Great Britain Championships
1999
On Wednesday 20th October I practiced and practiced and practiced practiced and practiced and practiced practiced and practiced and practiced practiced and practiced and practiced etc! Then it was time to have those dreaded curlers put in. Mum said that I was going to have really good Ringlets! She wasn't kidding! Two whole days of spikes! The shame!
On Thursday we left home at about lunchtime and drove down to Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset. It's nearly 200 miles and took nearly 4 hours! To all the Americans and Australians out there that doesn't sound far (maybe!) but in England it's an awful long way! Plus the fact it was lovely and sunny when we were driving but as soon as we arrived it went dark and there was a sudden downpour!
When we arrived we went to the local Tesco supermarket to get some biscuits and energy drinks for me to have during my competition on Friday. My mum said,"Do you want to stay here or are you coming in?" "I'll come in." was the simple but stupid reply from me! Whatever made me say that I do not know! I got inside and it started. A five year old walked past me laughing her head off and pointing at me! Then, as I turned the corner, a little boy was walking backwards. "Careful." warned his mum. Too late! He turned around, walked into me, and looked up. Immediately he started pointing and saying,"Spikey Hair!" He then rushed past me, his face a bit shocked!
We finally booked into a really nice Guest house. The owner asked me when I was dancing and wished me luck. She then said that there was two other dancers staying there. One was called Nadine Martin, and the other ones name she didn't know. We then went up to our room which was lovely, so that we could put my dress and the suitcase away. We then went to the Pontins Holiday Camp in Brean Sands which was about 4 miles away from where I was staying.
We arrived and went in to one hall to see what was going on, but I couldn't see anything. The hall was packed! So we decided to see what else was going on. We walked into the next hall just as the music stopped. There was lots of space in here so I sat down. I looked up and realised who had just walked on stage. It was my friend Lily who was dancing her Hornpipe. I went to the very front of the hall where my other friends, Kirsty and Jodie, were sat. I watched her and at the end of her dance we all cheered her and clapped. Everyone was looking around and saying,"Where did that noise come from?!"
When Lily came back she put her soft shoes on and did some practicing whilst Kirsty, Jodie, and I made up dances and practiced doing high jumps and big kicks. Then I had to practice my Heavy Jig and my Reel as I was dancing them the next day and I wouldn't get another chance to practice before the Big day. We practiced for nearly two hours. Finally, the results to see who was in the recall were announced. Lily was recalled and everyone cheered. Kirsty and Jodie had to go back to their caravan so that Kirsty could have her hair done, but I stayed and watched Lily dance her recall set dance, Hurry the Jug. When she came off stage we talked, played and ate crisps and sweets!
Nearly two hours later, there was a big presentation for all of the prize winners, and Lily got a lovely medal for 22nd place. It was nearly eight o'clock and we had a massive bag of fish and chips on the way back to the guest house. Lily went home to Bedford, which was very tiring for her mum.I watched T.V. for a little while and went to bed.
I got up at Half Past Five in the morning and had my hair uncurled. Boy was it horrible! I must have fallen asleep twice! But in the end my hair looked lovely. I literally crawled down to breakfast at half past seven! I ate my breakfast in super speed and rushed back to my room to get my lucky teddy bear from Ireland and my shoes etc. Everyone at breakfast wished me luck and off I went to Pontins.
I got inside at the time I was meant to be, and the adjudicator's, musician's, and organiser's weren't even in the building, let alone the hall! So I practiced with my teacher, and then Kirsty and I practiced whilst the organisers were setting up and whilst the boys championship was going on. We were both nearly last on as our numbers were 125, me, and 136, Kirsty. We waited and then we pushed through the crowds to the queue on the other side of the hall. I was then pushed straight to the front of the queue as the girls who were meant to be in front of me had decided to change which dance they were doing.
I walked on stage and danced as best I could. It felt great on stage apart from the fact I was nearly blinded by the stage lights! I then came off stage and went back to my parents. I was boiling! So I took off my dress and went into a space where everyone was practicing if they weren't dancing. I stood by a door which cooled me off, and then I practiced my Reel. After a long while it was time to dance again, so I got ready and stood by the side of stage. I danced again and everyone I knew cheered. As I came off of the stage, I was given a Certificate. It was really nice. One thing though, in the bottom left hand corner there's a picture of a harp. It's upside down! It's the same on the list of numbers and the who's there booklet cover!
Anyway, I sat around and jigged about for a while and then the adjudicators broke for lunch. We had an hour to do what we wanted. We went to the other hall and got a drink and something to eat. An hour later we were told that the results for who will be recalled would be announced in five minutes. In true feis style, everyone rushed back into the other hall!
Unfortunately, I didn't get recalled, so we went off sight seeing until we could get the results. When I got the results, I found out that I wasn't too far off of the recall. The results were in numerical order after the recall dancers but my dad worked out (after a lot of working out) that overall I got 78th and Kirsty got 106th. Better luck next time for us both, eh?
Then we hung around until late and we went back to the guest house. I sat on my mum's bed and watched a film on the T.V. until late and then I flopped into bed already asleep!
Next morning, we got up at seven'ish and went to breakfast. Now you may be thinking, "Why on earth did she get up then?" Well, the reason is that my friend Patrick was dancing. Again to Pontins we went!
When we arrived I realised that Patrick was already side stage and was about to dance. I was good at almost missing my friend's dance, wasn't I ?! I watched him dance and at the end I cheered. After he had danced he went to get some breakfast as he hadn't had any that day. This was because he had driven up at two o'clock in the morning. He danced again after breakfast and then we again had a long wait for the results. We played a bit in the arcade and ate lots of food while we were waiting. He then danced his recall, The Hurling Boys. At the end I cheered and everyone looked at me because I was the only person who did around the front of the stage.
In the end Patrick got eighth place. Well done!!
We then went home as it had been a very long, tiring, but FUN week.
Next stop, it's the Regionals!!!!!