying, or anything so rock n' roll!

The drive to the site was one of the most scenic I can recall for some time.  Climbing up and over the Roaches (a prominent rocky ridge situated above Leek and Tittesworth Reservoir in the Peak District) with a pale blue, cloudless sky stretching ahead, was stunning.

Derbyshire Dubs, virgin territory in every sense, took place on a hillside, with panoramic views of breathtaking countryside, near to the village of Wardlow in Derbyshire.  As there are usually issues with first time shows, lighting seemed to have been overlooked, so other than the odd campfire, catering trucks and entertainment marquee, the light faded from bright sunshine to pitch darkness in a few short hours.

I loved this uber cool Airstream Wine Bar - Vin Van Voom!






After a misty start, Saturday unfolded into a blistering hot day and the main mobile Bar (Beerbuz), made an awesome decision to bring along one of our favourite local ales - Enville Ginger.  My enthusiasm for this beer never wanes and most of the punters were obviously also feeling the love, as by Saturday lunchtime, owner Gaz, had to borrow our daily runaround, a Mk 4 VW Golf (230,000 miles on the clock and still on its original engine and clutch) to drive into Wardlow to restock on beer!

We were also stoked discover this beautiful Californian import decorated with our stickers.

It's only been in the country for 3 weeks, has a gleaming Porsche engine and is now on UK soil and in the hands of its second ever owner!

Right up our street was the New Orleans Jazz band which appeared without warning on Saturday and marched right past our stand. Shame they didn't look like extras from Live and Let Die!

This cool customer made a purchase from us, gave me some tips on head scarves (a knack I've never managed to perfect) and the best rum on the market (Kraken Black Spiced).  We also randomly discussed cars, her partner's numerous inkings and randomly, the artist known as "Shag".  If you haven't heard of him, Google the name and you'll be sure to recognise his work.









Leaving a little earlier due to other commitments, my drive home on Saturday evening was a fraught affair, punctuated by flashes of blinding lightning and marred by torrential rain.  I got home, drank 3 little bottles of French lager straight off, checked Gaz hadn't been struck by lightning up on the hill in Derbyshire and went to bed!

Gaz returned home on Sunday night with a less-than-perfect gazebo.  The wind had picked up on Sunday and tossed it into the air and over a stone wall.

Here's the scene of tranquility shortly before our stand was windswept!

But still, with no time to fix it and in true Voodoo Street style, Gaz (aka lastminute.com) committed to another show at the 11th hour last Friday night and made an appearance at All Types at Bodelwyddan Castle in North Wales.

Voodoo show stickers were also produced for the occasion!

So Gaz spent Saturday evening with this as his backdrop.  Mine was a little less salubrious but no less enjoyable as I stayed behind and caught up with friends over a curry and beer.

Getting into gear

It’s been a typically varied week here on Voodoo Street.

This week we said goodbye to one of our elders, a 90 year-old much loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, who, in spite of her frailty (and lack of interest in popular culture post 1945!) was still championing Voodoo Street in her final days!   Kath, you will be missed.

We also attended a hot rod meet (Greasy) and saw some pretty incredible cars and truly stylish people, showcasing their tattoos, hairdos and vintage style to perfection!   Looking forward to meeting them again.

We now have stock and have been busy photographing garments on our old school shop mannequins.  We find that these are less troublesome and display far fewer diva qualities than living and breathing models.  As our followers on Facebook and Instagram will have spotted, given a little attention, even these mannequins can become narcissistic, as our mannequin “selfie” proves!

We have more stock on the way, courtesy of some extremely talented screen printers, namely Get a Grip, who work tirelessly for punk rock bands and indecisive clothing companies…ahem.

They will be bringing to life the awesome artwork of one Dan Bowden, a Brighton based illustrator who more than satisfied our brief to produce a limited edition ocean festival poster launching the Voodoo Street brand.  The hand pulled, water based screen prints will imminently be available on our organic cotton T-shirts.  We hope that their base on Floodgate Street is an omen for our sales!  Keep an eye on the website for updates.

We are also pleased to see that word is spreading.  Only this morning, I walked past someone wearing a Voodoo Street T-shirt and spotted a mint VW van bearing one of our stickers.  Makes all the hard work seem worthwhile.