some of my best childhood memories are of being on the course as a St John Ambulance cadet on duty for early morning practices, the cool air, the stillness, the sleepy drone to the start of the day, the sun peeping up over likes of greeba mountain, the sights, the sounds, the sweetness of the air (unpolluted wi traffic) the birdsong, the quiet hushed camraderie of all the marshals and medics (and 1 or 2 sleepy eyed speccies)[/b] wet or dry i loved them-especially when that stillness was interrupted by the steadily increasing note of a bike in the distance on pace heading towards where we were!

during one delay in morning practice i got sent up the greeba fields by the bridge by joan radcliffe and came down after picking every mushroom i could find-and there were loads and loads-filled a liptons carrier bag twice-then sergeant whiteleg went thru em all took a good 3-4 handfulls and threw em immediately in river saying we couldnt have them (apparently they were naughty-which at time confused a young 11 yr old)
but everyone still went away happy wi good couple of pounds of juicy fresh mushrooms....the practice never actually saw a bike that morning!