I think the first WASH cost something like £14… It was £18.50 in 1986 when it went to 3 nights for the first time, by 1996 that price had doubled to £38, and here we are in 2009 and the price has almost doubled again to £72… adding it all up over the years means I’ve spent nigh on a thousand pounds going to WASH – but then, adding it up over the years means I have spent 2 months of my life there !

What the Committee said…

NEWS FROM WASH

WASH (Weekend At Sunny Hunstanton) this year will be held over the weekend of Friday 8th to Monday 11th November 1996 at Searles Holiday Park, Hunstanton.

The weekend will cost £38 and booking forms will be sent out in mid-June. As usual accommodation is in caravans.

As well as the usual discos and bands, the go-karts and video music quiz will both be back. The WASH committee are also looking at other activities to keep you entertained.

There will be a fancy dress competition with £100 prizes for both the individual and group winners.

For more information see the next issue of Plus News or watch your Group noticeboard.

Advert in Plus News May 1996

Advert in August 1996 Plus News

What the Committee said…

WIN A WEEKEND BY THE SEASIDE

To celebrate its continuing success throughout the last twelve years, WASH 96 is offering a free place to the lucky winner of the competition detailed below.

From humble beginnings WASH has grown to be one of the best attended events in the 18 Plus calendar. As each year has passed, the facilities and entertainment on offer have improved. Searles Holiday Centre of Hunstanton, which has been the home of WASH since the beginning, have spent many thousands of pounds to achieve coveted 5 star awards and have recently been voted one of the top holiday centres in East Anglia.

The entertainment has grown to include some of the best names in music with acts such as Rage, Capella, Let Loose and Clock, and from the world of comedy Brian Conley, Joe Pasquale and Mike Reid appearing over the last few years.

WASH 95 has been called by some the best WASH ever, with WASH 96 looking to be even better. So this is your chance to be there for FREE, by winning our competition.

Just answer the three questions below. The winner will be the first correct entry drawn after the closing date (Saturday 24th August 1996).

All entries to be sent to:David T of the WASH Committee

Only one entry per person although more than one entry in an envelope is permitted, ie a whole Group’s entries in one envelope.

The questions are:

1 In which Norfolk seaside town does WASH take place ?

2 Which of the following acts have appeared at WASH in the last five years ? – Clock, Oceanic, KWS, Capella, Let Loose

3 In which year was the first WASH ?

The WASH Committee’s decision is final. If deposits or balances have been paid, payment will be refunded.

Good luck !

Article in Plus News August 1996

What the Committee said…

WASH 96 REVIEW – HOW WAS IT FOR YOU ?

If the comments received from the questionnaire sent out at the end of the weekend are anything to go by, then it appears that WASH 96 was one of, if not the best, WASH ever !

For those who didn’t attend or have forgotten due to excessive alcohol consumption, it went something like this…

1996 WASH Film TWISTER

Friday evenings main event featured two live bands. The first band to start the weekend was Nulli Secondus, a highly talented rock band, followed by Brit Pop specialists Swains. The capacity crowd filled the venue & the atmosphere was just right.

Saturday daytime came & for those who wanted to gently ease away their hangovers there was swimming, the use of the gym or relaxing with the film “Twister”.

Alternatively, a video quiz to exercise the brain cells was available & for the more lively, Line Dancing & Kareoke were on the bill. Saturday night saw the best fancy dress competition ever, followed by top recording artistes Kenny Thomas & Jx.

Sunday lunchtime saw us entertained by a local Norfolk band, the extrovert Chunky Buzz. Then it was down to the theatre for an excellent comedy show with one of the funniest & crudest comediennes ever, Pauline Daniels. (Example of her jokes: ‘Ladies, what is the worst thing about oral sex?” “The view !’).

On Sunday night, the weekend was rounded off by the superb Voulez Vous followed by Foxx, who I am reliably informed by the ladies on the committee (& the female Searles bar staff) were very popular with their rippling muscles, ripped jeans etc etc. The whole
room was alive with party atmosphere – a great finish to a thoroughly enjoyable weekend !

Our survey indicates that WASH 96 provided something for everyone & there is already much interest in WASH 97.

Booking forms will be sent out in the summer, so make me your group will be there !

