IRW 2011.
Ok, the situation at South Whittlieburn Farm (SWF) this year is that not only can we not have the use of the Barn, but also the larger field that we have used for camping there since 2008 can't be made available to us either this year. The reasons for this, and I have had the problem fully explained to me by Tom Watson at SWF, are as follows.
1) This year Tom will have a significantly greater number of lambs and sheep to organise and tag in preparation for sending to market this August (remember SWF is still a fully working sheep farm, along with everything else that goes on there - B&B, caravans, etc).
2) To make sure that the Barn is clean and dried out enough for IRW use it has to be kept clear of sheep for at least three weeks prior to our arrival and setting up workhsop and home-from-home in it.
3) The field that we have been using for camping has to be kept clear of sheep for at least six weeks before the IRW begins, in order that sheep droppings decay and weather away and the field is clean enough for us to camp in. As the field is therefore not being grazed for six weeks, Tom has to run his tractor towed mower over it two or even three times otherwise the grass gets too long, and of course it has to be properly short for us to camp in tnat field.
You can see from all that, that Tom has been doing even more in preparation for and in support of the IRW these past three years than we had all already realised and appreciated. Because of the priority that Tom and SWF as a business must give to lamb and sheep handling for market dispatch this August the IRW just cannot be accommodated there as it has been since 2008. The most that Tom could do for us this year is possibly camping in the smaller field down from the Barn, some IRW people staying in some of the caravans (as in previous years), and some in the B&B rooms if any are available. Tom did offer that limited accommodation for this year's IRW if we it needed as overspill from wherever else we might get as a Base Camp. That's tight space for camping, if we can't get another Base Camp accommodation site, and we need to replace the Barn. Marquees might provide that covered space, and we can get marquees, (and we could get them furnished and lit) but frankly with Tom moving as many sheep around at SWF as he will be, we would be pretty cramped there this year, and of course we would not be able to do any model rocket flying there; all flying would have to be up at the FMRS.
The firm intention is still to hold the IRW, Monday 22nd to Monday 29th August, with the FMRS as the event Flying Site. The situation as I have detailed it at SWF has been known here for some time, but I have been reluctant to say anything about it outside of and more widely than to the SARA Membership up here until we had a full solution to the Base Camp problem worked out and in place - a solution that is that keeps IRW 2011 flying at the FMRS. As you know yourself good rocket flying sites with the accessibility combined with the altitude ceiling (16,000 Feet AMSL) and the 2 nautical mile radius disperal/down range all of which the FMRS gives us are very hard to find and arrange the use of - with the land owners, and with the CAA and local ATC/Airports, even in Scotland which is less crowded than is England. That is why we intend to keep the IRW centered on the FMRS site. I had hoped that we would have a full Base Camp solution sorted out by now, but it's proving to be quite difficult problem to solve, SWF being the only properly organised and faclitated camping and carvan site around here/in good proximity to the FMRS. Going back to Kelburn Country Centre is not an option, for reasons that I am sure I do not have to list here. However, several things are now apparent and known that if they can be successfully combined could provide the Base Camp requiremetns of IRW 2011 and keep the event at the FMRS. That at any rate is what I and the IRW 2011 Organising Team/Committe are working on at present. It's the SARA 2011 AGM next Saturday, and the IRW 2011 Base Camp is on the Agenda, as the most important thing that we have to discuss and pull together.
I think that I need now to make a clear statement about the IRW 2011 Base Camp situation to UKRA as a whole. It's not reasonable or sensible to delay much longer in doing this. People, particularly loyal and long-time IRW supporters and participants like yourself need to know. Therefore I will put up a full post explaining the situation, and what is being done to resolve it on the UKRA Forums tomorrow (Saturday 14th May), or on Sunday at the latest.
In the meantime, I am happy for you to inform anyone in rocketry circles who is interested whom you might happen to be speaking with, or otherwise in communication with, about the IRW 2011 Base Camp situation. However Phil, and I am sure that I can rely on you about this, if doing so, it is obviously important that you give them the full explanation and all the details that I have related to you in this e-mail. You in fact are the first person outside of the SARA Members and the UKRA Council to be given full disclosure on this.