Queue regular Chris has shared this story. Over the last couple of years he has persuaded his mate Nick into queueing with him. Here are their experiences.
After looking forward to the end of November trip to London like a child awaiting Christmas, my pal Nick and myself prepared ourselves for the cold of the pavement with a number of planning meetings in our local pub, and with a warming fire and some full glasses of Butty Bach, discussed the strategy…should we go on Monday, or Thursday, and should we use our old trusted tent, or buy a ‘pop up’ replacement off e bay…..so as the day approached, and new tent duly arrived (but only just in time), we set off for London at lunchtime on Wednesday to take up our place in the queue.
As we drove along the Kensington High Street at almost 3 pm, we hoped that we might be up at the front of the campers…that is, 51st in the pecking order on the day if not lucky in the raffleWe were quite happy to see just the one tent in front of us as we parked on the meter right outside the RCA, and as I asked a prospective buyer to move his bike if possible from our camping pitch, Nick unloaded the tent from the car, and we gingerly released the straps, and hey presto, the tent was up and we assumed our place in the queue.
We discover soon afterwards that the first tent belonged to Anna, a regular in the queue, who had flown in from Lisbon and pitched camp on Tuesday afternoon, a very brave lady indeed.
So on with the strategy…one to stay with the car, on watch for the traffic warden, while the other viewed the cards…this worked well, and as the RCA closed its doors at 6pm, we only needed another 30 minute watch to reach the free parking time, and be able to wander off and find some supper and some warmth.
We had established some years previously a link with Imperial College students union, where the food is cheap as is the beer, so a curry and rice and a pint of Imperial lined the stomach, but we decided to stretch our legs and pop around the corner to another local and enjoy an hour of the footy in the bar.
So that takes us to the first night….a cosy double mattress and two 3-4 season sleeping bags resulted in a good nights sleep for us both….and awoke into Thursday and another day of list compilation and discussion.
As the day progressed, a few more intrepid souls arrived, the first whose tent refused to erect decided to use the outer as a bivi bag was followed by Gavin whose tent seemed to take on a mind of its own in the wind which gradually increased during the day.
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