The Israelite (WASH Spotlight Spring 97)

What they said…

HUNSTANTON – PRAISE THE LARD

As usual, the Weekend At Sunny Hunstanton (WASH) started in fine style. Two bands – Nulli Secundus (a heavy rock band) and Swains (a Indie Pop cover band) – provided the entertainment whilst members caught up on gossip with old friends and sunk a bevvie or two.

Saturday dawned and the brave tested their constitution with a cooked breakfast whilst others nursed their hangovers with a black coffee. Thus fortified, people assembled for the karaoke and some remarkably competent line dancing. A tidal wave of people flooded into Hunstanton later on in the afternoon to see the movie “Twister”.

Members were driven out of their caravans by Blind Date on the telly and headed off to see the first act of the evening – The Bernadette Wilde Band who covered songs from some of the biggest artistes from the 70’s and 80’s. More contemporary music was provided by Kenny Thomas who sang some songs including his hit “Thinking About Your Love” and JX who performed a short set including their hit “Son Of A Gun”.

For many the highlight of the evening was the fancy dress competition. There were some superb entries but the group winners were Northwich 18 Plus (last year’s winners) dressed as the Flintstones complete with car and the individual winner was Geoff of Grimsby & Cleethorpes 18 Plus as Pinocchio.

At Sunday lunchtime the band Chunky Buzz entertained with an offbeat act and the comedy show took place at the Princess Theatre. Sunday evening’s entertainment started with Voulez Vouz – an ABBA tribute band who really looked and sounded the part. The evening finished with a treat (especially for the ladies). The band Foxx (complete with bare chests and very holey jeans) were a big hit as was shown by the bouts of screaming. They took their lives into their hands by performing on a cat walk. A number of women tried to get their hands on the band and even Sandra, National Chairman, was heard to say that she couldn’t be held responsible for her actions whilst they were on stage !

Some members made their own entertainment. As you might have seen, the Dosser elections took place in the back bar on Saturday and Sunday nights. The Dossers started many years ago as a joke between two people and grew from there. The joint winners of this year’s election of the Number One Dosser were Keith the bar man and a rubbish bin wearing a tartan cap (“Bin Nevis”) !

Not to be outdone, South Essex Area held their
own congregation on Sunday. Andy “Dewhurst”, their Area Chairman, officiated in an offbeat ceremony. There was a bottle of red wine and some Pringles took the place of the communion wafers. Two unsuspecting members were anointed at theceremony by having a packet of lard smeared over their faces whilst the choir sang “Praise the lard” !

One person who enjoyed WASH more than others was Emma B of Great Yarmouth 18 Plus who won the free weekend at WASH offered in the August issue of Plus News (I bet you wish you’d entered now)

KATIE H, PLUS NEWS EDITOR (Plus News November 1996)

One of the members of Foxx
apparently females find this sexy

A funny thing happened…

Due to the vagueries of international time zones the Saturday Lunchtime Karaoke in the Mariners Bar coincided with the World Cup qualifying match between Georgia and England in Tblisi that was showing live on the TV’s around the room.
The karaoke had been going on for 40 minutes or so when this girl got up to do her song….
“Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be strangling my cat as Whitney Houston”…
as she belted out the final (flat) note a great cheer rang out from all around the room and just for a single moment she stood there basking in the glory of her singing success…. and then she realised that the cheers were not for her, but for Teddy Sheringham who had just scored Englands first goal.

The Barnsley boys Tony & Brian practice their dancing
for their late night party in the privacy of their own caravan
– do they really think there’ll be room to dance ?

Later that same night in Barnsley’s caravan
and there’s no room for dancing, people are having to sit two deep on the settees
(Paul from Hull, Cath & Carol from Bradford)

Sally and Dave from Leeds Group have this party thing off fine.
A 24 pack of lager for him, a bottle of malibu for her

A funny thing happened…

New members come around quicker than you imagine, 1996 was only 5 years after the Golden Jubilee year of 1991 and you might imagine that many of the people at WASH would have been around for those 5 years, but that proved not to be the case. On the Sunday night in the Mariners Bar the Dossers were holding their elections (see section on Dossers for more information) and I had brought a bottle of ‘Jubilee Wine’ to toast the new number one. This bottle was opened and passed round the assembled gethering, it was pretty obvious who were the ‘old hands’, they were the ones who passed on tasting the wine (remembering just how bad it had tasted in 1991) The new members, they were all eager for a taste and the looks on some of their faces when they took their first mouthful told the story… Jubilee wine hadn’t improved with age. I didn’t tempt fate and try it myself so I can’t tell you whether it had got better or worse. (I still have a bottle or two kicking around should anyone wish to try it another few years down the line)

What the Committee said…

WASH SPOTLIGHT – SPRING 97

YOUR VIEWS ON WASH 96
Your views are important in telling us what you want from WASH, so we sent out questionnaires via all group booking officers immediately after WASH96. We have received a total of 237 replies from 40 groups. The new committee will be considering all views expressed as they plan WASH 97 & some of the results from the survey are shown below.

