Sykeside 2005 - the wanderers return

Great photos !
Great to be able to put a face to the name/avatar !
Looks like you all had an enjoyable time too.
Well done to all who made the meet a success.

spudz

(edited about 10 minutes later)
Ah! Now I understand the reference to the Force 10 Tent in the photo.
Well done on a real bargain. Enjoy the camping

A little Something for the inside of your Green House Ian

 

Great pictures, Ian. It was great to see you again and also to make friends with forum members I had not met before.

I got there on Friday night when it was already dark. Everyone went to the local pub for some excellent ale and to enjoy a hot meal. Well, not everone. Ian stayed in his tent, which is as big a a hotel and Paul went (staggered) back to his tent to cook his meal - true grit!

I think the most popular food that night was gigantic Yorkshire Puddings filled with succulent sliced beef and vegetables and a rich gravy. Do you people stateside know what Yorkshire Puddings are?

It was really cold on Friday night. At about 3.00am I suddenly regretted drinking that last pint of Cumbrian Bitter as I had to clamber out of my tent to relieve the pressure. I am sure it froze before it hit the ground.

Saturday morning arrived and it was a fine morning - but still very cold. The Lakeland Fells from the campsite can be seen over the top of Ian's tent.





Drystone walls can be seen marking the edge of the campsite. On the fell sides it is not early morning mist that can be seen, it is freezing cloud.




David helped Ian by supplying a lantern glass.





Later in the morning some of us gratefully took advantage of Ian's tent. Inside it was toasty warm. Ian was letting some dough rise which he would later cook in his folding Coleman oven.The picture shows Keith in the background and David.



I took that photograph when David was telling Keith, Ian and myself about his mishaps with stoves. He claimed that he had nearly burned his kitchen down at home twice when he was trying to light pressure stoves. We all laughed at David's funny stories. Little did we realise that David was telling the truth. If he walks anywhere near a stove, it just seems to burst into flames. The picture Paul took of one of David's 'bombs' is just one example. Stoves just refuse to work correctly when he is near - maybe that is why he collects lanterns!

A stove meet would not be complete without a picture of one of its most famous members - the ever enthusiastic Billie.

 

Great photos everyone, keep on posting more.

 

Greetings, Ian, and All,

What great fun to see what all went down at the Gathering!!! It was 'almost' like being there, and much appreciated!! It is really neat to see our Stove Mates, and makes me wish, all the more, that we could have been there, too!

Great photos, and great score on your tent, Ian!! Congrats!! By the way, Sweet Bride wants to know if you can make a proper Yorkshire pudding on a campstove, with Ian's folding oven?? Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark

 

Don't encourage them Mark, they all ought to be locked up.
I was several hundred miles South and it was as cold as a witches tit

 

Keep the pics coming. It is nice to see it from all of your different perspectives. I really long to attend one these meets.

Rob

 

Hi Mark

You obviously know what Yorkshire pudings are.

I have a virgin Coleman folding oven of exactly the same vintage as Ian's.
If I get the chance this weekend, I will break the oven in with an attempt at Yorkshire Puddings and publish the results.

This time of the year in the North East of England it is always cold. I feel that the oven will need to be well insulated if there is to be any chance of success.

I will need a powerful heat source. I have recently aquired an old Primus No 2. I have not had it working yet, but if I am successful it will be ideal for the oven - the Primus #2 is a BIG stove!!

 

Evening, Shag,

I told Sweet Bride about your idea for giving a Yorkshire pudding a try in your folding camp oven, using your Primus #2 as a heat source, and she is quite interested in the results! So, if you do get time to give it a try, please do post your results and some photos, too, if possible! Thanks, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark

 

Don't see why YP in the Coleman oven shouldn't work ok. I haven't done one in mine yet but have done a toad in the hole in my ammo box oven over a 210 and it worked out fine. I'll have to give it a go.

 

Hey, Lads,

I have to agree that this photo is worth a thousand words!!! David, I'm also glad that the "before" photo was posted, which shows this same stove, working nicely. Adds to the fun seeing of the "after" photo!! Sorry you had a tough time of it with that stove. I know what, when all is right with the world, you will have a nice, dependable 111 on your hands. Or, at least, I HOPE so!! 8) Glad nobody got burned in the conflagration! Take care, good luck with your stove, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark

 

Could have been much, much worse, Doc! - the little red bottle to the left isn't a fire extinguisher but contains more panel-wipe, the red can behind was full of ethanol, my Primus No. 1 behind that was full of kero and there's also just about a full bottle of whisky on the table, too.

So yes, it would have been an absolute total catastrophe if we'd lost the whisky

 

My favorite part of the photo is Ross in the background sauntering away.

David, that's a good reminder to us all to store whiskey away from stove fuel to prevent any possible tragedies.

 

Sauntering!?! - you need to think more 100 metres hurdles...

 

I must admit ignerance as to the proper methods of preparing a proper Yorkshire Pudding perhaps on of you fine lads will see fit to instruct me in the process as it sound right filling and tasty as well? Does it go down best with a stout or a pale ale? Or something in between?

lance

 

Set your oven to about 350?F
Put alump of dripping or lard in a shallow roasting tin (about 1?" deep) or put small lumps in the spaces of say, a muffin tin.
Put tin in oven on top shelf to get fat nice and hot
Take a basin
Put in 6 tablespoons of self raising flour or plain with baking powder and a pinch of salt
Break an egg into the flour and add some milk to get it moving - use a whisk
add cold water and keep at it with the whisk until there are no lumps and it has the consistency of engine oil
When fat is spitting pull tin out of oven, pour in batter and return to top shelf
Keep an eye on it
It shouldn't take longer than 20 minutes.

It works for me.

 

That's the bit I'm wondering about, Ian. Your oven got to 200 degrees last weekend. If that was Centigrade (Celsius) then OK; but if it was Fahrenheit, the Yorkshires will be no-go...

It's a Coleman oven and I thought the US used the Fahrenheit scale...

 

Hi Ian

I am sorry, but for once I must disagree with you.
It concerns your recipe for Yorkshire Puddings.

Whatever the quantities involved, it must be PLAIN flour and not self-raising.
Also the plain flour must not have 'baking powder' added.
Self-raising flour produces FLAT yorkshire Puddings.

The way to make yorkshire Puddings rise is by adding eggs.

There again . . . . . . . . if you are confident with your recipe, I will try it!

 

When I put the loaf in, the oven was up around 400?F. They always lose some heat when you open the door and stick a relatively large cold object, like an unbaked loaf, in there. Once the initial burst of heat has killed the yeast it doesn't matter if the oven cools some for the rest of the bake. If anything a little slower bake is better.
YPs aren't so bad as the tin heats up with the oven and when the batter is poured in it forms a large thin layer which, although cooler, takes less time to come to temperature than a great solid lump of dough.

 

OK then. On Sunday, I'll get out my Rippingilles oven (courtesy of Ross) and give it a go. I might try something simpler first - rock buns maybe.

Which stove will be better? - pre-1911 Primus No. 1 or Primus 210 (both of Sykeside fame) I'm guessing the No. 1...