MEMBERS RETURN TO WASH YEAR AFTER YEAR !
27% of members were attending their first ever WASH in 1996.
However, the average was 3 to 4 times, with some members returning up to 13 times !

WHY DO MEMBERS GO TO WASH ?
Most people gave more than one reason, the most popular reasons are shown below :

Other reasons included : Being with friends, getting to know your own group better,
a change of scenery, the dossers, sex & the ducks !

WASH IS VALUE FOR MONEY
99% of you agreed or strongly agreed that WASH was value for money

WILL YOU BE ATTENDING WASH 97 ?
9 OUT OF 10 SAID YES !
9 out of 10 of you said yes, you would probably or definitely be attending WASH in 1997

A funny thing happened…

There was great controversy (in some quarters at least) over the results of the fancy dress competition this year. Austin and Sonia, who can always be relied upon to come up with some fantastic fancy dress outfits turned up as Wallace and Grommit in ‘The Wrong Trousers’, and were totally convinced that they would win the £100 first prize on offer. Unfortunately the judges didn’t agree with them and Geoff as ‘Pinnochio’ won.

Austin, however wasn’t willing to give up that easily and went round getting people to sign a petition to have the result changed… it didn’t happen, and because of the fuss caused this was the last of the WASH fancy dress competitions – though themed fancy dress nights remain popular with some people.

Click to go to
Previous Year 1995
Next Year 1997

Click to go to
Previous Year 1995
Next Year 1997

One of the most entertaining things about WASH in the past were the trips to the Princess Theatre, this involved a walk of a mile along the seafront (though there was one evening when the wind was so strong that the waves were being driven up onto the promenade making it impossible to walk along) then a quick call in at Woolworths to stock up on ammunition (any small sweets suitable for throwing, wine gums, jelly babies, maltesers whatever) and then round to the Princess Theatre to see whatever entertainment was lined up for us. Okay so it was a bit like the Muppet Show theatre, remember when they used to pan round to show the audience of strange creatures all carrying on and throwing things at the stage ?  well that was us.
The Princess Theatre had one of the strangest Gents toilets I’ve been to as well, the door to the gents was off the corridor running down the side of the auditorium, but then there were 10 steep steps down to the urinals, imagine a boisterous crowd of not necessarily sober young men queueing for the loo in the interval of a show and you can probably visualize that these steps were not the safest thing to queue on. (They were changed in the renovation of the Theatre in 2002)

What they said…

A WASH VIRGIN’S TALE

After a noticeable lack of interest from the rest of my group, Hemel agreed to let me tag along with them in their two caravans. This meant that in the Hemel caravans there were 11 people and Hemel only has 8 members, but we all made up in quality what we lacked in quantity.

I travelled up on my own and joined the rest of Hemel at about 7.00. By 7.10 we had sunk our first two lagers. It was then felt that some food was needed and we raided the cupboards for what the Hemel Girlies had bought. A pork pie and sandwich later we grabbed another beer and headed off to the venue. The first band (Engine) were quite good and I enjoyed them very much. Unfortunately due to the effect of all those lagers I missed the second band, a Madness tribute band. Whilst they were playing I was trying to find my caravan. I had the key and knew the number (131) but every time I tried to creep up on the little bugger it kept moving. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) I was eventually rescued whilst lying flat on my back in the bicycle racks by the illustrious editor of this fine and noble institution “‘Plus News”‘ and blackmailed into writing this piece.

BAD BOYS - 1995's Film at the Princess Theatre

Morning came swiftly and was accompanied by a dawn chorus of ducks and people from next door trying to catch one to eat – mission unsuccessful. Mike and Errol then started on the beer at 7.00. After the excess of the night before I declined and went back to bed. Later Debbie and Rozel declined bacon and eggs and headed off to Aqua Aerobics while the lads headed off to the grand prix course for a bit of go-karting. Errol was the eventual whiner of our little group but only by cheating and missing out one comer all together. Matt B (Watford) then joined Errol and Mike on one of the hire bikes which they proceeded to run off a cliff. Luckily the cliff was only 6 foot high and Matt was the only one to go down with the bike.

Other entertainment for the rest of the day included a showing at the cinema of ‘Bad Boys’ (hint – always sit on the balcony). This was followed by a coach trip to the local fireworks display which due to the wind direction had incompletely burnt fireworks landing in the crowd.
On Saturday night the fancy dress was out in force. Contestants included Adam and Eve (fig leaves that appeared to be stuck on and a lot of bravery), a Punk and some silly pirate with a parrot on his shoulder. Group entries included the Titanic and the Wedding party complete with presents. The winners were Adam and Eve in the individual and the Titanic in the group competition. The entertainment for the night included Jaki Graham and Four Bills and a Ben who were excellent !!!

On Sunday it was up early for a ride in a DUKW. This World War II amphibious vehicle took us out into the Wash. I can well recommend this as a good remedy for anything that ails you, i.e. kill or cure, but good fun all the same. Sunday afternoon saw us back at the local showhouse for four acts. The comic was good and faced down a lot of heckling from an unruly crowd. The magician tore apart some silly person in the middle of the auditorium who was shouting abuse. The juggler dropped his balls and then the person he chose to assist him couldn’t light the torches for the finale. Finally the illusionist did his turn with a very medieval/gothic slant.

Supper was a local Chinese with the evening’s entertainment back at the venue being Clock, who were full of energy and life, but their repertoire of 5 songs and a new single was a bit limited. They were followed by Those Glamrockers who were also excellent but as I’m too young to remember the seventies it was just a case of watching all the older plussers getting down to groove their stuff.

This was my first WASH and I shall be going again next year, see you there. The only thing is that I didn’t get the kiss I was promised by Sandra the National Chairman – I don’t know whether to be relieved or not ?

MATTHEW C Bedford 18 Plus (Plus News February 1996)

One of the WASH ducks buying a pint at the Sundowner Bar

Karaoke in the Sundowner Bar
(note : Sandra the National Chairman has not got
a microphone… with her voice are you suprised ?)

A funny thing happened…

Andy Animal, Roberto Dosserillo (see ‘Dossers’ page)… and Paul

Although I was tempted to leave him out of these pages entirely, no record of WASH would be complete without a mention of Paul from Rugby. Nobody who went to WASH up until 1996 could fail to have noticed him, heckling the DJ’s and the Comedians, singing badly at the Karaoke, sitting in the ‘Royal Box’ in the Princess Theatre and generally making himself the centre of attention.
The funniest thing came about at the Princess Theatre the year he stopped coming, the Comedy Show performers who had played WASH in the past were prepared for him, with signs stuck on the wall by the Box (“Is it a bird ?, Is it a plane ? – No it’s Paul “) and jokes and supposed ad-libs in their acts at his expense… but he had the last laugh… he wasn’t there.

Click to go to
Previous Year 1994
Next Year 1996

Click to go to
Previous Year 1994
Next Year 1996

The problem with going out with Teachers is that they can’t get time off to go to WASH, in 1994 I was going out with a Teacher and so we couldn’t set off until she had got back home from School and got changed and ready and so on… so it was 5:30ish before we set off, and we drove 90 minutes down to Sleaford and stopped for some Fish and Chips, then drove the other 90 minutes to Hunstanton, arriving at about 9.00pm, when everyone else was already halfway sozzled. Then on Sunday night I had to stay sober and set off to drive home at 11.00, getting home about 2.00am with Wendy asleep in the car, at least I could have a nice lie in while she had to get up and go to work in the morning

What I say…

Another year where I am missing the Committee review from Plus News, (if anyone can scan the relevant bit from a copy and send it to me I’d be happy to put it in here)

1994 WASH Film TRUE LIES

If I hadn’t got my WASH booklet and some photo’s from 1994 I would wonder whether I was actually there. I have a vague memory of Let Loose doing their three song Public Appearance mime, but I can’t recall anything else even with the programme to remind me !
The other bands on Friday, Sinitta and Utopia don’t bring anything to mind (even though I’d seen Utopia the year before as well I couldn’t tell you what there musical style was at all)

Saturday night we appear to have had a cabaret show ‘The Great Legends of Rock’ sounds exciting doesn’t it ? I don’t remember it at all though, nor do I remember The Glam Rockers or Geno Washington on Sunday (I saw Geno Washington in a club just before Christmas and I would have sworn that that was the first time I’d seen him in concert, though I must have seen him at WASH as well)

What I do remember of 1994 is a lot of standing around watching my friends on the Go Kart track, Zippy desperately searching for a condom just in case she got lucky with a bloke she’d met (she did !) and a lot of silliness at the Dosser elections (see the Dossers section for more details on elections)

A funny thing happened…

Friday nights bands at WASH ’94 included ‘Let Loose’, they were going to be the next big thing, but disappeared without a trace within a year. A picture of Let Loose playing at WASH was put up on a Leeds Central group Library Display in Spring 1995 and they got a telephone call from a girl who wanted not information about 18 Plus, but a copy of the photograph ‘cos they were her all time, number one favourite band !

Austin from Leeds Central could always be relied on to come up with an excellent fancy dress costume…


… and so could Sonia

What they said…

1994 was the first time I’d attended WASH, and my second 18 Plus holiday, Caister being the first one (having managed to time my joining 18 Plus for one week before WASH ’93, I was a little unsure about going away for the weekend with them!) I can remember little about the bands, having set myself a target of ‘a pint then a short then a pint’ etc – no, don’t remember much of Sunday morning either!!
but I do remember that the weather was surprisingly warm for the time of year and especially for Norfolk, we were able to leave our outdoor coats hanging in the caravans. The bonus for me that weekend was winning the star prize on the raffle – a stereo – even though I had to get someone else to confirm the numbers on my ticket for me since for some reason I couldn’t focus on them properly?? and had totally forgotten about it the next day when it was brought around to my caravan!!

We also had a 21st party in one of our caravans where I helpfully kept banging on the wall of a bedroom to ensure those trying to sleep inside it got the full benefit of the party atmosphere – well, it was Saturday night! and remember making toast like a demented machine until the bread was taken off me, to save some for breakfast/lunch/tea. The joke of it was, I decided I was too pissed to handle boiling water safely for the tea/coffee being made for all and sundry but quite happily dealt with the gas grill for the toast despite hating gas to cook with when I was in a sober state. What a bit of alcohol can do for phobias!!

I also took part in the go-karting – shame no-one told me my name was on the list for the next heat!! – and saw part of ‘True Lies’ at the cinema but getting bored, some of us walked out in the interval, rather think the fruit machines along the sea-front got a hammering but got the better of us. There was also a car window broken Monday morning due to someone managing to lock themselves out of their car and not wanting to crawl in the mud to retrieve their spare stuck on the bottom of the car(!)and of course, those ducks! Loads more memories coming back now, but to protect the ‘innocent’ and ‘not-so-innocent’ I shall say no more!

Lisa, 18 Plus email forum

In 1994 Searles unveiled their new attraction – Go-kart racing

With only 3 or 4 competitors on the track at once
queues of eagerly waiting Plussers quickly formed

Click to go to
Previous Year 1993
Next Year 1995

Click to go to
Previous Year 1993
Next Year 1995

The Tenth Anniversary… and the only ‘Tin’ in sight was the tins of lager in the Wharfedale caravan !
In 1993 the dates for WASH moved from Mid October to the first Friday in November, three weeks later in the year. This meant that it was after the clocks went back, so you arrived in the dark, and the weather was generally colder and more inclement. But it did bring about the chance for Plussers to visit the Hunstanton Bonfire and firework display on Saturday teatime. An excursion popular with some people but one I managed to avoid for 13 years until 2006 when I was forced into going. Well, you could see the aerial fireworks from the campsite, where you could remain warm and dry inside your caravan !

What I say…

I don’t have a copy of Plus News for Spring 1994 so I haven’t got the Committee review to put in here (if anyone has a copy that they can scan the relevant part of and email it to me I’d be most grateful to include it here)

The Commitments 1993's WASH Film

From what I can remember WASH ’93 went along similar lines to all the other WASH’s (no suprise there really). There was a strange mix of entertainment from the chart topping sounds of Technotronic, who got everybody up on the floor and dancing, to the ‘revival’ of the seventies novelty band Lieutenant Pigeon, who didn’t get anybody up on the floor and dancing (I remember them being on Top of the Pops in 1972 and they had band leader Rob Woodwards grey haired mother Hilda doing a Mrs Mills like turn on the piano… at least WASH was spared that). Sunday nights band Rage were memorable only for their use of laser lighting effects while they played their ‘hit’ a dance cover version of Bryan Adams Run to You.
I think that the entertainment must have got changed late in the day because in the ’95 booklet it says that Capella played WASH ’93 but there is no mention of them in the booklet. Not that I can remember them being on either (Capella were another run of the mill dance act who had a couple of hits with ‘U got to know’ and ‘Be my Baby’ in 1993)

I think WASH ’93 can be summed up as just the same as all the rest and a good time was had by all !

One of the quieter after dance parties
featuring various members of Wharfedale, Knotty Ash, Sheffield & Doncaster groups

Searles Pool tables are always a popular attraction.
Lorraine from Harrogate, in the excitement of winning forgets that your supposed to strike the white ball with the cue, not the black !

A funny thing happened…

The chip shop on Searles site has long been a source of nourishment and sustenance for the hungry Plusser at WASH, it really comes into it’s own after the dances finish and queues rapidly form outside of Plussers desperate for a high calorie greasy snack before bedtime. Once when we were really hungry Mandy and I got out of the venue quickly and got to the chip shop for Chips and Curry sauce before much of a queue had formed, after these were consumed we hung around chatting to people until the queue had just about gone and the security staff were coming in for a final feed before the shop closed, then we had a second load of chips and curry sauce (well we were very hungry !)
One of the benefits of being around a long time and going to lots of events is that you get to know lots of people, this really comes into it’s own at WASH in the chip shop queue, especially when it’s raining. Another time rather than stand outside in the queue in the rain Mandy and I went in through the out door and sat at the table and every second person in the queue was somebody one of us knew, so we persuaded one of these to buy us chips and curry sauce, thus avoiding both the queuing and the weather.

The ‘Chippy’ – not the best Fish and Chip shop in the world…
it’s a good job we’d all had plenty of sterilising alcohol, that probably saved us from food poisoning.

It’s amazing what you see
if you hang around outside the ladies toilets long enough

Wherever a group of 18 Plussers get together they will sit down
and dance to ‘Oops Upside Your Head’. . .

. . . And end the evening dancing to ‘New York, New York’

Click to go to
Previous Year 1992
Next Year 1994

Click to go to
Previous Year 1992
Next Year 1994

1992, the year we had a true Eurovision superstar at WASH, Johnny Logan, who had won the contest for Ireland in 1980 and 1987 and had written the winning Irish entry earlier in 1992 (for all you Eurovision trivia fans that makes him the only person to win singing a song written for him, win singing a song he wrote himself and win with a song he wrote for someone else to sing) – he’s not the only Eurovision winner to play at WASH – Katrina Leskanich – without the Waves performed in 2002… and then filling the WASH Eurovision line up there’s Black Lace who came 7th in 1979 with ‘Mary Ann’ (for my sins I actually remember it !)

What the Committee said…

THE 1992 WASH HOLIDAY WEEKEND AT HUNSTANTON

Many plussers are now familiar with the October pilgrimage to sunny Hunstanton, and this year the WASH Committee were very pleased to be able to welcome 750 people to the 9th annual WASH Weekend at Searles Holiday Centre.

The Saturday morning showing of The Blues Brothers wasn't well attended

All the necessary preparations were complete, and at midday on Friday 16th October all that was required was several hundred fun-loving plussers. By teatime all was well, and the reception staff were busy booking people into their caravan accommodation, which this year was of an even higher standard than last. Having settled in, people started to arrive at the newly extended clubhouse, where the weekend entertainment kicked-off with the resident D.J. Rob George, who treated us to his own unique mix of music. The weekends live entertainment began with Eurovision star Johnny Logan appearing on stage at 11.00, with some well known songs and some of his own ballads. The evening finished with more music from our D.J., and having renewed many old acquaintances the weekend residents retired to their caravans in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Saturday morning offered the choice of a trip to the cinema or aerobics, a surprising number of people opting for the aerobics! Also on offer was horse-riding, cycle hire, swimming and Searles fitness centre. Saturday lunchtime again offered a choice, this time either relaxing to the melodic sounds of the Casino Royale steel band, or the not so melodic sounds of plussers at the Karaoke session with Paul Kenny. There was a second cinema show in the afternoon which was very well supported, and the car rally also proved very popular this year with 21 cars taking part, (perhaps the more squeamish not wishing to see Tremors at the cinema).

Tremors Saturday afternoons film got a full house

Saturday evening saw 18 Plus move into the nineties with top rave band Oceanic appearing on stage at 9.50, who treated us to a brilliant session of modem dance music, starting and finishing with their hit ‘Insanity’. The live entertainment continued at 11.00 with the arrival of Radio One’s Nicky Campbell, entertaining us with various games and music until the surprise guest was unveiled at midnight, who despite the numerous rumours and persistent questioning of the committee had remained a secret. The audience were genuinely surprised when Nicky Campbell brought 1992 chart-topping band KWS onto the stage, where they performed amongst others their chart hits ‘Please don’t go’ and ‘Rock you baby’, getting a very warm reception from the audience. The evening finished with music from Rob George until 1.30.
Sunday commenced with aerobics and the other daytime activities on offer, or perhaps just a lay-in. The lunchtime entertainment in the clubhouse was provided by Mechanical Horsetrough, a comedy band with their own brand of music and humour. One of the highlights of the weekend was the musical show That’ll be the Day, on Sunday afternoon. A cast of thirteen performed a musical history of rock and roll to a capacity audience at the Princess Theatre. The show featured appearances by ‘Cliff Richard’,’Paul McCartney’, ‘The Shadows’,’Michael Jackson’ and many others. It culminated in a standing ovation for the performers, who appeared to enjoy the show as much as their audience. Sunday evening heralded the end of the weekend, and those who had been disappointed so far by the lack of Queen covers should have been more than satisfied with the music provided by our last band, Africa. Rob George wound up the evening, and the weekend, with some old favourites, and although the evening officially finished at midnight there were many reluctant to leave the venue and allow the bar staff to go home. Monday morning saw the departure of 18 Plus from Hunstanton for another year, taking with them memories of another very enjoyable weekend at Searles. In closing, the WASH committee would like to say a very big thank-you to the Searles staff and 18 Plus helpers who made sure the weekend was such a success, and most importantly to the 750 plussers who attended and without whom it would not have been possible. We will hopefully see you all in 1993 for an extra special 10th anniversary WASH weekend.

The WASH ’92 Committee (Plus News Jan 93)

Johnny Logan entertained
with his two Eurovision Song Contest winning songs on Friday Night

Radio One’s Nicky Campbell made a guest appearance on Saturday Night
(now Radio Five’s Nicky Campbell !)

The Casino Royale Steel Band
playing in the Mariner’s Bar on Saturday Lunchtime

KWS and Oceanic
Saturday nights chart topping bands

A funny thing happened…

Searles caravans are fitted with 5 amp power supplies, enough for all normal people, but not for 4 fashion conscious girls out on the pull at WASH.
Saturday night and Cori is getting ready for the evenings festivities, she has a shower and washes her hair then gets out her 2000 watt hairdryer complete with ‘professional’ styling diffuser and such like attachments, plugs it in, turns it on and finds that your average 2000 watt hairdryer draws about 8 amps and blows the circuit breakers – which need Searles maintenance man to come and fix.
More consternation occured because Cori was sharing a caravan with 3 other girls, Julie hadn’t bought a hairdryer and Mel and Tania both had 1800 watt models which will blow the 5 amp fuses as well.

The other girls borrowed Wendy’s little travel hairdryer, but Cori was adamant that she needed her hairdryer to get her hair looking right and that she couldn’t go out at night otherwise. Needless to say there was nothing we could do about it, and Cori did go out after drying her hair using an 750 watt hairdryer (and did get off with some bloke as well !)

What they said…

Great Yarmouth have had a good WASH!

Once again, all good things come to an end. I am of course speaking about WASH ’92. This year I found myself as booking agent for our group and after the weekend was over I found out what everyone had thought. The weekend was brilliant, certainly the accommodation and all of the new amenities at Searles were very much approved of. For the best entertainment, way out in front was Mechanical Horsetrough, That’ll be the Day and Oceanic/KWS. Other favourites were Aerobics, Karaoke, and the resident DJ, Rob George. When asked what people wanted for the future, they said it was to keep a mixture of old and new music, one good film and not two, another Barn Dance and more of a light show for the Disco. The whole group had a great time and the new ‘Plussers’ in our group said that they would be back next year. As for myself, after attending seven WASH’s this was my best! Our thanks go to the WASH committee for simply the best 18 Plus weekend event.

Sarah R Great Yarmouth 18 Plus (Plus News Jan 93)

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Previous Year 1991
Next Year 1993

In 1991 I used to go down to Leeds Central group every week as well as my own (Wharfedale) group, so as they were short of transport I ended up taking two girls from Leeds to Hunstanton for their first WASH’s… anyway, for some reason they wanted to go early on in the day so we set off middayish and arrived at Searles shortly after 3.00pm.

Getting there that early meant we were one of the first people there and for the rest of the afternoon I went around the caravans saying ‘hello’ to everyone as they arrived – along with my 1.5 litre lemonade bottle filled with a rather potent mix of Southern Comfort and lemonade, diluted with Vodka. By 6.00 I had got very, very drunk, been violently ill, and had passed out, fortunately in my own caravan, I remember the rest of my group – including Wendy my then girlfriend – waking me up when they arrived about 7.30, and I surfaced to stagger over to the venue at about 10.00 feeling rather ill and certainly not wanting to dance… I was not in the good books with Wendy for the rest of the weekend !

What the Committee said…

ANOTHER WINNING WASH

There could certainly be no complaints of lack of variety served up at the sell-out WASH ’91 held last October,

One of 1991's Films Naked Gun 2½ (Can't remember what the other was)

for in one weekend members were entertained by no fewer than eleven acts who offered us live music, barn dancing. karaoke, magic, comedy and ventriloquism. Plus there was the opportunity to take part in the car treasure hunt, go horse riding, try your hand at clay pigeon shooting. have a swim, watch two movies or relax in the health club.

The weekend kicked off with a live performance by Motown legend Jimmy Ruffin which was followed on the Saturday lunchtime by what all plussers. do best, a session of karaoke, which was appreciated by all music lovers (shome mishtake shurely? Ed). Saturday evening commenced with the superb Lee Vasey Big Band who provided the support for the weekend’s big name, Curiosity Killed The Cat, who kept everyone entertained performing their chart topping hits of the late 1980’s.

Sunday was noteworthy for two bands, The Flirtations and Magic. The former provided a Tamla Motown revue which was spectacular, professional and thoroughly entertaining. whilst Magic lived up to their name by covering songs, particularly by Queen, in a manner which packed the dance floor and had people dancing on tables. Sandwiched between these two acts were 18 Plus favourites the Madhatters, who just seem to be getting better and better.

The WASH committee would like to thank all members who attended the weekend for providing such an excellent atmosphere and would also like to thank those Groups who took the trouble to write to us saying how much they enjoyed the weekend which was very much appreciated.

WASH ’92 will take place on the weekend of 16-19 October 1992.

The Israelite, WASH Chairman (Plus News March 1992)

Just checking…
that Tom the Dossers above average length is echoed throughout his anatomy !

Searles Beer is not to everybody’s taste
Malibu Mel doesn’t think much of it !

Hunstanton’s Pitch & Putt course
A local attraction recommended by the WASH Committee
Here Richard The Git gets his putting stance corrected by Zippy

A funny thing happened…

Two things have changed greatly in the years since WASH began, Searles have invested hundreds of thousands in the site greatly improving and enlarging its facilities and the A17 from Newark to Kings Lynn has had millions spent on it and changed beyond recognition as well, remember the days before the Leadenham bypass when you had to negotiate the big lorries making that 90° bend in the village ? and other improvements include the bypasses at Sleaford, Heckington, Swineshead, Holbeach, Dersingham, Snettisham and Long Sutton and the new span at the Sutton Bridge. We were coming back from WASH when they were building this new road, waiting in the queue to cross the single bridge that was open, I think the other drivers thought we were a bit strange because instead of sitting quietly in our cars we were wondering up and down the traffic queue chatting to other WASH returnees that we knew. I was driving and just sneaked through the amber light at the bridge, but Sue who was in the car behind me stopped and waited for the next change of lights. This was a BIG MISTAKE as coming the other way was a huge lorry who didn’t quite take notice of the height limit signs on the bridge and got stuck ! Although Sue had only been one car behind me I had got 120 miles home before she got across Sutton Bridge bridge.

When everybody is stood up at the front
the only way to see if you’re sat by the bar is to stand on your chair

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